New Challenge at Inspirational + More Inspiration for August Hero Studio!

Hi friends!

I'm here to share my DT card for Inkspirational challenge where we have a very fun photo for you to be inspired by. I love these hot, warm colors, and decided to make a Halloween card with non traditional Halloween colors using my new August Hero Studio Products from Hero Arts. The August Die Set of the Month is full of small frames and fun Halloween images. The many frames made it easy to make my card fit the collection of paints in our inspiration photo too! So instead of a collection of paints in warm colors... Here is my collection of Halloween frames in warm colors, voila! :) 

Please head on over to Inkspirational challenge blog for all the challenge details and lots of more DT inspiration. I look forward seeing your projects in the gallery!

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your purchase will cost the same as it would by buying straight from the store... But by purchasing though my affiliate link you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

August Hero Studio Products Are Here!

Hi friends!

I'm here today sharing a couple of slighly spooky cards with the new August Hero Studio products! Hero Studio is a Hero Arts papercrafting subscription program that is designed to inspire creators of all levels—whether you're just starting out or are a seasoned crafter. You can choose in between Card Kit of the Month, Cling Stamp of the Month, Die Set of the Month, Layering Stencils of the Month or Stamp and Cut of the Month.

Subscription options start at just $17.50 per month, and you can mix and match your favorites—or choose the Whole Studio subscription to get all five kits plus an exclusive bonus each month!

Have a look at all of the subscription products HERE!

I'm sharing two card with the August Studio products today... And I hope you'll also come back for more inspiration tomorrow! 

Card 1 Trick or Treat

This card is created with with the Card Kit of the Month. The
 handsome, slightly spooky fellow (perhaps a ghost, what do you think?!?) comes from the stamp set included in the Card Kit of the Month. The sentiment and spider web are from the same set as well. The frame is an older Hero Arts favorite, Fine Arts Frame Die, part of the Looking Glass Collection Dies. The gentleman's head and face is stamped with 4 stamps and I found a nice ink combo to make his skin look both human yet a bit spooky... Here it is if you want to try it:

Memento Tuxedo Black for the outlines, Memento London Fog for the stamp with the hair, Altenew Pink Sand for the shadows of the face, Altenew Blush for the overall skin color. 

The stamps are easy to lign up + the stamping doesn't even have to be 100% accurate -when I was testing the inks some of my stamping was a bit wonky and he still looked good! :)

The spider webs I've heat embossed with silver embossing powder and I've also splattered some shimmery paint on top of everything.

Card 2 Have a Beautiful Day

This card is created with the Layering Stencils of the Month . I wanted to see if I was able to create a non-Halloweeny background with the stencils by using a non-Halloweeny color scheme and I think it worked out pretty well! The sentiment, heat embossed with white powder on vellum, comes from Lemonade Day Stamp and Cut set.

I'd like to play along following challenges:

Little Red Wagon: Masculine (Trick or Treat card)

Try it On Tuesday: Make It Magical (Trick or Treat card)

Make My Monday: Masculine (Trick or Treat card)

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you again tomorrow when I share inspiration with the Die Set of the Month!

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your purchase will cost the same as it would by buying straight from the store... But by purchasing though my affiliate link you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

Reminder for Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero July Challenge + Inkspirational Challenge #346: Birthday!

Hi friends!

I'm here to share some extra DT inspiration for our July "You're my Best Friend" Challenge at Stay Crafty With A Blog Named Hero... And my card also fits the Birthday theme at Inkspirational, one of my other design teams. You can only love a twofer, right!? I hope to see you joining both of these amazing challenges! You still have about 4 days to join both of these fun challenges. 

My card is created with the AMAZING (sorry for shouting, but it is so so amazing!!) Curious Crafter Bundle from the Case Closed collection by Hero Arts. This is my first time playing with the products and they are just SO MUCH fun. I've colored the Ms Detective with Copic markers . I used the Houndstooth stencil both for Ms Detective's outfit and for the teal background. I did add extra shading to the outfit with Copics too. Oh -the outfit is stamped separately to a stenciled piece and then cut to fit the stamped and colored Ms Detective. Good old paper piecing technique! :) 

I also wanted to use the Magnifying Glass die set  in my card so I used it as a base for my sentiment from It's No Mystery stamp and cut set. For the "glass" in both of my magnifying glasses I used vellum. The sentiment is heat embossed with Copper powder, I thought copper went well with the teals and browns of the card.

I think I saw someone use a similar layout with this bundle and now I can't find it to give credit where credit is due.. But if that creator happens to see this, thank you for inspiring me!! 

I'd love to see you joining the challenges at Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero and Inkspirational! I love how my reminder card turned out and I hope it inspires you to dig out your Hero Arts products and join us! 

