AWH Heart of Christmas #2

Christmas with Stars at Night

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

This week I am showcasing a new bundle from the coming September-December Mini Catalogue. As a demonstrator, we have the ability to purchase from the new catalogue the month prior to general public access. It is a fun perk. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a demonstrator, I would be delighted to help you. 

I created 2 cards that are “similar but different” featuring the Stars at Night bundle:

My pre-order arrived a couple of days ago and I couldn’t resist playing with the Stars at Night bundle … and I love it so much.  There are so many creative opportunities. I wanted to play with the Stars at Night Hybrid Embossing Folder and create a card featuring the large embossed die cut star, so card 1 came into being.

CARD 1

A sheet or Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper was wet-on-wet water-coloured using Orchid Oasis, Misty Moonlight and Night of Navy Classic Stampin’ inks and a flat brush Water Painter. The sheet was left to dry and then cut in half before being trimmed with the second largest Deckled Rectangle die. The other panel was used for the second card (below). I had hoped the centre of the background panel would be lighter to give a look of glow coming from behind the star so I used my trusty Blending Brush with some White Craft ink to lighten the centre of the background panel. 

A die that cut a multi pronged starburst with many tiny dots was used in the upper central area. (The tiny die cut holes don’t show very well in these photos.) Wink of Stella was splattered over the background. There was more splatter than planned but for me it could represent different sized stars and shooting stars, etc. Some of the Holographic Trio Speciality Paper  was placed within the Stars at Night Hybrid Embossing Folder with the stars die positioned within the embossing folder. Can you see the embossed details on the central star. Isn’t it gorgeous. A few tiny stars were also cut from the Holographic Speciality Paper.

A flurry of tiny stars were randomly stamped in White Craft Ink on 2 opposite corners of the Starry Sky card base.  The deckled background panel was mounted onto a slightly larger panel of the Boho Blue 2023-2025 Luster Speciality Paper. This card front was popped up on the Starry Sky card front with Dimensionals. The holographic stars were scattered in the ‘sky’ around the larger central star using either Mini Dimensionals or Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

A sentiment from the Night Divine stamp set was white heat embossed on Starry Sky card-stock using White Emboss Powder, Versamark ink, the Embossing Accessories kit and a Heat Tool. The sentiment was fussy cut with Stampin’ Up!s Snips. The sentiment was centred across the star with Mini Dimensionals. A few Iridescent Rhinestones Basic Jewels around the sentiment give a little extra sparkle.

A Basic White card panel was decorated with a left over thin strip of Boho Blue Luster Speciality Paper. The die cut star-burst that had been cut from the centre of the water-coloured card front was adhered to the card inner and a tiny holographic star was laid over.

A C6 Basic White envelope was partially stamped with tiny stars in Starry Sky ink.

CARD 2

After almost finishing the first card (above) I was relaxing and again browsing through the new Mini Catalogue and noticed the cards showing this gorgeous bundle. I had a closer look and realised the star in one of the cards was formed with numerous simple die cut star shapes that were layered one over the other. Wanting to try this I decided to use the other water-coloured panel to create a second card using a similar layout but changing the way the star was created and using gold rather than holographic silver.

I really love the effect of this layered star. As with the previous card, the background panel was trimmed with a Deckled Rectangle die. It was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Gold Foil. The Starry Sky card base was stamped in 2 corners with tiny stars in Starry Sky ink. The central panel was popped up on the card front with Dimensionals.

Die cut stars were created from More Dazzle Speciality Paper, Gold Foil and Very Vanilla card-stock and extra tiny stars were cut from Gold Foil. The large central star was added with a Mini Dimensional between each layer. The tiny stars were adhered with tiny dots of Liquid Glue.

The same sentiment also was heat embossed onto Starry Sky card-stock. After being fussy cut, it was adhered using Mini Dimensionals. A number of gold Festive Pearls were added. A Very Vanilla C6 envelope was also stamped with the tiny flurry of stars in Starry Sky ink. The card inner was similar to the previous card.

Thank you so much for dropping in to check out my Christmas cards. I so appreciate you.

There is more Christmas creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the talented Michele Taylor. I am looking forward to checking out Michele’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week as we continue the weekly Heart of Christmas 2023 Blog Hop series until the end of November. Don’t forget that we will be blogging again on Wednesday evening for the AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop. We will be featuring a delightful colour - Calypso Coral this week.

