Hero Arts Summer Catalog and Mixed Media Release: Blog Hop & Giveaways!

Hey everybody! I'm so glad you are stopping by today because is release day for the brand new Hero Arts Summer Catalog 2021! For this release we have a really cool combination of things to share. We've got brand new products, brand new mixed media products (waxes, pearls, paste and a fabulous palette knife!) and we are even putting a mixed media style twist on some products that you may already know and love. Fun! The new catalog is absolutely gorgeous so if you'd like to get a copy for yourself click here.

Today I'll be sharing some of the projects that I made for the catalog as well as a look at the new mixed media products so make sure to stick around until the end of my post (especially if you want to enter the GIVEAWAY). For my first two projects I used exactly the same products to create two very different looks. I used liquid watercolors (as DIY sprays), the Togetherness Flower Bouquet Stamp, the Newspaper Bold Prints, the Diamond Stencil and the Luggage Tag Alphabet Frame Cuts. For my first piece I tore a piece of Strathmore watercolor paper out of a notebook and left the holes on the left side. I cut the piece down and sprayed it DIY sprays made from both liquid water colors and Reactive Ink Inkers. Then, I stamped the floral stamp repeatedly in Onyx Pigment ink and heat embossed it in clear. 

On the left side of the piece I added dark shadows behind the flowers using a black watercolor pencil and a sharpie. This made the flowers pop forward more. On the right side of the background I stamped the Newspaper Bold Prints into the background in Splash Reactive Ink. Then I used the Diamond stencil and Unicorn White ink to create more subtle background interest. I heat embossed some of the sentiments from the new Art Journal Messages onto the background in white. 

After splattering the background with both gold and white Glimmer Metallic ink I added a black sentiment die cut using the Luggage Tag Alphabet dies. I love the bold font of these dies and the fact that I can make any sentiment I want with them. To finish this piece up I add highlights with a white posca pen and a few black enamel dots for accents.

This card uses the same products for a totally different look. This time I used the Hero Arts watercolor paper (A2 sized) and sprayed it with Liquid Watercolor sprays (Indigo and Pink). Then I stamped Newspaper Bold Prints onto some deli paper with permanent ink. I glued a strip of this stamped paper to my card base before applying Hero Paste over the background using the Diamond Stencil and the NEW PALETTE KNIFE which I absolutely love! While the paste was still wet I sprinkled it with White Puff Embossing Powder and heat set it. While the embossing powder was still hot I sprinkled it with Sand Embossing Powder and heat set that to add more texture. I splattered the background with with both white and gold Glimmer Metallic Ink as well as black acrylic paint and set it aside to dry.

I stamped the flowers in Onyx Pigment Ink and heat embossed them in clear embossing powder before cutting them out with the coordinating die. Then I watercolored them with liquid watercolors (Pink, Orange, Dandelion, Leaf and Jungle Mist). I added extra detail and shadows with black sharpie and gray copic markers before adhering them to my card with foam adhesive.  

To finish the card off I added a "HEY" sentiment cut using the Luggage Tag Alphabet dies. I adhered the letters using foam tape and then added some black enamel dots.

My next three projects again use the same products but combine them in different ways for different outcomes. For these projects I am using the Bug Collections Bold Prints Stamp, the Novel Prose Bold Prints Stamp, and, the Love Stamp & Cut. For this card I started out with an A2 sized piece of Paradise cardstock. I used a MISTI to stamp the Bug Collections BP in Canary Pigment ink and heat embossed it in clear. Then, I ink-blended around the edges of the card using Blue Hawaii Reactive Ink and a blending brush. This darkened up the edges and gave the center of the card a glow. Next, I stamped around the edges again using Versamark ink and the Novel Prose BP stamp. I heat embossed that in gold. To finish the background off I added splatters of black acrylic paint.

Next, I stamped the Bug Collection Bold Prints stamp onto watercolor cardstock in Onyx Pigment ink and heat set it with clear embossing powder. Then, I cut out a little piece for the top, left of my card and a butterfly for the bottom right. I also cut out a couple specimen labels to add to the background. I watercolored the butterfly with liquid watercolors and outlined the other pieces in black sharpie. I layered the butterfly onto a black banner from the Love Stamp & Cut set. I also created my sentiment from this set. I placed all of my pieces onto the background and when I was happy with the layout I glued them all done and that was all she wrote!

For my next two projects I used playing cards. There were two extra cards in the deck so I just grabbed those and I added a layer of both white and black acrylic paint as a backdrop to get started. On this first card I stamped Novel Prose randomly into the background using black ink.

I added circles using bubble wrap and Aquamarine Pigment Ink that I heat embossed in clear. Then, I stamped Novel Prose again, this time using Versamark ink and I heat embossed that in Sand Embossing Powder. I splattered the background with white acrylic paint and Gold Glimmer Metallic Ink before smearing more gold and black acrylic paint around the edges. At some point in this process I also stamped some "XOXO" sentiments into the background.

