Hero Arts + Ink Blot Shop Partner Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Today I'm so excited to be here, hopping as we showcase the wonderful new Partner release from Hero Arts. This time they've partnered with Ink Blot Shop! Tifany from Ink Blot Shop is the sweetest, and I'm so excited about this adorable stamp set!! It's called Please Deliver, and it's full of images for both making cards and decorating your envelopes!

For my card, I used some of the smaller images in the set to create a background. I love coloring with colored pencils on kraft cardstock, so that's what I did today. 

Just some simple stamping and coloring. I stamped the images randomly with black ink, then colored with my Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils. To give it a little something extra, I dotted the background with a Copic marker (V22), and added a little Star Dust Stickles to the hearts for sparkle. Then I finished it all off with a message from the May My Monthly Hero kit.

I'm part of a fun blog hop today, full of inspiration for using the Please Deliver stamp set. Next up is my friend Michelle. Be sure to stop at all the blogs in the hop, it will give you more chances to win! We will give away TWO $50 shopping sprees during this hop - one to the Hero Arts store, and one to Ink Blot Shop! Winners will be drawn from the comments left across the hop - enter by Sunday, July 5th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winners will be announced on the Hero Arts and Ink Blot Shop blogs the following week. Here's the full hop list:

Hero Arts
Tifany DeGough / Ink Blot Shop
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Mydlowski
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jessica Frost Ballas
Libby Hickson (you are here!)
Michelle Short

Thanks for stopping by!

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Hero Arts Summer 2020 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Today the beautiful Summer Release from Hero Arts is available on their website! My favorite product from the release is this gorgeous Grapevine Window Fancy Die. And may know from past history, my very favorite thing to do with a window scene die like this is to watercolor it!

After die cutting from watercolor paper, I used several colors of Liquid Watercolor for this: Leaf, Moss, Pine, Purple, Mulled Wine, Pink, Cocoa, ArtPrint Brown, and Black.

I wanted to add a bit more grapes and leaves to my scene, so I die cut it a second time and selectively snipped off pieces to paint & add, some glued directly and some popped up. The message is from Vineyard HeroScape, and I embossed it in gold on vellum. 

After the card was complete, I added a touch of sparkle to the grapes with Star Dust Stickles.

Ok, ready to see a bunch more inspiration? The next stop along the hop is my favorite human Lydia! Be sure to visit all the blogs on the hop and comment along the way, you'll get yourself more chances to win a $50 gift code to the Hero Arts store! Here's the entire list of hoppers:

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson (you are here!)
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short

Thanks for stopping by!

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

Picket Fence Studios Release!

Today I am thrilled to be a guest designer for the Picket Fence Studios June release! Nobody ever asks me to be a guest designer, and this month I was asked twice. How crazy is that?? And this Picket Fence Studios release is jam-packed full of awesome products. It was hard to figure out what to play with first! But never fear, I did figure it out. My favorite thing from the release is this crazy cow from a set with hilarious messages - No Need to Tip!

And I couldn't possibly make a normal card with him. I had to make him purple. Because I mean why not? So I stamped him and colored him with my Copics (V01, V17, BV08). For the background, I used the fun new Triple Weave Stencil a couple of different ways. First, I used it with Ocean Poppy Paper Glaze, which I spread on with a palette knife.

I also used the stencil with Hero Arts Thistle Reactive Ink in the background, blending it onto a panel of Lavender Cardstock using a Life Changing Blender Brush.

I finished the card by white embossing that funny message. Check out all the funny messages in this set, they are pretty great!

I think I like this cow image so much because he reminds me on one of my favorite travel photos I took from high up in the Alps during a trip to Switzerland, many moons ago. Maybe I need to make a card re-creating this scene!

I made a few more cards with the Picket Fence Studios goodies, and will be sharing them over the next few days.

Thanks for stopping by!

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

Reverse Confetti Birthday Hop!

Hello! Today I'm thrilled to be joining my friends at Reverse Confetti as they celebrate their 7th birthday!! Jen del Muro is such a wonderful & inspiring person. A great big congratulations to her for bringing wonderful products into this world for seven years! Wow, where does the time go?

I received a couple of fun stamp sets to play with from this month's release. First, an awesome set called Girl Power! It has matching Confetti Cuts, too, although I didn't use them for my cards today. On this first one I did a bit of fussy cutting.

I created a background with my Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks, and watercolored the sweet image with them, too. I cut her out & popped her up with foam tape, and stamped a few hearts from the set. I love the message I used, included in the stamp set.

For my next card, I was inspired by current events.

I made a couple masks from post-it notes to help with the multiple stamping of the fists. Again, I watercolored with my Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks. I am so proud of all of the peaceful protests happening around the country - we truly are stronger together.

For my final card, I used the Friendly Rainbow stamp set, which is a freebie for this release when you spend $60. But instead of using the adorable rainbow image that's in the set, I created my own rainbow background using my Scribble Sticks.

I added a couple of great messages from the freebie set to finish my card.

And now it's time to hop! If you started here at my blog, head back to Reverse Confetti and start at the very beginning!! Otherwise, head on over and see what Jeff Lindberg is up to - I'm sure it's something great! But here's the entire list, if you need it.

Reverse Confetti Blog
Susan Wymer
Amy Kolling
Therese Calvird
Tricia Barber
Michelle Short
Lisa Henke
Julee Tilman
Janette Kausen
Heather Hoffman
Ali Farmer
Amy Sheffer
Kathy Schweinfurth
Amy Rohl
Becky Roberts
Audrey Tokach
Jeanne Jachna
Kelly Lunceford
Anika Lerche
Heather Ruwe
Deanne Kuntz
Kay Miller
Amy Tsuruta
Wanda Cullen
Olga Matyushevskaya
Leanne West
Libby Hickson (you are here!)
Jeff Lindberg
Olga Moss
Davina Cantrell
Carissa Wiley
Jennifer McGuire

Big thanks to Reverse Confetti for inviting me to join is this fabulous celebration, and thanks to YOU for stopping by!

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