February 2025 Hero Studio

2.1.2025

The Hero Studios for 2025 have been so good this year. This month reminds me on that winter gardening. Where I live in California all the bulb flowers start sprouting at this time of year. In the next month we’ll start seeing blooms. The Card Kit of the Month is packed with great stamps and dies. The sentiment dies alone are so good but add to that the layering stamp and cling stamp plus ink cubes! Amazing value!

February 2025 Card Kit of the Month: Tulips

Kit Includes:
• Tulip HeroScapes Clear Stamp Set, 6” x 8”
• Circling Clouds Cling Stamp, 6″x 6″
• Messages Clear Stamp Set, 4″ x 6″
• 7 Tulip HeroScape Coordinating Dies
• 4 Word Fancy Dies with Frame Cuts
• 5 Messages Coordinating Dies
• 4 Ink Cubes (Thistle, Azalea, Moss, Blue Raspberry)

For my card kit project, I used the balloon as my focal point. When I get a kit that has so many great elements sometimes I like to take just a few and focus on that. It helps me to not be overwhelmed or to throw everything on one card.

I used Hero Arts reactive inks in Taffy, Creamsicle, Lemon Drop, Key Lime Fizz, Splash and Grape Slush for the balloons. I used Charcoal core ink for the strings. The balloon was easy to stamp, I was careful to ink up only the balloon and stamp it then inked the string and stamped it before moving the panel in my Misti. If I did this card again, I would stagger the balloons a bit by moving my panel closer to the hinge in my Misti. I trimmed that panel down and mounted it on a Pitch Black cardstock mat.

The sentiment is also from the kit. I used Intensified black ink and die cut with the coordinating die. I stacked some die cuts behind for dimension since this is a pretty one layer card. I love that the sentiment looks like brushstrokes. To finish I used some Hero Enamel Dots.

Hero Studio Monthly Minis

RB0225 February Cling of the Month: Burlap

CD0225 February Clear Set + Dies of the Month: Lovely Flowers

FD0225 February Fancy Dies of the Month: Flowers & Pots

LS0225 February Layering Stencils of the Month: Daffodils

The Fancy Die of the month is so good! This die set makes the prettiest winter bulb flowers. I decided to focus on the tulip dies. I die cut the two tulip flowers and the bud from Canary, Peony, Azalea and Ultra Pink. I die cut 2-3 of each flower from each color. They are pretty small dies so use up you’re scraps here! I used my Copic markers to add some shading and variation to the tulips. I cut the leaves and steams from Kiwi and Meadow cardstock and again added some shading with Copics. I die cut the planter box from Cup O’ Joe and ink blended the edges with Cup O’ Joe ink.
I trimmed a white cardstock card panel down to 3.5 x 5.5in and temporarily placed my planter on the panel. Then I just started filling in tulips and leaves. Once I was happy with the flower arrangement I made sure everything was super secure with Precision Glue.

I added two thin Pitch Black strips behind my panel for definition. I stamped the Script Bold Print with Embossing and Watermark ink on Sand cardstock and adhered the top panel in the center. The sentiment is from the Clear Set & Die of the month.

The Whole Studio included ALL 5 of the monthly subscriptions in one discounted buy.
Includes: Cling of the Month, Clear + Dies of the Month, Layering Stencil of the Month,
Fancy Dies of the Month, and the Card Kit of the Month.
NEW THIS MONTH: Receive a FREE bugs die set with the purchase of The Whole Studio.
(Die set is not sold separately.)

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Saturday, February 8 at 11:59pm PST, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. Leave a comment on all stops for more chances to win! Thanks for hopping along!

Hero Arts
Hero Arts Creative Team:
Seeka
Rosie Lopez
Rachel Kleinman
Natasha Vacca
Natasha Polite
Mindy Eggen
Michelle Short
Michelle Lupton
Lisa Tilson
Karen Brown
Jennifer Kotas
Jeannie Lieu
Charlene Madrid
Channin Pelletier
Anna Mahtani
Special Guests:
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel
Kelly Taylor

Mixed Media Hearts

1.20.2025

Every year, I create an untraditional Valentine’s card for those that are not all hearts and flowers. This card is all hearts but in a very Wednesday Addams color theme.

I used the Hero Studio Stencil of the Month for January and Hero Arts Pitch Black cardstock. This is the yummiest black cardstock on the market. For the first stencil, I used Unicorn White pigment ink. After that dried I used Black Hero Wax for the second stencil.

The third stencil was White Pearl Hero Paste. The last stencil I used White Hero Paste but before I pulled off the stencil I sprinkled Icicle Pure White Glitter and lightly smooshed it into the paste. You can see where it oozed out a little from too much pressure, so use an extra light touch. I let that dry completely and then trimmed it down. I did mount the panel on some cardstock layers to help flatten the panel out. It was a little wrapped from all the paste and wax.

