May My Monthly Hero Release

Today is Hero Arts monthly release day, yay! And this month the release is so sweet and so much fun! It's all about sending mail to the people you care about. It's always great to receive happy mail, but these days? It is SUCH an uplifting thing to find a handmade card in your mailbox. And with this May My Monthly Hero kit, you can decorate the envelopes to make them just as happy as the card inside!

For my project today, I used one of the A7 envelopes included in the kit. I stamped all of the little images, then created masks to put over them, so I could ink blend some blue ink onto my scene without getting any on the images. I colored the images with Copic markers, and added the address for Hero Arts.

Now it's time to hop! Hero Arts will give away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, May 10th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Hero Arts
Amy Kolling
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Heather Nichols
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Jen Shults
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Jill Hawkins
Julee Tilman
Laurie Willison
Libby Hickson (you are here!)
Lori Craig
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr

Thanks for stopping by!

Affiliate links are used at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Get Cracking on Christmas - April 2020

Today I'm joining Jenn Shurkus and friends for another Get Cracking on Christmas post! On the third Thursday of every month, Jenn inspires people to "get cracking" on those holiday cards - then when December roles around, you'll have a stash built up and ready to go. One less thing to worry about during the holiday rush!

Today I pulled out one of my favorites from Hero Arts - the Birch Forest Background Cling. I love stamping this background in a blue color (here I used both Pool Party and Blue Raspberry Reactive Inks), then going in with a fine black marker to add the details to the trees.

My favorite is to combine this stamp with the adorable critters from Winter Forest Animals, and have them peeking out from behind the doors! I used the Peek-a-Boo Doors Fancy Die to create little windows for the animals to hide behind.

To color the animals, I played with my new Karin markers for the first time. Lots of fun! I stamped and die cut all the animals, then painted around them with more Pool Party ink, using it as watercolor.

I had fun creating this card - I hope you'll get inspired to start building your own stash of holiday cards! Please be sure to hop on over to Jenn's blog and see what she did, and also find the list of other holiday crafters!

Thanks for stopping by,

Affiliate links are used at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

April My Monthly Hero Release!

I'm My Monthly Hero time from Hero Arts! Here's what they had to say about this month's release:

Over the past year, our hearts have been heavy while we watched from afar as Australia suffered from devastating bushfires. With Australia on our mind we designed this month's release, paying homage to the fascinating animals, the gorgeous flowers and the beautiful landscape of the land Down Under. As we release this, our hearts are now heavy for a new reason. But we are excited to take you on a much-needed crafty escape to Australia, as we celebrate this amazing country!

I agree, I'm so ready to take in some Australian goodness this month! But my card today doesn't necessarily look like it has anything to do with Australia, LOL! It is created with one of the optional add-ons, the gorgeous Nature Border Fancy Die with Frame.

I cut the gorgeous die cut from bristol paper, and then pulled out my liquid watercolors. I used a combination of colors, and just kept adding color here and there until I had a look I liked. For the background, I did a quick wash with some of the same watercolors. The message is from the Protea Flowers stamp set.

These border scene dies are some of my favorite products from Hero Arts, they are always gorgeous and so much fun to watercolor. When I add the die cut to my card, I love to pop them up to give the card a bit of dimension.

Now it's time to join this month's blog hop! Comment on as many blogs as you can, because every comment is a chance to win the gift card Hero Arts is giving away!

Hero Arts
Michelle Short
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Ilina Crouse
Debi Adams
Janette Kausen
Yana Smakula
Lydia Fiedler
Jennifer McGuire
Julee Tilman
Maria Willis
Seeka
Laurie Willison
Amy Kolling
Libby Hickson (you are here!)

As I'm sure you know, times are tough right now. Hero is in California and under shelter at home orders. The owners of Hero Arts are the only ones allowed to enter the facility. They are doing everything they can to get goodies out to you, but please be patient with them. Right now they are estimating this month's release will begin shipping on April 20.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Affiliate links are used at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Stay Crafty with Hero - Encouragement Cards

Well hello there! I'm popping in today to play along with Hero Arts' brand new weekly challenge - Stay Crafty with Hero! It's Hero's little way of trying to get people to stay connected, stay crafty, and bring positivity and kindness into the world. It's a challenge, so there is a prize up for grabs - they will pick one winner to receive a $35 gift certificate, chosen randomly from all of the people who play along. Yay! I'm of course not in the running for that, but I did want to create a card. The theme of this first challenge is "encouragement cards" - and that is a type of card we certainly all would love to receive these days.

