Hero Arts Countdown to Creativity: You're One of a Kind!

Hey everybody! It's almost time for the July Hero Arts My Monthly Hero release and this month's kit is like gnome other... Sorry, that was awful but I couldn't help it!

But first, 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! 

NOTE: This month's kit will go live on Tuesday, July 6th because of the Fourth of July holiday here in the US.

You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the July 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. I picked a few different stamps from the kit and did a little bit of masking, coloring and inkblending to build a fun little scene.

The tree stump and flowers are stamped onto the card face and the little house and gnome climbing the ladder were colored separately, die cut and and then adhered onto the card face. 

The trickiest part was the gnome on the ladder. After I die cut him and added him to the card there was a lot of white space between the ladder rungs that blocked the tree stump. Since I had masked the first images onto the background and there was no white space I thought the ladder's white space looked off stylistically. I got out my fine tip sharpie and went to work drawing in the lines of the tree stump onto my ladder die cut. When I was done I colored the hand-drawn scene between the ladder rungs in with matching copic markers. It was easier than I thought it would be and I was happy that it pulled the card together for a more cohesive look.

To catch more sneak peeks of this month's kit head on over to the Hero Arts blog where you can find the rest of the Day One sneaks as well as enter the giveaway to win a kit before you can buy it!

We will catch you on Tuesday, July 6th for the full release!

Have an amazing day!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

VIDEO: Hero Arts My Monthly Hero March 2021 Release, Blog Hop and a Giveaway!

Hey everybody! The My Monthly Hero release is finally here and this month we've got a super fun book themed 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 $73! You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the April 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! Oh! Also, don't forget to check out the add-ons! Every month there is an offering of add-on products that coordinate with the monthly kit theme. You can check out this month's add-ons here.

Today's post is part of an amazing blog hop with tons of inspiration. So if you'd like to see some really great projects please make sure you check out everybody on the hop. There's also a great giveaway from Hero Arts! Details for both the blog hop and giveaway are at the bottom of my post so make sure to check that out.

Today I've got a mixed media card and video to share with you. I used images from the main kit as well as stamps from some of the add-on sets to create my card...

If you'd like to watch how I made this card here's the video I made for you...

 

If you are having trouble watching this video click HERE to view it now.

I started out by using my copic markers to color the focal point of my card which is the girl sitting in the chair. I show how I like to color and share some tips for adding shadow and texture in my video. I also have all of the colors that I used listed in a graphic at the end of my video.

After I colored the main image I worked on my background. I started with a base of Dina Wakley gloss sprays. Then, I added ink, acrylic paint, embossing powder and gilding flakes.

I stamped out some extra images from the following add-on stamp sets: Novel Prose Bold Prints, Bookworm Messages, Literally the Best and Library Card Stamp & Cut XL. Then I heat embossed a sentiment from the Literary Quotes stamp set and put my card together using foam adhesive for some good dimension.

My second card is the one I shared for day two of the countdown on Saturday. To create this card I started out with a piece of watercolor cardstock. I stamped the tree image from the main kit using the rainbow ink pad that also comes with the kit.

After I stamped the tree I swiped the ink pad across my glass mat. I used this ink and a paint brush to water color the image.

For some extra detail I used my colored pencils and added shading to the image (but most of the color is from the watercoloring I did using ink from the ink pad). I added a heat embossed sentiment and that was it for this card!

Here's a look at this month's kit. It's packed full of fun goodies! Here's what is included:

-6" x 8" Clear Stamp Set

-7 Coordinating Frame Cuts

-Reactive Palette Ink Pad

-Water Flow Brush

-6 Bookmarks, Pure White Cardstock

-Rainbow Hemp Cord, 6 meters

Ok, you guys! That is all I've got for today. I hope you enjoyed my video and this fun look at this month's Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit. I hope you'll keep on going with the blog hop and remember to check out the giveaway details below.

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, March 14th 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
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis: You are here.
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Nichol Spohr
Jennifer McGuire

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Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Countdown and a Giveaway!

Hey everybody! It's that time again when we are counting down the days until the next My Monthly Hero kit release from Hero Arts... and you had to wait an extra week this month which is so torturous! Thank goodness it's almost Monday (release day) and today is the second day of sneak peeks.  

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 $73! You have the option to subscribe (subscribing now means your first kit will be the April 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!

Ok, on to my card! I used this fun tree stamp and the rainbow palette ink pad that's included in the kit to create this card. I started out by stamping the image on watercolor paper. I stamped a couple of times to make sure I had a crisp image.

