My Monthly Hero Countdown: Warm Wishes!

Hey everybody! It's time for your My Monthly Hero Countdown and this month's kit is so much fun! I've used just two stamps from the kit to make this simple but sweet card.

I started out by stamping the house and sentiment at the same time in versa mark ink. Then I heat embossed it all in clear embossing powder. 

Next, I masked off the sentiment at the bottom as well as the little house. This allowed me to ink blend the background with my reactive inks (Splash, Blue Hawaii and Grape Slush). I sprayed the background with shimmer spray and then splattered it with silver metallic paint to complete the wintery look. The last details were to remove the masking paper and color in the house and glue on some star sequins and clear enamel dots.

Ok, you guys, that's it for today. I hope you've enjoyed this little sneak peek of the November My Monthly Hero kit. If you want to win a kit before you can buy it then head over to the Hero Arts Blog and leave a comment so that you can enter to win!

I'll see you all back here on Monday for the full kit reveal!

Bye for now and have an awesome day!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Pinkfresh Studios: Slimline Release and Giveaway!

Hello everybody and happy Friday! Today I'm joining in the fun of Pinkfresh Studio's new slimline stamp, die and stencil release! There are so many amazing new products and we've got a blog hop to share crafty inspiration and we've got multiple giveaways and some other great perks too (so make sure you check out the end of my blog post).

One of the really cool things about this release is that some of the products were created in trios! You can buy a stamp, die and stencil that are all designed to work together as a product suite. My first card was made using products from one of these trios. I stamped the Incredibly Grateful stamp set in black ink onto watercolor paper. I watercolored it and then used the large coordinating die to cut the whole thing out (there is a die that cuts the inside out too but I didn't use it on this card). To add some depth to the inside of the frame I used some gray copic markers to added shadows.

After stamping a sentiment from the Incredibly Grateful set I put that piece aside for a minute. Next, I used the Slim Diagonal Stitched dies to cut a piece of white cardstock. I ink blended in a soft blue and then splattered it with a marker. 

I used the Kelly Alpha lower case dies to cut "hey" out of some gold foil cardstock. This was such an easy and beautiful way to add to the sentiment and fill the space inside of the floral frame. I adhered the letters using glue dots. This gave them a little dimension and also made sure no foam tape would be visible through the cutouts in the letters. I layered the floral frame on top of the stitched die cut rectangle. All of that got glued to a slimline card base. The size I used for all of my cards today is 9" x 7.5" and scored at 3.25". This size works perfectly with many of the Pinkfresh Slimline Dies.

For my second card I used a different product suite. The stencil and die I used match the Floral Notes stamp set. I don't have the stamp set though and I was thrilled to see how well these stencils work on their own. The Floral Notes Stencils come in a three pack of layering stencils. I started with the largest images and ink blended using pink and purple. Next, I blended the leaves using two tones of green. It was so easy! I just used the lighter color of green first and then went over just part of the leaves with the darker green after that.

When I got to the third layer it was time to do the centers of the large flowers. Originally I had planned to use yellow embossing powder but when I opened up my drawer and saw this pink, sparkly glacier paste I had to use it. The pictures don't do it justice but this card sparkles like something else! I die cut the flowers  and set them aside.

I used the Slim Ornate Banner Die set to cut two pieces from white cardstock. The larger one I ink blended to match the pink from my flowers. The smaller one I ink blended in a blue green. When it was dry I stamped the sentiment which is from the You Are My Favorite stamp set, and then splattered the background first with water and then with my Glitter Gloss sparkle pen.

I adhered all of my layers together using lots of adhesive tape. The final touch was to add some gems and rhinestones in different colors and sizes.

For my last card I went really simple and I've gotta say that I love when making a simple card still yields a beautiful card! I used the new Argyle layering stencils (set of 2) to create this card. I started out with a piece of white cardstock cut out using the Slim Diagonal Stitched Rectangle Dies. I ink blended the background in yellow and red which yielded and orangey/coral color on the darker side. Then I used the stencil with the large diamond cut outs to ink blend using Unicorn white pigment ink from Hero Arts. I started on the darker side and since my ink was still a little bit wet my sponge blender lifted some of the colored ink and transferred just the right amount to the yellow side. I love how the light diamonds look against a darker background. 