For my card, I used some of the fun lemon-themed products. How perfect is that message?? It's the Lemonade Message woodblock stamp. There is so much craziness going on right now, but I'm really trying to make the best of it, to take the opportunity to do things with my kids that I haven't had time for in the past. I'm making as much lemonade as possible!

I combined the message with the awesome Fresh Citrus Bold Prints background stamp. I stamped it on watercolor paper, then watercolored with my Liquid Watercolors, in Dandelion, Leaf, Moss, Pink and Indigo.

I created a rounded card by die cutting my card base with my Rounded Rectangle Infinity Dies as well as the lemon background panel. And the card was finished with Sunset Enamel Dots.

I hope to spend a lot more time stamping while we're not leaving the house. We'll see if that happens!

Stay safe, friends.

Affiliate links used at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Hero Arts 2020 Catalog Release! + giveaway!

Hello and welcome! Today I am hopping with Hero Arts, as they launch the 2020 Catalog! Oh my gosh you guys, this catalog is SO FULL OF AWESOME STUFF!! I love every. single. thing!!

For my card today, I decided to play with one of the new Peek-a-Boo stamp sets. I've been loving all of the peek-a-boo products this past year as they introduced several in cling format, all that work with the Peek-a-Boo Doors Fancy Die and Circular Peek-a-Boo Doors Fancy Die. WELL!! YOU GUYS!! Now there are peek-a-boo sets in 6 x 8 clear, WITH MESSAGES FOR INSIDE THE DOORS!! Shut the front door! (ha!)

Since today as we're hopping, it is Valentine's and all, I decided to pull out the All My Heart Peek-A-Boo Parts stamp set. But, I turned it into a wedding card, rather than making it a Valentine. Even though this set is covered in hearts, it doesn't have to be just for Valentine's!!

Of course I had to make it purple, because that's what I do. I embossed the main image in white, and then colored with my Polychromos pencils. I used the Circular Peek-A-Boo Doors die, and added a bunch of little messages inside. I chose the messages from the set that make sense for a wedding card - "forever & always", "big hugs", "sending love", etc.

For the front of the card, I also used a new product from this release - Congrats Happy Stamp & Cut. I love the fabulous little word dies in this set, and the word stamps to complete the phrases are so useful! I mounted it all on a Nesting Hearts piece die cut from vellum, and added a few enamel dots for decoration.

And now it's time to hop! I'm the final stop today. If you haven't hopped yet, start back at the very beginning. Hero Arts is giving away THREE gift cards during this hop - $50 each! You don't have to comment on every single blog to be eligible, but the more you comment, the more chances you have to win! Get your comments in by Wednesday February 19 at 11:59pm pst, and the winners will be announced on the Hero Arts blog.

Hero Arts Blog
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Channin Pelletier
Debi Adams
Michelle Short
Caly Person
Emily Midgett
Janette Kausen
Ilina Crouse
Yana Smakula
Daniel West
Lydia Fiedler
Wanda Guess
Seeka
Laurie Willison
Amy Kolling
Erica A-B
Nichol Spohr
Jennifer McGuire
Libby Hickson (you are here!)

And, if you are on Facebook and want to hear more about this new release - join me over on the Hero Arts Facebook page at 1pm today as I walk through this wonderful release! If you cannot join right at 1pm eastern, no worries - it will be available on the Hero Facebook page for replay!

Thanks for stopping by!

Affiliate links used at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

CM419 All My Heart Peek-A-Boo Parts Shop at: Hero	DI659 Circular Doors Peek-A-Boo Fancy Die Shop at: Hero	DC274 Congrats Happy Stamp & Cut Shop at: Hero	DI334 Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies Shop at: Hero
PW110 White Embossing Powder Shop at: Hero	AF419 Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink Shop at: Hero	AF435 Intens-ified Black Ink Shop at: Hero	PS772 Classic Vellum Layering Paper Shop at: Hero
PS406 Dove White Side Folded Card Shop at: Hero	CH325 Purples Hero Hues Enamel Dots Shop at: Hero

February My Monthly Hero Release!