This is a busy background with a lot going on so I kept the rest of the card very simple. I die cut a heart from the Hero Studio Card Kit of the Month from Vellum and black heat embossed the sentiment from the same kit.

What do you think of the monochrome Valentine’s day card? What untraditional colors would you try? Happy Crafting!

Pink & Main Challenge Team

1.10.2025

Happy New Year! I have more exciting news to share today and a pretty purple project. I am super excited to be part of the new Pink & Main Challenge team. I had been looking for a way to challenge myself and expand my craft and when I saw the Design Team call for Pink & Main. I applied and was overjoyed they asked me to be part of this new team. I was first introduced to Pink & Main after winning an Instagram contest and ordering some products. They have a subscription box (you all know I love a good sub box), cute critter stamps and some amazing foil products. I can’t wait to share projects with you over the next few months.

Make sure to follow Pink & Main and the Challenge Team on Instagram

Brennan Keane @bdk_creations
Dominique Bailey @DomBaileyCreations
Jennifer Ingle @JustJingle
June Arnold @junieb_07
Lee McMinn-Murphy @luvleestamper

January theme is Celebrations so I used the Berry Cupcake stamp and die as my focal point. I stamped an alcohol marker friendly black ink and then colored the cupcake with my Copic markers. I used a white gel pen to add some highlights to the blackberry, frosting and bow.

The background panel is Night Sky cardstock cut to 4×5.25 with some white splatter. I used a sentiment from the Make a Wish stamp set and die cut with the coordinating die. Finally, for some bling I used a few Diamond Confetti Sequins.

I hope you liked my card today and I hope to see your projects entered in the challenge. Don’t forget to follow Pink & Main and the rest of the challenge team.

Happy Crafting!

January 2025 Hero Studio

1.2.2025

I am beyond excited to be back on the Hero Arts Creative team for 2025! Last year was a dream come true and I had the best time. I cannot wait to see what this year brings.

We are ringing in the New Year with a gorgeous Hero Studio release. Back when these kits were My Monthly Hero subscriptions, I would sometimes see a kit and think “Sell Out!” This is one of those kits. The card Kit of the month is packed full of amazing products that can be used over and over for lots of different occasions. Peep the TWO typewriter dies! a fancy die and a frame cut!

January 2025 Card Kit of the Month

Kit Includes:
• Color Layering Typewriter Clear Stamp Set, 6” x 8”,
• Typewriter Messages Clear Stamp Set, 4″ x 6″
• 7 Typewriter Frame Cut Dies
• 8 Typewriter Fancy Dies
• Nesting Hearts Cover Plate Die
• Mini Clay Hearts
• 8 Sheets of Cardstock, 5.5″ x 8.5

Hero Studio Monthly Minis

January 2025 Clear Set + Dies of the Month: Hello Love
January 2025 Cling Stamp of the Month: Checkered Hearts
January 2025 Fancy Dies of the Month: Floral Envelope
January 2025 Layering Stencils of the Month: Layering Hearts

January 2025 The Whole Studio
The Whole Studio included ALL 5 of the monthly subscriptions in one discounted buy.
Includes: Cling of the Month, Clear + Dies of the Month, Layering Stencil of the Month,
Fancy Dies of the Month, and the Card Kit of the Month.

For my Card Kit card, I started with the cover plate die. I die cut from heavy weight white cardstock and ink blended just the edges around the heart with Peony and Pink Grapefruit core inks. Then I used the coordinating heart die to add a white heart on top of the panel. This covered the inside heart but I like the dimension and crisp die set on top.

Then I moved to the typewriter. I die cut the fancy die and then used the layering stamps to add ink to the typewriter. It was easy to line up and the shadows created by the layering stamp conceal any imperfections. I used Peony and Pink Grapefruit, and Granite core inks. I also die cut the paper and stamped the typewriter text in Intensified Black ink.

Finally, I cut a slit in the typewriter and inserted the paper so only the ‘I LOVE YOU’ is peeking out. I added adhesive around the edge of typewriter making sure not to get close to the paper note. I adhered that directly on top of the cover plate panel. The little note can slide out and reveal a hidden message.

Extraordinary Extras

DF243 Folded Love Note Fancy Die (H)
DF244 Love & Hearts Fancy Dies (E)
SA301 Lots of Love Stencil
SB418 Love Note Messages Bundle (B)
CM798 Love Note Messages
CH344 Mini Clay Hearts

One of the Extraordinary Extras is this Love Notes set. It includes a large die to make the folded note and a coordinating stamp bundle. I made a little coupon booklet to give as a gift. I stamped and die cut all the coupons from Dove White cardstock. I used Peony, Pink Grapefruit, Cotton Candy, Azalea and Ultra Pink core inks with the Love Notes Messages stamp set.