Next, I smeared my ink pad onto my glass mat. I used a paintbrush and the ink from the pad to watercolor the image in rainbow order. I made sure to leave the small images in the tree uncolored. Then, I went back through and colored all of the little images in different colors to make them stand out. I used colored pencils to add shading where it was needed.

To finish my card off I heat embossed my sentiment in white onto Pitch Black Cardstock (it's back in stock!!!). 

SIDENOTE: If you don't know about this black cardstock and it's amazingness then I'm here to tell you that it is super thick, the darkest black, and my favorite black cardstock ever. I have been rationing scraps of it for months now and I am so happy it's back in stock!

Then I added a strip of black cardstock onto the side and glued the whole thing onto a top-folding, white card base.

 

That is all I've got for today but make sure to come back on Monday because I've got a fun mixed media card and a video to share with you when the kit goes live. For now, make sure you head over to the Hero Arts blog for a chance to win this kit before you can buy it! 

See you back here Monday for the full kit release and more inspiration. Have a great rest of your weekend!

Maria

Hero Arts and Reverse Confetti Blog Hop

Hello everybody! Thanks for stopping by today. I'm glad you did because today Hero Arts and Reverse Confetti are teaming up with a fun collaboration stamp set called Better Together! This stamp set was designed by Ellie, the daughter of Reverse Confetti owner Jen del Muro. If that isn't cool enough, the proceeds from this stamp set will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign!

Now, this set is intended to be used for stamping flowers but I really felt like doing a little mixed media today. Lucky for me there are some fun patterns included in this stamp set and I was able to use two of the stamps to create this background. I started out by using glossy spray paint to coat my background in color. Once the paint dried (it dries quickly) I used the dotted stamp and some black ink to stamp repeatedly on my background.

Next, I grabbed my Delicate Petals Stencil and used it to stencil on some white acrylic paint. When it was mostly dry I added Puffy White Embossing Powder to the wet spots and heated it to add some fun texture to the edges of the stenciled areas. Then, I took the stamp that was intended to be a stem and used it to heat emboss stripes in Brass Embossing Powder onto my background. I wanted the edges to be a little bit darker so I inkblended them with some dark blue hybrid ink so that it would be permanent. After that, I splattered the background with more white acrylic paint. When my background was dry I adhered it to a top folding A2 cardbase.

I wanted a big, bold sentiment to finish off my card so I decided to use the new Happy Thanks Stamp & Cut XL. I cut the "thanks" three times out of black cardstock and glued the layers together. I heat embossed my stamped sentiment in white and cut it out. I added foam adhesive to the backs of the die cut and stamped sentiments and adhered them to my card. The final touch was to add some enamel dots in yellow and white. 

That is it for today you guys! Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my make with this fun Better Together  stamp set. Before you head over to Mindy's blog make sure you check out the awesome giveaway below. There is also a full list of today's blog hoppers as well as a list of products I've used today if you'd like to check out any of those.

Have an awesome day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

We are giving away $50 gift cards to TWO lucky winners, drawn from comments left across the blog hop. One gift code will be to the Hero Arts store, and the other to Reverse Confetti. Comment on the hop by Thursday, February 25th at 11:59pm pst. The more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances to win!

BLOG HOP LIST: 

Hero Arts
Reverse Confetti
Kathy Schweinfurth
Lisa Henke
Jeanne Jachna
Amy Tsuruta
Candice Fisher
Tricia Barber
Amy Kolling
Audrey Tokach
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Mindy Eggen
Seeka
Julee Tilman
Nichol Spohr
 

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Hero Arts Spring Catalog 2021 Release and Giveaway!

Hi everybody! The day so many of us have been waiting for is finally here! Today Hero Arts is releasing their new Spring Catalog and there is so much good stuff in it I cannot even tell you! You can click here to check out all of the new products if you're itching to see them right away. I've got five cards to share with you today so let's get to it!

My first card features the new Hero Florals Poppy Combo. These poppies are so gorgeous and I love them even more because they are the state flower here in California. I colored my poppies with copic markers, die cut them and set them aside.

Next, I ink blended a background panel in Splash and Blue Hawaii reactive inks. Then I heat embossed my background using the Script Bold Prints background stamp and White Sating Pearl Embossing Powder. I also splattered my background with white metallic ink. I heat embossed my sentiment from Handwritten Messages in white detail embossing powder on black cardstock and cut it into a rectangle.

I arranged all of my pieces and adhered them to my background using foam adhesive. I used the sentiment piece to hide the bottoms of the flower stems. To finish the card off I used white enamel dots.

