Hero Arts 2017 Summer Catalog Blog Hop

Hello! I'm joining Hero Arts for the release of their 2017 Summer Catalog in the Hero Arts online store! You should have made it here by way of my friend Ilina Crouse. If you didn't, be sure to head over the Hero Arts blog to start at the very beginning!

Today I'm sharing a few of the projects I created for the catalog. I love all of the rainbows, unicorns and other fantastic beasts in this release! There's so much fun stuff!

First the tags - I die cut them using the Infinity Tag dies out of watercolor paper. I used a combination of stamps - two great woodblocks Unicorn and the message Something Magical. I also used the message from the Unicorn Stamp & Cut set. The images were embossed in gold, and then watercolored with my Daniel Smith dot palette. I added some strips of gold glitter paper to the unicorn tag, and also die cut some teeny little hearts with the tiniest heart die from the Heart Infinity dies set. I finished the rainbow tag with some gold shimmer spray splatters.

I also made a full sized card, very similar to the tag - just a watercolored rainbow on watercolor paper, and then the Something Magical message embossed in gold.

I'm the last stop on the blog hop today, but I encourage you to visit all of these fabulous bloggers! Hero Arts will be giving away three $25 shopping sprees, drawn from comments left across all blogs in the hop. Please comment by Wednesday, 5/24 at 11:59pm PT and the winner will be announced the following week.

The Hero Arts Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Laura Bassen
Wanda Guess
May Park
Amy Tsuruta
Cheiron Brandon
Yana Smakula
Lydia Fiedler
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Jenn Shurkus
Clare Prezzia
Tracie Pond
Michelle Short
Heather Ruwe
Ilina Crouse
Libby Hickson

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hero Arts Watercolor Dot Palette Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Unicorn Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Something Magical Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Unicorn Stamp & Cut Shop at: Hero
Hero Arts Tag Infinity Dies Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies Shop at: Hero	Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: Hero

May My Monthly Hero - Release + Giveaway!

Hello!! It's time for another My Monthly Hero kit from Hero Arts, and I am soooo over the moon in love with this month's main kit and optional add-ons!! Every single one of them!!

First a card I made with the main kit. I love the adorable little mermaids in the kit. They are drawn in the same style (by the same artist) as the fairy kit last August, which was another of my all-time favorites. They are so pretty. And I love that they are cute, but also a little more pretty & realistic than some of the other mermaids I've seen. BUT - for today's card I didn't even use the mermaids! I used the sea horses instead.

I embossed the sea horses in white, then watercolored them with my Hero Arts Watercolor Dot Palette. The background is a wash of the turquoise, also from the dot card. The message is from the add-on stamp set Mer-mazing Messages, and that strip of shimmery blue paper to the left side is included in the main kit - so pretty!!

I'll also show you the card I shared over the weekend on the Hero Arts blog, in case you missed it. Head over to this post for more details - but this one features the absolutely GORGEOUS new woodblock stamp, Mermaid, also launching today. It even has a matching die!

Here's a peek at the entire kit. Love!!

And now it's time to hop! Please visit all of the links below, and leave comments as you go! Hero Arts is giving away a kit to one lucky commenter, drawn from the comments left on all of the blogs. You have until Sunday, May 7 at 11:59pm to get your comments in. Check the Hero Arts blog for the winner!

The Hero Arts Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Wanda Guess
Jessica Frost-Ballas
May Park
Heather Ruwe
Yana Smakula
Amy Tsuruta
Lydia Fiedler
Libby Hickson (you are here!)
Michelle Short
Ilina Crouse
Clare Prezzia

Head on over to Michelle's blog - I'm sure she's made something AMAZING. Then head on over to grad your kit HERE - I have a hunch these will not last long!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero February 2017 Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Mermaid Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Mermaid Frame Cuts Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Reef Border and Frame Fancy Dies Shop at: Hero
Hero Arts Shell Confetti Fancy Die Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Paper Layering Merman with Frame Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Paper Layering Mermaid with Frame Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Manatee Stamp & Cut Shop at: Hero
Hero Arts Mer-mazing Messages Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Watercolor Dot Palette Shop at: Hero

April My Monthly Hero - Release + Giveaway!

Hello and welcome! It's kit release day over at Hero Arts, yippee!! I'm blog hopping with a fabulous list of artists, introducing you to this month's kit and add-on products. You should have found me by way of my sweet friend Heather's blog - if you didn't, start back at the very beginning with Hero Arts!

I made several projects for the landing page over on the Hero Arts website, so I thought I'd share a closer look at those cards.

I love the cute little ballerina dress in the kit, so I stamped it repeatedly and watercolored it pink.

Next, this super fabulous silhouette. It's hard to see in the photo, but I went over her dress with Wink of Stella, so it shimmers. The gems compliment it well.

And finally, a fun little tag with the gorgeous ballet legs, again watercolored. I tied pearls at the top of the tag instead of ribbon or twine - those pearls come in the kit.

Here's a look at the April My Monthly Hero kit, isn't it sweet??

And I'm part of an amazing blog hop today! Please visit all of the links below, and leave comments as you go! Hero Arts is giving away a kit to one lucky commenter, drawn from the comments left on all of the blogs. You have until Sunday, April 9 at 11:59pm to get your comments in. Check the Hero Arts blog for the winner!