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our wonderful Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas Coordinator.  She is a special lady. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the new Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the coming September-December 2023 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 these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#heartofchristmas  #heartofchristmas2023  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #starsatnight  #nightdivine

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #15 Cajun Craze

Cajun Craze with Cheerful Daisies

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are working though the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order, focussing on one colour each week.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a rich burnt orange called Cajun Craze. Cajun Craze is one of the Regals Colour Family and is rusty colour. This colour is lovely when used for terracotta pots, flowers/flower centres and is a great colour when creating with a fella in mind.

Cajun Craze is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin' Blends Combo; Watercolor Pencils; Regals Designer Series Paper as well as One Horse Open Sleigh, Les Shoppes, Delightfully Eclectic & Fresh as a Daisy DSPs; Dry Brushed Metallic Speciality Designer Series Paper; Timeless Greetings Kit; Cosy & Bright Kit; and the Wreath of Blooms Kit.  That is quite a list.

Cajun Craze card-stock and ink have been used in the creation of this project plus a range of non-Cajun Craze bits and pieces.

When thinking about the project I would create to hero Stampin’ Up!s Cajun Craze, I attended a Zoom Session with Emma Goddard, a UK Demonstrator and past Artisan. One of the projects she created was an upright flower pot. This sparked my imagination and I have been pondering how I could CASE the project, yet make it my own. Thank you Emma for sharing yourself and being so inspirational.

Changing dimensions, I created a wide-ish low pot from Thick Very Vanilla card-stock. The curved sides were shaped using the curved Basic Border die. An extra strip was cut to give the pot’s top extra depth. Cajun Craze Classic Stampin’ ink was applied to the front of the card with a Blending Brush. Colour was also applied to the extra strip. The patchy text stamp from Gorgeously Made stamps was partially stamped near edges of the “pot” and the strip with 2nd generation Cajun Craze ink. The strip was added with Dimensionals. Some water was misted over the pot to add a little extra texture. A Stampin’ Mister was used so water droplets were fine.

Using the Stampin’ Trimmer, a slit was cut in the top fold leaving 1.5cm un-cut on each end. A piece of Cajun Craze card-stock was cut wide enough to fit through the slit and was taller than the “pot” so it poked out at the top. I needed to shape the lower edges so the inner panel would not stick out from the shaped pot. A piece of Very Vanilla card-stock was cut slightly smaller.

I initially planned to create a pot of pansies but as I was about to die cut many pansy pieces to water-colour and form numerous pansies; but then … I remembered I still had a number of die cut daisy pieces that had been prepared for a demonstration of ‘water-colouring die cut pieces’. I only needed to die cut a few more pieces using the Cheerful Daisies dies. The daisies were wet on wet water-coloured with either Lemon Lolly and a little Daffodil Delight inks or Petal Pink ink. The leaves and twigs were water-coloured with Mossy Meadow ink. They were left to air dry.

All of the die cut and water-coloured pieces were formed into layered daisies and arranged using either Dimensionals, Glue Dots or Multipurpose Liquid Glue. Some of the arrangement was adhered to the pot and other pieces were adhered to the inner section so that flowers would decorate the card inner as well as the pot.

The other consideration was to ensure the finished card would fit into a normal C6 envelope.

A sentiment from the Cheerful Daisies stamp set was white embossed onto Cajun Craze card-stock, using Versamark ink, White Emboss powder (from the Basics Embossing Powder set), the Embossing Accessory kit (this is brilliant) and a Heat Tool. The sentiment was fussy cut into 2 pieces. A triple Linen Twine bow was adhered between the daisies with Glue Dots and numerous Iridescent Basic Rhinestones were scattered for touches of sparkle.

The inner section is to be used for writing one’s personal message. The only problem is - as it is so pretty with the water-coloured daisies I’m not sure if I could add my handwritten scrawl. A Very Vanilla C6 Envelope was stamped in Cajun Craze ink with the small daisies stamp from the Cheerful Daisies stamp set.

Thank you so much for calling ink to check out my Cajun Craze pot of daisies. I so appreciate your visit to the Valley Inspirations with Andrea blog.

There is more Cajun Craze creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Christine Blain. I am looking forward to checking out Christine’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Calypso Coral as we continue the weekly 2023-2024 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is a special lady. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the new Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the new Sept-December 2023 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!. 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #cheerfuldaisies   #gorgeouslymade  #basicborders

AWH Heart of Christmas #1

Christmas with Trucking Along 

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the first Art with Heart Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2023.

