Social Stamping - #5 War and Peace

War and Peace with Painted Poppies

Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Social Stamping Blog Hop for ANZAC Day. Our theme this week is "War & Peace".

This morning as I stood in my driveway for the Dawn Service to remember those who fought to keep Australia and New Zealand free, I was so thankful to be an Australian and live in a country that provides so many blessings. This is no more true than in the current times as we battle against COVID-19. Yes, we have not been immune to the impact of this deadly virus and there a many struggles and difficulties, but we are in such a better place than other countries. 

My Grandfathers and Father fought in the First & Second World Wars and while they returned home, they were never the same. So ANZAC Day is an important day for me. When contemplating this week's theme, I wanted to design something around one of the symbols, Poppies and they needed to be red poppies in recognition of the blood that was shed. I had a number of ideas but decided on using another symbol, that of a wreath. 

The card base was cut from Old Olive cardstock, scored in the middle and folded in half to form a 5.5inch square card. A slightly smaller piece of Peaceful Poppies Designer Series Paper was adhered in place to form a background for the card design.

The poppies were die cut out of Poppy Parade and Cherry Cobbler card-stock and then they were further coloured with sponge daubers to add depth. The flower centre and the leaves also were tinted with Whisper White and Garden Green inks. I love adding touches of ink to add some life to the die cut pieces. Before the poppies and leaves were positioned on the card front, a wreath of leaves was stamped directly onto the the card which then was dry embossed with the Subtle Embossing Folder to give it a very subtle texture.

The decorated card front was popped up on dimensionals and adhered to the card base. A Wink of Stella pen was used to sprinkle a tinge of glitter over the card (you can't see this in the photo). A triple bow of Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding was added to finish off the wreath.

To link the centre of the card with the card front a couple os strips of the DSP were added along with a die cut and coloured sprig of leaves.  An envelope was custom made out of the same Designer Series Paper.

Thank you for spending time with me and allowing me to muse over the theme.

There are so many talented people participating in the "War & Peace" Social Stamping Blog Hop. I do hope you are gaining ideas and inspiration as you go from blog to blog. The next person is the lovely and talented Denita Wright-Smee. Click on the "Next" graphic to see her creation.

  

To go to the full list of participants click here and you will find links that will take you to everyones' blogs.


Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy and I hope you are staying sane. I look forward to blog hopping with you again next week.

A list of Products used to create this card will be added soon.

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So glad you are visiting Valley Inspirations on this, the second time I've been a part of the Art with Heart Team "Heart of Christmas 2019" blog hop. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my blog.

Heart of Christmas 2019

Tidings All Around

Christmas is such a special time of year. When I think of Christmas, one of the things that comes to mind is a beautiful Wreath hanging on the front door.  As I was designing tonight's card using Stampin' Up's Tidings All Around bundle, which focusses on a Christmas wreath, I pondered its symbolism.  After a little Googling, I believe that the wreath symbolises eternity because its circular shape has no beginning and no end. From a Christian perspective it represents an unending circle of life, and the evergreen aspect, most frequently used in making wreathes, symbolises growth and everlasting life. I'm someone who likes to understand the background of something - so I find this interesting.  Enough musing, now to the Chrissy card.

This week's card combines a number of styles and products that I warm my heart.  One of the styles I love to play with is a clean, uncluttered look.  I also enjoy using embossing folders to give interest with a tone on tone subtle effect; as well as add touches of sparkle and perhaps some ribbon. And this year, Stampin' Up's Brightly Gleaming Speciality Designer Series Paper (DSP) for Christmas is so sumptuous - a strip of one of the designs has been included. Here is my card:

The Tidings All Around stamp set and the matching All-Around Wreath dies provide a delightful wreath and a range of greetings.   The wreath (stamped in Pretty Peacock) provides a gorgeous base which can be decorated. I've added gorgeous little sprigs and twigs from the set of dies that have been cut from copper foil card stock and tied together with copper trim. Rhinestones, coloured with a bronze Blends to give them a copper tinge, were placed around the wreath in a number of groupings of 3 to add a little Christmas sparkle.  The Blends are Stampin' Up's alcohol markers.  (Its a pity that my photos don't pick up the sparkle that shimmer when light catches them. Bye the way, I hope you will see an improvement in my photos over time - I'm quite a novice in photography and am on a steep learning curve. Please be patient.)

I also used the copper trim to blend the upper piece of whisper white card stock (that was embossed with the Subtle embossing folder) and the decadent Brightly Gleaming Speciality DSP.  I so love the combination of copper and Pretty Peacock (a rich deep blue/green - the more I use this colour, the more I love it).  Carrying the copper theme across the card, the greeting was stamped in the new Delicata metallic ink, Celestial Copper - its such a gorgeous ink (yes, I love it too).

I like to add some design elements from the front of the card to the card inner and the envelope. This week a thin strip of matching DSP and a coordinating spray of leaves and twigs from the stamp set decorate the inner and this same spray also has been stamped on the envelope in Pretty Peacock ink. A snippet of the envelope can be seen in the first photo, above.  This card inner is reminiscent of my early years, (yes it was a loooong time ago) when the special and expensive cards usually had a seperate and finer paper as the inner. I've used a good quality printer paper (sometimes I use vellum, depending on the style I am wanting to communicate).

The special Claire Daly is back hosting the Heart of Christmas 2019 blog hop this week – to check out the team’s festive creations you can visit Claire’s page by clicking here. She has the links to all this week's blog hoppers where you will find lots of inspiration.

Thanks for dropping by. I've loved sharing with you. 💕🐾