Art with Heart Creative Showcase - September 2020

Masculine Theme with World of Good

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the September 2020 Art with Heart Creative Showcase. 

This month we are focusing on projects suitable to give fellas. I have created a card using Stampin' Up!s gorgeous World of Good Suite. I have had an idea floating around my brain ever since I first saw this Suite, so I'm delighted to try it out for this Creative Showcase. As I created this card, I also had a special guy in mind who will be celebrating his birthday soon. He is someone who has spent much of his life helping others.

I've been wanting to create a spinner card, that is to have part of the design spin when the card is opened. In this case it is the "world". I don't know about you, but at times I am feeling that the world is spinning too fast. We are in strange times...

A friend helped me take a video to help you see the card when it opens. I was crafting with friends - one in person and our other friend online; but needed to leave before this card was finished, so you may notice that there were no gems on the card in the video.

The World of Good Suite includes beautiful World of Good Speciality Designer Series Paper (SDSP), with a number of the designs having brass highlights. The sheet I chose has brass consecutive circles on a Misty Moonlight design. I cut the SDSP so that the centre of the circles would be in the middle of the card front ... and then I die cut a circle in the centre! 

How did this card come together ...?

A card base of Misty Moonlight card-stock (normal portrait size card in Australia) was scored in half and then the front was scored in half again. The World of Good SDSP sheet was cut so that one piece would fit the top front. The second piece - the same size as the first, was cut for the inner front. A third piece was to fit the bottom half of the card. Care was taken to ensure the pieces were kept in order so the circles continued on. Two very thin strips of Brass Foil card-stock were adhered to the beginning and end of the SDSP on the card.

A circle was cut from the centre of the front of the card using a circle die from the Stitched Shapes dies.  Two of the circular dies were used to cut two metallic round frames and the small pedestal out of the Brass Metallic card-stock. Half of the pedestal and one side of a round frame were adhered around the circular hole on the top folded section, that is, half was adhered directly, the other half hung over and across the card.

To create the world, a piece of Shimmery White card-stock was water-coloured with Seaside Spray, Pretty Peacock and Highland Heather Classic ink and the mid-size Water Painter. While the water-coloured card-stock was drying, the two world dies from the World Map dies were used to cut two spheres of the world out of Brass Metallic card-stock. I was excited when I first saw this die set - it was great to see Australia represented. Once the water-coloured piece was dry, two circles were die cut. This circle die was included in the World Map dies.

Each metallic world sphere was adhered to a watercolour circle. I wanted to use a fine thread that wouldn't dominate the design as the structural thread to suspend the world in space. I couldn't find a clear sewing thread (used many years ago) but found some retired Stampin' Up! Copper Thread. 

This was centred across the back of one of the world spheres and the other sphere adhered over it so the thread was completely stuck through the centre. The metallic thread was then adhered along the fold at the back of the card front. Another piece of SDSP then was adhered to the back of the card front, to ensure the thread was firmly attached and all card surfaces were decorated. The second metallic frame was adhered at the edge of the hole.

I usually add a sentiment on the card front. I tried numerous approaches, including gold heat embossing on Misty Moonlight card-stock; water-colouring more Shimmery White card-stock and either stamping or heat embossing on it; using a label or fussy cutting the sentiment, different size sentiments, etc. Nothing seemed to work - it just detracted from the SDSP design and that sense of outer space around our world. Yet I kept looking at the front of the card - it needed something. To finish the card a number of Wonderful Gems were scattered over the outer space to represent stars and planets and add a little sparkle. These embellishments are so delightful. A pack includes gems in both red and clear, with little specks of gold floating within the gems. Delicious.

A piece of Whisper White card-stock was stamped with a sentiment from the Beautiful World stamp set and the feather pen was added to the corner - all stamped in Misty Moonlight Classic ink. The feather pen was also stamped on a Whisper White C6 Envelope to tie it in with the card.

I had fun creating this card, even though it didn't just fall into place. There was a bit of nutting out how to create the effect that I wanted to achieve. Must admit, I was excited to see my world spinning around and practiced a number of times - only to find that the thread seemed to pull/stretch and my world started to fall - it was no longer centred in its space. It took a bit of fiddling to return it to its right position. Obviously, I'm no Atlas (ie the Greek god, Atlas).

Thank you for visiting Valley Inspirations. I really appreciate you spending time on my blog.

