Hero Arts Countdown to Creativity: February 2023 My Monthly Hero Release

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the February 2023  Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a fabulous kit for creating some gorgeous butterfly themed cards and projects!

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! 

BIG NEWS!! Starting with the February 2023 release Hero Arts will now be offering both a Classic Kit and a Premium kit every month! The Classic kit will be what you're familiar with and will stay priced at $34.99. The Premium Kit will include everything from the Classic Kit plus some fabulous extras! If you are already a kit subscriber (prior to January 31, 2023) you will be receiving the Premium Kit at no additional cost (February 2023 only-after that you'll need to upgrade your subscription if you'd like to keep receiving the Premium kit).

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the March 2023 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 Three of the Countdown to Creativity and I've got a card featuring one of the many gorgeous, detailed butterfly dies from the Premium kit! These dies feature both an inner (detailed) portion as well as as a separate outer die which can be used either on their own or together. On This card I've used them together.

I started by cutting a piece of Paradise Cardstock down to 4" x 5.25" and inkblending the edges with Blue Hawaii Reactive ink. Then I splattered it with both white and gold metallic glimmer ink. I also heat embossed some of the diamond stars from the main kit in gold onto the background. 

Next, I used the fancy butterfly dies from the Premium kit to cut out two butterflies from Canary and Pitch Black cardstock. I used Fruit Punch Reactive ink to ink blend the edges of the Dandelion butterfly and then glued that to the black butterfly slightly offset. I glued the double butterfly to my background and added that to a black cardbase. I added a sentiment from the kit (I masked it off so that I could use just part of it) with foam tape.

The final step was to add some Pewter Hero Pearls to the background and some white gel pen to butterfly to make some of those fabulous details pop!

Ok, guys, that's it for today! If you'd like a chance to win this kit before you can buy it then head on over to the Hero Arts blog and find out how (plus check out all three days of incredible inspiration for this kit which is coming at you tomorrow!).

Have an awesome day guys!

Maria

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero December 2022 Release: Blog Hop and Giveaway

Hey everybody! The wait is over! It's time for the Hero Arts December 2022 My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a fantastic, celestial themed bundle! It's got a large 6"x8" clear stamp set with coordinating die cuts. It's also got a cling background stamp, some Pitch Black Cardstock and a Rose Gold pigment mini ink pad. 

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 $82!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the January 2023 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've used the new MMH kit. I started out by inking up the background stamp using Taffy, Creamsicle and Lemon Drop Reactive Inks. I did this by rubbing the ink pads directly onto the stamp and then making sure I had a smooth blend with a blending brush. I stamped onto white cardstock. I did this a couple of times until I had the coverage I wanted. 

I colored the images I wanted with copic markers and then I cut them out by hand and pieced them together. I added foam tape to the back of the images, figured out where I wanted them positioned, and then I heat embossed my sentiment (Onyx Pigment ink and clear embossing powder). Then, I adhered the images to the card front.

I added my card front to a Pitch Black card base. The final step was to add Gold Hero Pearls to give my card more of a galactic look. 

For my next card I used the new Celestial Bold Prints stamp for the background. I inked it up Reactive Inks (Pool Party, Lemon Drop, Taffy and Grape Slush).  I stamped repeatedly onto Pitch Black Cardstock until the colors were laid down heavily. Then I stamped again in Versamark ink and heat embossed in clear to trap the colors in place.

I trimmed the background down to 4'x5.25' and adhered it to a mat of gold glitter cardstock.

To add a focal point I used the Celestial Fancy Dies. I gut the sun and star out of gold metallic cardtsock and the cloud from vellum. The sentiment is from the Orbit stamp set and is stamped in black on Mist cardstock. I added the die cuts with foam tape and that was it for this card.

That's it for my cards today you guys but I hope you love this month's celestial release as much as I do. The rest of the team has amazing inspiration to share so please keep hopping along with us.

Have an awesome day!

Maria

BLOG HOP LIST:

Hero Arts

Hero Arts Creative Team: 

Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Kelly Taylor
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Seeka

Special Guests: 

Jennifer Kotas
Meg Brooks
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

Hero Arts Countdown to Creativity: October 2022 Release!

