Hero Arts Countdown to Creativity: August 2022 Release!

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the August 2022 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a fun one especially for all of you stencil lovers out there!

If you aren't familiar with the My Monthly Hero kit, it's a kit that is released by Hero Arts on the first Monday of every month. It always has a fun, themed, collection of stamps, dies and other goodies. The cost is just $34.99/month and the value is always much greater! 

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the September 2022 release), or, to buy your favorite kits as one-off purchases. Be aware that once these kits sell out they are gone for good. If you see a kit you like make sure to snatch it up quickly! 

Today is Day One of the Countdown to Creativity and I've got a card with an faux-ish watercolor technique to share with you. This month's kit comes with a set of four stencils that allow you to create a gorgeous desert scene. The kit also comes with Luxe Watercolor cardstock so I took that as my que to create a watercolor scene using my stencils as the guide. 

I used my DIY liquid watercolor sprays with the stencil to create layers of color. All I did was place my stencil down and then spray my color over the top. Once that layer had dried I added the next layer of color. The colors that I used were Cocoa, Mulled Wine, Leaf, Jungle Mist and Teal. Once I had the full desert scene I added color to the sky by masking off the scene (there's a die that makes this easy) and spraying it with White Iridescent Shimmer Spray followed by a splatter of White Glimmer Metallic Ink.

The final steps were to stamp my sentiment in Onyx Pigment ink and heat emboss it in clear, then add my scene to a Nautical mat.

Well, that is it for today folks! I hope you've enjoyed this little sneak peek. If you'd like a chance to win this kit before you can buy then head on over to the Hero Arts blog and enter for your chance to win!

Have an awesome day and I will see you back here on Monday for the full (super amazing) release!

Maria

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Gina K. Designs: July 2022 Release!

Hello everybody! I am popping in with a quick post to show off a gorgeous new set from today's Gina K. Designs release. The set I'm using is called Birds of a Feather and it's got some beautiful florals and two gorgeous hummingbirds in the set. For today's card I decided to focus on on of the floral stamps and make it the star of the show.

To start my card I stamped the floral image multiple times onto a piece of white cardstock in alcohol friendly ink. Then, I used my copic markers to color the flowers and the background. I had fun adding drop shadows in cool grays and adding extra details with a fine tipped sharpie and a white Posca paint pen.

When I was done coloring I stamped a sentiment from the Spread Your Wings stamp set in black ink onto the bottom of the card front. I have a friend who could use a card right now and this sentiment is just perfect for her.

To finish my card off I added my floral piece to a black mat and glued that all to a top-folding card base. 

This Birds of a Feather stamp set is so beautiful and I love that it is so versatile because it includes so many pretty stamps. You can head on over to Gina K. Designs if you'd like to check out the whole release.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have an awesome day!

Maria

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero July 2022 Release: Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Hey everybody! The wait is over! It's time for the Hero Arts July 2022 My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a flamingo loving dream! It's got a gorgeous layering flamingo stamp set with clouds, water and grass. There are coordinating dies and five ink cubes! There are also self-adhesive pink and teals gems as well as teal pearls (affiliate links may be used at no extra cost to you)!

Before I get to my cards, if you aren't familiar with the My Monthly Hero kit, it's a kit that is released by Hero Arts on the first Monday of every month. It always has a fun, themed, collection of stamps, dies and other goodies. The cost is just $34.99/month and the value is always much greater! This month's kit is valued at $75!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the August release), or, to buy your favorite kits as one-off purchases. Be aware that once these kits sell out they are gone for good. If you see a kit you like make sure to snatch it up quickly! There are also a ton of amazing add-on products! You can buy the add-ons as a bundle at a discounted rate or just pick up your favorite products. 

For my first project I decided to make a birdday shaker card (get it?). I started out by spraying a piece of white cardstock with my DIY liquid watercolor sprays in Pink and Indigo and se that off to the side to let it dry. Later, I came back and ink-blended around the edges with Blue Hawaii ink. 

Next, I stamped my flamingos using the color-layering set from the kit. My bottom (solid) layer is Cotton Candy ink. My next layer (detailed layer) was stamped with Rose Quartz Pigment Ink and heat embossed in clear embossing powder. I love that the heat embossing gave a raised, shiny texture to the bird's feathers. Next, I stamped the legs and beaks in Onyx Pigment Ink and again, I heat embossed in clear. This caused some of the Onyx ink to melt into the Rose Quartz layer at the bottom of the birds which I think adds a fun, shadowed look to the feathers. I did lose a little detail on the beaks and I added that back in with a fine-tipped sharpie. After the flamingos were done I cut them out using the coordinating dies.

To create the shaker portion of my card I used a shaker pouch from Tonic Studios and added some glitter and sequins from my stash before sealing it up. I adhered the flamingos using foam tape and then followed it up by adding the sentiment stamped in black on Paradise cardstock.

For my next card I used the Large Toucan Bold Prints stamp and heat embossed it in gold onto watercolor cardstock.

I watercolored the image using Nuvo Shimmer Powders from Tonic Studios.

To finish the card off I added a sentiment from Zen Messages heat embossed in white on black cardstock. I matted the image piece on black cardstock and called it good!

I'm  not sure if you saw my post from Sunday, but just in case you didn't, here's one more card that I made using this month's kit. You can catch all of the details for this card by clicking here.

Ok, that is it for today but make sure to leave a comment below to enter the giveaway and continue on our blog hop for more incredible inspiration!

GIVEAWAY:

We will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, June 10th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

BLOG HOP LIST: 

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis: You are here.
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Jennifer Kotas
Kelly Taylor
Meg Brooks
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

Instagram: Andrew Granick

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Hero Arts Countdown to Creativity: July 2022 Release!

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the June 2022 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a super fun kit packed with flamingo goodness!

If you aren't familiar with the My Monthly Hero kit, it's a kit that is released by Hero Arts on the first Monday of every month. It always has a fun, themed, collection of stamps, dies and other goodies. The cost is just $34.99/month and the value is always much greater! 

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the August 2022 release), or, to buy your favorite kits as one-off purchases. Be aware that once these kits sell out they are gone for good. If you see a kit you like make sure to snatch it up quickly! The monthly releases always include a fun assortment of products that are a similar theme to the kit. You can buy your favorites or buy them all at a discounted rate.

Today is Day Three of the Countdown to Creativity and I've got a sneak peek of this month's kit to share with you... This kit comes with a really fun layering flamingo stamp set (and coordinating dies which I didn't use). I stamped my flamingos in Cotton Candy, Neon Ombre : Neon Red to Purple, and, Intens-fied black ink. 

Once my flamingos were stamped I added some water at their feet using Mist ink. I added the sentiment on top of that using Onyx Pigment ink and clear embossing powder. The final step was to cut my image piece down to size and mat it on both Pitch Black and Bermuda cardstocks.

That is it for today you guys but if you want a chance to win this kit before you can buy it please head over to the Hero Arts blog and enter to win! We usually launch the MMH kits on the first Monday of the month but tomorrow is a holiday so this kit will be launching on Tuesday, July 5th. I will see you on Tuesday for the full reveal!

Have an awesome weekend!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST (Affiliate links may be used at no extra cost to you):