Sahara Sand with Waves of Inspiration and Artfully Layered Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are continuing to work though all the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order. This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a soft faun called Sahara Sand. Sahara Sand is part of the Neutrals Colour Family and is a lovely sandy colour. It is another versatile Stampin' Up! colour. As with most neutrals, this colour is delightful when used with so many colours. I have combined it with sea colours, White and Early Expresso and it also works well with Petal Pink, Calypso Coral and White. Sahara Sand is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Markers; Neutrals Designer Series Papers as well as the Tidings of Christmas DSP. The cards below have used Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' ink, Card-stock, a Stampin' Write Marker and Linen Twine (which is the same colour), plus a range of other non-PP bits and pieces. I have created 2 cards to showcase Sahara Sand in different ways. Here they are: As you can see, Sahara Sand is a great colour to use. CARD 1: This card features part of the Waves of Inspiration bundle which is an exciting early release from the coming 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue. A half piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper was water-coloured with a range of colours indicative of sand, sea and sky. The colours used included Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Coastal Cabana and Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' inks, as well as a touch of White Craft ink to represent sea foam. This was die cut with a mid-sized Stitched Rectangle die and mounted on a slightly larger piece of Sahara Sand card-stock. The background was created with a piece of Basic White card-stock that was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Sahara Sand card-stock. A number of die cut waves cut out of Basic White card-stock with the coordinating Waves dies were adhered directly to the Basic White layer. Linen Twine was wrapped around this background layer and tied in a bow to the side. The pelican sitting on a wooden pole was stamped twice on Basic White card-stock with Sahara Sand ink and fussy cut. Seagulls were stamped directly on the water-colour panel. The clouds and shading pieces were cut from Basic White card-stock. The card front was finished with a sentiment from the same stamp set that was White heat embossed on Sahara Sand card-stock. Clear Polished Dots added a little shimmer, together with a little Wink of Stella. It is disappointing that the Wink of Stella shimmer isn't picked up by the camera. The Basic White card inner also was mounted on a piece of Sahara Sand card-stock. The white panel had been stamped with the pelican sitting on a pole. Similarly, a Basic White C6 Envelope was stamped with the pelican on a pole image in Sahara Sand ink. CARD 2: This second card features Sahara Sand with White and a touch of Early Expresso. I started with the aim of a clean and simple card but couldn't resist the addition of vellum and ribbon and twine. I had a Thick Basic White card base sitting on my desk - it's different dimensions than I normally use, but couldn't remember why I first prepared it so thought I would use it for this card. It will fit within a standard C6 envelope. The focal panel was cut from a piece of Sahara Sand card-stock with a mid-sized Stitched Rectangle die (though a smaller one than used in the card above). It was embossed with the splatters design from the Stripes and Splatters 3D Embossing Folder. I love this set of EFs. Some White Craft ink splatters were added using a Water Painter. One of the leaf dies from the Tropical Layers dies cut 3 images of the same design from Basic White card-stock. The 3 pieces were adhered together to give the leaves some dimension. After it was adhered across the centre of the panel a piece of Linen Twine was wrapped around twice and tied in a bow to the side. A sentiment from the Artfully Layered stamp set was White heat embossed on Early Expresso card-stock, fussy cut and "Hey" was added with Mini Dimensionals. The sentiment was stamped again in Early Expresso ink on Sahara Sand card-stock and "there" was fussy cut and added with Mini Dimensionals. A few Clear Round Dots were added for that touch of bling. Some Layering Designs Vellum was added to the card base (I felt it just needed something). A piece of White Frayed Ribbon was cut in half and frayed a little more before being added over the Vellum. The centre panel was popped in the centre with Dimensionals. The Basic White card inner had some stamping in Sahara Sand and a thin strip of Layering Designs Vellum was added near the bottom. Similarly, a Basic White C6 Envelope also had some Sahara Sand stamping added across the back flap. Thank you so much for dropping by. I do value the time you spent with me. 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 or the coming 2022-2023 Annual Catalogue; and or the January - June 2022 Mini Catalogue 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!. There is more Sahara Sand creativity. To continue with the blog hop, click on the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely, Kate Morgan. I always look forward to checking out Kate’s creations (I wonder what she has in store this week). I do love seeing everyones' projects - so many ideas and such great inspiration. Hope to see you next week when we will be featuring another colour starting with "S" - Shaded Spruce, as we continue the weekly 2021-2022 Colour Creations blog hops. 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 wonderful Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator. Cathy is amazing and does a wonderful job in coordinating this blog hop each week. She is a special lady. Check out her wonderful creation while you are there. #colourcreationsbloghop #colourcreationsbloghop2022 #stampinup #stampinupdemo #stampinupdemonstrator #artwithheartteam #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #papercrafting #wavesofinspiration #artfullylayered