Monday, November 4, 2019

My Monthly Hero Arts Release, Stamping in the Dark, and a Giveaway!

Hi Everybody! Thanks for stopping by today and I am so glad you did because today is launch day for the November My Monthly Hero kit from Hero Arts. This kit has a classic, traditional Christmas look to it and contains so many sweet elements. From a classy staircase and gorgeous Christmas tree, to adorable cats and dogs, to a gorgeous die that cuts a brick house with a door that opens and closes... This kit has it all! The kit is valued at $81.50 and can be picked up for $34.99 while supplies last. So, if you are not a subscriber and you want this kit go snatch up quickly before it sells out! There are also add-ons that coordinate with the kit that are sold separately. 

Now, there's a funny background story to the card I'm sharing today... I live in California. The winds here have been insane and the fire danger has been high. This combination resulted in the electric company shutting down power grids across the state in order to try to decrease the risk of fire from fallen power lines. This has happened a couple of times and last week when we were shut down we lost power for three days. We have a generator so we are lucky to be able to plug our fridge in. We are also on a well... that means that without electricity our well doesn't pump and we don't have running water. Anyhow, our power was out, we knew it would be days before it came back on and I had cards that weren't going to make themselves. I work during the day and craft at night so I decided to try to craft by lantern and flashlight light so that I could get some cards made. 

I decided I needed to make a simple card so I picked some of my favorite stamps from the kit and colored them by lamplight. Have you ever tried to color by lamplight? It is really hard to see what you are doing! Lol! Anyhow, I did my best to color the Christmas tree and the puppy dog with my Copic Markers and some colored pencils. 

I used some of Hero Art's new colored enamel dots in different sizes to decorate the Christmas tree. I love the dimension and color they add to the tree. I cut the tree and dog out and then used a black sharpie to color the edges of the images so that there wouldn't be a white halo around them. There are coordinating dies of course, but, since I planned to make these the focus of my card I wanted to hand cut them.

I ink blended a background using Splash, Blue Hawaii and Grape Slush reactive inks. Then, I splattered the ink with water droplets and quickly picked them up using a paper towel. This left a snowy, distressed look to my background. Next, I used Hero Art's white iridescent shimmer spray to spray the ink blended background. I let it set for a minute so that most of it dried. Then, I used the paper towel again to lift any wet spots. You can't see it in the picture but the whole background sparkles and shimmers! 

I used the new-ish Hero Arts Intens-ified Black Ink to stamp my sentiment. This ink is rad! It's SO black and it works with both alcohol markers and water based products (you never have to worry about running ink again!). Then I used foam tape to adhere my tree and pup up on the card front. The final touch was to add some clear enamel dots to the card. Can you tell that they have a subtle blue hue to them? Hot Tip: You can use your alcohol markers to color directly onto these clear dots and make them any color that you want!

That's it for my card today but I want to let you know that Hero Arts is generously giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky winner! The winner will be chosen from the blog comments on this hop so be sure to leave me a comment below as your chance to enter. The winner will be announced next week on the Hero Arts blog.


Thanks so much for stopping by today. You can keep hopping along with us by heading over to Mariana's Blog, or, by following along with the list below. If you're interested in checking out the products I've used today, as well as the kit and kit add-ons, I will add them below.

Have an awesome day!
Maria


BLOG ROLL:
Maria Willis: You are Here.


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60 comments:

  1. Fantastic coloring!! Love the simple design, but amazing work!

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  2. You colored your tree so well. I am going to learn from it. The light and dark look great!

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  3. Great job coloring even in the dark! Love your shimmer, too!

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  4. What a cute card! That puppy is too cute!

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  5. I don’t color with the lights on as good as you do in the dark. LOL! Love the card!

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  6. Great card and this looks like such a fun new kit from Hero Arts! Thanks for sharing with us on this blog hop!!

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  7. So cute! Your coloring is wonderful!

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  8. Beautiful card. Thank you for the inspiration!

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  9. You are inspiring me to look into some Hero Hues inks! So pretty! You are NOT inspiring me to work by lamplight though. I will leave that to much younger crafters!

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  10. Great card. I love how you decorated the tree.

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  11. Marisela Delgado said: Great card, Maria. mariandmonsterd@yahoo.com

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  12. Great holiday card! And great products!

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  13. Nice! I like how the colored circle background draws attention to the focal images. My coloring in light is not as good as yours by lamplight!

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  14. I like your card with the dog near the tree. A festive look for pet lovers and anyone.

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  15. Love the colors you used on your card! Thank you!

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  16. Fabulously cute... love the attention to detail. Great hop too!

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  17. So cute! And love the story of crafting by lantern/flashlight!

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  18. That is gorgeous! I hope they get the fires under control but soon.

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  19. Hey! This is really cute! This kit lends itself to some great possibilities, I think!

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  20. It’s beautiful ♥️💚

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  21. Well done! Looks like some ornaments are enamel and some are little buttons? Nice!

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  22. Wonderful colouring, cute card.

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  23. This is my most favourite card ever! <3

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  24. So adorable and beautifully colored! Thanks for sharing!

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  25. Your card is soo cute, Maria! The lovely dog and tree images are so beautiful and the super, spotlight background really shows them off perfectly. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

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  26. Oh my gosh!! Love, love this card. So stinkin’ cute.❤️

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  27. the round focal point really makes this design

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  28. Beautiful card - thanks for sharing. Looks like coloring by lantern light works great. I'm going to have to try it!! Please stay safe - best wishes to you and yours.

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  29. Wow your coloring & card look great and even better knowing you had low light. Love that background. I'm in California also but have been lucky.

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  30. Love your detail and coloring - beautiful!

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  31. Your card came out so beautiful! Looks just like my dog!!!

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  32. Living in the Northeast, we have been without power many times in the last couple years. One time, I had to create some cards by candlelight; so I feel your pain! : ) Anyway, this is adorable! The simple layout really lets the images shine!

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  33. I think you coloring is great for being from lantern light. Love the ideas of the Christmas balls on your tree. Great suggestions.

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  34. Your coloring in the dark is pretty fine!!

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  35. Such an adorable card. Love the pup!

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  36. Such a sweet card! Love the dog...
    Thanks for sharing

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  37. A beautiful festive Christmas scene on your card.

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  38. Gorgeous card, loving your coloring :)

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  39. So cute Maria, I am loving your little shine you added to the ornaments.

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  40. This is adorable and I don't know how you did such a beautiful job by lantern!! I have been following your plight on the news. I couldn't believe they were cutting of the power so much to so many! I guess it is necessary, but let me tell you, I would have gone nuts!! Around five years or more ago we had some bad unusual storm her in Northern Kentucky.Thousands upon thousands of people without power for DAYS! We unfortunately has our power the most of anyone...an entire week! I thought I was going to lose my mind! And no generator! I know there's far worse things happening in the world, but every a storm comes up I'm praying that we don't lose power!!

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  41. Puppy is guarding the tree,
    waiting for Santa. Gret
    card. thanks for sharing
    txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  42. A great outcome for being without proper lighting/power. Cute dog looks like my mastiff waiting for Santa! Great card!

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  43. Cute card and great job coloring by lamplight.

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  44. Cute card...can't wait to get my kit. The pup is just precious!

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  45. Loved the idea of the enamel dots for Christmas tree decorations! The reactive ink backgrounds are wonderful (gives me more ideas on how to use mine more)!

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  46. Your cards is lovely, I love the colours you used for the background. Fabulous colouring, especially considering the poor light conditions!

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  47. What a cute card! I love the colors you used and the adorable dog. Thanks for sharing.

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