AWHT Colour Creations #16 Early Expresso

Early Expresso with Nature's Harvest & Quiet Meadow

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart 2021-2022 Colour Creations Blog Hop.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a dark brown called Early Expresso. Early Expresso is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a wonderful colour for trees, twigs & the like and great when creating for fellas. It is an essential colour, however, not one I usually choose to hero on a project. This week's project was inspired by silhouettes seen while walking my dog at dusk.

Early Expresso is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Watercolor Pencils; the Neutrals & Gingerbread & Peppermint, Blackberry Beauty, You're A Peach, Painted Christmas, Beauty of the Earth, In Good Taste Designer Series Papers; Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories & More Card pack; Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories & More Cards & Envelopes, Blackberry Beauty Ephemera pack and Faux Suede Trim. The card below has used Early Expresso card-stock and Classic ink, plus a range of other bits and pieces.

In accordance with its name, Early Expresso is reminiscent of strong black coffee, so I was going to use the Love You More Than bundle for tonight's project. I also was thinking of using Painted Christmas Suite as the pine cones would stamp brilliantly in Early Expresso. I still want to try out my ideas, however the Early Expresso project ended up by using Early Expresso to represent nature's silhouettes as the sun is setting. 

The blended background was created on a piece of Shimmery White card-stock using Crumb Cake, So Saffron, Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight and Night of Navy Classic Stampin' inks with Stampin' Up!'s delightful Blending Brushes. Water droplets were flicked over the blended background and once dry some White Craft ink was also flicked over the background.

The little sketchy grassy flowers from the Garden Birdhouses stamp set were stamped over the base of the background in Early Expresso ink. A range of plants were die cut from Early Expresso card-stock using a mix of dies from both the Harvest and Meadows die sets. Each piece had White Craft ink added on the edges with a Sponge Dauber to add sense of dimension. They were adhered in place with a mix of Multipurpose Liquid Glue and Mini Dimensionals.

Strips of both Early Expresso card-stock and Copper Foil paper were added to the left edge of the card-front panel and then it was mounted onto a piece of Basic White card-stock. In turn this card front was mounted on a Sahara Sand card-stock base. A sentiment from the Nature's Harvest stamp set was stamped in Versamark onto an off-cut from the blended background and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder and a Heat Gun. The sentiment was fussy cut and added to the card with thin strips of Dimensionals, A bow was tied with Gold Elegant Trim and White Crinkled Seam Binding and added with Glue Dots to the left of the sentiment. The final touch was the addition of some Genial Gems and a little butterfly die cut from Copper Foil. 

The card inner was created with a piece of Basic White card-stock and a few left over die cut Early Expresso plants; as well as an off cut of the blended background and a thin strip of Early Expresso card-stock. I ran out of time to create a custom made envelope. My plan is to use the DSP shown in the photos as a backdrop to create a specially sized envelope

.

I hope you find some inspiration through my card and or the whole Blog Hop. We all enjoy creating to share with you each week.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December 2021 Mini Catalogue & Sale-a-bration Leaflet (don't forget Sale-a-bration finishes soon), then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Early Expresso creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a very special and talented friend, Rachel Palmieri. As always, I am looking forward to checking out Rachel's creation and everyone else's. I do love seeing everyones' projects - so many ideas and such great creations

Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Flirty Flamingo; and don't forget that the AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop is launched every Monday evening at 8pm AEST until mid-December.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea 💕🐾

  

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog, our amazing AWHT Colour Creations Coordinator.  Check out her amazing creation while you are there.

#colourcreationsbloghop  #colourcreationsbloghop2021

AWH Heart of Christmas #11

Christmas with Words of Cheer

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team 2021 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. 

So glad you are joining us for this Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. I love creating for Christmas and had fun with this week's card. I hope you like it:

This week I have CASEd one of the layouts of cards shown on page 54 of the July-December 2021 Mini Catalogue. I also CASEd the colour scheme of the Whimsy & Wonder Suite (page 25). The Stampin' Up! Catalogues are such great sources of inspiration for our projects.

After trimming a piece of Mint Macaron Designer Series Paper from the delightful Whimsy & Wonder Speciality DSP it was adhered to a Basic White card front. The poinsettia spray and extra holly leaves from the Words of Cheer Stamp Set was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. Initially 2 poinsettia sprays were stamped and heat embossed with the idea of creating a duplicate card to add to my card stash, however, as you may notice, I ended up fussy cutting the second floral spray so I could layer elements.

The floral spray & extra holly leaves was coloured with Stampin' Blends, ie Polished Pink, Flirty Flamingo (there isn't a Blushing Bride Combo so I mainly used Light Flirty Flamingo), Mossy Meadow, Mint Macaron Combos and my trusty Colour Lifter. The floral sprays were die cut with the coordinating Christmas Cheer dies, but I later fussy cut some of the elements of the second spray.

