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

Hey everybody! The wait is over! It's time for the Hero Arts January My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit has so many fun elements (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 $80!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the January 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 card I ink-blended my background using Pool Party, Blue Hawaii, Purple Galaxy and Licorice Reactive Inks. Then I splattered it with black ink and gold metallic ink jazz it up a little. I stamped the sentiment from the kit at the top of the background using onyx pigment ink and clear embossing powder.

Next, I used the coverplate die from the kit and cut it out of Pitch Black cardstock. I snipped the key hole frame out of the die cut and adhered it to my background using glue dots. 

To finish my card off I cut the key out of gold foil and adhered it in the center of the key hole.

For my next card I used the Locks Fancy Dies and the Chain Link Fancy Die to create a fun Valentine's Day card. I ink-blended the background using Cotton Candy, Rose Madder and Orchid inks. Then I splattered it with black ink and white metallic glimmer ink. Then I heat embossed a sentiment from the Peonies Bunch set using Onyx Pigment ink and clear embossing powder.

I added the chain link fence die cut in black using glue dots.

Then I cut the Locks from a sheet of gold foil and some of them to the card using foam tape. To finish my card off popped the decorated panel up on a black cardbase.

Before I go heres a look at a card I shared yesterday using this kit. You can find out more about it by visiting my blog post HERE.

Ok, you guys, that is it for today! I hope you'll keep hopping along with us to check out all of the beautiful creations that the rest of the crew has made. Also, check out the generous giveaway below and get yourself entered to win!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

We will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, January 16th at 11:59pm Pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

BLOG HOP:

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

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

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Release and a little bit of Steampunk Grunge!

Hey everybody! The wait is over! It's time for the Hero Arts October My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a festive holiday kit (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 $72!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the November 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!

This kit has an absolutely gorgeus, A2 sized window die. It has beautiful, etched details and a perfect spot at the top for adding a sentiment. I die cut it from white cardstock and lightly ink-blended it with Splash Reactive Ink. Then, I heat embossed the sentiment using Onyx Pigment ink and Clear embossing powder. I also ink-blended a second panel in Lemon Drop ink, splattered it with Midas Touch and set it aside to dry.

Next, I heat embossed the tree, candelabra and champagne glasses in silver. I colored them all with my copic markers and then die cut them using the coordinating dies the come in the MMH kit. 

I used foam tape to put my card together. I turned the candles upside down to create a chandelier and tucked the champagne glasses inside one of the windows. The final step was to add the Christmas tree to the front of the card.

For my next card I went the complete opposite of my first card. This time I went for a metallic, grungy look by combining the new Gear Clock Boldprints with the new Steampunk Holiday set. I started by ink-blending a piece of Aegean cardstock with Blue Hawaii ink (around the edges only). Then I heat embossed the Gear Clock background stamp with Sand embossing powder. After that I used the Novel Prose background stamp to do some taco stamping (fold the stamp like a taco and stamp with it) and heat embossed that with white puff embossing powder.

To finish off the background, I heat embossed the sentiment and some gears in Onyx ink and clear embossing powder. I used two different sentiments to do this and I used washi tape to cover up the part of each sentiment that I didn't want to use. I also took a black posca pen and marked up the background a little bit.

Last, I heat embossed the little steampunk owl and key in brass on Pitch Black cardstock and then cut them out using the matching dies. I attached them to my card using foam tape and positioned them so that the owl was perching on the key.

Every once in a while I like to make a single layer card that's easy to mail so I decided to do that with the gorgeous Christmas Tree stamp. I heat embossed the image and sentiment onto Cherry Cardstock using Gold Glitter Embossing Powder. I decided to color the image with my colored pencils but I wasn't able to get the contrast I was hoping for so my coloring just looked, "blah." I basically never throw anything away (I try to fix everything) and this card was no exception.

I grabbed my fine tipped, colored Posca Pens (acrylic paint pens) and decided to try coloring the tree with those. Because the paint is opaque I was able to get bold colors and make the tree standout on the red background. It was a little hard to color perfectly because the pen tips were larger than some of the tiny details of the stamp but I ended up being happy with how it turned out.

After that all I had to do was to glue my panel to a cardbase and my card was done!