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the October 2022 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a fabulous kit for creating gorgeous holiday scenes and more.

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 November 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 colorful Christmas scene to share with you. I started by stamping some of the scenes in Onyx Pigment Ink and then heat embossing them in clear. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out. 

I figured out where I wanted the scene images to fit on my card front and ink blended the sky using Reactive Inks in Taffy and Lemon Drop. I inkblended the bottom with Pool Party then sprayed the whole background with white iridescent shimmer spray. Then, I stamped and heat embossed the Santa and elf images onto my background pieces. 

Finally, I added the die cut scene images using liquid glue and foam tape. I cut the excess off of both sides so that the images would be flush with the background. I added the background piece to a Pitch Black mat and that was it!

If you'd like a chance to win this kit before you can buy it head on over to the Hero Arts blog and enter for your chance to win. There are two more days of the countdown so be sure to check back for the next couple of days and see all of the inspiration from the design team!

Have an awesome day and I'll see you on Monday for the full release!

Maria

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

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

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

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero May 2022: Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Hey everybody! The wait is over! It's time for the Hero Arts May 2022 My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a kitchen-loving dream! It's got a gorgeous fancy die, coordinating  small dies, a sentiment stamp set and a fun background stamp (affiliate links may be used at no extra cost to you)! It's also got a bunch of other fun supplies like cardstock, ink, embossing powder, and baker's twine!

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 $70!

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the June 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 made a bright and happy, "Bun in the Oven" card. This card would be such a fun way to announce that a baby is on the way. The oven door opens so it would be easy to add a due date or a gender to the inside. I started out with an A2 sized piece of white cardstock and I masked off the window panes from the Open Windows Fancy die using masking paper. Then, I stamped the background stamp from the kit in Soft Granite Shadow Ink. Then I lightly ink blended the whole background with Soft Granite Ink to give it a little color. After that, I peeled the masking paper away and that left me with clean white, windows. I added some blue color using my copic markers to make it look like their was an outdoor view.

To finish off the window scene I adhered the Open Window Fancy die cut out of white cardstock. It perfectly framed out the windows that I had colored in blue. Once I had the window frame glued down I decided to make the windows look glossy and I filled them with a layer of Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen. You may want to do this step last, or, be very careful not to smear the lacquer before it dries properly.

Next, I cut the fancy die from the kit out of Paradise cardstock. I cut off the sides and top of the die cut leaving only the fruit bowl sitting on top of the counter. I added detail to the oven and fruit using a gold gel pen and some posca paint pens. I also stamped the sentiment onto the oven door using Onyx Pigment ink and then heat embossed it in clear embossing powder. Once that was done I glued the whole thing down using tape runner (I didn't want liquid adhesive to ooze through the gorgeous details of the die) except for the oven door which I propped slightly open with glue dots.

For my next card I used the gorgeous new Olive Branch stamp and die set. I heat embossed the large olive branch in gold and watercolored it using my Hero Arts Liquid Watercolors (Leaf, Jungle Mist, Purple, Art Print, Black). Then, I used the coordinating dies to cut out the image.

I used Jungle Mist Liquid Watercolor to quickly watercolor a background onto some handmade watercolor paper. Then I roughed up the edges with my fingernail and added some Gold Glimmer Metallic ink by rubbing it on with my fingers as well as splattering it with a paintbrush.

I created a gold circle frame with my Circle Infinity Dies by stacking three layers of white cardstock behind one layer of gold metallic cardstock. I heat embossed the sentiment in Onyx Pigment ink and clear embossing powder and then cut the sentiment strip out and flagged it with scissors. I glued all of the pieces to my card front using liquid adhesive and foam tape. Then I finished the card off by adding gold drops.

Here's a quick look at a card that I shared on Friday as a sneak peek for this kit. You can see more pictures and check out all of the details HERE.

Ok, you guys, that is it for today! I hope you all love this kit and will continue hopping along with us for even more inspiration. The full blog hop list is below and make sure to leave a comment here to get yourself entered into our giveaway!