Then I die cut the Love Note fancy die from Heavy weight cardstock. I stamped the outline from the Love Notes Messages stamp set on each ‘panel’ and used the same inks. I did die cut two extra coupons for the cover.

When you fold up the die it has a seam down the front but I wanted it to stay somewhat closed so I added the extra note to the front to hide the seam. Then I went a step further (because that’s what I do-haha) and added another note backing the cover. You can see in the photo that the cover splits open and that’s where I slide in the opposite side to close it up.

I think this is a fun way to personalize your own Love Note coupons in any color or theme. You could make them for your significant other, your children, or even give as a teacher gift. Thank you sticking with me through this lengthy post today! See you later this month with another project!

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Thursday, January 9 at 11:59pm PST, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week. Leave a comment on all stops for more chances to win!

Hero Arts
Hero Arts Creative Team:
Anna Mahtani
Channin Pelletier
Charlene Madrid
Jeannie Lieu
Jennifer Kotas
Karen Brown
Lisa Tilson
Michelle Lupton
Mindy Eggen
Natasha Polite
Natasha Vacca
Rachel Kleinman
Rosie Lopez
Seeka
Special Guests:
Nichol Spohr
Kelly Taylor

December Hero Studio

12.1.2024

The December Hero Studio is here and it is full of COLOR! When I tell you I squealed with delight to see the Reactive reinkers included in the kit, I did! I had so much fun just playing with the reinkers. The images in the kit really let your imagination fly!

CARD KIT INCLUDES:
• Clear Stamp Set, 6” x 8”
• 15 Coordinating Dies
• Floral Circle Fancy Die
• 5 Reactive Inkers, 1/2 oz. (Purple Galaxy, Blue Hawaii, Green Apple, Lemon Drop, Fruit Punch)
• Plastic Watercolor Palette

The Monthly Mini subscriptions include:

December Clear Set + Dies of the Month (Floral Butterfly)
December Fancy Dies of the Month (Rainbows & Clouds)
December Layering Stencil of the Month (Butterflies)
December Cling of the Month (Rainbows & Clouds)

Extraordinary Extras
DF229 Box of Crayons Fancy Dies (E)
DF230 Varying Butterfly Wings Fancy Dies (F)
CM787 Floral Rainbow & Clouds
SB417 Floral Rainbow & Clouds Bundle (D)
RT138 Sky Ombrés Hero Transfers

For my Card kit of the month cards, I jumped head first into the reinkers. I used Deluxe Watercolor paper and generously sprayed it with water at one end. Then I dripped drops of ink and let it run together and drip down. This is messy and uncontrolledly but I was having fun. In the areas that didn’t have enough water or color, I just added a little more.

I let those two panels dry completely overnight because they were soaked through. Then I trimmed it down and stamped the image and sentiment in Intensified Black ink. I matted on a black mat and then added to a card base.

The Butterfly from the Clear Stamp of the Month is gorgeous. I can see using it all year long for birthdays, Mothers Day and even a sympathy card. For this card I used reactive ink pads in Fruit Punch, Lemon Drop, Green Apple, Blue Hawaii and Purple Galaxy and bleded a rainbow on mixed media paper. Then I heat embossed the rainbow over the ink blending and painted the flowers with the reinkers and a little water.

I splattered White Acrylic Spray on a Pitch Black panel and heat embossed the sentiment with white heat embossing. I die cut the butterfly and popped it up on the black mat. The colorful butterfly really pops off the card.

This last card I heat embossed on mixed media paper and painted with the reinkers. I simply drop a couple drops of reinker into the Plastic Watercolor Palette that came with the Card Kit and then painted with a watercolor brush. I used the same brush and renikers to splatter a card panel but when I added the die cut butterfly it was too busy and distracting. Just too much so I added a heat embossed sentiment to Vellum cut just smaller than the panel and layered everything together. This did the trick, you can still see the splatter of color but its muted without distorting the colors.

Thank you for hoping along and checking out all the inspiration for the December Hero Studio release. We will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, December 8 at 11:59pm PST, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

Hero Arts
Hero Arts Creative Team:
Channin Pelletier
Charlene Madrid
Ilina Crouse
Jeannie Lieu
Jennifer Kotas
Kailash Naidoo
Karen Brown
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Natasha Polite
Natasha Vacca
Rachel Kleinman
Rosie Lopez
Seeka
Special Guests:
Mindy Eggen
Nichol Spohr
Kelly Taylor