Thursday, August 27, 2020

Hero Arts New Unity Products Blog Hop and a Giveaway!

Hello Everybody! It's so nice to have you back here and I hope you are having a wonderful day. Today I am back as party of a blog hop featuring the new Unity Products from Hero Arts. This is a wonderful collection of products that focuses on inclusion and unity. It is important for people of color to be represented in our stamping/art community not just within the products that we use but in the positive messages that we put out into the world as well. These new Unity products are perfect for doing just that.

For my card I decided to use a new set called Kids United. It has adorable images of children being kind and loving and it has a die set (Kids United Frame Cuts) to go with it too. I chose the image of the two boys. They just look like they are such good buddies and I really wanted to color them. I used my copic markers to color them in and then I cut them out by hand so that there wouldn't be any white space around them. After that, I heat embossed the "Lead With Love," sentiment from the Power to the People stamp set  in white onto black cardstock. This sentiment is my favorite out of the whole set. I think it's such a good reminder of how we can all choose to live. 

Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Hero Arts,  cards, stamps, ink, paper, craft, papercraft, art, handmade, card maker, diy, creative, mixed media


I wanted the boys to be on a fun background so I grabbed a gel print from my stash and cut it down to 4"x 5 1/4". I adhered that with foam tape onto a black A2 sized card base. Then, I popped my boys and the sentiment up with foam tape on the gel print background.

Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Hero Arts,  cards, stamps, ink, paper, craft, papercraft, art, handmade, card maker, diy, creative, mixed media

That's it for today you guys. If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments below. Also, be sure to check out the giveaway info. All you need to do to enter the giveaway is drop me a comment. I hope you will keep hopping along with us to check out all the inspiration we have to share using the Unity Products. Next up in the hop is my super talented friend, Mindy Eggen. You can head over to her blog or navigate the hop by using the links below. Enjoy!

Have an awesome day!

Maria


GIVEAWAY:

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by leaving a comment between now and Sunday, September 6th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.


BLOG HOP LIST: 

Hero Arts
Pocono Pam
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Ilina Crouse
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis: You are Here.
Mindy Eggen
Seeka
Channin Pelletier


PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Hero Arts Winter Catalog Release and a Giveaway!

Hey Everybody! Happy Wednesday and welcome to the release of the Hero Arts Winter Catalog! If you haven't had a chance to browse through the catalog yet then this is the hop for you because it is jam packed with inspiration from so many talented crafters. 

For today's card I decided to use a new set  called Gift Peek-a-Boo Infinity Parts. It coordinates with the Square Peek-a-Boo Doors dies and sets you up to make an easy, interactive card (it cuts a square that swings open like a door). I stamped one of the larger gift boxes onto a piece of white cardstock in my Hero Arts Intense-ified Black ink. This is one of my go-to inks because it works well with both copic markers and watercolors. I also stamped this fun sentiment from Snarky Christmas Messages.

Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Hero Arts, 2020 Winter Catalog, Stamps, Ink, Cards, Cardmaking, Art, Holiday, Christmas, handmade, diy, paper, ink

I colored the image in with my copic markers and then die cut it to create a door around the gift box.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Hero Arts, 2020 Winter Catalog, Stamps, Ink, Cards, Cardmaking, Art, Holiday, Christmas, handmade, diy, paper, ink

So, today my card is a little bit of lie... but a good lie, right?  How could I not put an adorable puppy inside of the gift box after a sentiment like that?!
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Hero Arts, 2020 Winter Catalog, Stamps, Ink, Cards, Cardmaking, Art, Holiday, Christmas, handmade, diy, paper, ink

To add the puppy I stamped the image from the new Fawn and Friends stamp set onto a separate piece of white cardstock. To line it up perfectly I placed the clean stamp on top of the gift box in my Original sized, Black Misti. When it was in the right place I picked the stamp up with my Misti door and then stamped it onto the white paper. 
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Hero Arts, 2020 Winter Catalog, Stamps, Ink, Cards, Cardmaking, Art, Holiday, Christmas, handmade, diy, paper, ink

I colored the cute puppy with my copic markers and then adhered that piece of cardstock behind the gift box. After that, when I opened the gift box door I had a cute puppy inside! I glued this whole piece onto a piece of black cardstock so that I would have that black strip at the side. Then, that whole deal got added to a top-folding A2 sized, white card base.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Hero Arts, 2020 Winter Catalog, Stamps, Ink, Cards, Cardmaking, Art, Holiday, Christmas, handmade, diy, paper, ink

Ok, you all, that is it for today! I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you'll keep cruising along on this blog hop with us. Next up on the hop is the incredibly talented Michelle Short. You can head on over to her blog or you can use the list below to navigate the hop. Before you go, I want to make sure you know we're having a giveaway (details below) and all you need to do to enter is leave me a comment below. 

Have an amazing day and enjoy the hop! I'll be back tomorrow with another Hero Arts hop featuring the new Unity stamp sets. See you then!

Maria.



GIVEAWAY:
Hero Arts will give away three $50 gift cards, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by leaving a comment between now and Sunday, September 6th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

BLOG HOP: 




PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Crafty Friends: Gina K. Designs and a Discount!

Hey everybody! It's the 20th and if you follow my blog you know that means it's time for another My Crafty Friends Hop! Today we are featuring products from the fabulous Gina K. Designs and she has offered to give our readers a 20% discount at the Gina K. Designs shop when they shop with a Crafty Friend! All you have to do is click this link to shop and use the code CRAFTYFRIENDS20 to receive your discount (more info below).