My next card features both the Hoppy Day and Lily Pond HeroScape stamp sets. The Hoppy Day set is such fun and laid back set and it's also a lot of fun to color. The Lily Pond HeroScape set is perfect for building gorgeous scenes and worked perfectly with these zen frogs. I started out by coloring the frogs and the lotus flowers with my copic markers. Then I glued them together to create this zen-yoga tower of frogs. I saved a few flowers for the bottom of the card.

I used the Lily Pond HeroScape and reactive inks to ink up the background scene on the bottom of my card. Above that I ink-blended Splash and Thistle inks to create a soft background which I spritzed with shimmer spray. I also used the shimmer spray to cover my clouds which added a lovely, subtle sheen.

I used foam tape to add my background to a slim-line card base. Then I added my clouds, frogs, flowers and sentiment to my card to finish it off.

This card shares the Butterfly Garden Background Cling. This stamp set is so gorgeous and if what you're looking for is stamp one image only and end up with hours of mindless, fantastic coloring... then this is the stamp for you! I stamped it in INTENS-ified black ink so that I could use a variety of coloring mediums without having to worry if my ink would smear.

I spent a long, happy time coloring this and it was such a great escape to focus in on all of the tiny details as I added layers of color. I watercolored, copic colored, pencil colored, sharpied and gel penned all over this card until I was happy with it.

I finished it off with the new Big Hugs Stamp & Cut die. I cut it out of white cardstock three times, and, one more time out of sparkly white cardstock. I glued the layers together with the sparkly layer on top and then added it to my card. It was a great way to add a sentiment because after all the time I spent coloring I didn't want to cover up the background too much. Some sequins were the final touch for this card.

I used a new die for my next card. It's called the Sun and Waves Window Fancy Die and I cut it out of black cardstock. I used glimmer metallic inks in gold, white, blue and purple to paint the sun and waves. I was really impressed with how bold and metallic these look on the black cardstock. I heat embossed my sentiment in white onto my black cardstock and put this piece aside.

I ink blended a background using reactive inks in Lemon Drop, Creamsicle and Fruit Punch. Then I stamped some birds and a palm tree and spritzed it with shimmer spray. 

Finally, I added a strip of amethyst cardstock to the side of a white card base. I glued my inkblended background so that it would be visible through my die cut piece. Then, I added my black, die-cut pie card front to the card using foam tape for some extra dimension.

My last card for today shares a fun and colorful background with a bold die cut sentiment that pops right off of it. I started by stamping the Script Bold Prints stamp onto my background using Taffy, Creamsicle and Lemon Drop inks. After I was happy with the amount of color I had layed down I stamped again with VersaMark ink and heat embossed the background in clear embosssing powder. This sealed the ink in and allowed the color to show through. 

Next, I ink blended the background in Splash and Blue Hawaii inks. I went right over the top of the my heat embossed background which resisted the ink. I added this panel to an A2 sized card base.

To finish my card off I added the Love You Stamp & Cut XL to the front of my card. It was cut three times and glued together to add dimension to my card. I polished the whole thing off with some black enamel dots and called it a day!

Thank you guys so much for stopping by today! This catalog is so amazing and you can see even more of the new product if you continue on with our blog hop. You can either head right over to Mindy's blog or check out the full list of bloggers below. Remember to enter the giveaway for your chance to win! I've also got links below if you'd like to check out any of the products that I've used today.

Have an amazing day!

Maria

GIVEAWAY:

Comment on the hop by Wednesday, February 24th at 11:59pm pst for a chance to win one of three $50 gift certificates to the Hero Arts store. The more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances to win!

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
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Amy Kolling
Jennifer McGuire
Julee Tilman
Laurie Willison
Mariana Grigsby
Nichol Spohr

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Lucky Star Light-up Card!

Hi everybody! I'm so glad to have you here because today I am sharing a light-up card! I used to dread making interactive cards because they can be so fiddly... but, never fear! Pearblossom Press is here to make light-up cards easy for us. I used one set of the Pear Blossom Press EZ-lights to make this card. Each set has a small battery, three small lights on wires, and, a button to turn the lights on. 

Looking at this card you wouldn't immediately know that it's a light up a card. I think that's part of the magic because it's such a great surprise to press that button at the bottom and see the card light up. I started out by ink blending my background using Hero Arts reactive inks in Splash, Blue Hawaii, Grape Slush, Green Apple and Blue Raspberry. I splattered the grass with black ink and the sky with both white iridescent shimmer spray and silver metallic ink. Finally I heat embossed the stars and constellations from the Lucky Star stamp set onto the background using White Detail Embossing Powder.