To finish this playing card up I added cuttings from the Bug Collections stamp and Love Stamp & Cut that I watercolored and outlined in black. I also added some gold string behind them and some enamel dots to add a little extra texture. 

For this Love Bug playing card I basically applied the same techniques as on the butterfly playing card. I heat embossed Novel Prose in white and then again with Sand Embossing Powder. 

I wanted to add more color to the background so I smeared some Leaf and Jungle Mist Liquid Watercolor on with my finger. It worked better than I thought it would and I think it looks really cool.

When I added the "Love" die cut I covered it in Clear Lacquer so that it would be shiny. I also added Clear Lacquer to the beetle so he looked three dimensional and to the "Bug" sentiment. I did the the "Bug" sentiment by hand since there wasn't one in the set. The final step was to add some white enamel dots.

Ok! Now let's move on and check out some of the new and super awesome mixed media products that are launching today! We've got two brand new mediums and an addition to one existing product line. Here's what we've got:

   

HERO WAXES:

        -Gold

        -Black

        -White (Pearlescent finish)

        -Buy them in a Bundle!

HERO PEARLS:

        -Gold

        -Silver

        -Pewter

        -White (Pearlescent finish)

        -Buy them in a Bundle!

HERO PASTE:

        -Pearl

        -Buy them in a Bundle!

Now, here's a look at what we've got. These are swatches of all three colors of the new HERO WAXES. The waxes are a wax based product that dries permanent on most surfaces. They are great for doing a variety of techniques with. On these swatches I show that they can be applied smoothly with a palette knife (top left), textured (bottom left), heated with a heat tool to bubble them (top right), and applied with a dry brush to add texture (bottom right). They are amazing to burnish over texture on your projects, for use with stencils and for many other techniques. You can buy these waxes individually or as a bundle.

Next up we have the new HERO PEARLS in four gorgeous colors! All four of these of a striking, metallic finish that is very eyecatching. As you can see from the swatches they can be applied in a variety of ways-here, I've used my finger, used the tip to draw a squiggle, and then made some pearls as embellishments. The colors all look stunning on both dark and light cardstock and are easy to make beautiful "pearls" with (no hershey's kiss look with these drops as they are self-leveling). You can buy these individually or as a bundle.

Finally, we have the newest addition to our Hero Paste line with this gorgeous, new HERO PEARL PASTE. This paste is similar to others in our line (currently we have our original paste, glitter paste and now Pearl paste). It is white with a pearlescent finish and had great coverage on both light and dark cardstocks. You can add color this paste by adding a few drops of either liquid watercolor or Inkers. If you already have the two existing pastes you can pick up the Pearl paste by itself, or, if you want all three pastes you can grab the bundle. 

Here's a look at all of the swatches for the new mediums together... Aren't they fun?!

Before I go there are two new tools that I have to tell you about because you are going to need them!

First we've got the new stamp Scrubbing Block! This is a block that is easy to hold in your hand and allows you scrub your stamps clean while they are in your MISTI! This tool makes it easy to clean your Bold Print stamps too! Check it out HERE!

We've also got a brand new Palette Knife! I absolutely love because it's made out of metal and wood. I love tools made of natural materials so much more than plastic tools. This palette knife is also really great because of the shape of the knife. It is shaped like an elongated diamond and has a narrow tip that is easy to dip into your product containers to pick up your product. Check out this awesome, new Palette Knife HERE!

Ok, you guys! That is it for today so I hope you'll keep hopping along with us to check out the new goodies and tons of creative inspiration from the Hero Arts Creative Team. Remember to enter our giveaway too (details below)!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

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

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

VIDEO: Gina K. Designs Release: Poppy Garden Watercoloring!

Hello everybody! Exciting news- it's Gina K. Designs release day! I've made a one-layer card using the new Poppy Garden stamp set (it has coordinating dies!) by Hannah Drapinski. This set is stunning and made me want to sit down and watercolor it straight away. I've made a VIDEO to share some easy watercoloring techniques so be sure to scroll on down and check out that video on my YouTube Channel.

I started out by heat embossing the largest image from the set onto Strathmore watercolor cardstock. To do this I used Onyx Pigment ink from Hero Arts and clear embossing powder.

You can check out the entire watercoloring process here...

 

If you are having trouble watching this video you can view it HERE on YouTube .

My video shares my process for layering ink colors and easy application of color using Karin Brush Markers and a paint brush. I used four colors of ink for the poppies and three colors of ink for the leaves. I started by applying my lightest color of ink (yellow for poppies, lime green for leaves) as a light layer of color over my entire image. I used very little water and allowed my paint to almost entirely dry before adding the next layer of color. I added the darker colors into the areas where I wanted to have shadows and kept the other areas light as highlights.