Now onto my card! Today I decided to use this gorgeous collaboration set from Gina K Designs and Hero Arts. I love that the crafty community comes together to support each other and work together. This stamp, Friendship Blooms, is the result of one of these beautiful efforts. I stamped my image in copic safe black ink on to Hammermill cardstock.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Gina K Designs, Hero Arts, Floral stamp, hand-stamped, rainbow, cards, handmade, art, color, diy, copic markers
Add caption

I used my copic markers in a variety of colors to create a floral rainbow. I have been wanting to do this for some time now I really enjoyed the process.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Gina K Designs, Hero Arts, Floral stamp, hand-stamped, rainbow, cards, handmade, art, color, diy, copic markers

After I added all of my color I went back in with my cool gray markers and added shading to the flowers. Then, I grabbed a fine tipped copic marker and had some fun adding shadow, lines and dots.
Cardbomb, Maria Willis, Gina K Designs, Hero Arts, Floral stamp, hand-stamped, rainbow, cards, handmade, art, color, diy, copic markers

The sentiment on this card is one of my favorites after stamping that some clear sequins were the perfect touch to finish off my card.

That's is all for today folks! You know my Crafty Friends have a ton more Gina K. inspiration for you so I hope you'll continue on with our hop by heading over to Becky's blog. If you prefer to follow the blog list I'm adding that below for you too.

Before you go here's a reminder that if you shop today or tomorrow you will receive a 20% discount if you shop with me at Gina K. Designs and use the code CRAFTYFRIENDS20 at check out. Enjoy!


Bye for now and I hope you all have an amazing day! 

Maria


BLOG ROLL:

Jenny Hall

Tanya Boser

Ilina Crouse

Maria Willis: YOU ARE HERE.

Becky Roberts

Sandi MacIver

Sue Plote

Sara Sherlock

Lydia Fiedler

Jill Hilliard




Monday, August 3, 2020

Hero Arts August My Monthly Hero Kit and a Giveaway!

Happy Monday and welcome to the launch of this month's Hero Art's My Monthly Hero kit! If you this is your first time hearing about the kit here's the skinny... On the third Monday of every month Hero Arts releases an exclusive stamping/craft kit. The kits are usually valued well over $70 but only cost $34.99. The catch is that there are only a limited number of kits and once they sell out they are gone forever. You can make sure to always get a kit by subscribing. In addition to the MMH kits there are always fantastic add-ons that coordinate with the theme of the kit. 

For all of my cards today I have started with one of these add-ons, a background stamp called, Destination Home Bold Prints. Sometimes it's fun to take one stamp and see just how far you can take it. That's what I've done today and I've got a fun range of cards to share with ranging from clean and simple cards to grungy with a mixed media look. The first card I'm sharing is my favorite of the bunch and has one of the more mixed media looking backgrounds.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

This background was first, heat embossed in Sand embossing powder, and then ink blended. I used a second background stamp called, State-cation Bold Prints to add some extra stamped detail in black.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

After adding some splatters I finished the card off by adding a Copic colored octopus and sentiment adorned with other little critters.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

My second card is clean and simple. I watercolored the background (heat embossed in white) with ink from my Hero Arts Reactive Inks. 
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

Then I added a die cut sentiment that I had cut out three times and stacked for dimension.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

My third card has an embossed, trapped resist technique for the background. It's ink blended in contrasting colors to make it pop.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

Again I kept this card simple and finished it off with a die cut sentiment and some enamel dots.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

My next card was made with the same technique as the last card but this time I decided to go with a birthday theme.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

I feel like backgrounds like these can be used for almost anything that you want and since I need some birthday cards that was that. 
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

My next card features a simple ink blended look and a stand-alone die from this release. The die is called the Bird House Fancy Die.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

I used my copic markers to add some subtle color the birdhouse and birds. Then I adhered those along with a sentiment.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

This card was pretty easy to make. I took a background that I had heat embossed in black and then colored in some of the tags in rainbow colors with my copic markers. I cut them out and adhered them with foam tape over the sentiment.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

The sentiment is heat embossed in black embossing powder straight onto the card face.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

This card was clean and simple until I decided to ink splatter the background and then cover it in a rainbow of Nuvo drops. I love the extra color and added dimension from the drops.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics

For my last card today I went for more of a grungy look. I ink blended in browns and then used some Tim Holtz embossing glaze on top of some of the tags in the background. I also sprinkled some sand embossing powder on top of that just to add some more texture.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics
After splattering some white and bronze metallic paint and some Nuvo Midas Touch I added a sentiment and called it done.
#cardmaking, #cards, #craft, #create, #distressoxideinks, #diy, #handmadecards, #ink, #mixedmedia, #paper, #stamp, Cardbomb, Hero Arts, maria willis, My Monthly Hero Kit August 2020, Tim Holtz, #ocean, #octopus, #copicmarkers, #copics


Now, I did film myself making these backgrounds but I wasn't able to get the video done in time for this post. So, watch for that video coming later (probably today)!

That's all I've got for now you guys so I hope you will enter yourself into the giveaway for a $50 Hero Arts gift card (just leave a comment below and you're automatically entered). To continue on this hop just head on over to visit the fabulous Lydia Fiedler over at her blog. You can also check out the whole list of blog hoppers below. As always, I'm linking up the products that I've used today down below so that if you want to check anything out it's all right there for you. 

Thanks for stopping by today and I will catch you all back here soon!
Have an awesome day!

Maria




GIVEAWAY:
Hero Arts will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, August 9th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.



BLOG ROLL:

Hero Arts
Seeka
Nichol Spohr
Mindy Eggen
Michelle Short
Mariana Grigsby
Maria Willis: YOU ARE HERE.
Lydia Fiedler
Laurie Willison
Julee Tilman
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Janette Kausen
Ilina Crouse
Emily Midgett
Debi Adams
Daniel West
Channin Pelletier


PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:
01 09 10