Some of the luscious Mint Macaron Soft Velvet Ribbon was laid across the diagonal join between the Mint Macaron DSP and the Basic White card-stock with some Silver ElegantTrim. The coloured poinsettia spray was tucked under the ribbon together with extra holly leaves, Silver Foil die cut sprigs and other bits and pieces. Two fussy cut poinsettias were layered over the coordinating flowers to add interest and dimension. I tried to show the dimension in the photo below but the focus of part of the photo is out - my apologies.

The word "happy" was die cut from Silver Foil (from the Silver Foil pack). This was layered with a number of Basic White card-stock die cut "happies" to give dimension without the need of fiddling with cutting up Mini Dimensions. I added some Adhesive Sheets to some Basic White card-stock to make the layering easier. The "Christmas" sentiment, both from the coordinating bundle, was stamped in Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' ink. A double bow of Silver Elegant Trim (which comes in a pack of both Silver and Gold Trim) was added with a couple of Glue Dots and number of 2021-2023 In Colour Jewels were scattered, ie as flower centres and near the sentiment.

The card inner was created with a piece of Basic White card-stock, the off cut of Mint Macaron DSP and bits and pieces from the fussy cut extra floral spray together with a length of Silver Elegant Trim. A C6 Basic White Envelope was stamped with the poinsettia spray in Mint Macaron ink on the back flap and partially on the front. I do like ensuring a level of coordination on the envelope as well. It just adds that extra touch of coordination.

I did enjoy creating this card to share. I love, love, love the colour scheme of the Whimsy and Wonder Suite and suspect it will be my main colour scheme for this coming Christmas. The Christmas Cheer dies are amazing - the style of the word "happy" is so gorgeous. I am looking forward to playing further with this bundle.

Thank you so much for spending time with me on my blog. I'm so glad you made the time.

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December Mini Catalogue & Saleabration Leaflet then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Don't forget, Sale-a-bration finishes at the end of September. Also, please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

To continue with the blog hop, click on the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Theresa Gerrard. I always look forward to checking out Theresa's creations as well as everyone else's. 

Hope to see you next week for another AWHT Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. There is so much Christmas inspiration to share using Stampin' Up!'s products and preparing early for  Christmas will minimize some of the stresses of the silly season. Also, don't forget the weekly Colour Creations Blog Hop by the Art with Heart Team that launches every Wednesday at 8.00pm AEST.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea XXX

  

As mentioned, it is always a delight to see everyone's creations and the way they each use the amazing Stampin' Up! products. I am sure there will be gorgeous Christmas projects on show. Don't miss checking out each blog. 

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of this week’s host for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Tina Gillespie, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. Check out her beautiful creation while you are there.

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2021 #awhtheartofchristmas

AWHT Colour Creations #15 Daffodil Delight

Daffodil Delight with Nature's Harvest

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart 2021-2022 Colour Creations Blog Hop.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a bright yellow called Daffodil Delight. Daffodil Delight is part of the Brights Colour Family and it is a wonderful colour for daffodils, daisies and other flowers as well as a sunshine - to name only a few. This week's project was inspired by a brilliant yellow daisy bush growing outside my bedroom window. 

Daffodil Delight is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads, re-inkers & ink spots); Stampin' Write Markers, Stampin' Blends, Watercolor Pencils, Soft Pastels Assortment, the Brights & Hand-Penned Designer Series Papers, Hand-Penned Memories & More cards and Shaker Shapes embellishments. The card below has used Daffodil Delight card-stock, Classic ink, Stampin' Blends, Stampin' Write Marker and some Hand-Penned DSP, plus a range of other bits and pieces.

As soon as I started thinking about a project hero-ing Daffodil Delight I thought of the daisy bush that I see every morning as I open my curtains.

While the flowers in the Nature's Harvest stamp set aren't daisies but coneflowers/echinacea, in my eyes they are reminiscent of my daisies. I've used the Nature's Harvest bundle and the Timeworn 3D Embossing Folder from the Harvest Meadows Suite.

I started with a Basic White card-stock piece and embossed it with the Timeworn 3D Embossing Folder. This is such a delightful EF. Its texture is gorgeous and if you look closely you can find individual words. Some ink was splattered using the thick end of both Daffodil Delight and Smoky Slate Stampin' Write Markers. It's only a light splatter.

A piece of the Daffodil Delight side of the Hand-Penned DSP was die cut with one of the Basic Borders dies and added to the embossed card front with Dimensionals. The echinacea flowers were stamped onto Basic White card-stock using Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' ink and then coloured with Stampin' Blends, ie Daffodil Delight, Pale Papaya, Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate Combos and the Color Lifter. As I wasn't at my desk and was feeling lazy with my dog on my lap, I fussy cut the flowers rather than die cutting using the coordinating dies, which would have been sensible.