After I finished watercoloring I stamped a sentiment in Gina K. Design Black Onyx ink and added a few white highlights with a gel pen.

It was a huge struggle not to splatter the heck out of this card but I managed to leave it as a clean and simple card. I hope you've enjoyed learning a little bit about my process today. For all of the details you can head over to YouTube and watch my VIDEO. You can also head on over to Gina K. Designs to check out the full release!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

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

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Release, Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Hi everybody and happy Hero Arts release day! The July My Monthly Hero Kit is here and it is such a magical kit! 

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 $72!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the August release), or, to buy your favorite kits as a 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 always a ton of fantastic add-on products offered. You can choose to buy your favorites or buy them all at a discounted rate.

We also have an awesome GIVEAWAY and a BLOG HOP with tons of inspiration going on so please make sure to check the info for those at the bottom of my post!

Ok, on to my first card! This kit is full of small images that are really great for scene building. The second I saw the little gnome in a hammock I knew I wanted to stick him on a tropical beach somewhere. I stamped him onto white cardstock with copic friendly black ink.

Then I used my copic markers to color him in, added sand below, and an ocean (or maybe the Caribbean Sea) behind him. I inkblended the background using my reactive inks and then heat embossed my sentiment. 

The final touch was to add a black mat and pop the whole thing up on a kraft card base. 

My next card was made using three of this month's add-ons. The add-ons this month are so awesome and I had a lot of fun making this card. I started out by creating a colorful galaxy background using my Nuvo Shimmer Powders and applying them to watercolor paper. 

Next, I used the Starry Clouds Infinity Dies (the second largest die) to cut a gorgeous frame for my card out of Pitch Black Cardstock. I splattered this with Midas Touch Shimmer Pen for some subtle but gorgeous shimmer.

I heat embossed the fairies from the Meadow HeroScape set in gold onto black and added those in with foam tape. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Magical Forest set and embellished with some gems.

In case you missed it the other day, here's another look at the card I made for the Countdown to today's launch. You can learn more about how I put this card together by clicking here to head my original blog post.

Before I go I want to give you a look at what's included in this month's kit. Check out this picture to see everything you'll receive when this July My Monthly Hero kit lands on your doorstep...

Ok, you guys, that's all I've got for today! Please make sure to check out the GIVEAWAY info below and continue on with the blog hop to see some amazing creativity and tons of inspiration with this release!

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, July 11th 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
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis: YOU ARE HERE.
Michelle Short: NEXT.
Mindy Eggen
Seeka
Jennifer Kotas
Jennier McGuire
Meg Brooks
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

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

Copic Coloring With Whimsy Stamps!

Hi everybody it's Maria here and I'm excited to be sharing my first post as a guest designer for Whimsy Stamps. From stamps, to stencils, to interactive dies, Whimsy has got such a great variety of product for card making and I had a ton of fun picking out what I wanted to use today. I decided to pair the A Boy's Dream stamp set, the Moon Background and the Star Galaxy Stencil to put this card together. 

I started out by stamping my little alien onto Hammermill cardstock using copic friendly black ink. Then I masked it off with masking paper so that I could easily stamp and inkblend on top of it. Next, I placed the Moon Background stamp so that it would look like the alien was slinking along the surface of the moon and stamped that using my Misti. I stamped the moon again onto masking paper, cut it out and adhered it on top of my moon. That left me with both of my images completely masked off. 

I ink-blended the background using Distress Oxides in Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Broken China and Tumbled Glass. Then I used the Star Galaxy Stencil to apply some Nuvo Glacier Paste in Winter White. I love Glacier Paste because it stencils on so easily, allows the background color to show through, and catches the light in such a magical way. In other words, this starry background shimmers like something else!

Once my background was finished I peeled off the masking paper to reveal my stamped images. I colored both the slithery, little alien and the moon using copic markers. I'll list the colors at the end of the post for you. I also added some highlights using a white gel pen.

When my card face was finished, I selected a sentiment from the A Boy's Dream stamp set and heat embossed it in white onto black cardstock to make it pop. Then I trimmed just a smidge off of the left and right sides so that I could mount my card face onto a black cardbase using foam tape. The last step was to attach my sentiment with foam tape and add a few sequins.

That's it for today you guys. I hope you've enjoyed reading about how I made this card and hope it might inspire you to have a little fun of your own. As promised I am adding all of the copic marker colors that I've used below. I'm also adding links to all of the products that I've used today in case you want to have a little look-see. 

Have an amazing day you all!

Maria

COPIC COLORS:

ALIEN:

-R21, R22, R24, R27, R29, R39

-Y04. Y06, Y08, Y38, YR09

MOON:

-C0, C01, C02, C03, C04, C05, C06, C07

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero October 2020 Release + Video and a Giveaway!

Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great weekend! I'm glad you're here because we are kicking Monday off with a bang! Today is the launch of the new Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit and it is a fun one! In case you aren't familiar with the My Monthly Hero Kit... It's a kit that comes on the first Monday of every month (unless there's a switcheroo) and has an incredibly high value but is offered at a discounted rate. This month's kit is is valued at $76 but you can pick it up for just $34.99. There is a catch though... Once the kit is sold out it's gone for good. You can put dibs on a kit of your own by subscribing to receive the kit each month. Each month there are add-on products that match the theme of the kit too and subscribers get the perk of being able to add those extra products for no additional shipping costs. You can check out the entire release HERE.

I had so much fun with this kit that I've got quite a lot to share with you today and I've even got a video for you! For my first cards I used the dies to make a card with a fun surprise! 

To see how I made these cards you can watch the video here...

I started out by stamping the background with one of the add-ons for this month's kit called Holiday Graphic Pattern Bold Prints.  I used my Misti and Splash Reactive ink. I glued that to a piece of Adriatic cardstock. That whole deal got glued to a top folding card base and set it aside for later.

I used the ornament die to cut out two ornaments from Cherry and Mist cardstock. I ink blended the edges with Mulled Wine and Blue Hawaii inks respectively. I stamped Santa and his reindeer on the blue ornament and a sentiment on the red one. Then I splattered them with shimmer pen. The last bit was to add the heat embossed "Ho Ho Ho" sentiment onto the front of the blue ornament.

I cut silver toppers for each ornament and glued them on. Then I used a jeweled Hero Arts brad to connect both of the ornaments via the hole at the top. I clipped the end of the brad off on the back so that it wouldn't stick out the side (I used wire cutters). 

I put foam tape on the back of the red ornament and adhered it to my card base. This fixed the red ornament allowing the blue ornament to swing freely. If you shake the card back and forth the front ornament moves like a pendulum.

For my next project I made two tags using the same ornament dies that I used on my card. For this I also used the frame die to create a shaker tag and a tag with a layered look. These tags are easy to make and can be used for so many different things. You can add them to the front of a card, use them as a tag for a gift, use them as a tree ornament. You could even use a photo as the background piece and make photo ornaments picture frames.

For this tag I ink blended a piece of Mist cardstock with Blue Hawaii ink. Then I sprayed it with shimmer spray and let it sit for a minute before picking the wet spray up with a paper towel. Then I used a white gel pen to add some snow to the background. I stamped the sentiment in black ink before layering the die cut Christmas trees along the bottom (watercolored w liquid watercolors). I added enamel dots to the tops of the trees and finally added the silver glitter frame on top. The last touch was adding a red ribbon to the top.

This second tag is a shaker tag. I cut out about 8 of the frame pieces out of white cardstock and glued them together. I adhered those to a piece of Lavender cardstock die cut from the large from and ink blended with Thistle ink. I did heat emboss the sentiment before glueing everything together. I used the Star Confetti Fancy Die to cut some stars from white sparkle paper. Then I glued stars to the background of my tag. I filled the inside with confetti and sequins and sealed the shaker up with a piece of acrylic cut with the ornament die. I topped that off with an ornament frame cut from white glitter paper and added a white ribbon to the top.

For my next card I used liquid water colors to paint a background scene. Then I used the fancy window die and the trees from the kit to build a scene. When the window panes are shut you get just a peek at the scene.

When you open the window on the left you can see the die cut trees (also watercolored) and a silver star.

You can also see that I splattered the background with white metallic ink to add some texture and interest. I used a white gel pen to add detail to the trees.

I adhered this watercolored piece to a white card base stamped with a sentiment and that was it.

My last project is actually one that I shared yesterday for the countdown. If you'd like to see more pictures and learn the details of this card you can head over to that blog post by clicking HERE.

Here is a close up look at the kit and everything that comes with it. You get all of these stamps and dies, an embossing and watermark ink pad plus three embossing powders! It's such a great deal!

Now for some super exciting news! The Hero Arts My Monthly Kits come at a huge value every month and have never before gone on sale... until now! For the month of October only many of the kits are being sold at $5 off! If you're interested in checking out what's on sale just click here. There are some really good kits so I hope you find one you love.

Ok, that is it for me today but before we go I want to make sure you know about the giveaway...

GIVEAWAY: Hero Arts will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, October 11th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment below.

To continue on the hop you can head over to Michelle's blog to see what beautiful things she's made with this kit. If you prefer to see the whole list of blog hoppers I've got that listed for you below.

Have an awesome day!

Maria

BLOG HOP LIST:

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis: You are here.
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Amy Kolling
Jennifer McGuire
Julee Tilman
Laurie Willison
Mariana Grigsby

Nichol Spohr

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST: