Balmy Blue with Textured Floral as a Slim-line Card Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Colour Creations Blog Hop. We are working though the Stampin' Up! colours in alphabetical order, focussing on one colour each week. We started with the newly introduced colours and this week we commence showcasing Stampin’ Up!s continuing colours. This week’s Blog Hop is focussing on a soft pale blue called Balmy Blue. I love it. Balmy Blue is part of the Subtles Colour Family and is a delightful light blue. This colour is so lovely when used for sky, water, baby projects, soft backgrounds, flowers and I love using it at Christmas time for snow scenes. It coordinates well with other blues or other subtle colours (as used in my card) and so many other combinations. Balmy Blue is produced in Stampin' Up!'s card-stock, both A4 & 12"x12"; Classic Stampin' inks (ink pads & re-inkers); Stampin' Write Marker; Stampin' Blends Combo; Watercolor Pencils, Subtles Designer Series Paper as well as Les Shoppes and Countryside Inn DSPs; plus Textured Shimmer Paper, Robot Buddies Kids Card Kit and Christmas Whimsy Card Kit; Balmy Blue & White Double Stitched Ribbon and the Variegated Ribbon; as well as Iridescent Pastel Gems and Pastel Adhesive-backed Sequins. Balmy Blue card-stock, ink, Stampin’ Write Marker, Balmy Blue/White Variegated Ribbon and Iridescent Pastel Gems have been used in the creation of this project plus a range of non-Balmy Blue bits and pieces. Recently, I was checking out the Stampin’ Up! Clearance Rack and was reminded that the Slim Card dies were available at an amazing price. I decided to create a project using these dies to affirm their availability. My project is also featuring the delightful Textured Floral bundle from the new 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue. I stamped out a range of flowers & leaves on Basic White card-stock using the Textured Floral stamp set with Balmy Blue, Fresh Freesia, Bubble Bath, Berry Burst, Lemon Lolly, Petal Pink, Soft Sea Foam and Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin’ inks. Each image was inked up in the light ink first then touches of the coordinating second colour was added with a Sponge Dauber before stamping onto the card-stock. This gives subtle life and interest to the images. The leaves and flowers were all cut with the coordinating dies from the Textured Floral dies. A number of leafy sprigs were die cut from Basic White card-stock. One of the Slim Card dies was used to cut out the mosaic style design from Balmy Blue card-stock. Some of the cut out tiles were retained. I actually remembered and looked for my Adhesive Sheets - but they were no-where to be found. Oh no. It will be on my next Stampin’ Up! order as it makes adhering down fine die-cutting so much easier. I decided to use the smooshing technique to add some colour to the background. As my water-colour paper wasn’t long enough I used Thick Basic White card-stock (as it would respond better to water than the finer Basic White card-stock). I used my Stampin’ Write Markers and applied Balmy Blue with touches of Azure Afternoon to a plastic bag (it was actually a bag that had held a Stampin’ Up! ribbon combo - its always good to re-purpose & re-use). Some water was misted over the scribbled ink using a Stampin’ Mister. I used a cellophane bag (that had been packaging for a set of SU dies) to “smoosh” into the ink and then to smoosh it onto the background panel. Once partially coloured, the panel was left to dry before a section of the die cut slim card detailed panel was adhered in place. A few of the die cut “tiles” were stacked one-on-top-of-the-other and adhered back into a few of the tile cut outs to vary the look & dimension of the die cut panel. The flowers & leaves were arranged and adhered with a mix of Glue Dots, Dimensionals & Multipurpose Liquid Glue. A sentiment from the same stamp set was heat embossed onto Balmy Blue card-stock using Versamark ink, White Emboss Powder, the Embossing Addition Tool Kit and a Heat Tool. Some Balmy Blue/\White Variegated ribbon was cut into a number of pieces lengthwise and 2 blue pieces were tied into a bow that was tucked under the large flower. A few Iridescent Pastel Gems were scattered around the sentiment as the final shimmery touch. A few remaining flowers and leaves were arranged onto the Basic White card inner and a white slim-line envelope to bring some continuity from the card front’s design. Thank you so much for calling in to check out my Balmy Blue project. I do appreciate you spending time with me. There is more Balmy Blue creativity, so continue with the blog hop. Just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely Christina Barns. I am looking forward to checking out Christina’s creation(s). I do love seeing everyones' projects - there is always so much inspiration. I hope to see you next week when we will be featuring Basic Gray, a member of the Neutrals Colour family, as we continue the weekly 2023-2024 Colour Creations Blog Hop series. 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 Catherine Proctor’s blog @ What Cathy Made. Cathy is our brilliant Art With Heart Team Colour Creations Coordinator. She is a wonderful 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 new Stampin' Up 2023-2024 Annual Catalogue, then let me know and I will be delighted to send it to you. Please don't hesitate to make contact with any other queries about this project or Stampin' Up!. #colourcreationsbloghop #stampinup #stampinupaustralia #stampinupsouthpacific #stampinupdemo #handmadecards #makeacardsendacard #stampinupdemonstrator #papercrafting #artwithheartteam #papercrafter #valleyinspirations #texturedfloral #slimcard