Ok! That is it for today but please make sure to enter our fabulous GIVEAWAY and continue on with our BLOG HOP for tons of amazing inspiration! 

Have an awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

We will give away ALL OF THE OCTOBER ADD-ON PRODUCTS, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, October 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
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Seeka
Jennifer Kotas
Meg Brooks
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

And visit on Instagram: 

Kailash Naidoo

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

Mixed Media Background Using Just One Stencil!

Hi everybody! I hope you're having an awesome day! I've got a fun mixed media card to share with you today and I made the background using just one stencil and some sprays, inks and gloss medium. 

I started out by spraying the Art Deco Arches Stencil from Hero Arts with Dina Wakley Gloss Spray in Eggplant. I then layed my sprayed stencil onto a piece of white cardstock and pressed down over it with a paper towel. Some of the purple ink stuck to my cardstock leaving a purple ghosted image of the stencil. This gloss spray is acrylic paint and once it's dry it is permanent and will resist other mediums. After it was dry I sprayed over it with Distress Oxide Spray in Salvage Patina. I inkblended around that with Lemon Drop and Fruit Punch Reactive Inks. Then, I splattered the background with some white acrylic paint that I had watered down. The final step was to place my clean stencil back on the background. I lined it up with the purple paint that was showing and applied a clear gloss medium (Liquitex) over the top. I didn't cover the entire background but applied the gloss coat randomly. This trapped some of the layers I had already applied behind the gloss layer and added cool texture and sheen. This is hard to see in the photographs but I have a quick video clip at the end of my post to show you.

After making my background I thought that the stenciled arches looked a little bit like fish scales or waves so I decided to go with an ocean theme. I added die cut elements from the Hero Lifestyle Mermaid and Seashells Fancy Dies to the card after coloring them in matching colors. I layered them on top of a shredded piece of burlap using glue dots and foam tape.

I heat embossed my sentiment from the Sea You Soon stamp set by stamping first in Sapphire Pigment Ink and then heat embossing that with Clear Embossing Powder. This is such an awesome way to heat emboss in color because there is basically no risk of making a mess. After heat embossing my sentiment I inkblended it using Lemon Drop Reactive so that it would pop off of my card.

The last thing I did was to splatter my mermaid tail using blue (copic marker) and then the whole card using Gold Metallic Ink.

It's hard to see all of the background details in the pictures I took so here is a quick video clip for you to get a better look...

 

If you are having trouble viewing this video please click HERE to watch it on YouTube.

Ok, that's it for today you guys! I'm curious to know if you have used clear, gloss medium before? This was my first time using it and I loved it! 

Have an awesome day! Bye for now!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Countdown: January 2021

Hi everybody! It's time for the monthly countdown to the Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kit and this month's kit is one of my all time favorite kits! I can't tell you all about it quite yet because this is just a peek at what's coming Monday/tomorrow (so, obviously please come back on tomorrow and check out the whole kit). 

Here's one of the cards I've made with this month's kit and I decided to go for a distressed, grungy look for this one. I have made other cards with this kit that are bright and happy, or, sweet and simple for totally different looks. I'll show you those cards tomorrow. The My Monthly Hero kits release on the first Monday of every month and you can either subscribe to them to make sure you never miss a kit, or, try to snatch one up before they sell out! Just a head's up that if you subscribe now, the first kit you receive will be the February 2021 kit. 

I'll give you directions on how I made this card tomorrow when I can share all about the release. I've used a couple of new products that I can't share yet but I'm excited to tell you about how I used them. 

For now, I will point out these chunky, bubble butt bees which I am absolutely in love with. They are a great size for a card and are also a great size for easy coloring.

The sentiments in this set are really fun and there are some great plays on the word, "bee." For this card I selected the "Sweet as Can Bee," sentiment and heat embossed it in gold.

Ok, you guys, that's it for today's sneak peek but I can't wait for tomorrow when the whole kit will be revealed. I hope you've enjoyed this little sneak peek of the January 2021 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 tomorrow for the full kit reveal!

Bye for now and have an awesome day!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

#TGIF158- Color Challenge and Birthday Celebration!