 

I am so blessed to be apart of such a talented team. Knowing each of my colleagues in this Creative Showcase, I am sure that they have some amazing projects to share with you. Don't miss checking out each of their blogs. Rachel is our wonderful host of the Art with Heart Monthly Creative Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's amazing masculine creations, you can visit/revisit Rachel's page at Handstamped by Rachel, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to checking out everyone's creations. I always find inspiration.

I hope you join us again next month for October's Art With Heart Team Creative Showcase. I'm not sure what we will be showcasing but I know it will be fun and inspiring given my colleagues and the Stampin' Up products we love. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you are in Australia and would like a copy of the  Stampin' Up! 2020-2021 Annual Catalogue or the August - December Mini Catalogue; or if you have any queries that I could help with. Also, if you are interested in buying Stampin' Up! products I would delighted to serve you.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones. Stay safe and stay heathy and sane.

Andrea 😘

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #15 Early Expresso

Early Expresso with The Right Triangle and Gilded Autumn

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 15th Colour Creations Showcase with members of the Art with Heart Team.

This week we are focussing on a dark brown called Early Expresso. As the name suggests, it is the colour of black coffee. This colour sits within the Neutrals Stampin' Up! colour family. Early Expresso can be found in Stampin' Up!s cardstock, Classic inks, Stampin' Write Markers, Watercolour Pencil, a number of different packs of Designer Series Paper and a gorgeous Faux Suede Trim. 

Early Expresso is a strong colour and could easily dominate a design, however, in small amounts and combined with other colours, it can add depth and compliment other colours. Depending on the design it is also a colour that could be used instead of black. 

This week's cards have included a couple of the Designer Series Papers that have touches of Early Expresso. 

CARD 1:  The In Good Taste Designer Series Paper (DSP) is so gorgeous depicting a range of textures including natural wood, tiles and textiles. I chose one of the dark wood designs where Early Expresso is naturally featured and die cut a triangle from the Stitched Triangles dies. Recently I had seen a lovely photo of a pretty little bird that had areas of dark brown with a lighter brown and the tummy feathers a couple of shades of blue. I decided to use this little bird as inspiration for my colour combination. Smaller triangles were die cut from Misty Moonlight and Seaside Spray card-stocks. The Misty Moonlight triangle was embossed with the Pinewood Planks 3D embossing folder. A narrow strip of Seaside Spray card-stock was die cut with a row of tiny triangles.

A Whisper White card-stock card front was stamped in Seaside Spray Classic ink using one of the background stamps from The Right Triangle stamp set. A sentiment from the Many Mates stamp set was stamped in Early Expresso Classic ink. This card front was embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. (I so love this embossing folder. As its name suggests, it adds some subtle linen like texture.)

The stamped/embossed card front was mounted on Early Expresso card-stock at a slight angle. A piece of the Misty Moonlight In Colour ribbon was tied around the mounted card front. The die cut strip was laid over the ribbon and the triangles were arranged, popping them up on Dimensionals / Mini Dimensionals.

A lighter section of the darker woodgrain design of DSP was adhered at an angle directly to the Early Expresso card base. The card front was popped up on Dimensionals also at a slight angle. To finish the card three clear Elegant Faceted Gems were added. These gems are so gorgeous with a faceted top and come in clear, white and Petal Pink - so beautiful.

A Whisper White card inner with a thin strip of the wooden DSP at the base had a 'Happy Birthday' sentiment from the Many Mates stamp set was stamped in Early Expresso Classic ink and the same background stamp was stamped around the sentiment in Seaside Spray Classic ink.

A Whisper White C6 envelope was stamped with a small triangle from The Right Triangle stamp set in Early Expresso Classic ink and the background stamp was stamped in Seaside Spray Classic ink.

CARD 2:  Looking at the other DSPs which include Early Expresso I was inspired to use the Gilded Autumn Speciality DSP and other products in the Gilded Autumn Suite. It is such a gorgeous Suite and even though we are heading into Spring rather than Autumn I think gilded leaves are always in style.

Prior to a strip of striped SDSP being adhered across the middle of a Very Vanilla card-stock card front, some seeds were stamped on the card front in Crumb Cake Classic ink. The card front was mounted, with a very fine mount, to the Bronze Brushed Metallic card-stock. A rectangle was die cut from Very Vanilla card-stock using the Stitched Rectangles dies. This piece was also mounted onto Metallic card-stock.

A piece of the Metallic Ribbon from the Basket Weave & Metallic Ribbon Combo pack was stretched across the stitched rectangle. I had initially thought of tying some of the ribbon to a metallic acorn and adhering it to the trim, but later decided this would detract rather than add to the card design. Often it's what you leave off that is just as important as what is added to a design.

A sentiment from the Beautiful Autumn stamp set was stamped in Early Expresso Classic ink onto Very Vanilla card-stock, which was then die cut using the smallest long stitched rectangle die. This sentiment was popped up on Mini Dimensionals over the trim. The mounted stitched vanilla rectangle was centred on the card front and adhered with Dimensionals.

One of the SDSP designs is covered with gilded gold and bronze leaves and acorns. The coordinating set of small punches match some of the leaves and the acorns on the SDSP which enabled them to be punched out using the coordinating punch set. The small leaves were easily fussy cut. Two of the Oak leaves were punched from the Brushed Metallic card-stock. Each of the leaves were shaped and either adhered with liquid glue or Mini Dimensionals across the card front.

A thin strip of the striped DSP, featuring Early Expresso, was added at the bottom of the Very Vanilla card inner, which was adhered in the card. A few leaves and an acorn were also adhered flat to the card inner. A Very Vanilla C6 Envelope was stamped with the oak leaf in Early Expresso Classic ink.

I hope you like my cards. Do make contact with me if you have any queries. Also if you live in Australia, please let me know if you would like me to post a copy of Stampin' Up!s 2020-2021 Annual Catalogue and or the August - December Mini Catalogue.

Catherine Proctor is our amazing host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to checking out everyone's Early Expresso creations. I always find the others creations inspiring.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team will share projects that hero Flirty Flamingo. 

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others. 

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - #14 Daffodil Delight

Daffodil Delight with Prized Peony and Ornate Style

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the fourteenth 2020/21 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team.

This week we are focussing on a bright yellow called Daffodil Delight. Yes, it is the yellow of daffodils. This colour sits within the Brights Stampin' Up! colour family. Daffodil Delight can be found in Stampin' Up!s cardstock, Classic inks, Stampin' Write Marker, Watercolour Pencil, Designer Series Paper and embellishments. 

In preparing for this week's projects, I realised that yellow is not a general 'go to' colour for me. I love bright yellow daffodils, yet when creating I don't tend to use yellow as a focal colour but rather as a colour that is part of a colour combination. This is one of the reasons it is great to be challenged to create with each of the Stampin' Up! colours as part of this Colour Creations Showcase. I certainly am becoming more attuned to the various colours.

CARD 1: My first card is a fancy fold which features the Prized Peony stamp set together with the Forever Fern stamp set. Photos of the unfolded card are below, but first let's talk about the card front. A Whisper White card-stock panel was die cut using the Stitched Rectangles dies. A piece of Old Olive card-stock was cut a tad larger than the stitched rectangle card front. 

One of the Forever Fern stamp set leaf twigs was stamped all around the stitched rectangle in Old Olive Classic Ink. Old Olive Stampin' Blends, both Light and Dark, were used to add more depth to the leaves. The smallest peony from the Prized Peony stamp set was stamped multiple times in Daffodil Delight and Mango Melody Classic ink as well as the leaf section of the same stamp being stamped in Mossy Meadow Classic ink. The flowers were coloured with both Daffodil Delight and Mango Melody Stampin' Blends combos plus the Colour Lifter - some of the flowers were coloured to be darker flowers while others were coloured to be lighter. The leaves were also coloured with Old Olive Stampin' Blends.

The coordinating dies includes a die to cut this flower, however, as I was going to cut the leaves off and later attach the green leaves, I decided to fussy cut the flowers. A couple of the flowers were adhered directly to the card front while most were lifted on Dimensionals.

I am needing some birthday cards so selected a sentiment from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set. I love affirming sentiments so "Let's celebrate you" was perfect and was stamped in Mango Melody Classic ink. To finish the card front Basic Pearl Jewels were coloured with the thick tip of a Dark Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blend. The Stampin' Blends are so great for colouring embellishments to ensure they compliment the project's colour scheme.

This fancy fold design and dimensions was demonstrated by Emma Goddard, a United Kingdom Stampin' Up! Demonstrator who has been part of the Stampin' Up! Artisan Team for a few years. This card is a tad shorter as I kept trimming a smidgen off so the pieces balanced - but realised it was now much shorter - oops! Once mounted on the Old Olive card the card front was attached at one end to the Whisper White card flap that came around to the front. The Whisper White card-stock overlapped the back of the Daffodil Delight card that folded on the RHS. The inner section of this flap was covered inside with a piece of Whisper White card-stock that had been mounted on a slightly larger piece of Daffodil Delight card-stock.

Here is the card inner fully open. Whisper White card inners were stamped with the same leaf stamp and coloured in the same way. One of the smallest peonies was adhered flat onto the LHS flap. A second sentiment also came from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set and was also stamped in Mango Melody. Two of the mid-sized peonies were stamped and coloured in a similar way to the peonies on the card front. The lighter peony was adhered directly to the card inner and I couldn't resist popping the darker peony on Dimensionals. Stamped and coloured leaves from the Prized Peony stamp set were tucked under the peonies.

The mid-sized peony was stamped on a Whisper White C6 Envelope with Daffodil Delight Classic ink to tie the envelope to the card design.

CARD 2: I didn't think I would be able to create a second card, but this morning I started creating before progressing through my normal morning routine. I have a large old daisy bush in my front garden that is currently flowering with bright yellow daisies. It has inspired this card.

A Whisper White card-stock card front was embossed with one of the Meadows Moments Embossing Folders, with the leaves being embossed at both the top and bottom of the card front. Before being adhered directly to the Daffodil Delight card base Whisper White Crinkled Seam Binding, which had been stamped with the daisy stamp in Daffodil Delight Classic ink was wrapped around the embossed piece and a bow tied at the edge. The stamping on the ribbon gave it a light yellow mottled tinge.

A large label was die cut in Whisper White card-stock using one of the larger and less ornate labels in the Ornate Labels die set. A piece of Daffodil Delight card-stock was cut to be a tad larger that the die cut piece. Once stamped and embossed the die cut label was mounted on the larger Daffodil Delight card-stock.

The single daisy from the Ornate Style stamp set was stamped in three similar colours, that is Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry and Mango Melody. A couple of the daisies were stamped on Post It Notes and fussy cut so the flowers were stamped with some perspective. The Whisper White label was embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. Once the Whisper White label was mounted on the Daffodil Delight mount it was adhered to the card front with Dimensionals.

Three extra daisies were stamped on an extra piece of Whisper White card-stock using the Stamparatus with Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzaz Stampin' Write Markers. The daisies were coloured with Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody and Old Olive Stampin' Blends Combos. Each daisy was fussy cut and layered over the stamped daisies on the embossed label using Mini Dimensionals. Instead of a stamped sentiment, the word "friend" was die cut four times from Daffodil Delight card-stock and layered directly one above the other. A little sponging in Mango Melody with a Sponge Dauber was added to the bottom of the word. A simple word like this enables the card to be used in a range of ways. It could be used for a friend's Birthday, a Thank You, Just Because or ...

A Whisper White card inner and a Whisper White C6 Envelope were simply stamped with the same daisy in Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry and Mango Melody Classic inks.

Three self adhesive sequins from the Sharing Sunshine Paper Pumpkin kit were added as a finishing touch.

Thank you for spending time at Valley Inspirations. I hope you found the cards bright and happy. (Just realised my daisy bush is in the background.)

Catherine Proctor is our wonderful host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to checking out everyone's Daffodil Delight creations and am sure they will be inspiring.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team will share projects that hero a dark brown, Early Expresso. 

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others. 

Andrea 💕🐾

#colourcreationsshowcase

Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase - # 13 Crushed Curry

Crushed Curry with Celebrate Sunflowers and Fancy Phrases

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the thirteenth 2020/21 Colour Creations Showcase by members of the Art with Heart Team. 

This week we are focussing on Crushed Curry, a strong yellow with some depth. Crushed Curry is part of Stampin' Up!'s Regals family of colours. As with all of Stampin' Up!'s colours, products in Crushed Curry span their range, including: Card-stock, Classic Stampin' Ink Pad and Ink Refill; Stampin' Write Marker; Watercolour Pencil, Designer Series Paper (Regals 6x6 Designer Series Paper, etc) and the Playing with Patterns Resin Dots.

As suggested last week, I have created a project with the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set. Crushed Curry is a great colour for sunflowers. Both cards used Crushed Curry in their water-colour backgrounds.

CARD 1: The water-colour background was created using the smooshing technique, that is my Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' ink pad was dabbed onto a piece of acetate and water was misted over with a Stampin' Spritzer. A piece of Fluid 100 Water Colour paper was laid over the ink and then lifted. The water-colour paper was then dabbed back into the ink on areas where I thought I would like some more colour. This water-coloured background was put aside to dry and then was embossed with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder. The background was mounted with a thin mount of Cinnamon Cider card-stock before being popped up on Dimensionals onto the Crushed Curry card-stock base.

