Your Christmas countdown continues – it’s 16 weeks today until Christmas Day! And in even more exciting news, it’s only two days until the Stampin’ Up! September December Mini Catalogue goes live and you can purchase the Merry & Bright bundle.
Sometimes the dies in a bundle can be overlooked if they don’t have a matching stamp set, and to honest, I don’t think I realised the Merry & Bright bundle included these two strings of Christmas lights until my delivery arrived!
I’ve used the die with the more rounded light bulb to create this slimline card. Four “string of Christmas lights” dies were die cut from Basic White cardstock and then coloured in with a variety of Stampin’ Blends.
The top layer of the card was embossed using the Fern 3D embossing folder to mimic the branches of a Christmas tree.
Using the star die in the Merry & Bright bundle, I die cut a few stars from the More Dazzle Specialty paper.
The sentiment is from the Merry & Bright stamp set, stamped in Memento Tuxedo black for contrast against the white card base and card front layer and and the bright colours of the Christmas lights.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Rosa Leyden. I can’t wait to see what Rosa has made this week.
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants on Sharon’s blog.
Welcome to week eighteen of our Art With Heart 2023-24 Colour Creations blog hop!
It’s Father’s day this coming Sunday and as my husband loves to surf (am I allowed to say “lives” to surf?) I was super excited to see that the new Trucking Along stamp set includes a stamp with a surfboard and a palm tree.
Pete also drives a ute so this was the perfect stamp set to use for his Father’s Day card!
Tomorrow is also the last day of Stampin’ Up!’s kit sale, so I’ve used some of the pre-cut palm tree pieces from the A Little Smile All-Inclusive Card Kit on my card.
They work so well with the surfboard/palm stamp from the Trucking Along stamp set and the A Little Smile All-Inclusive Card Kit is on sale for $25.90 until midnight tomorrow night!
This kit also gave me inspiration for the the colour combination and background of my Father’s Day card. I used blending brushes to create layers of Crumb Cake and Coastal Cabana and die cut it out with the third largest Deckled Rectangle die.
I also added an additional white cardstock layer behind the top layer, die cut with the largest Deckled Rectangle die. To make our metric half A4 card base fit imperial American sized dies such as the Deckled Rectangle dies I simply trim about 1cm off one side of the card base before I adhere all the layers together.
Two utes were stamped in Coastal Cabana, with the second ute cut in half to add a trailer to the back of the first ute. Although there is a matching punch, I fussy cut both utes so I could add the surfboard stamp in the back of the first ute and create the trailer from the second ute.
The “Special Delivery” sentiment was going to sit in the ute trailer, however I decided at the last minute to pop it on the palm trees. It’s been punched out with the Double Oval Punch.
These new Adhesive-Backed Glitter Sequins are from the forthcoming September – December catalogue and they’re stunning! I’ve used the Old Olive sequins to match the palm trees and add a touch of bling to complete the card front.
The Father’s Day sentiment inside the card is from the Gone Fishing stamp set, stamped in Coastal Cabana. I added another pre-cut palm tree from the kit to finish off the inside.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Andrea Sargent – I can’t wait to see what Andrea has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
Welcome to week seventeen of our Art With Heart 2023-24 Colour Creations blog hop!
This week I’m using another new product from the forthcoming September – December mini catalogue, the Curved Occasions bundle. This is such a versatile bundle for all year round and many different occasions.
I’ve actually taken inspiration from an image in the new September – December 2023 catalogue, however I’m not allowed to share the inside of the catalogue until it goes live on September 6. So here is my version of the card.
This card is a simple stamping card, with the bouquet of flowers and the “Miss you” sentiment stamped multiple times in Tuxedo Memento and coloured in with Stampin’ Blends. I love using reds and pinks together – doesn’t Cherry Cobbler look great with Bubble Bath!
The colours in the card match these beautiful roses too.
The inside of my card has a single bouquet stamp, coloured with the same Stampin’ Blends.
The pink Pastel Adhesive-Backed Sequins add a touch of bling to complete the card.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Kate Morgan – I can’t wait to see what Kate has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
The Christmas countdown continues – it’s 18 weeks today until Christmas Day! Have you started making Christmas cards yet?