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, May 8th 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
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Jennifer Kotas
Meg Brooks
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

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

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Countdown to Creativity: May 2022

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the May 2022 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is a super fun kit packed with... well, I'm not telling you because my card doesn't give the theme away!

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 June 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 sneak peek of this month's kit to share with you... and this month's kit is really to fun play with! I can't spill all of the beans yet because this is just a sneak peek so stay tuned because the full release is on Monday!

For today's card I stamped the large background stamp from the kit in versamark ink and heat embossed in Gold Sparkle Embossing Powder. Then, I inkblended the background using some of my favorite Reactive Ink colors: Taffy, Lemon Drop, Pool Party, Splash and Thistle. I overlapped the colors as I went creating easy color transitions. I trimmed this colorful piece down a little bit and added it to a black mat.

Next, I heat embossed a sentiment from the kit in white onto black cardstock and cut it out using the Rounded Rectangle Infinity Dies. I added a few black enamel dots and called it good! There was hardly ever an easier card made than this one!

Ok, you guys, make sure you head on over to the Hero Arts blog to enter to win a kit before you can buy one! While you're there make sure to check out all of the other amazing day one sneak peeks.

Have an awesome weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday with the full release!

Maria

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

 

Hero Arts April MMH Countdown

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the April 2022 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is an eclectic kit filled with love!

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 (later this month because of the holidays). 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 May 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 sneak peek of this month's kit to share with you... and this month's kit is absolutely gorgeous! I can't spill all of the beans yet because this is just a sneak peek so stay tuned because the full release is on Monday!

For today's card I stamped the large background stamp from the kit in Soft Granite ink onto white cardstock.

Then I used the layering stencils and Reactive Inks in Lemon Drop, Taffy, Key Lime Fizz and Green Apple to color in the image using blending brushes. I used copic markers to color in the sweet little bees.

To finish my card off I added a black sentiment on gray cardstock and added a matching cardbase. I also tied some silver thread around the sentiment piece for a little something extra.

Ok you guys, that is it for today but I am telling you that this release is phenomenal so please come back on Monday to check out the full reveal!

Have an awesome day!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST (Affiliate links may be used at now extra cost to you):

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 January 2022: Countdown to Creativity

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the January 2022 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is an eclectic kit filled with love!

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 (later this month because of the holidays). 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 February 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 Three of the Countdown to Creativity and I've got a sneak peek of this month's kit to share with you... and this month's kit is fun for so many reasons! I can't spill all of the beans yet because this is just a sneak peek so stay tuned because the full release is tomorrow!

One of the elements in this month's kit is a gorgeous, color-layering tree (tree branch?). For today's card I used this main stamp to create a colorful focal point. There are two stamps to create the leaves. I started by using the more detailed stamp and I inked the top portion up with Canary Pigment Ink and the bottom portion with Citrine Pigment ink. These pigment inks are juicy and wet so I used clear embossing powder to heat emboss them. This sealed my ink colors so that I could now stamp the solid leaf stamp right on top of my leaves without changing my colors. I stamped the background in Taffy and used a tissue to carefully wipe up any excess ink that was sitting on top of my embossed leaves. I love the way the Taffy filled in the background areas to create some darker areas.

I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4" x 5.25" and inkblended it using Splash, Blue Hawaii and Thistle Reactive inks. I did the Thistle last and this gave my background a slightly pink hue that isn't really showing up well in my pictures. I used Onyx Pigment and clear embossing powder to add a sentiment to the bottom, right corner. I also added some butterflies in Taffy ink. Then I magicked up the background with  White Iridescent Shimmer Spray and White Glimmer Metallic Ink splatters. I also added some splatters of Taffy reactive ink to tie the background in with the leaves.

I used foam adhesive to layer my pieces onto a black cardbase. The final step was to add some gems, sequins and tiny stars.

Ok, that is it for today you guys! If you'd like a chance to win this kit before you can buy it then head on over to the Hero Arts blog and enter yourself to win. See you back here tomorrow for the full release!

Have an awesome day!
Maria

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