This week I am showcasing the Trucking Along bundle in a Christmas card. I actually started this card for last week’s Colour Creations Blog Hop, colouring the truck in Blueberry Bushel but decided I wouldn’t complete it in time given numerous interruptions. So here it is.

My card was inspired by the wonderful Charlett Mallet, a Stampin’ Up! Artisan, who demonstrated projects using the Trucking Along Bundle at Stampin’ Up!s Creativity Now Online event. I’ve also seen a number a projects by other Artisans. It’s a great bundle with the Trucking Along stamp set and a coordinating punch. This bundle is only available on line as an On-line Exclusive.

A piece of Basic White card-stock was first coloured with Balmy Blue & a touch of Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin’ inks and a Blending Brush. Some Wild Wheat ink was applied lightly as indicative of the dried grassy hills we see in Australia during summer. The road was lightly coloured with Pebbled Path ink and lightened out at the base. This panel was die cut with the largest Deckled Rectangle die. The die was repositioned to cut the coloured panel into a square.

The coloured panel was mounted onto a slightly larger piece of Basic White card-stock and then onto 2023-2025 In Colour Luster Speciality Paper. A piece of Silver ribbon - an Online Exclusive ribbon bundle was added and adhered at the back of the panel. This piece was popped up with Dimensionals onto the card front that had been covered fully with one of the designs of the Countryside Inn Designer Series Paper.

Clouds had been white heat embossed in the ‘sky’ using Versamark ink, White Emboss Powder and a Heat Tool and road lines had been stamped in Pebble Path ink on the coloured panel prior to the layering process described above. Onto another piece of Basic White card-stock the truck was stamped twice in Blueberry Bushel ink; the tree in Garden Green ink; and a tower of presents with Balmy Blue ink. To stamp the tower of presents, the lower set of presents was masked and presents were stamped on top. This process was repeated to build the stack. While the stamp set has in-fill stamps, I wanted to colour the images with Alcohol Stampin’ Blends. The truck and trailer were coloured with Blueberry Bushel, Boho Blue, Balmy Blue, Wild Wheat, Pebbled Path and Smoky Slate Blends combos plus my trusty Colour Lifter. The pine tree was coloured with Granny Apple Green and Old Olive Blends combos. The presents were partially coloured with the previously mentioned range of blues and some Wink of Stella. The trucks were punched out with the coordinating punch and the front of the second truck was trimmed away to create the trailer. The presents and tree were fussy cut. The coloured images were adhered in place with either Mini Dimensionals or Multipurpose Liquid Glue.

As I had initially coloured a normal A6 card front with blending, a section of the sky was trimmed away when I decided to create a square card. The Christmas sentiment from the Trucking Along stamp set in Blueberry Bushel ink onto the discarded piece of blended sky. The sentiment was fussy cut into two and then added with Mini Dimensionals. The card was finished with a number of white sequins from the Adhesive-backed Sequins Trio. I had planned to add a bow on one side or the other of the centre panel but decided it only detracted rather than embellished.

The card inner was simply a square piece of Basic White card-stock with presents stamped in Boho Blue ink along the bottom edge before being mounted on a larger piece of the same Countryside Inn Designer Series Paper before being adhered inside the Basic White Thick card base. I will need to create a square envelope using the same DSP. That’s a job for tomorrow.

Thanks so much for dropping in. I do so appreciate you spending time with me.

There is much more Christmas creativity so do continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Theresa Gerrard. I am looking forward to checking out Theresa’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration to help our preparations for Christmas.

I hope to see you next week as we continue the weekly Heart of Christmas 2023 Blog Hop series. 

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Sharon Davern’s blog @ Rhapsody in Craft. Sharon is our wonderful Art With Heart Team Heart of Christmas Coordinator.  She is a very special lady. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the September - December 2023 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!. 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #truckingalong   

AWH Colour Creations Blog Hop #14 Blueberry Bushel

Blueberry Bushel with Seaside Bay & Beauty of the Deep, plus a Christmas Cottage Wreath

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are working though the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order, focussing on one colour each week.

This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a junior blue colour called Blueberry Bushel. Blueberry Bushel is one of the Regals Colour Family and is a rich mid blue. This colour was previously an In Colour and has been returned to the Stampin’ Up! colour range this year.

Blueberry Bushel is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin' Blends Combo; Regals Designer Series Paper as well as Stargazing, Glorious Gingham, Bright & Beautiful DSPs; Bright & Beautiful Memories & More Card Pack and Cards & Envelopes, plus Tinsel Gems Four Pack and Confetti Card Kit.

