Archives for March 2018

My, my, my! How can I select just one? My favorite Hero Arts product?! Oye! It was so hard to decide.

As of today (you know it will change as soon as the next release comes out!), the Floral Mandala Bold Print background stamp is currently my favorite product. This is such a diverse stamp. This stamp can be used as a subtle background, inked up in a bold way, used as a flower, colored, watercolored and on and on.

Due to my work travel schedule this month and the fact that I am a mom first and foremost, I was unable to complete a process video. But! I did create a detailed overview video of each card design. To view it, head over to my blog.

[All supplies are listed below, with thumbnails, and use affiliated links when possible. Affiliated links may be used at no cost to you.]

Starting with Bristol Smooth White Cardstock, I stamped the image, slightly off center, in Versafine ink and covered the sticky surface with white embossing powder. I heat set the powder and used an ink blending tool to apply Faded Jeans and Evergreen Bough distress oxide inks. When the blending was complete, I used a clean, dry cloth to wipe off the excess and let the white embossing powder stand out.

To finish the card I stacked 3 die cuts of the sentiment from the Thanks Stamp and Die set in black cardstock. The sentiment was adhered to the top of a vellum strip and the letters were covered in both shimmer pen and glossy accents for shine. The silver star sequins were from my stash. The final panel was attached to a 4×4 top folding notecard.

I find I do not use craft colored cardstock enough in my cardmaking. This card uses Neenah Desert Storm cardstock as the base. The stamp was inked using Versamark ink and coated in white embossing powder. After the powder was heat set, I used my Prisma Color Pencils to color from the center of the image out in rainbow color order.

To complete the card, I used a sentiment from the You are Loved Messages stamp set. On a piece of vellum, I stamped the sentiment in black Versafine ink, and used clear embossing powder to heat set it. I adhered it to my top folding notecard and added some confetti sequins for interest and shine.

To achieve the look in this next card, I inked up my stamp multiple times using 4 different colors of ink; Ultra Pink, Raspberry Jam, Grape Juice and Passion Flower. Using my Misti, the top portion of the stamp was first inked with Ultra Pink. On Neenah Solar White cardstock, I stamped the image. Moving a bit further down on the stamp, I inked up with Raspberry Jam. Where the two ink colors intersected, I used a dry cloth to dab away some of the Raspberry Jam on the stamp so there was not a harsh line. I continued to work my way down the stamp and repeat the process with the Grape Juice and Passion Flower inks.

Once the inked panel was complete, I used Shimmer Mist to cover the entire panel (sorry it did not photograph well – check out the video for all the sparkle). Three die cut sentiments from the Hello Stamp and Die set were stacked on top of each other and adhered to a heart cut from vellum using the Infinity Heart die set. Over the top of the sentiment, I used a shimmer pen for sparkle and glossy accents for dimension. From my stash, I used some clear sequins and adhered the entire panel with craft foam to a top folding white notecard.

This background was created by stamping the image in Versafine ink on Strathmore Watercolor Paper. I prefer the textured side of the paper as I think it adds interest to the finished product. The entire image was covered with white embossing powder and heat set. Using my Gansai watercolors, I used an orange wash, heat set it and then added a dark blue over the top. Each color was mixed with Perfect Pearls to add a depth of shimmer that is just spectacular in person.

Again, I used a vellum heart die cut from the Infinity Heart die set and a 3 stacked sentiments cut from the Thanks Stamp and Die set. Before I added the heart to the watercolored panel, I stamped a sub-sentiment (and white heat embossed it) and adhered the die cut sentiment above it. The sentiment was covered with a shimmer pen and I used confetti sequins scattered about the panel. Everything was adhered with a piece of craft foam between the panel and a top folding white notecard.

I saved my favorite for last! Here, I started with a white panel and used the Spiral Stencil to make an impression on the paper. On a piece of vellum, I stamped the background stamp in Versamark ink and used gold embossing powder to heat set the image. I did this twice so I ended up with 2 images. This allowed me to cut various petal shapes to start building my flower. To color the images I used Spectrum Noir shimmer pens in Macaroon and Harvest Moon. The shimmer from the embossing powder and pens is amazing in real life.

The embossed panel was adhered to a top folding notecard. Each layer of the flower was adhered with foam tape to give it some dimension. The sentiment was gold heat embossed from the Support Prayers Love stamp set. The entire look was finished with gold sequins.

Phew! That is it! Thank you for stopping by and please tell me your favorite Hero Arts product below in the comments – or better yet, create a project using it and submit it to this month’s challenge!

 

 

 

 

SUPPLIES

Want to find the products I used? They are listed below for ease of reference. (Affiliated links are used at no cost to you. Thank you!) Click on the icons below each product picture to go to a favorite store. 

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