Hero Arts October Studio Release + Time Out Challenges Reminder!

Hi friends!

It's a new month... And that means there's a new Hero Studio Subscription Release! Learn all about Hero Arts Subscription products HERE and act fast... Once they are gone, they are gone!

October Studio is all about Holidays. I've played with the Stamp and Cut of the Month, the Die Set of the Month and the Layering Stencils of the Month. Let's have a closer look! 

Card 1

Stamp and Cut of the Month 

Reminder card for Time Out Challenges!

This mixed media card was very fun to make! I white heat embossed the ornaments on a scrap of shimmery watercolor piece that I have had lying around my desk for a long time already. I also did plenty of gold heat embossing... And the background is gold watercolor that I have been blowing around with an alcohol ink tool. 

With this card I'd also like to remind you of our Pick Two challenge at Time Out! The challenge is still running for about one week and your task is simple: Pick Two (or more) prompts from the list below and use them in your project. I went with 4: Season (Christmas), Edge (the white edge), Metallic (all the gold embossing and watercolor in the background) and Spatter (yes, I love paint spatters!). I hope to see you joining us, all the challenge details can be found HERE.

Card 2

Die Set of the Month + Stamp and Cut of the Month

The Die set of October is so cute! I love these strings of holiday lights. The set has many variations of the string shapes so you can create your custom look easily! I used gold cardstock and Stickles glitter glue for the lights and just plain white card for the strings- I wanted to go for an almost monochrome look with a touch of gold. The bauble and sentiment come from the Stamp and Cut of the Month again. 

With this card I'd like to join:

The Holly and Ivy Challenge: Anything Christmas Goes

Card 3

Layering Stencils of the Month + Stamp and Cut of the Month

I hope you agree that this pink Christmas tree looks pretty amazing!! I love how it turned out. I enhanced the baubles with Copics to make them stand out more and then used the sentiments from Stamp and Cut of the Month for greetings. Love how they fit thee baubles perfectly! I've used a lot of Stickles glitter glue on top of my inking to make the tree super festive... And of course some paint spatters again! 

This would also be a good card for Time Out by the way... This time I've even added "monochrome" to the mix so I'm using 5 prompts out of 6! :) 

With this card I'd like to join:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Think Pink

ABC Christmas Challenge: Trees

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Trees 

 Card 4

Layering Stencils of the Month + Whole Studio Bonus

I stenciled a traditional green tree this time... But with lots of glitter and shine! I heat embossed one layer of the layering stencil with silver embossing powder and there's again plenty of Stickles both on the tree and in the baubles. The sentiment die is something you'll receive for free if you decide to buy ALL the Studio products... And it's pretty amazing! I love the swirly font and the large size. 

That's all from me today, thank you for popping by! I hope you'll check out the Hero Arts October Studio products and our challenge at Time Out. Happy Crafting! 

*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. By using my affiliate links you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!*  

Time out Challenges #297 Favorite Season + Inkspirational #350 Trees

Hi friends!

This week I'm combining two design team cards as one fun card project. :) Time out Challenges #297 Favorite Season and Inkspirational #350 Trees are both newly out from the card challenge oven and running for about two weeks! I hope to see you joining both challenges with your projects... And as you can see here, with a little planning you can join both with the same project! 

Do click on the links above, they take you to the challenge blogs with all the challenge details and lots of DT inspiration. 

I chose summer as my favorite season (fall comes as close second but nothing beats summer!) and played with two scene making products from Hero Arts:

Coastal Blooms Heroscape Stamp & Cut

Color Layering Harbor Stencils

I'm aware that the blooms of the stamp are supposed to be flower blooms or some sort of bushes... But by stamping some of the layers brown I turned them into hazelnut trees that I have in my garden, they really reminded me of them! The frame die is from Honey Bees Lovely Layouts: Posted and sentiment comes from Altenew. I used various inks from Hero Arts, Memento and Altenew to create the colorful scene. 

I'd like to join: 

Allsorts Challenge: Trees, Leaves and Plants

Crafty Calendar: Lots of Layers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Lots of Layers

Thank you for popping by and I hope to see you joining us at Time Out and 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. By using my affiliate links you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

Inkspirational Challenges Reminder!

 

Hi friends!

I'm here with a quick little post to remind you of our current challenge at Inkspirational! You still have several days to join our "Add a Tag" challenge. The gallery closes on Friday the 12th of September. 

I made the tag of my card to be a sweet little door hanger! It's attached to the card base very lightly and the recipient can easily remove it and display it on a cupboard door for example (see my photo below!) I've used the newly released Hero Arts September Studio products: Stamp and Cut . This set consists of fun, artsy pumpkin images with some leaves and flowers... and also that adorable sentiment comes from the same set! Read all about Hero Arts monthly subscription products HERE.

Please head on over to Inkspirational challenge blog for all the challenge details! 

I'd like to join:

Die Cut Divas: Anything Goes

Just Us Girls: Dies 

A Cut Above: Anything Goes

The Four Seasons: Anything Fall 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. By using my affiliate links you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

Hero Arts September Studio is available + Time Out Challenges #296 Reminder

Hello everyone!