Hey Everybody! I am sneaking in with a last minute post for the TGIF Challenge Design Team! This is usually my off week for the challenge but, Guess What?! May is TGIF's birthday month and this particular challenge marks the team's third birthday! This week is a really fun week for you to play along with us because not only do we have a great color challenge but we've got prizes (all you have to do for a chance to win is to comment on our blogs)! The ultimate prize... The winner of this week's challenge will get the chance to be a guest designer on the TGIF Challenge team! Pretty darn cool so don't miss out. 

Our color challenge for the week is Basic Black, Berry Burst and LemonLime Twist. I decided to go dark and a bit grungy with a pop of color. 

I started out by watercoloring a piece of watercolor paper in Berry Burst. Then I used a stamp from the Timeless textures set to heat emboss some flourishes in black. I also spattered black ink on the butterfly and added clear embellishments for the body.

I layered the butterfly over a background of stamping (craft white grid pattern), ribbon, DSP, washi tape and die cuts. I didn't have much time to pull this card together so I was happy that it came together fairly easily.

Well, it's midnight and time for this blog to go live so I'm off to bed now. Please join in the fun this week by commenting on our blogs and submitting your own creation to the TGIF Challenge Blog! I can't wait to see what you make! Here's the graphic for the challenge...

Alright guys. I am outta here. A hot cup of tea and my bed are calling me. Have an amazing day and I'll see you back here soon!

Maria

mariawillis@hotmail.com

Want to shop with me? No problem, just click the button below. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Email: mariawillis@hotmail.com

A Paper Pumpkin Thing: February 2018 Kit

Hey Everybody! I am back with my second blog hop of the day and this time around I am hopping with the A Paper Pumpkin Thing crew. 

This is a huge hop full of fantastic artists and all of us are bringing you alternative Paper Pumpkin card and project ideas. This month's kit is called Wildflower Wishes and it is gorgeous!

For my card I decided to go for a grungy, shabby chic look. I embossed the sticker letters in Copper Embossing Powder and stuck them onto a piece of vellum. The background is watercolor paper stamped with Sahara Sand. I roughed up the edges of the watercolor paper with my finger nail and made sure there were a couple of tears in it. I also roughed up the edges of the DSP mat in the background. 

It might be a little hard to see, but after distressing the edges of the cardstock, I used my aqua painter and some Melon Mambo ink to add a little color to the edges of the paper. I wanted to add a bit more color but I really wanted it to be muted. Something I did that you cannot see at all in the photos but does make a difference to the naked eye... I sponged white craft ink onto the edges of the DSP piece. It toned it down just a little and gave the card a softer look. The twine and the floral background piece both came in the kit as well. I colored in some small clear enamel dots with my Blends and added those for a bit more color.

For my project I decided to make a tag. I love all of these bright wildflower pieces that came in this kit and I wanted to pair one with a color that would make the flowers pop. I think Night of Navy does that nicely. The sentiment is stamped in Old Olive and the "so much" is stamped in Sahara Sand on watercolor paper and is watercolor washed with Daffodil Delight. I added Sparkle, bling and some twine to finish my tag off.

That's it for me today. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and I hope to find you back here soon!

Have an amazing day!

Maria Willis

Now prepare to be wowed by the fabulous Jennifer Hill!

BLOG ROLL:

Sara Levin 

Kimberley Morris 

Melissa Thomas 

Kelly Acheson 

Candy Ford 

Jenny Hall 

Melissa Davies 

Dena Rekow 

Pam Staples 

Andrea Tracy-Tucker 

Lori Mueller 

Tina Riddle 

Monika Davis 

Rachel Tessman 

Maria Willis 

Jennifer Hill

Want to shop with me? No problem, just click the button below. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Email: mariawillis@hotmail.com

Want a great discount on Stampin' Up! Products and to have a fun new stamping family? Join me on this fun adventure! I can't wait to be your super excited Stampin' Up! side kick and support lady! In case you didn't know, you can join Stampin' Up! just for the discount and never sell a single product. If you want to know the details just let me know. If you're looking for a discount on your favorite hobby (stamping and paper crafting with Stampin' Up! products) and want to earn money doing it... let me know! I'd love to talk with you whatever your interest might be! If you want to see a little more info go ahead and click the button below. Looking forward to hearing from you!