This week the Art With Heart team is showcasing Early Espresso, the richest brown in the Stampin’ Up! Neutrals family. I love how this deep, warm neutral can work as a strong base colour while also adding contrast and depth to lighter shades.
For this card I’ve paired Early Espresso with softer colours: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink, Petal PInk and Pecan Pie.
My card was inspired by a gorgeous housewarming card created by former Artisan, Tammy Wilson. Tammy used the Weekend Adventures Stamp Set and I realised that although this stamp has been designed for memory keeping, it also works really well for cardmaking too. It might have accidentally fallen into my card when I placed my next order, LOL!
I CASED Tammy’s idea of idea of creating a mug rack with hooks, but instead of a housewarming card, I stamped my mugs with snowflakes from the Delicate Pines stamp set to create a soft country Christmas vibe.
How to make my Early Espresso Country Christmas card
The “mug rack” and card base feature the Country Woods DSP, perfect for creating that timber look. Each mug is “hung” on a Neutral Matte Dot, acting as little hooks.
The card front is embossed with the Exposed Brick EF, giving subtle texture and a rustic feel. The “It’s the most magical time of the year” sentiment on the front comes from Delicate Pines Stamp Set, stamped in Early Espresso.
I stamped the mugs from the Weekend Adventures stamp set using the Saddle Brown Stazon ink and coloured in using the following Stampin’ Blends:
Left mug: Pool Party + Light Crumb Cake
Middle mug: Pecan Pie + Light Crumb Cake
Right mug: Light Pretty in Pink + Petal Pink
The snowflakes are also stamped using Saddle Brown Stazon, with Traditional Sparking Sequins adding a touch of sparkle in the centres for that frosty, magical feel. Die cut greenery adds dimension and uses dies from the Delicate Pines dies.
Fussy Cutting the Mugs
Taking the extra time to fussy cut really makes the mugs pop, and the open handles add a professional finish.
Inside, I stamped a message from Gift of Joy: “Wishing you a season wrapped in love and tied up with joy” with additional stamped snowflakes for decoration.
This was such a fun project to make, and it really shows how versatile Early Espresso can be for Christmas crafting. It pairs effortlessly with both pastels and warm tones, giving a grounded, cosy vibe.
Take a look at some more Early Espresso inspiration on our Insta Hop!
Our blog hop is now an Instagram hop but the good news is that you don’t need to have an Instagram account to view all of the other projects!
Simply copy any of the Insta handles below into a new search engine window to follow the Instagram hop at any point.
Next in our Hop is Kate @craftwithkate. Be sure to check out her gorgeous project/s.
The full list of this week’s InstaHop is listed below:
Kate @craftwithkate
Andrea @andreaksargent
Kirsty @crafty.littlemiss
Helen @apaperparadise
Sharon @sharondaverncreates
Leanne @createwithleanne2
Claire @clairedalycreates
Rachel @rachelpalmieristampin
Theresa @teegeeinspirations
Cathy @whatcathymade – you are here!
We’ll be back next Wednesday when we are showcasing Flirty Flamingo.
Looking for some more Christmas card inspiration?
Our Heart of Christmas blog hop is back for 2025 and we will go live at 8pm (EAST) every Monday night with Christmas card inspiration. This hop is a traditional blog hop (not an Insta Hop) so you can see all of the team’s creations by reading my blog and clicking through to the next person .
Are you ready for some more Christmas crafting inspiration?
It’s week three of the 2025 Heart of Christmas blog hop and our Art With Heart team have plenty more inspiration for your Christmas projects.
My Christmas card this week combines products from the Peaceful Garden Suite Collection and the Modern Christmas Suite. I love it when products from different suites work so well together!
The Ornamental Christmas dies are part of the Modern Christmas Suite and they include two large Christmas bauble dies with ornament cap dies, just perfect for showcasing beautiful patterns in DSP.
I’ve seen a few Christmas cards that have used the Bauble Blooms Dies with the Peaceful Garden 12″ x 12″ (30.5 x 30.5 cm) Designer Series Paper, so I thought I’d see if it also worked with the Ornamental Christmas dies and I’m really happy with the result!
I’ve used the ornament cap dies to die cut the Peaceful Garden 12″ x 12″ (30.5 x 30.5 cm) Glimmer Paper, adding a touch of shimmer to my Christmas card. I had to photograph my card outside this week to capture the glimmer – I think this photo shows it the best.
Such a pretty card deserves a handmade envelope, so I made one using the Peaceful Garden 12″ x 12″ (30.5 x 30.5 cm) Designer Series Paper .
The “Happy Christmas” sentiment is stamped in Secret Sea using a sentiment from a gorgeous stamp set called the Gift of Joy Stamp Set.
Take a look at some more Christmas Card inspiration on our Heart of Christmas blog hop!
Now it’s time to hop in over to our next participant, the lovely Sharon Davern. I can’t wait to see what Sharon has made this week!
If the next button link is not working or you’d like to see the entire list of participants go to Sharon Davern‘s blog. Sharon does an amazing job of hosting our Heart of Christmas blog every Monday.
Our AWH team will be back on Wednesday night, showcasing Early Espresso on our Insta Hop. I hope you can join us then!
In our house, we try to “cook once, eat twice” during the week and I’ve decided to apply the same approach to my cardmaking this week.
Using the one card sketch I’ve created two cards: a Christmas card and a birthday card. Here are the two versions of the card template I’ve used to make my cards.
Version #1 is a horizontal card design. I used to make my Christmas card
Version #2 is simply Version #1 turned horizontally with the sentiment moved to under the focal point image. I used this version to create a birthday card.
Nests of Winter Christmas Card
The inspiration for both my cards this week came from a beautiful card my friend (and Stampin’ Up! Artisan) Andrea Sargent made for our Insthop last week. It reminded me to fussy the birds and branches from the beautiful Nests of Winter DSP.
The Coastal Cabana DSP panel on the left is also from the Nests of Winter DSP. The embossed cardstock uses an embossing folder called the Mini Corrugated 3D Embossing Folder that is reduced and in the last chance section of the website. The Party Dots embellishments are also reduced and in the last chance section of the website so don’t miss out!
The “Merry Christmas” sentiment is from a stamp set coming in the new Christmas Catalogue called the “Gift of Joy Stamp Set”. I white heat embossed it onto Coastal Cabana cardstock.
Nests of Winter Birthday Card
This card really showcases the versatility of this beautiful DSP. I rotated my sketch and layered my fussy cut bird, branch and foliage images together to create a sweet birthday card. I’ve used a different Coastal Cabana design from the Nests of Winter DSP on this card.
Like my Christmas card, this card uses the soon to be retired Mini Corrugated 3D Embossing Folder and Party Dots embellishments. Both cards are also finished with a bow of linen thread.
Take a look at some more Coastal Cabana inspiration on our Insta Hop!
Our blog hop is now an Instagram hop but the good news is that you don’t need to have an Instagram account to view all of the other projects!
Simply copy any of the Insta handles below into a new search window to follow the Instagram hop at any point.
Next in our Hop is Kirsty @crafty.littlemiss . Be sure to check out her gorgeous project/s.
The full list of this week’s InstaHop is listed below:
Kirsty @crafty.littlemiss
Helen @apaperparadise
Kate @craftwithkate
Leanne @createwithleanne2
Andrea @andreaksargent
Claire @clairedalycreates
Rosa @hum.and.stamp
Sharon @sharondaverncreates
Theresa @teegeeinspirations
Cathy @whatcathymade – you are here!
We’ll be back next Wednesday when we are showcasing Crumb Cake. I hope you can join us then!
