embossing

Sending Winter Hugs

December 19, 2018

Crafty friends – I am back with my last A Blog Named Hero post in 2018! The theme for December is Winter and is totally appropriate!

Recently, Hero Arts released the Warm Animals stamp set and the set has been sitting in my craft room waiting to be colored. This challenge was the perfect opportunity to bust them out!

Starting with Neenah Solar White cardstock, I stamped my images in a copic friendly ink
Once each critter was colored, I used the coordinating dies to cut them out
On a piece of craft cardstock, I white heat embossed the Graphic Snowflake Bold Prints stamp
The heart was cut using the Nesting Heart Infinity dies on vellum

For the sentiment, I used a greeting from the Polar Greetings stamp set and white heat embossed it on the craft cardstock
The craft cardstock panel was trimmed to 5.25×4 and added to a top folding notecard with craft foam and adhesive
I added the vellum heart and the critters with adhesive and foam tape
The sentiments were added on a playful slate with foam tape
I added Moonshine confetti from Simon Says Stamp for shine
Additional details were added like black gel pen for the critter’s eyes, glossy accents on the pom-poms and shimmer pen on the scarves

I hope you enjoyed this card and I can’t wait to see what you make for 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.

Embossing on Gold Foil

September 6, 2018

Hey everyone, it’s Michelle here. Wow, I can’t believe it, but I’m sharing my last inspiration project for A Blog Named Hero today!!! It has been so amazing to be a part of this team, and of course I wanted to finish off with a really special card. Since the current challenge is Sparkle and Shine, I wanted to make a card with A LOT of shine. Like, seriously the max. So what is shinier than a FULL card front of gold foil!?

Of course, I wanted to add just a bit more to the gold foil so I used the Butterfly Confetti background die to emboss on the foil using an embossing pad through my die cutting machine. The embossing on the gold foil came out ???, and the embossed die just adds a ton of dimension.

Since I didn’t want to cover up too much of that gorgeous background, I kept the sentiment and embellishments small. I stamped a sentiment from the ___ set, and added some matching twine and enamel accents to finish.

I hope you will join along with our A Blog Named Hero challenge this month – there are still a few days left to make your project and enter!

And if you’d like to stay connected with me, come find me on Instagram @michelleyuen_!! 🙂

Hero Arts Black Dye Ink

Butterfly Confetti Background Die

Hero Arts – Welcome Neighbor

Video: Layered Flamingo and Heat Embossing with Stencils

April 6, 2018

Hey everyone! It’s Michelle here and I have another project and video today to give you some more inspiration for the March challenge.

I pulled out the same exact stencil I used in my last video, because I LOVE that you can use stencils for so many techniques and looks, so I wanted to show you one more idea using them.

I just LOVE the look of Hero Arts White Satin Pearl Embossing Powder over that stencil!!

I also used a color layering stamp with a pretty flamingo. Hero Arts just released SO many coloring stamps in their Spring Release, so check those out if you haven’t yet.

Here is a video showing you how I created the card:

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope this gives you some inspiration and don’t forget to enter the challenge if you haven’t yet!

Mini MISTIHA	Tribal Shapes StencilHA	Hero Arts Heat GunHA	Hero Arts White Embossing PowderHA
Hero Arts White Satin Pearl Embossing PowderHA	Color Layering FlamingoHA	Color Layering Flamingo BundleHA	Versamark InkHA

Meet Design Team Member Michelle Yuen

March 13, 2018

Hello, friends! I am so excited to share my first post and project for A Blog Named Hero with you today. My name is Michelle Yuen and I’m a graphic designer currently living in Washington, D.C. Although I’ve lived in big cities my whole life, I’m a bit of a country girl at heart so any chance I get, I’m out in nature having outdoor adventures! I love cardmaking, of course, but if I’m not at my craft desk, chances are you’ll find me cooking, knitting, doing yoga, or rock climbing. 🙂 You can find me at my blog and also on Instagram.

I’ve been making cards for a number of years now, and I am always blown away and impressed by Hero Arts – both with their amazing products and with the values that the company upholds, such as being a green business and having special stamp sets that give back to communities in need. I love how Hero Arts products are high quality and that they are great for a very wide range of styles. I have a somewhat eclectic style because I love to try play with techniques on my card such as ink blending, die cutting, and heat embossing – and no matter what look you are going for, Hero Arts has you covered!

For today’s card, I played with the January My Monthly Hero kit (which is still in stock and available to purchase even if you’re not a subscriber!!) The stamp set in the kit comes with two separate layers of a large LOVE sentiment. I heat embossed the base layer on watercolor paper in white embossing powder twice, and then layered it with the second stamp in gold embossing powder. Have you ever tried layering embossing before?? It is so fun and creates a beautiful effect!!

Then, I created a watercolor effect by smooshing some Distress ink on a piece of acetate, spritzing with water, and placing that on top of my embossed piece, using my fingers to move the color and water to create the look I wanted. The embossed sentiment resists the watercolor, so you don’t have to worry about it getting covered up!

I hope you like this first project, and I can’t wait to share more with you all. 🙂

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero – January 2018HA	Mini MISTIHA	Original MISTIHA	Hero Arts Heat GunHA
Hero Arts White Embossing PowderHA	Hero Arts Gold Embossing PowderHA	Versamark InkHA

I’ll have a blue Christmas….

November 27, 2017

Good morning! Emily here with you today sharing a blue Christmas card. My mom always asks me when she looks through my box of holiday cards why I don’t ever make “regular red and green” Christmas cards haha! The answer? I’m honestly not sure…. other than I just like blue. My card today is an homage to a blue Christmas. I’m combining Hero Arts products with products from this month’s sponsor, Neat and Tangled.

To start, I used a tip from our very own, super clever Lisa Stein. She’s been using her Distress Oxide inks and clear embossing powder to create custom “colored” embossing! The Distress Oxide line stays damp just long enough to be able to add embossing powder and heat it up… Well, I took mine one step further and used pearlescent embossing powder with Salty Ocean Oxide Inks and the Hero Arts Snowflake Background to create a pretty, frosty card base. (I love this tip because now I don’t have to own a bazillion different shades of embossing powder! Plus, no stray flecks of color EP flying everywhere, because it’s clear! Score!)

Using the darling Beary Merry from Neat and Tangled, I die cut and stamped using very pale gray ink the bear and gift box. I then used my Prismacolor pencils and blender pencil to do some no line coloring. I cut an A2 sized panel of blueberry colored card stock, then die cut an oval using one of the Hero Arts Infinity Ovals dies and created a shaker card by adding foam adhesive and acetate to the back. I adhered my bear and gift (love the way that gift nestles into the bear’s paws!), then added a black glitter Happy Holidays die from Neat and Tangled. I filled my shaker with the Winter sequins mix from Hero Arts.

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you’ve enjoyed this festive, icy shaker. I just love when products from different companies combine so seamlessly!

Please help support A Blog Named Hero by shopping through our links. These are affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. We appreciate your support.

Simon Says Stamp

Ellen Hutson

Hero Arts

Remember, you still have a few more days to participate in our November challenge:

Please be sure to read all of the rules so that your fabulous project will be eligible to win the prize from our sponsor for this month, Neat and Tangled! You can add your link to your project here.

Have a fabulous day, friends!