I'd like to join:

Allsorts Challenge: Anything Goes

Seize the Birthday: Anything Goes with the option of favorite color (dark teal is definitely one of my faves!)

613 Avenue Create: Anything Goes

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

 

North Pole Friends by Simon Hurley - New die Arrivals at Spellbinders!

Hi friends!

I'm here today to share two super cute cards with the new Simon Hurley North Pole Friends collection available at Spellbinders HERE. The dies were so popular they were sold out for a moment... But now they are back in stock, yay! This collection is absolutely adorable and I had so much fun playing with two die sets:

North Pole Sentiments Etched Dies 

Polar Bear Pals Etched Dies

Let's have a look at the individual cards!

Card 1 Showcasing:

North Pole Sentiments Etched Dies (snowmen + sentiments are both from this set) 

From the other Spellbinders July 2025 New Arrivals I'm also using:

Country Christmas 3d Embossing Folder for the background.

I created the simple scene with basic ink blending and some Copic coloring (for the clothes of the snowmen). The snowmen were very fast to assemble and I just love the happy look on their faces! I think this card would make everyone smile, all gender and all ages!

Card 2 Showcasing:

Polar Bear Pals Etched Dies

North Pole Sentiments Etched Dies (sentiments)

I'm also using a stamped sentiment from one of the new House Mouse stamp sets, Unwrapping Memories. Stay tuned for a post with some cute House Mouse tags! :) 

In this card I've created a Northern Lights sky with ink blending and paint splattering. The signs are cut from patterned paper and I've added some shading to them with inks too... And the cute polar bear has got some inking for dimension as well. Sounds like a lot of inking maybe, but this was actually super fast to put together! 

I'd like to join:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Make Your Own Background

Cut It Up Challenge: Christmas in July

Crafting A Cut Above: Anything Goes

52 Christmas Card Throwdown: Critters (card 2 with polar bear)

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

Inking Dry Embossed Panels / Spellbinders July 2025 Release

 Hi friends!

I'm here to share two cards made with a stunning Christmas Cameos 3d Embossing Folder from the July 2025 Release by Spellbinders. I love the ornate, vintage feel of this embossing folder and I knew I had to play with fun inking techniques with it. 

Card 1 on black card base

I embossed a piece of black card stock and worked on the flip side of the embossed piece (the side where the pattern is indented, not raised). I used white pigment ink to cover the black card stock from the non indented areas of the panel by swiping ink straight from the ink pad, by tapping the ink pad on it... And in the end by also brayering some ink on it for getting really good coverage.

Card 2 on white card base

In this version I embossed white card stock and again worked with the flip side of the embossed piece. I now used black dye ink for and did basically what I did with the first one... But I didn't try to achieve super well covered look but wanted this one to be even more vintagey looking. I finished the inking with swiping gold shimmery ink on top too -that ink pad of mine is very old and doesn't have much power left... but just enough for a subtle vintage shimmer!

I'd love to hear which one of the cards you like best... And then I encourage you to check out  Christmas Cameos 3d Embossing Folder and the whole July 2025 Release by Spellbinders.

I'd like to join:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Emboss It

Cut It Up Challenge: Christmas in July (die cut sentiment)

My Time to Craft Christmas: Vintage Christmas

Creative Knockouts: Christmas in July

Little Red Wagon: Christmas in July

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

Spellbinders July 2025 New Arrivals!

Hi friends!

I'm happy to be here today sharing some inspiration with the new products by Spellbinders! They've released several new collections now in July and you can find them all by clicking the link below:

Spellbinders July 2025 Arrivals 

Today I'm sharing cards showcasing dies and embossing folder from the Country Christmas Collections by Annie Williams:

Christmas Rocking Chair Edged Dies

Barn Star Wreath Etched Dies 

Country Christmas 3d Embossing Folder

Let's have a look at the cards shall we!

Card 1

Featuring Christmas Rocking Chair Edged Dies

I've colored my die cuts with Copic markers and created a little scene with the die cuts. I used patterned paper from Rosie's Studio Golden Afternoon 6x6 paper pack for the background to try to mimic a room with a wooden floor and plaid all paper. I love the vintage feel of this card!

Card 2 and Card 3 

Featuring Barn Star Wreath Etched Dies and Country Christmas 3d Embossing Folder.

Both of these cards were inspired by the also new Holiday DIY Color Deck Expansion Pack. The DIY Color Deck cards help you to choose the color scheme for your card... And each picture has several color combos you could be inspired of! You simply use what intrigues you the most and sparks your creativity! 

