Christmas with Magical Meadow Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the Art with Heart Heart of Christmas Blog Hop. This week I am showcasing the Magical Meadow bundle as Christmas card and little Gift Box. As soon as I saw the Winter Meadow suite I fell in love with it. I love the colour combination, the design, dies, sheer ribbon and gorgeous Designer Series Paper. I have combined this delightful suite with a number of other dies, including the Radiating Stitches dies (its an online exclusive), as well as the Basic Borders dies and the Paper Florist dies that are found in Stampin’ Up!s Annual Catalogue. I started with a piece of DSP from the Winter Meadow DSP for the card background. I didn’t want to waste the DSP that would be hidden so used the Stampin’ Trimmer to cut out a centre section. Basic White card-stock was cut with the largest Radiating Stitches die. This was trimmed down a little to enable more of the DSP to show. A strip of Thick Basic White card-stock was scored 2 mm in from the edge and the ‘V’ shaped die, from the Basic Borders dies cut a large notch from the top edge. This panel was positioned with Dimensionals. A range of foliage was die cut from Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper using the Magic Meadows dies together with some petals from the Paper Florist dies. The foliage was wet on wet water-coloured with Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock and Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin’ inks using a different colour for different designed foliage. The die cut petals were water-coloured with Blueberry Bushel ink. They were put aside to dry. Two of the sprays of foliage included berry shapes. Metallic silver berries were added to one style of foliage and pearlised white berries to the other style of foliage using Enamel Effects. It is important to resist the temptation to touch the berries to check if they are set - they take a while. I walked away and took my dog for a walk. The die cut background was splattered with Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock and Blueberry Bushel Stampin’ Write Markers. The ‘V’ cut panel was stamped with a sentiment from the Magical Meadow stamps prior to it being positioned with Dimensionals. The sentiment was coloured with Misty Moonlight and Blueberry Bushel Stampin’ Write Markers with “season of sparkle” coloured with the latter. Must admit, even in real life, it is difficult to discern the the difference. All the foliage were positioned with Multipurpose Liquid Glue. Each of the flowers were created using the 4 sets of petals and white die cut stamens. The flowers were added to the card with Dimensionals. A bow was tied with White and Silver Sheer Ribbon that had been cut in half lengthwise. This was adhered in place with Glue Dots. Iridescent Pearl Basic Jewels were added to the flower centres and scattered around. To add a little extra shimmer Wink of Stella also was splattered over the card. A Basic White card inner was decorated with the ‘V’ that had been die cut from the front strip and a left over thin strip of DSP. A C6 Basic White envelope was stamped with one of the foliage & berry sprays in Lost Lagoon ink. Project 2 Stampin’ Up! have Scalloped Gift Card Boxes available through their Annual Catalogue. They are cute little boxes that include an extra panel with a couple of slits to hold a gift card. They are really easy to fold & burnish and don’t need any glue to form the box. The DSP that has been cut from the centre of the card background (above) was adhered to the lid of one of the little boxes. A thin strip of the DSP was adhered to the flap to hide a blue ink smudge that mistakenly appeared. Some White & Silver Sheer Ribbon, was cut in half and tied around the lid of the box and tied into a bow. A strip of Thick Basic White card-stock was cut to the width of the box, splattered as described above and adhered over part of the ribbon with Dimensionals. The foliage that had been die cut, water-coloured and Enamel Effects added as described above were arranged and adhered in place. A flower was added with Dimensionals. Iridescent Pearl Basic Jewels were added to the flower centre and some extra pearls were scattered. There is much more Christmas creativity so to continue with the blog hop just click the "next" graphic below to be taken to the blog of the lovely and talented 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. We are also blog hopping this Wednesday night featuring Daffodil Delight for the Colour Creations Blog Hop. We would love you to join us. 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 brilliant 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 new 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 #magicalmeadow #radiatingstitches #paperflorist #basicborders #wintermeadow