Friday, January 24, 2014

Stenciled

Hi there!

If you're looking for my Hero Arts Hostess blog hop post, click here 



I'm excited to be taking part in the newest online card class called, Stenciled! I love using stencils and there are so many fabulous designs out there to choose from now!

The first day of class was fantastic! I've created one card so far, using Debby Hughes' gorgeous card as my inspiration. I used her same design and ink colors with a different stencil and sentiment.


I love Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks together! The stencil is from Memory Box called, Texture Honeycomb and the sentiment is in a clear set from Simon Says Stamp called, Happy Everyday.

I'm hoping to created at least a couple more cards from day one's lesson - so many fun ideas and tips!

Thanks for the visit! ♥

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop!!

Hi everyone!


Welcome to another stop on the Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop! As you know, we're featuring awesome stamps from their new, 2014 catalog.

- If you’ve been following along, you’ve just arrived from the very talented, Suzanne and her blog called, Suzz's Stamping Spot. If you missed the beginning of the hop, it started yesterday here, or click here to begin today's posts.

- Hero Arts will be giving away three big prize packs containing an assortment of brand new products from their 2014 catalog! For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post on the Hero Arts blog. The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!
  
- Make sure you read all the way down to the bottom of my post for your chance to win a little prize package from me too!

Okay, let's get started with my cards! I've been having so much fun creating with the new stamps! Believe it or not, I have five cards to share with you today - I just couldn't stop playing!

My first card uses the new, adorable Dauber Bunch clear set. After stamping the images, I added color to the flowers using some Hero Arts Daubers. The splatter in the background was created with the Daubers too - just dab them on your craft sheet, add some water, then flick the ink onto your project with a small paint brush - so easy! The sentiment also comes in the set.

 
Hero Arts has released some beautiful, woodblock floral stamps and I used two of them on my next card. 



The flower on the left is called Poppy and the one on the right is called Puff Flower. I used Distress Markers directly on the stamps, spritzed them with a bit of water, then stamped them onto my watercolor panel. My "grass" was created using Distress Inks, mixed with water. The sentiment on this card is from a wonderful clear set called, Enjoy Today. It's filled with lots of awesome sentiments!

For my next two cards, I played with the Butterfly and Flower clear set. It has a matching Frame Cut set too! There are two big butterflies in this set - one with polka dots and the other is a lined butterfly. I used them both together for this card:


And do ya see that tone-on-tone background? That was created using the new, Five Line Background stamp - love! The sentiment that I stamped vertically is another from the Enjoy Today set and I paired it with an older Hero Arts sentiment.

The Butterfly and Flower set also comes with two big flowers and I used the more open one for this card:



As you can see, I stamped and white embossed it on both aqua cardstock and vellum, layering them together to create a pretty flower. The tiny "hello" comes in the set too!

Okay, almost done, I promise! I've saved my favorite for last. I couldn't wait to play with Hero Arts' Fancy Palm Die! I absolutely LOVE this die!


 
I got inky with it, using Distress Inks mixed with water again, then I coated the palm with Multi-Medium Matte and added Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter. The background is another favorite new stamp of mine. It's called Pattern Stripes. I can see using this one on some of my art journal pages too.
 
Here's a close-up of the glittery palm and embossed background.



Whew! Sorry for the long post - it happens every time Hero Arts releases new stamps. They are always so fun to play with! 

I want to give a special thank you to Aaron, Tami and the whole crew at Hero Arts for allowing us to be a part of this fun week!

Now for my very own little giveaway! Just leave a comment here on this post and become a follower of my blog, if you haven't already. I'll choose one random winner from all the comments to win the following goodies, and I'll be back on Monday, Jan. 27th to announce the winner!


Hero Arts 2014 catalog, 2 pks. Hero Hues Pearls and Gems, Hero Arts/BasicGrey Lauderdale Trees Cling Stamp, Hero Arts/Studio Calico Lattice Cling Stamp, Hero Arts Enjoy Today Clear Set, Hero Arts Anything Can Happen Clear Set, 2 Hero Arts Daubers - Tide Pool and Pale Tomato, 2 Tim Holtz Distress Paints - Tarnished Brass and Antique Bronze, My Mind's Eye decorative Washi Tape.

Now you'll want to hop on over to your next stop. It happens to be my sweet, funny and talented friend Judy, at her blog, Livin' The Dream!

If you find a broken link, you'll find a master list of the hop links at the Hero Arts Club Blog. Also, please report broken links to: blog@heroarts.com.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of the hop! ♥



Giveaway is now closed . . .