The second stencil in this set has lines to complete the argyle look. I lined the "x" of the lines up with the centers of my diamonds and am happy with how that placement looks. I decided to heat emboss in gold so I pressed my Versamark ink pad repeatedly over the stencil to ink my background. Then I removed the stencil, poured on my embossing powder and heated it to melt it.

To finish my card off I added a "Hello" sentiment from the Essentials: Classic Word Die Set. The rest of the sentiment is from the You Are My Favorite stamp set. The final touch was adding a few gems.

That's all I've got for you today but there is so much more to see if you continue on the blog hop. There's a list below for you to follow along (your next stop will be Mindy Eggen). You can leave me a comment below to enter to win a $25 gift card. 

Have an awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAYS:

-Pinkfresh Studios will be giving away this entire amazing release over on their Facebook, Instagram and YouTube platforms! Make sure you visit to get entered to win!

-One lucky winner will be chosen right here on my blog to win a $25 gift card to Pinkfresh Studios! To enter to win you just have to leave a comment below! Good luck!

-Winners will be announced on October 23 over on the Pinkfresh Studios Giveaway page. Winners will have two weeks to claim their prize.

EVERYBODY WINS!:

-From October 16th - October 22nd Pinkfresh Studios is offering FREE SHIPPING (USA) or reduced shipping (international customers) to all customers who place an order of $50 or more. 

-While supplies last you can earn this beautiful die as a gift with a $25 purchase.

-Now through October 22nd, 2020 you can get 20% off of a Memory Misti (largest size Misti that is useful for many slimline products as well as for scrapbooking). Click HERE to purchase the Memory Misti using code: PINK to get your discount.

BLOG HOP LIST:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Watercoloring with Nuvo Shimmer Powders on Black Cardstock

Hey Everybody! It's Maria (Cardbomb) here today with a fun way to use your Nuvo Shimmer Powders. I love using my Shimmer Powders to watercolor and wanted to share how I used them to watercolor on black cardstock. They look so metallic and vibrant against the black that you can achieve quite a different look than you do on white cardstock. I've made a video tutorial sharing how to do this so be sure to check that out if you are interested (the video is at the bottom of the post).

I started out by heat embossing the sentiment from Little Something for Harry in white, then masking the sentiment off using a post it note that I cut out with my rectangle dies. Then, using my stamping platform and this gorgeous floral stamp from the Dainty Daisies set I repeatedly stamped the flower in Clear Mark ink and heat embossed the images in Clear Embossing Powder. After that I put little puffs of Shimmer Powder onto the surface of my work space. I added drops of rubbing alcohol/surgical spirits to the powder and mixed until it was a consistency that I could paint with. I started out using a brush with a thicker tip and quickly decided to switch to a number 2 round brush so that I could easily stay within the lines.

After I finished watercoloring the floral images I used a white gel pen to outline the rectangle defining the sentiment. In hindsight I realize that it would've been much easier to stamp the sentiment onto a rectangle die cut and pop it up as it would've allowed me to be a bit less careful when I embossed the images. Anyhow, that's something for me to try next time. Then I used some white acrylic paint, and the leftover shimmer powders to splatter the background. I added Nuvo Crystal Drops in Neptune Turquoise to finish it off and mounted the card front onto some gorgeous Pearlescent Card from the Craft Perfect line (Fresh Mint). This cardstock is textured and shimmery and was the perfect compliment to the card front. After that I mounted the whole thing onto a black card base using foam adhesive to give the card a bit of dimension.

Here's that video I promised you...

Well, that's it for today you guys! It's late and I am wicked tired so I'm heading off to bed. I'm adding product links below in case you are interested in checking out anything that I've used for today's project. There are links to both the UK and USA Tonic stores (just scroll until you find your preferred shop). Thank you!

Have an amazing day!

Maria

SUPPLY LIST: TONIC UK

SUPPLY LIST: TONIC USA & OTHER SHOPS