This week I was short of time so I’m following the example of my friend, Tina Gillespie, by creating a 20 minute card. It was this beautiful One Horse Open Sleigh 6″ x 6″ DSP that also inspired the fast and simple card – I just didn’t want to cover it up too much!
The Joy of Noel bundle will be available to purchase from September 3 – it was the large Noel sentiment with matching dies that tipped this bundle into my shopping cart!
I stamped the NOEL in Crumb Cake, die cut it out and used mini dimensionals to adhere the letters to the One Horse Open Sleigh 6″ x 6″ DSP.
Instead of adding an embellishment for a touch of sparkle, I used a die from the Joy of Noel dies to cut some fronds from the More Dazzle Specialty paper.
I kept the inside of the card simple too, with Crumb Cake stamped sentiments from the Joy of Noel stamp set.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Sharon Davern. I can’t wait to see what Sharon has made this week.
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants on Sharon’s blog.
The Christmas countdown continues – it’s 19 weeks today until Christmas Day! Have you started making Christmas cards yet?
Tonight I’m sharing some ideas on ways to use some of the Stampin’ Up! Christmas kits as they are all discounted for the month of August, so now’s the perfect time to purchase a Christmas kit.
Currently, there are 5 kits to choose from and the kit I’ve used to create my cards today is the latest Stampin’ Up! kit, Festive Tags.
There is no stamping required to makes these tags and the sentiment pieces come in several languages.
I was lucky enough to watch Sara Douglass, Stampin’ Up! CEO, demonstrate this in person at a 35 for 35 event last month and she gave us all some samples to take home.
Although this is a tag kit, I’ve turned my sample tags into cards, by using a few extra supplies in the same colours used in the kit.
For the snowman card, I’ve embossed a layer of Pool Party card stock using the circles embossing folder from the Basics Embossing folders (online only).
The layer of Flirty Flamingo has been embossed using the crosshatch embossing folder from the Basics Embossing folders and a scalloped border die cut with the Scalloped Layers dies.
The floral Christmas card uses the same embossing folders and the Scalloped Layers dies to emboss and die cut Real Red and Flirty Flamingo card stock.
I love Flirty Flamingo and Real Red together!
The rest of the elements on my cards are all from the Festive Tags kit.
Some of the other Stampin’ Up! Christmas kits also have stamp sets, acrylic blocks and ink spots included.
The Love, Santa Tag Kit makes very large tags and it has a fabulous stamp set too.
Here are variations on this kit I’ve previously shared – four cards using the tags, as well as another card with matching envelope using just the stamp set.
And here is the fabulous Christmas Whimsy card kit with its gold edged envelopes, stamp set and embellishments.
And here are my card variations – they only use the supplies included in the Christmas Whimsy card kit.
These are the other two Christmas kits, available online only. They both have stamp sets, acrylic blocks and ink spots included too.
It’s so fun and easy to get creative with the Stampin’ Up! Christmas kits – don’t forget to also use the stamps that come in the kits to create your own Christmas cards.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Rachel Woollard. I can’t wait to see what Rachel has made this week.
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants on Sharon’s blog.
Welcome to week fifteen of our Art With Heart 2023-24 Colour Creations blog hop!
Cajun Craze is our colour for this week and as it’s a colour that always makes me think of terracotta pots or brick walls I decided to use the Let’s Go Shopping stamp set to make a watercolor card.
I’ve kept my colour palette fairly simple, stamping the images in Stazon Black Onk onto watercolour paper before watercolouring in Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Gray Granite.
I love the “looseness” of watercolour. Even though I’m not very proficient at watercolouring there aren’t really any mistakes with watercolour. Or at least that’s what I like to tell myself!
Watercolour is a great way to maximise your colours as you can achieve so much variety of depth from each colour. The pale pink door is Cajun Craze watered right down and the entire building is different intensities of Cajun Craze.
Although I now have the reinkers, I still find it easiest to either press my inkpad lids into the ink pad and use the lid as my palette or ink up my acrylic blocks with my ink pads and use the blocks as my palette.
Gray Granite adds shadow and grounds the entire scene.