For the card above I chose dark blue with grey and other neutrals from the photo. Wildly in love with this! :) In the card below I chose different shades of green and red for a more traditional Christmas color scheme. However, the sort of greyish light green that I've cut the star from... I'd never had chosen it without the inspiration from the Holiday DIY Color Deck Expansion Pack ! If you don't want to attach your card stock colors to the inspiration cards from the Pack, you can also use Color Swatch Petal Stack Die for creating the color scheme and saving it for future reference. 

I'd like to join:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Emboss It (Cards 2 and 3, dry embossing)

A Cut Above Challenge: Anything Goes (Card 1)

Allsorts Challenge: For a Child/Anything Goes (Card 1)

My Time to Craft Christmas: Vintage

Thank you for popping by! I hope I've inspired you to start thinking about the busy Christmas card season that's coming up sooner than we think lol... It's good to get a head start so please join me in making Christmas cards already! :) 

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

 Hi friends!

I'm glad to be back at Inkspirational after having a couple of months break! It was a good time to come back, because the challenge theme for the next fortnight was chosen by me when the challenges where put together for this year. :) I love adding 3 of something to cards and it's especially nice for CAS cards... which is the route I went this time too. 

I've used a stencil and inks from Altenew for the blobs and combined them with my favorite Hero Arts butterfly stamp Special Day Stamp And Cut stamp and die set . This is already a third card I make with this stamp within a short time period, I can't put it away! The sentiment comes from I Appreciate You stamp set. After my stenciling and stamping was done, the card still looked a bit bare so I drew two black lines to it and added shimmery gel pen to the butterfly wings. 

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you joining us at Inkspirational! 

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

More Inspiration with Spellbinders Say Cheese Classic Mouse Collection!

Hello friends!

I'm back with more inspiration with the Say Cheese Classic Mouse Collection by Spellbinders! Click the link below to view the whole fun collection:

Spellbinders June 2025 New Arrivals

I've made two pretty clean and simple cards in classic Maritime colors combining red, navy and light blue. I'd love to hear which one of this cards is your favorite! Both are quick makes with simple die cutting, no coloring, inking, no nothing! :) 

Card 1 featuring

Classic Mouse Borders Etched Dies 

La Dolce Vita Banners Etched Dies

I love the fresh look I was able to achieve with these border dies... Quite perfect for a masculine card or for anyone who loves sea, seaside or sailing!

With this card (card no 1) I'd like to join: 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Vacation (seaside vacation)

Allsorts Challenge: Seaside

Krafty Chicks Challenge: Masculine

Card 2 featuring

Steamboat Willie Etched Dies

Bamboo Screen 3d Embossing Folder

Frame and Sentiments Etched Dies 

I love the way Mickey's cute little face fits perfectly to the frame die that also has the sentiment.. Such a cute, perfect quick card with die cutting to make! I used the Bamboo screen embossing folder (also new in July) because I thought that in this context the knots looked like knots in a sailboat robe. :)

With this card (card 2) I'm joining:

A cut above challenge: Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Thank you for popping by and I hope you like what I made! 

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

New Say Cheese Classic Mouse Collection at Spellbinders!

Hi friends!

The Stay Cheese Classic Mouse Collection by Spellbinders is finally available! Click on this link below 

Spellbinders June 2025 Arrivals

for checking out the whole collection! I've made six cards with these fun new products and am sharing the first two of them today. The collection is very versatile; in addition to Mickey and Minnie Mouse themed products, there's also a lot of fun shapes, alphabets and numbers to play with. In my cards today I've combined die cut Mouses along with other die cut shapes with fun water color backgrouds for contrasting look. 

Card 1: Mickey

Mickey is a sailor isn't he so I wanted to bring the element of water to his card with blue watercolor. He is no doubt also a star so some star shapes were needed too! All dies are from this new collection, here are the product links if you want to check them out:

Steamboat Willie Duo Etched Dies (these create Mickey and Minnie characters)

Frame and Sentiments Etched Dies (Mickey's round frame + stars)

Card 2: Minnie

It was so fun to dress up Minnie and decide on the color palette for her card... So in the end I decided to go all in with reds and pinks, as girly as it gets! It will be fun to create a completely different kind of outfit for her next time. Here are the product links if you want to check them out:

Steamboat Willie Duo Etched Dies (these create Mickey and Minnie characters)

Flags and Banners Etched Dies (the sentiment die and fun rosettes)

With my cards I'd like to play along in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: We're Going Around In Circles (both cards fit the theme)

A Cut Above Challenge: Anything Goes (both cards fit the theme)

Allsorts Challenge: Seaside/Anything Goes (Mickey card)

Crafty Animals: Anything Goes ((both cards fit the theme)

Creations in Pink Challenge: Anything Goes in Mainly Pink (Minnie card)

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

Reminder for June Stay Crafty Challenge With a Blog Named Hero!