Hi everyone! It's so nice to be sharing a card here on the good ol' neglected blog! The February release from Hero Arts is live today, and it is F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!!! The main kit is gorgeous, and in limited quantity, so make sure to grab it before it's gone forever!

For my card today, I chose one of my favorite add-on sets to work with - Time For Cake!

I made a congratulatory card for some dear friends as they begin their loving, committed life together. I colored the layers with my Copics, and added the Love is Love cling stamp in the background. The gorgeous glitter is the prisma glitter that was in the October Kit.

There's a fun blog hop today to introduce the kit and all of the add-ons! You should have arrived here from Laurie's blog, if you didn't head back to the Hero Arts blog to start at the very beginning! Be sure to visit and comment on every single post - a winner will be drawn from all of the comments for a $50 shopping spree in the Hero Arts store.

Hero Arts
Amy Kolling
Caly Person
Channin Pelletier
Chari Moss
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Laurie Willison
Libby Hickson (you are here!)
Lydia Fiedler (go here next!)
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr
Seeka

Thanks for stopping by!

Affiliate links used at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

CM440 Time For Cake Shop at: Hero	DI746 Time for Cake Frame Cuts Shop at: Hero	CG710 Love is Love Bold Prints Shop at: Hero	AF423 Lemon Drop Reactive Ink Shop at: Hero
AF435 Intens-ified Black Ink Shop at: Hero	AF226 Soft Granite Ink Shop at: Hero	October 2019 My Monthly Hero Kit Shop at: Hero

December My Monthly Hero Release!

Hi friends! It's the first Monday in December, and that means it is Hero Arts monthly release day! Yay! My favorite day each month.

For my post today, I created with one of the gorgeous new add-on products - Universal Woman. This stamp set speaks to me - it is everything that I want my daughter to believe about herself. So, I created a set of ornaments for her to hang in her bedroom.

I've had a stash of wood "slices" in my craft room for years, and every now and then I dip into them for a project. This month, with the natural, Earthy feel of the release, my wood chips called to me once more.

I love to color on the wood with my colored pencils. Warning - it does wear them down quickly, so if you ever try this, have a pencil sharpener close by! I stamped the images from the set onto the wood with Intens-ified Black ink, and began coloring.

For the sentiments, I colored the backgrounds first with pencil, before stamping the wood. When coloring on the wood, sometimes the grains in the wood leave impressions that aren't exactly what you were expecting. I've learned to just embrace those differences and uniqueness - just like this stamp set encourages you to believe being unique is wonderful. I finished my little ornaments with Stardust Stickles and some Hero Arts sequins. I'm attaching magnets to the backs of these, so my daughter can hang them on her metal memo board on her wall.

Here's a look at this full stamp set - so gorgeous!

Now be sure to hop along this month - Hero Arts is giving away a $50 shopping spree, drawn from one lucky hopper. You don't want to miss your chance for that!! I am the last person on the hop - but head back to the Hero Arts blog to start at the very beginning.

Hero Arts
Amy Kolling
Caly Person
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Laurie Willison
Lisa Spangler
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr
Libby Hickson (you are here!)

I'll copy all of the products from the release into the thumbnails below - it is an absolutely GORGEOUS release, I love every single thing!

Happy Stamping!

Affiliate links are used on this blog, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me, and clicking on my links to shop!

Universal Woman Shop at: Hero	Ombre Purple Sequins Shop at: Hero	Ombre Sunshine Sequins Shop at: Hero	Ombre Blue Sequins Shop at: Hero
Intens-ified Black Ink Shop at: Hero	Precision Glue Shop at: Hero	My Monthly Hero December 2019 Shop at: Hero	CG803 Wonders of the World Bold Prints Shop at: Hero
CM407 Beautiful World Shop at: Hero	CM408 Staggering Branches Shop at: Hero	CM415 Nature's Beauty Shop at: Hero	CM422 Carry The World Shop at: Hero
DI720 World Window Fancy Die (B) Shop at: Hero	DI721 Earth Nature Fancy Die with Frame (E) Shop at: Hero	DI723 Carry The World Frame Cuts (C) Shop at: Hero	E6370 Celebrate Earth Bears Shop at: Hero
K6367 Natural Wonders of the World Shop at: Hero	K6368 Architectural Wonders of the World Shop at: Hero	K6369 Celebrate Earth Whales Shop at: Hero	Get Them All Add-Ons Shop at: Hero