As I didn’t use watercolour paper for the inside of my card I stamped the pots using Memento ink and coloured them in with Stampin’ Blends instead.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Tina Gillespie – I can’t wait to see what Tina has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
Are you ready for 17 weeks of Christmas inspiration?
Yes, I know it’s still 20 weeks today until Christmas, however time does fly and it’s also less than a month until the Stampin’ Up! 2023 September-December Mini Catalogue (AKA the Christmas Catty) goes live on 6 September.
So, beginning tonight, our Art with Heart team will be sharing Christmas inspiration, tips and tricks every Monday night for 17 weeks right up until November 27th.
If you haven’t already received your paper copy of the Stampin’ Up! 2023 September-December Mini Catalogue in the post, here’s a sneak peek of the cover. Isn’t it stunning?
Luckily, as a demonstrator, I already have a copy of the catalogue and I was able to place an order last week which I received just in time to make a card for our very first 2023 Heart of Christmas blog hop.
I’ve decided to start my 17 weeks of Christmas card making using a one of the brightest, boldest and happiest bundles in the catalogue – the Merry & Bright bundle.
We’re not permitted to share the inside pages of the catalogue until September 6, however I can show you my own photos of the products I’ve already bought.
Introducing the fun and fabulous Merry & Bright bundle!
My card’s colour scheme is basically an assortment of scraps of bright and happy cardstock colours that were lying around on my craft table.
TOP TIP – The silver foil was adhered to an adhesive sheet before die cutting. This makes it super easy to position and reposition the die cut pieces on the card without any glue mess. The die cuts basically become a repositionable sticker!
After adhering all of the light bulbs and strings, the “Merry & Bright” sentiment was stamped in Memento, fussy cut with Paper Snips and adhered to the card from using foam adhesive strips for extra dimension.
I’ve added impact to the sentiment using the “sparkle” stamp (actually designed to be used with the light bulbs) and some of the tiny silver offcuts from the inside of the light filaments.
The card inside is decorated with leftover die cut pieces as well as a mix of sentiment stamps from the Merry & Bright stamp set.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Rosa Leyden. I can’t wait to see what Rosa has made this week.
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants on Sharon’s blog.
Welcome to week fourteen of our Art With Heart 2023-24 Colour Creations blog hop!
This week’s Blueberry Bushel card was made for my niece’s birthday – she adores Bluey! I originally got the idea to make a Bluey punch art/die art card from a card I saw by a USA Stampin’ Up! demonstrator called Michelle Suit. As her Bluey had no arms, I Googled images of Bluey and based my card on this image instead.
My Bluey card uses the current Stampin’ Up! supplies I had on hand and I realised while writing this blog that I omitted to add his shiny black nose even though I had punched one out in Basic Black cardstock! The nose was supposed to be made from the section of the Monkey Builder Punch you can see in the image below.
The front card layer of Azure Afternoon, measures 11.5 x 11.5 cm (4 ½ x 4 ½ inches). The card base also measures 11.5 x 11.5 cm (4 ½ x 4 ½ inches), created from a piece of Basic White cardstock measuring 23 cm x 11.5 cm (9 x 4 ½ inches) scored and folded in half. Do not attach the front card layer to the card base until you’ve completed the card front.
Colours used to make the Bluey Card include: Blueberry Bushel, Azure Afternoon, Balmy Blue, Basic Black, Basic White and Wild Wheat. I love the look of Blueberry Bushel and Azure Afternoon together.
The best way to create this card is to start with the eyes, punched out of Blueberry Bushel with the 2⅜ circle punch and positioned to the sides of the card. The whites of the eyes are cut using the oval die from the “All That Dies”, with the black pupil of the eye die cut using the eggs from “Nested Friends” dies.
The Balmy Blue eyebrows are actually bananas, punched using the Monkey Builder punch, then trimmed with Paper Snips.
The Wild Wheat nose is freehand drawn then fussy cut with Paper Snips and outlined with a Black Stampin’ Write Marker. Should have added the black nose tip at this stage of the card!
The side Blueberry Bushel “splodges” are die cut with the Beautiful Balloon dies and the bottom Balmy Blue tummy is freehand fussy cut, just like the nose.