Some sprigs were die cut in both Basic White and Daffodil Delight card-stocks. The stem of the Basic White sprigs were coloured with Smoky Slate Blends. The flower sections were trimmed off the yellow die cuts and adhered to the top of the coloured sprigs. The yellow floral tips were also sponged on one side with Daffodil Delight ink using a Sponge Dauber. The twiggy die cut some Basic White twigs.

A piece of Pale Papaya In Colour Open Weave ribbon was cut in half length-wise and then one piece of it was tied in a bow together with a piece of White Crinkled Seam Binding. A sentiment from the stamp set was stamped on Smoky Slate card-stock with Basic Gray ink and die cut with the long label die from the coordinating die set. This was positioned with Dimensionals over the bow. To finish off, a few of the cute yellow Matte Decorative Dots were added near the sentiment label.

To decorate the card inner, a thin strip of the Daffodil Delight Hand-Penned DSP was adhered to the LHS with an extra flower and single long thin flower. A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped on the front and the envelope flap with the flower stamp in Daffodil Delight ink.

While yellow is not one of my normal "go to colours", I do enjoy creating with this bright cheery colour. I have loved playing with Daffodil Delight in its various mediums, which has shown this colour in various strengths (lighter & darker) and mixing with Pale Papaya, Pumpkin Pie and Bumblebee (the Decorative Matte Dots). I hope it has given you some ideas.

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December 2021 Mini Catalogue & Saleabration Leaflet, then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Daffodil Delight creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the very talented, Claire Daly. As always, I am looking forward to checking out Claire's creation and everyone else's. I do love seeing everyones projects - so many ideas and such great creations

Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Evening Evergreen; and don't forget the AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop is launched every Monday evening at 8pm AEST until mid-December.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea 💕🐾

  

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog, our amazing AWHT Colour Creations Coordinator.  Check out her amazing creation while you are there.

#colourcreationsbloghop  #colourcreationsbloghop2021

AWH Heart of Christmas #10

Christmas with Stitched Stars and Christmas Cheer

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Team 2021 Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. 

Where has this week gone! It has felt full on and so I found that time to create a project and write this blog has almost disappeared. As such, I have only created 1 card with a design that had been bubbling around in my head for some time. While creating the project I started wondering about playing with colours ... but there was no time. Here is this week's project:

A Basic White card front was embossed with the delightful Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder. For those who know music, I believe it is part of the actual music of one of our loved Christmas Carols. Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin' ink was lightly applied with a Stampin' Up! Blending Brush. It is only very subtle but if you can see it, the effect of applying ink after the card-stock had been embossed gives a lovely effect.

Some splattering was added with a Fresh Freesia Stampin' Write Marker. The embossed card front was mounted onto a slightly askew piece of Fresh Freesia card-stock. In turn this was mounted to a Thick Basic White card-stock base with Dimensionals.

Swirly Stars from the Stitched Stars dies were cut out of Fresh Freesia card-stock, ensuring the 5 tiny stars were retained. The largest star die was used to cut the lighter mauve-ish Silver Foil from the Silver Foil Speciality pack. The third largest star die was used to cut a star within the star and so create a stitched star outline. Using the Christmas Cheer dies the word "happy" was die cut from the darker purple-ish Silver Foil. The word "Christmas" from the coordinating Words of Cheer stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss Powder and a Heat Gun. Finally, a strips cut of the Fresh Freesia side of Penguin Playmates Designer Series Paper. This oh so cute DSP can be free with an order of $90 or more during Sale-a-bration across August - September, that is while they last.

As you can see from the photos, the stars, swirls and words were arranged and adhered with a mix of Multipurpose Liquid Glue and Dimensionals.

The card inner was created with a piece of Basic White cardstock and a thin strip of the Playful Penguins DSP was adhered to the right hand side. Extra little stars from a star swirl were also added. Sorry - no time for decorating a C6 Basic White envelope. That will be a job for tomorrow.

Even though my creating was rushed, I still enjoyed making this card to share. I love, love, love the Merry Melody 3D embossing folder and the Stitched Stars are such a great set of dies. It was the first time my recently received Christmas Cheer dies were opened - the style of the word "happy" is gorgeous so I am sure you will see me using it again before too long.

Thank you so much for spending time with me on my blog. I'm so glad you did.

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue and or the July - December Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Also, please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

As I'm last on the list of blog hoppers tonight, you may have checked everyone out, however if you started partway through, then to continue with the blog hop, click on the "onto the next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of an amazing and talented friend, Tina Gillespie. I always look forward to checking out Tina's creations as well as everyone else's. 

Hope to see you next week for another AWHT Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. There is so much Christmas inspiration to share using Stampin' Up!'s products and preparing early for  Christmas will minimize some of the stresses of the silly season.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea XXX

  

As mentioned, it is always a delight to see everyone's creations and the way they each use the amazing Stampin' Up! products. I am sure there are gorgeous Christmas projects on show. Don't miss checking out each blog. 