Now that my background is ready I can start prepping it to add my EZ-Lights. I selected three places to position my lights and used my craft pick to poke holes through my cardstock. I placed two holes in stars and another in the middle of the night sky.

Next, I placed clear enamel dots over each of the holes. This will hide the light bulbs, prevent them from poking through the front of the card and softly diffuse the light.

I turned my card face over so that I could attach the EZ-light unit. The first thing I like to do is to insert the battery into the unit. Then I press the purple button to make sure my lights all light up. If they don't you may need to flip your battery over. The light bulbs are located at the ends of the wires. I carefully placed them on the holes that I punched through my cardstock and taped them into place. Next, I decided where to position the battery/button unit and adhered that with some double sided tape. 

HOT TIP: position it so that you can remove your battery from the side of your card. That way you can remove the battery and preserve it until you give the card away. Next, I gently coiled the excess wiring and taped it to my cardstock so that it was secure.

The EZ-lights aren't very big but they are thicker than one layer of foam tape. So, I added a double layer of foam tape making sure I avoided my lights and the wire connections. Here's what that looked like...

When I flipped my card around the lights were totally hidden and this is what it looked like...

When I pressed the button my card lit up and looked so cool. I took this picture on a sunny day so you can't tell how bright these lights really are but they are bright!

I used copic markers to color this sweet image of star-gazing kids. I cut them out with the coordinating dies and added them to my card using foam tape for a little extra dimension.

I hand-wrote "push" in the bottom, left corner where I positioned the button so that the recipient would know where to push to activate the lights. If you have a stamp set that has "press," or, "push" it would be really great to use that with these light-up style cards.

Ok, that's it for today! I hope you'll check out these EZ-lights from Pearblossom Press for yourself as they are so easy to use and can really take your cards to the next level!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Maria

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

Reverse Confetti Countdown Day 2

Hi everybody! It's day two of the Reverse Confetti countdown and we are one day closer to this month's fabulous release day (November 8th). For today's shaker card I am showing off two different stamp sets and a cover plate die. I used the Home for the Holidays stamp set and the coordinating Home for the Holidays Confetti Cuts as well as the Best Gift of All sentiment stamp set and the Starstruck Cover Panel Confetti Cuts.

I started out by watercoloring a square of watercolor paper with Distress Oxide inks in a rainbow of colors (listed below). I love how these watercolor so smoothly and create a gorgeous background. After watercoloring I splattered a little bit of my leftover paint onto the background while it was still wet which allowed my splatters to bleed a little. Next I heat embossed the "Joy to the World" sentiment from the Best Gift of All stamp set in gold embossing powder. This set has a really bold, fun font that I love.

Next I cut a black frame using the Scalloped Squares Confetti Cuts. I adhered a sheet of plastic to the back of it using a tape runner. I prepped the plastic with my antistatic pouch to remove any static cling. Then I added a thin layer of foam adhesive to the back of the frame. I put a few scoops of my shaker guts onto my watercolored card face and stuck the black frame onto that trapping the shaker guts inside.

I stamped the tree from the Home for the Holidays stamp set three times in black ink. I watercolored the trees using my distress oxide inks and cut them out using the Home for the Holidays Confetti Cuts. I also cut out one star using the Starstruck Cover Panel Confetti Cuts. I adhered the star and trees to my card face and after adding it to a card base that was it!

 That's all I've got to share for today folks! Before I go here's some good news...

• We will be back tomorrow with more inspiration and sneak peeks for new products!
• Today's post is part of a blog hop and you can hop along by clicking on the links below.
• BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY! One lucky commenter will win a $15 gift certificate for commenting here on our blog hop. Be sure to comment on all of the posts to enter to win! Comments close at noon CST on November 7th, 2020.
• FACEBOOK GIVEAWAY! Another lucky winner will be chosen from the Reverse Confetti Facebook page. Make sure to head over and leave a comment there as well.

Ok, bye guys! I'll be back tomorrow with another Reverse Confetti sneak peek. 

Have an awesome day!

Maria

 

BLOG HOP LIST:

Reverse Confetti Blog

Amy Kolling

Tricia Barber

Lisa Henke

Joan Bardee

Kathy Schweinfurth

Jeanne Jachna

Jean Manis

Deanne Kuntz

Maria Willis

Cheiron Brandon

Amy Tsuruta

Cindy Norberg

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