Christmas with Handcrafted Elements Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 13th Art with Heart Heart of Christmas Blog Hop for 2023. This week I am showcasing the Handcrafted Elements dies with 2 different Christmas cards. Looking at the cards created for the Heart of Christmas Blog Hops recently I realised that I must be in my “Blue Period”, that is, nearly all of the cards included blues, whether light or dark and perhaps some greens, teals or mauves. I determined that I would use traditional Christmas reds and greens this week. CARD 1 I had a couple of ideas to use stripes with the Handcrafted Elements die cut bauble. This is one to add stripes to part of the bauble. Some thin strips of a number of designs from the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper were cut and then adhered to a piece of Basic White card-stock. The bauble die was cut from a piece of Basic White card-stock and the oval die was used to include some of the striped area. Also a panel of red DSP from the Joy of Christmas DSP was adhered to the front of the card base. A Deckled Rectangle die was used to cut a panel of Basic White card-stock. Some Shimmery Embossing Paste was applied diagonally over one of the Foursquare Decorative Masks. This was left to dry while some holly leaves from the Joy of NOEL stamp set were stamped in Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin’ ink. The holly was coloured using a Blender Pen and colour was drawn from the stamped image. The images were die cut using the coordinating dies and some pine needles were also die cut from Basic White card-stock. The sentiment was silver embossed, using one word from the Joy of NOEL stamps and one from the Christmas Classics stamps. These stamp set were designed to intermingle. The words were fussy cut. The bauble pieces were adhered together with Mini Dimensionals and it was adhered directly over the embossed paste. The pine was coloured with some Old Olive ink and a Blending Brush. All the pieces were arranged around the white bauble and the sentiment adhered across the base of the bauble and some Mini Dimensionals were added to firm parts of the sentiment that hung off the bauble. some of the red Loose Holly Gems & Sequins were scattered around. A double bow of White & Silver Sheer Ribbon (that had been cut in half lengthwise) was added with Glue Dots. The Basic White card inner was stamped in Shaded Spruce ink with a different sentiment from the Christmas Classics stamps and some holly (from the same stamp set) was second generation stamped along one side. A thin strip of DSP - the same as the card background, was adhered down one side. A C6 Basic White envelope was similarly stamped down one side with the holly and Shaded Spruce ink. CARD 2 The die cut bauble from the Handcrafted Elements dies seemed perfect for a shaker card using the Loose Holly Gems & Sequins. The bauble die was used to cut Gold Foil and a number of times in Basic White card-stock. The what baubles were layered one over the other finishing with the Gold Foil die cut. This gave solid dimension. NOEL was cut from Basic White card-stock with a layer of Foam Adhesive Sheet underneath. A large oval was die cut from a piece of Basic White card-stock. The larger oval die with intricate leaves was used to cut the oval. This panel was dry embossed with the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder. As I didn’t want the embossing to overpower the decorative design but to just add some subtle texture, this panel was just run through the Cut ‘n Emboss Machine to soften the image. Window Sheet was adhered under the oval hole and then Adhesive Strips were added on the back around the hole. A little bit of mottled Lost Lagoon DSP from the Winter Meadows DSP was a very subtle background to the shaker section. All the layers were adhered in place to form the shaker part of the card. Some Shaded Spruce splattering was added with a Shaded Spruce Stampin’ Write Marker. The bauble sections and NOEL were adhered over the Window Sheet with Multi-purpose Liquid Glue. Some shaded spruce holly leaves that were created at the same time of the leaves described above for the first card were added with a couple of holly gems. Red gems also from the Assorted Holly Gems & Sequins were added to the holly leaves and more were scattered around. A double bow of Gold Elegant Trim with a bow of Red & Gold Dotted Ribbon (that had been cut in half lengthwise) were added with Glue Dots. The card inner and envelope was decorated in a similar way to card 1, above. Thank you so much for dropping in. I hope you found something of interest. I so appreciate you taking the time to call by. There is more Christmas creativity so to continue on with the blog hop just click the "next" graphic below and you will be taken to the blog of the lovely 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. Also, many of us are participating in the Colour Creations Blog Hop that goes live every Wednesday night where we showcase one of Stampin’ Up!s colours each week. It would be fantastic if you couple join us then. 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 Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue and or the September-December 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 #handcraftedelements #joyofnoel #christmasclassics