The large sunflower and leaves from the Celebrate Sunflowers stamp set was stamped onto Shimmery White card-stock with Saddle Brown Stazon ink. Sazon ink was needed as I wanted to water-colour the sunflower and leaves using a Blender Pen. Crushed Curry, Cinnamon Cider and a little So Saffron ink was used to colour the sunflower; with Old Olive and Pear Pizzaz used to colour the leaves. The water-coloured pieces were die cut with the coordinating Sunflower dies.

The Sunflower dies were also used to die cut the gorgeous sunflower overlay out of the delicious Brass foil. The Brass foil that is new to the current Annual Catalogue is such a rich colour and is delightful to work with. Little leaf twigs were also cut from the Brass foil.

Together with a piece of Flowers for Every Season Whisper White Faux Linen Ribbon, the sunflower, leaves and twigs were arranged with the sunflower popped up on Dimensionals and the leaves tucked under. A sentiment from the same stamp set was stamped in Versamark ink on Crushed Curry card-stock and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder. The sentiment was fussy cut and positioned with Mini Dimensionals. Gilded Gems added the finishing touch.

A small sunflower, which had been similarly coloured to the larger sunflower was adhered to the card inner and another sentiment was stamped in Crushed Curry ink. The Whisper White C6 Envelope was stamped directly with the smaller sunflower in Crushed Curry ink.

CARD 2: The background for this card was created by stamping the large floral spray from the Fancy Phrases stamp set multiple times over a piece of Fluid 100 Water-colour paper with Versamark ink and heat embossed with White Stampin' Emboss powder.  Water was spread over the embossed paper with the mid-sized Water Painter and then Crushed Curry ink was added for a Wet on Wet watercolour with the emboss resist technique. Once dry the water-coloured background was mounted on a piece of Gray Granite card-stock leaving a fine mount. Then this was adhered directly to the Crushed Curry card base.

A frame was cut from Crushed Curry card-stock using the Stitched Rectangle dies. I must admit, I cut a number of frames in different colour card-stocks to help me assess which colour would be best and ended up with the Crushed Curry frame.

The same stamp that was used on the heat embossed water-coloured background was stamped on Whisper White card-stock with Gray Granite ink. The floral spray was coloured with Stampin' Blends, ie Light and Dark Misty Moonlight blends for the flowers with Dark So Saffron for the flower centres; and Light and Dark Mint Macaron blends for the leaves. The floral spray was fussy cut and positioned using Dimensionals.

The sentiment also came from the Fancy Phrases stamp set. It was stamped twice - once with Crushed Curry ink on Whisper White card-stock and another time with Versamark ink on Crushed Curry card-stock and heat embossed with White Emboss powder. Both were fussy cut with "When I count my" on the Whisper White card-stock being cut in two and adhered directly to the card front; and "blessings" on the Crushed Curry card-stock being popped up on Mini Dimensionals.

The card front was finished with a few Wonderful Gems. I did think about adding ribbon or twine and tried a number of different options but in the end decided not to add anything.

The card inner was stamped with the floral spray in Crushed Curry ink; as was the second part of the sentiment. I had an "oops moment". After I had adhered the card inner in place I realised that I hadn't added the second part of the sentiment. I practiced on a piece of scrap paper before stamping directly on to the card inner - and you guessed it, it didn't stamp well, so I needed to add a small label with the sentiment. Making the most of this, I added a small piece of the water-colour background under the label to link to the card front's water-colour. The coordinating Whisper White C6 envelope also was stamped with the floral spray in Crushed Curry ink.

Thank you for spending some time at Valley Inspirations. So glad you dropped in. I hope you are enjoying this week's Colour Creations Showcase, which is focussing on Stampin' Up!s Crushed Curry. 

Catherine Proctor is our amazing host of the Art with Heart Colour Creations Showcase. If you haven't finished visiting all of the team's colour creations, you can visit/revisit Catherine's page at What Cathy Made, where she hosts all the links to the other Showcase participants. I'm certainly looking forward to checking out everyone's Crushed Curry creations. No doubt they will be amazing. I am always inspired by my colleagues.

I hope to see you again next week when members of the team will share projects that hero another yellow, Daffodil Delight. 

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others. 

Andrea 😘

#colourcreationsshowcase