The ears are cut using the paper trimmer and adhered to behind the eyes. Now it’s time to turn the top layer over and create the arms. Two 2cm strips of Azure Afternoon make the arms and part of the monkey from the Monkey Builder punch creates hands and fingers. Fun fact I learnt while making this card – Bluey only has 4 fingers!
Adding two more 2cm strips of Azure Afternoon tidies up the back of the arms.
Attach your card front to your card base, Attaching it at this last stage hides the join of the arms behind the face.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Di Furniss – I can’t wait to see what Di has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
Welcome to week thirteen of our Art With Heart 2023-24 Colour Creations blog hop!
Last week was my dad’s birthday and as I gave him some science books for his birthday it only seemed appropriate to make a science-themed card using the “It’s a Science” stamp set.
I don’t normally buy stamp sets with puns, however the puns in this stamp set are really clever and I love the line art style too. It’s also a really versatile set if you enjoy colouring techniques.
I had originally planned to make a tower flap card, like this one below by US Stampin’ Up! demo, Karen Titus, however the images from the stamp set were too large for the flaps.
So I made a pinwheel tower card instead. It’s a very easy fancy fold to make and fabulous for display. This is what it looks like from above.
And here are the images on each of the four flaps. I’ve used Stampin’ Up! blends to colour the line art images in Blackberry Bliss, Shaded Spruce, Real Red, Blueberry Bushel and Daffodil Delight.
Using the colour lifter on the areas where light would fall gives instant dimension to my beakers. Instead of colouring them to be partially filled with different coloured liquids I’ve coloured them as if they were coloured glass. Dad used to collect blue glass and it gives such a pretty effect.
The microscope is coloured using Copper Clay, with the colour lifter again adding reflection and dimension.
The black and white DSP on the reverse side of the images is from the Zoo Crew 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper. I deliberately left space on this final flap to write a birthday greeting.
This card folds flat for posting, however because it is oversized a handmade envelope was required.
I used the Delightfully Eclectic DSP to make a black and white envelope to match the card. The name label for the front of the card was die cut using the Scalloped Contours Dies, with More Dazzle stars die cut using the Give It a Whirl Dies.
The envelope flap is also adhered using a Scalloped Contours Die, attached with glue dots to make sealing and resealing possible.
I really haven’t showcased Blackberry Bliss as the main colour this week, however hopefully I’ve shown how well it can work with colours from different colour families. I guess that’s why Stampin’ Up! have moved it to the neutrals family now!
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Di Furniss – I can’t wait to see what Di has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
Welcome to week twelve of our Art With Heart 2023-24 Colour Creations blog hop!
Last weekend our Art With Heart team combined with Michelle Grech’s team and were lucky enough to be the only Australian teams to be one of the 35 for 35 events, celebrating 35 years of Stampin’ Up.
And would you believe that non other than the incredible Sara Douglass, Stampin’ Up! CEO, flew all the way to Australia just to attend our event!
Short on time, as I was flying interstate for the big event, I decided to kill three birds with one stone. My Berry Burst project this week used the Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper as it was the colour theme for the 35 for 35 event. And it was also a project for the 3D display table as well as packaging for some thank you gifts.
Here’s the 3D table at the event with my five homemade gift boxes using the Masterfully Made Designer Series Paper.
And here’s a close up of four of the boxes – it was really had to get a good photo under the artificial lights. The gift tags on top of the boxes are die cut using the Tailored Tag dies.
To make a gift box to fit any size box, you simply need to measure the depth, the width and the height of the gift you’d like to place in the gift box. I was “gifting” (is that really a verb, I wonder???) boxes of Haighs chocolates, so my dimensions were taken from the boxes.
I love how the inside of the box lid has another lovely pattern thanks to the DSP.
The Paper florist dies are such a versatile product. They allow you to make paper flower embellishments in coordinating colours to match any Designer Series Paper or card stock.
I had a pile of left over die cut Paper Florist pieces, as well as extra pre-cut pieces from the Make and Take, so I quickly assembled this extra card.
I love using the More Dazzle 6″ x 6″ (15.2 x 15.2 cm) Specialty Paper to add dazzle to any of my projects – it’s going to be fabulous for Christmas cards!
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Kate Morgan – I can’t wait to see what Kate has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