Blueberry Bushel card-stock, ink, Stampin’ Write Marker, Stampin’ Write Marker and Stampin’ Blends combo have been used in the creation of this project plus a range of non-Blueberry Bushel bits and pieces.

When thinking of Blueberry Bushel, the first thing I thought of was berries but then blue sea came to mind. I’d just heard of a friend who had recently hurt her shoulder and is out of action for a month. She loves sea themed cards so that decided my Blueberry Bushel project would be a sea theme. I’d created a spanner fun fold recently and thought it could work well with the sea theme.

A sea plant from the Beauty of the Deep stamp set was white heat embossed onto Basic White card-stock. The background panel was ombré blended using Crumb Cake, Balmy Blue, Blueberry Bushel and some Night of Navy Classic Stampin inks. I love the way the white embossed image resisted the application of inks - its a beautiful effect - although looking at the photo - only a little is easily seen. A little bit of White Embossing Paste was applied with a spatula on the area between sand and sea to be reminiscent of white sea foam. Some water droplets were sprinkled over the blending to add extra interest and a splattering of White Craft ink and Light Blueberry Bushel Stampin’ Blend. The background panel was cut into 3 and all pieces were mounted onto Basic White card-stock. In turn, they were mounted onto a Blueberry Bushel card base that had been cut as required for a spanner card. An extra piece of card-stock was blended for the strip that spanned the card.

Sea plants from Beauty of the Deep stamp set and from Botanical Layers stamp set were white heat embossed on Vellum card-stock using Versamark ink, White Emboss Powder, the Embossing Additions kit and a Heat Tool. Both fish stamps were stamped in either Petal Pink or Calypso Coral inks on Basic White card-stock. Shells from Seaside Bay stamp set were stamped in Crumb Cake ink and the large bird from Seaside Bay stamps was stamped in Blueberry Bushel ink. Extra colouring was added with Stampin’ Blends Combos. Coordinating dies from Beauty of the Deep & Seaside Bay cut out images, although I also did some fussy cutting of the Botanical Layers plant and detailing some bits here and there. Coral (from the Beauty of the Deep dies) was die cut from Basic White card-stock and very lightly coloured with Petal Pink ink.

As you can see when you lift the spanner section, the centre part of the card front is seperate. It was designed to show hidden fish swimming in the deep around the coral and shells can be seen more clearly.

All the images were arranged and adhered with either Multipurpose Liquid Glue or a few Dimensionals. The spanner strip was adhered to both edge panels with Liquid Glue. A sentiment from the Marvellous Nature stamp set was white heat embossed onto Blueberry Bushel card-stock. It was fussy cut and adhered with Mini Dimensionals. A number of Flat Adhesive-backed Pearls add a little shimmer both on the spanner section and hidden under on the centre panel. But then when you lift up the centre panel …

… The scene changes on the inside of the card to a beach scene with small shells and the larger Oyster Shell stamped in Crumb Cake ink. The Oyster shell was coloured on the inside with White Craft ink and Wink of Stella. A personal message is to be written on the centre panel. A C6 Basic White Envelope was stamped with the longer sea plant from the Beauty of the Deep stamps.

Here is a different angle of the Blueberry Bushel Seaside Bay Spanner card.

Christmas Card - A monochromatic Cottage Wreath

Here is a monochromatic Blueberry Bushel Cottage Wreath card. I had planned and started a different Christmas card but “stuff happened”. Recognising that I may not have time to complete my planned design. I then created a simpler card using Blueberry Bushel and Basic White.

There is more Blueberry Bushel creativity so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the special Christine Blain. I am looking forward to checking out Christine’s creation. I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration.

I do hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Cajun Craze as we continue the weekly 2023-2024 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 

Also, we are commencing the Heart of Christmas Blog Hop next Monday night - there will be lots of Christmas creating ideas to help us all start preparing for the festive season.

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

Andrea 💕🐾

If you find a broken link or would like to view the full list of participants go to Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our brilliant Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator.  She is a wonderful lady. Check out her delightful creation while you are there.

If you live in Australia, don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and would like your own copy of the Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and the coming September-December 2023 Mini Catalogue then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you.  Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about these projects or Stampin' Up!. 

#colourcreationsbloghop  #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo  #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam  #papercrafter  #valleyinspirations   #seasidebay  #beautyofthedeep  #botanicallayers   #cottagewreaths