If at any time you find a broken link and the next blog doesn’t come up or you started part way through, please head to the blog of this week’s host for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop, Tina Gillespie, and she will have the list of all Art With Heart Team members who are participating in this blog hop. This would also be an easy way to find the blogs that you would like to revisit.

#heartofchristmas #heartofchristmas2021 #awhtheartofchristmas

AWHT Colour Creations #14 Crushed Curry

Crushed Curry with Shaded Summer & Summer Shadows

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart 2021-2022 Colour Creations Blog Hop.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a deep yellow called Crushed Curry. Crushed Curry is part of the Regals Colour Family. It isn't a colour I automatically reach for but is wonderful when colouring sunflowers, roses and autumnal themes. This project was inspired by a gorgeous yellow rose with strong pink petal edges that I saw a few days ago. 

Crushed Curry is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers and Regals Designer Series Papers. The simple Fancy Fancy fold card below has used Crushed Curry card-stock, Classic ink and Stampin' Write Marker, plus other Stampin' Up! bits and pieces.

I recently saw Kim Fee, a UK Demonstrator, use a card fold that I hadn't seen before, so I thought I would give it a go. I worked out my own dimensions and converted one hinge into 2 smaller hinges. It was really quite simple and something different.

Using Thick Basic White card-stock, half an A4 sheet of card-stock was cut in 2 so the card is the same dimension as a "normal" one - that is for us in Australia. A strip of the thick card-stock was cut off one piece to set the width of the card front. The piece that was trimmed off was used as the hinge(s). I cut it in half length-wise to create two hinges as it seemed a bit wobbly when I saw Kim open her card.

To create the background pieces for decorating both sides of the front panel and one side of the back panel, I used Crushed Curry card-stock, cutting it a little smaller than the card base pieces. The larger floral stamp from the Shaded Summer stamp set was stamped in Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' ink all over the 3 pieces. Using a Blending Brush, some White Craft ink was blended over the edges of each piece leaving some of the original coloured card-stock in the centre.

Before adhering the stamped panels onto the card bases, the hinges were adhered in place. They were partially adhered to the front of the back panel, with the Crushed Curry stamped panel adhered over to hide and further secure the hinge ends. The other ends of the hinges were adhered to the back of the card front, with one of the Crushed Curry panels adhered over to hide the hinge ends and the other Crushed Curry panel adhered to the front of the panel. A small section of the hinges show on the side, which gives character to the card.

Two labels were cut from Basic White card-stock using the Scalloped Contours dies, with the bigger label centred on the back panel of the card for writing a personal message. A smaller label was layered with Dimensionals in the centre of the card front.

Using the same floral stamp with my Stamparatus, the stamp was coloured using Stampin' Write Markers, ie Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Shaded Spruce and Granny Apple Green, and stamped onto Basic White card-stock. I love using the Stamparatus with the Marker-to-Stamp technique as I partially add colour - stamp - add different colour - stamp - add more colour - stamp - and so on until I am satisfied with the colouring. The coloured floral sprays were cut using the gorgeous Summer Shadows dies that you can obtain for FREE when you purchase $180 worth of Stampin' Up! product during Sale-a-bration. Don't leave it too long if you are interested, as this offer will finish at the end of September. Lovely detailed and smaller leaves were also die cut from Basic White card-stock.

The flowers and leaves were arranged and adhered with a mix of Multipurpose Liquid Glue and Dimensionals. A white Bakers Twine bow as added with a Glue Dot and rhinestones from the Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels packet brought a little bling.

As mentioned, the back inside panel used a white label for writing a personal message. With the stamped floral background framing the label nothing else was needed. The floral stamp was also coloured with markers and stamped on a C6 Basic White Envelope so it coordinates with the card it will hold.

While Crushed Curry has not been a frequently used colour for me, I really enjoyed creating this card; experimenting with this fancy fold and playing with the Marker-to-Stamp technique. I hope your interest is piqued by some aspect of this card.

If you are in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of Stampin' Up's 2021-2022 Annual Catalogue and or the new July - December 2021 Mini Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send them to you. Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. 

There is more Crushed Curry creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of a very special person and friend, Rachel Palmieri. I am looking forward to checking out Rachel's creation and everyone else's. I do love seeing everyones projects - so many ideas and great creations

Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Daffodil Delight; and don't forget the AWH Heart of Christmas Blog Hop is launched every Monday evening at 8pm AEST until mid-December.

Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others.

Andrea 💕🐾

  

If you find a broken link or have come to this blog hop from a different entry point, you can view the full list of participants on Catherine Proctor’s blog.  Check out her amazing creation while you are there.

#colourcreationsbloghop  #colourcreationsbloghop2021 #stampinup