I'm here today sharing two cards I made with the September Hero Studio products... But before I go more detailed into the products and the cards I'd like to use this opportunity to remind you of our ongoing Friendship/Encouragement/Support Challenge at Time Out Challenges! Both of these fall cards would be perfect to send to a friend and cheer up their day... And I'm going to do exactly that with my cards! Please head on over to the challenge blog for all the challenge details and lots of more DT inspiration. I'd love to see your Friendship/Encouragement/Support cards in the gallery!

So, onto the cards and the new Hero Arts September Studio products! In this post I'm playing with two products from the Studio line:

Die Set of the Month

Layering Stencils of the Month

The Die Set of the Month this time has 5 adorable little critter dies that you can have snuggling and taking it easy and cozy under a cute stitched blanket in a beautiful bed! I chose to work with the bear and the fox from the animals... and added extra detail to my blanked with the Daisy Mosaic stencil, it's an older Hero Arts product but definitely a favorite! I've cut my critters from white Neenah card and ink blended their coloring. 

There's also plenty of ink blending in the card with the Layering Stencils of the Month,  I love the vibrant look I got with various Altenew and Distress inks. I added interest to my card by die cutting a rectangle from the stenciled piece and lifting it up with foam. 

In both card I've used a sentiment from Stamp and Cut of the Month... Stay tuned for a card made with that set! 

Make sure to check out all the Hero Studio products and details about the subscriptions HERE.

I'd like to join:

Die Cut Divas: Anything Goes (card with critters)

Allsorts challenge: Anything Goes (card with trees)

Creative Knockouts: Lots of Layers (card with critters)

Just us Girls: Anything Goes with Dies (card with critters)

Crazy is our fame -Stencils are our game: Stencils with nature (cart with the trees)

*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. By using my affiliate links you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

New Challenge at Inkspirational!

Hi friends!

We have a new challenge at Inkspirational, a nice an easy Clean And Simple challenge! We have an option for flowers... but Anything CAS goes!

I decided to play with the new dies from Spellbinders Autumn Archives Collection by Kelly Bangs. There's two sets used in this card:

Documenting Labels Etched Dies

Falling Leaves Etched Dies

I've inked the leaves with various Altenew inks, the stems I simply cut from brown card. For a nice CAS layout I scored two lines to the card base to place my little tag on. The "ribbon" in my tag is not actually ribbon, it's a piece of golden card I've folded to look like ribbon or piece of fabric/thread. 

Do head on over to Inkspirational for all the challenge details, linky for your projects and lots of more DT inspiration! I hope to see you playing along!

*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. By using my affiliate links you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

New Arrivals at Spellbinders!

Hi friends!

There are plenty of exciting New Arrivals at Spellbinders store! I'm here with only one card today, but more is coming in the end of the week so stay tuned! :) 

I've created this card with the fun autumn themed dies from Autumn Archives collection by Kelly Bangs. In addition to dies, there is also patterned paper and all sorts of ephemera available, and this collection is great for scrapbooking and journaling too. 

The dies I'm using are:

Documenting Labels Etched Dies

Falling Leaves Etched Dies

Have a look at the entire Autumn Archives collection HERE

...and ALL August New Arrivals HERE.

It's not of then that one is able to create a completely no stamping card, but this was now one of the rare occasions! For the acorns I've ink blended scraps of white card and for the labels I've used brown and gold cardstock. I added some extra shimmer to my acorns with a wash of sheer gold, shimmery watercolor... And added some extra shine to the card with gold paint splatters. I love how this turned out! 

I'd like to join:

Mix it Up Challenge Blog: Anything Goes + Mixed Media

Cut It Up Challenge Blog: Add a Sentiment

A Cut Above Challenge: Anything Goes

Allsorts Challenge: Anything Goes

Thank you for popping by and I hope you like my Acorn Labels 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. By using my affiliate links you are helping me to continue to create crafty inspiration. :) Thank you for visiting my blog and happy crafting!* 

 

August Challenge at Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero!

Hello friends!

The August challenge at Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero is a fun one: 

Splish Splash; 

Use a Water Technique or Water Image

Grab your favorite Hero Arts products and start creating! One randomly chosen winner will receive a $50 gift voucher to use at Hero Arts store. 

There's plenty of more DT inspiration and all the challenge details along with the link tool for your projects available HERE. 

My DT project is created with August Hero Studio products. I've used stamps from the Card Kit of the Month and a couple of dies from Die Set of the Month. Fine Arts Frame Die is an older Hero Arts die and one of my favorites!

My watery technique is done with various water reactive inks, acetate and water. You smoosh your inks on your acetate, give them a splash of water, and "stamp" with the acetate and watery inks to your card base. I did multiple layers, drying the layers in between with a heat gun. I finished the card with some pale gold paint splatters so there's actually two watery techniques used in the card! 

I'd like to join:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Quite Quirky

Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge: Anything Goes

Halloween and Other Occasions Challenge: Halloween

I look forward seeing you joining The August challenge at Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero ! 

*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!* 

 

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!*