Hello Card Making Friends, old and new!
I’m Essie (@essiecards on Facebook, @escards on Instagram, and www.essiemakescards.blogspot.com.) I’m excited to bring you my first post as part of the 2021 Design Team for A Blog Named Hero! As a long-time fan of Hero Arts, being part of this talented team is my crafty dream come to life.
I have two teenagers and a tolerant-of-my-hobby husband. We live and work in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the United States and, at the moment, we are all looking hard for a pair of kittens to join our busy household.
And that’s enough about me for now–let me share some cards with you!
For this month’s “Anything Goes” challenge, I made a set of four cards that send love. Whether we send cards like this for the Valentine holiday last week or to simply tell friends and loved ones that we are thinking of them, brightening someone else’s mailbox with color and affection is always a good idea!
Below are two closeups of the most elaborate of these cards–a silvery bow-tied, heat embossed vellum card that opens up to a watercolored version of that same candy hearts peekaboo stamp. I love the soft blurry depth this gives the vellum card front.
The interior watercolored panel also opens so that my handwritten message can be tucked away rather privately. A love-shaped die cut gives a little hint at the interior bright pink sentiment
But…I had more heat-embossed panels, so I made three more cards!
First, I used my favorite peekaboo die to make little window that fit around each of the candy hearts. I shined up those candy hearts with a little glimmer and clear lacquer. Each window opens to reveal more hearts–in fact, that itty-bitty heart stamp was part of the love stamp and cut set I used in the first card. 
Finally, to use up the last of my candy heart panels, I pulled out my January 2020 Hero Arts kit (which is coming back as permanent stock — check out page 29 of the 2021 spring catalogue!) I die cut the kit’s tiny envelope and flowers to quickly make two more cards.
So, that was four cards in a crafty afternoon–one complicated, one peekaboo (love that peekaboo die!), and two that I call “easy hearts & flowers.”
I hope you enjoyed this post! More new teammates will be posting here in the coming days, and we’ll be back every month to offer up a new challenge and some ideas you might try in your card making adventures.
I hope you’ll play along with our Anything Goes Challenge this month. I look forward to seeing your latest creations!
Thanks so much for stopping by,
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