The Hero Arts Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Wanda Guess
May Park
Yana Smakula
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Amy Tsuruta
Lydia Fiedler
Ilina Crouse
Heather Ruwe
Libby Hickson (you are here!)
Michelle Short

Now head on over and see what the super sweet and talented Michelle Short is sharing with us today.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Blog Named Hero's 5th Anniversary Bash

Hello and welcome! Today I am blogging with my friends at A Blog Named Hero! They are celebrating *FIVE YEARS* of running their awesome challenge blog. You all know how much I love Hero Arts, so of course I love and appreciate the efforts of the amazing ladies over at A Blog Named Hero! You should have arrived here by way of Yana Smakula's blog - if you didn't, be sure to jump over to A Blog Named Hero to begin at the very beginning! And!! - today is Day 2 of their hop, so be sure to check out Day 1 if you haven't already!

For my card today, I used a couple of my very favorite Hero Arts stamps - Antique Rose Stem, and an oldie by goodie script lettering stamp (I don't even know what it was called, sorry!).

I stamped the flower in Intense Black ink, then colored with my Copics. I recently took a class from one of my coloring idols, Debbie Olson, all about coloring flowers, so I really took my time on this one and tried to focus on what she taught us. I am really bad about hurrying as I color - I have found since the class that if I take my time, and focus on one petal at a time, it really does make a difference! I'm certainly not perfect with my coloring, but I sure do enjoy it!

The script background was stamped right over top of the flower - I didn't mask it, but the lighter colored Soft Brown ink really just blended into my coloring. I added a few gold splatters, too. To embellish the card, I went super old school and dug into my stash - found some "photo hangers" I bought roughly 12 million years ago from Close To My Heart, and also dug out my grosgrain ribbon! I never use ribbon anymore, really, but I used to love it. I think I need it back in my life. And I love adding a bit of burlap with flowers!

**GIVEAWAY INFO FROM A BLOG NAMED HERO:

A Blog Named Hero is so thankful for our wonderful sponsors and collaborating companies!  Several companies decided to help us celebrate our fifth anniversary with giveaways and they were so generous that we decided to spread the love over both hop days with different prizes to be won each day!  Giveaway prizes total more than $500!  To win, leave a comment on each hop stop.  We will select winners randomly from different blogs so the more blogs you visit each day, the greater your chances of winning!  And be sure to visit the Saturday post from A Blog Named Hero for the list of Saturday hoppers and prizes!  Comments must be left before 11:59 PM EDT on Tuesday, March 28th and winners will be announced on March 30th.

Today's prizes include the following: 

• $50 gift card to Simon Says Stamp
• $50 gift card to Gina K Designs
• $25 gift card to Winnie & Walter
• $25 gift card to Lawn Fawn
• $20 gift card to Avery Elle
• prize pack from Mama Elephant
• gift card from Studio Katia
• one Online Card Class of your choice
• one set of distress oxide inks from Jennifer McGuire Ink

Good luck and happy hopping!!**

Now be sure to hop on over to my sweet friend Barb Engler's blog, who I'm sure has something fabulous to share with you.

Thanks for stopping by!
Libby

Hero Arts Intense Black Ink Shop at: Hero

Hero Arts Antique Rose Stem Shop at: Hero

Hero Arts Soft Brown Ink Shop at: Hero

Charity Bloghop!

Hello and welcome! Today I'm part of a wonderful hop that reminds you that you can support favorite charities and causes while giving gifts to people you care about. This hop was Sandy Allnock's fabulous idea, so visit her blog to start at the very beginning - especially if you didn't arrive here via Melissa's blog.

For my gift, I decided to support my friend Kelly Purkey's fundraiser in support of Planned Parenthood. I purchased nine sets of her fun Always Stronger Together flair pins, which I'll be sending to my besties.

To mail out with the flair, I also created a set of cards that coordinate with my theme.

I did a quick background wash with Daniel Smith Quinacridone Pink watercolor. This gorgeous pink is included on the Hero Arts dot palette - if you've been curious to try Daniel Smith paints without having to pay a small fortune, this is a great way to play!

The Heart Vine from Hero Arts was stamped in Bubble Gum ink. The message is one I found on Etsy - I love the fonts used! The cards were finished up with some clear sequins and a bit of splatter of silver shimmer spray.

Awesome companies are helping inspire you to hop along and leave comments on all the blogs - Altenew ($30), Lawn Fawn ($50), My Favorite Things ($25), and Ellen Hutson ($25)! Be sure to go say thanks to them on their social media for helping get the word out about giving…and leave comments by Wednesday March 22. Winners will be announced on Sandy’s blog on Thursday March 23, along with a total amount we’ve raised together!

Next stop on the hop is my amazingly talented friend May Flaum! I can't wait to see what she created.

I know some of you reading this won't particularly love this post, and that's ok. I am who I am and this is something important to me. When I purchased Kelly's flair, profits from the purchase were donated to Planned Parenthood. If Planned Parenthood loses funding, 2.5 million people a year would lose access to birth control, cancer screenings, STD tests and more. You may think only about one issue when you hear the words Planned Parenthood, but it's so much more, and so important to so many women. If you're interested in reading more about the impact defunding would have, and to clear up misconceptions about your tax money paying for abortions, visit this link. And click here to learn about ways you can support Planned Parenthood, in addition to purchasing Kelly's flair.

Thanks for stopping by,

Hero Arts Dot Palette Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Heart Vine Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Bubble Gum Ink Shop at: Hero	Hero Arts Intense Black Ink Shop at: Hero