Hi friends!

Our June challenge at Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero is still up and running for a couple of weeks and I'd love to see you playing along! The theme is a fun one: Saturday in a Park... With that we want you to make picnic themed cards or cards celebrating the 4th of July. I'd love to see you joining us! The winner of this challenge (drawn randomly) will win a whopping $50 gift voucher to Hero Arts Store. 

In my card I've played with two Hero Arts stamp sets and "merged" them together with the magic of masking! It's not everyday you see a picnic basked filled with flowers lol! I'd love that though!! 

The stamp sets I used are

Togetherness Flower Bouquet stamp set

Picnic Basket Bundle

I stamped the basket first, covered it with a mask, stamped the floral image on top... Removed the mask and voila, we have a basket filled with flowers! After coloring the image with Copics I also cut a mask for the flowers, masked the whole thing, and inked some blue ink around the image. The butterflies come from the Picnic Basket Bundle as well and are just so small and cute, super quick to color in and add as embellishments! 

I hope you'll want to join me and my friends at the Stay Crafty challenge... We'd love to see you using your favorite Hero Arts products and playing along! 

I'd like to join:

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge: Splatter

Try it on Tuesday: Garden (my card has flowers and one can also have a picnic in a garden!)

Stamping Sensations: Anything Goes

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

New Challenge at Time Out!

Hi friends!

I'm here today to share my DT card for our new challenge at Time Out, where we are inspired by this beautiful beachcombing art by Alyson*Romantheocean. You can be inspired by many things in this art photo: the seashells, the colors, the heart, the various shapes... There's lots of possibilities. If your inspiration is less than obvious, please let us know how you were inspired, thank you! 

I was inspired by the overall colors, the beach theme and the seashells. I played with a bunch of Honey Bee Stamps dies... It's been too many months since I used my Honey Bee stash and playing with those products always makes my heart happy! There's just something exciting about them! I layered lots of die cuts for a sort of collage look. I'm not sure if it's a bit strange or nice, but at least I had lots of fun making it lol! 

I'd like to join these challenges:

Everybody Art Challenge: Maritime

Allsorts Challenge: What makes you happy/AG: 

Holiday on the beach certainly would make me happy!!

Simon Says Monday Challenge: Splatter

I hope to see you joining us at Time Out!

 

Spellbinders La Dolce Vita + Coloring Die Cuts with Alcohol Markers!

Hi friends!

Spellbinders has just released some amazing new products and I've had the joy to be playing with some of them! There are several new collections and you'll find all of them at 

June 2025 New Arrivals at Spellbinders

The products used in this post come from La Dolce Vita collection, a stunning collection with summer vacation and sea breeze feel! The products used here are only a small part of the collection, so make sure to check out all of the fun dies, embossing folder and press plates in Spellbinders store. 

Card 1 and 2:

Copic Coloring Die Cuts

One of my favorite ways to add my personal touch to die cuts is to use alcohol markers for coloring them in. Here I've used both Copics and Altenew markers. The stunning lady from Amalfi Breeze Edged Dies is perfect for this technique: the individual parts of the die are not too tiny to color and also there are beautiful curves you can accencuate with shading the curves darker (like the swimsuit for example). 

You can also create nice, lively looking skin with markers. I made my ladies similar color to myself (I call my color frozen turkey lol!) and used a blend of E04, E13, E11, E21, E00, R20. I varied the blend here and there to make the skin look even more realistic. I think the lady in the yellow swimsuit has burned a little bit in the sun! That easily happens to us turkey skin ladies lol! 

Card 3 and 4:

Highlighting products with clean and simple cards

Sometimes it's nice to make fairly simple cards with fun techniques. One of my favorite techniques for making simple cards is to use 3d embossing folders! 

Here I've played with the new Lemon Fresco 3d Embossing Folder both as a backround for the lemon dies of Citrus Spritz Edged Dies and as a focal point of the blue card. 

In the lemon card a basic white on white 3d embossed look is just so classic and stunning... And in the blue card I've played with some masking and white pigment ink. 

Let me know if you'd want to see a video of how I made the blue card, I'd be happy to recreate this look! It makes me think of mediterranean tiles! 

All Spellbinder Products used in the cards of this post:

Amalfi Breeze Edged Dies

La Dolce Vita Banners Edged Dies

Bamboo Screen 3d Ebossing Folder

A-2 Matting Basics Card Creator Edged Dies

Lemon Fresco 3d Embossing Folder 

Citrus Spritz Edged Dies

I've Got You Covered Sentiment Stamps

Thank you for popping by! I look forward hearing which card is your favorite! For more product details, do head on over to Spellbinders Paper Arts using the links above. 

*The product links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!*