My Complicated Relationship With the Trash Panda + Giveaway

Before we talk about trash pandas, let's talk about Valentine's Day.

While I'm not into Valentine's Day at all, the STAMPS for Valentine's Day are often my favorite of the year. There are always cute animals, and sweet sentiments that can be used all year. I just don't do schmoopy.

I also don't do pink and red a lot.  The color of candy hearts are gross, I think (as are candy hearts), because I don't do pastels well, and if you'll notice, they're very similar to the most vile trick ever perpetrated on American children - Necco Wafers. I feel like Necco must be an acronym involving Satan, but I haven't cracked the code yet. I actually remember where I was standing when I first had a Necco wafer - it was a dock in Maine on a camping trip, and an old man - yes, a stranger - gave me and my sister those little wafers of death. Looking back, I view it as a terrorist act.

Anyway - I like non-traditional colors to go with my Valentine imagery, so I'm so excited to show you this month's Hero Arts kit in a bright and happy green and black combo. The layering script in this set is completely amazing - and so is the big layering ampersand. You can combine the smaller sentiments with these two larger images for a billion combinations. That's right - that's scientific. Picture of the full kit below.

January My Monthly Hero Kit [ HA ] Green Apple Bold Ink | Hero Arts [ HA ] Hero Arts Intense Black Ink [ HA ] Foliage Mix Layering Papers (12) |... [ HA ] Ombre Green Sequins Hero Arts [ HA ] Marvy Uchida JEWEL PICKER Tool 91GRC [ SSS ] Mini Multi Medium Matte Glue (3820) [ MFT | ELH | SBC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | SBC | ELH | SSS ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Whisper White Cardstock - Thick [ SUP ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Bone Folder by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] Multipurpose Liquid Glue by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] DIY Calendar Kit [ HA ]

So here is the full kit, in all it's glory - and you should probably hurry, because it will go fast. But before you go, peek at my cards below with the add-on sets before you shop! The kit itself is $62 worth of product for $34.99. If you are a winner of the blog hop giveaway, and have already purchased the kit to be on the safe side, you will be refunded! Here's what's in the kit:

• 4" x 6" Layered on Love Clear Stamp Set
• Four Coordinating dies
• 4 ink cubes (Passion Flower, Navy, Red Royal and Mulled Wine)
• 2 5"x7" Shizen decorative paper
• 1 5.5"x8.5" Stardream Coral Cardstock 
• 1 5.5"x8.5" Stardream Rose Quartz Cardstock
• 1 5.5"x8.5" Stardream Kunzite Cardstock 
• Heart Sequins Mix 1.5 oz
• Pink Prisma Embossing Powder 0.5 oz

But now - let's get back to my complicated relationship with trash pandas. While they are completely adorable, they are also wily, as you can read about here. Our trashcan is a frequent target of their shenanigans, especially when we've had brisket, which indicates to me that the little furries have excellent taste. Their favorite thing to do is to raid our trashcan, and then hop over our fence into our neighbor's yard for the feast, leaving their litter there. Sometimes they are still shenaniganing when I get up - and the area where our trashcan is is right next to my office, so I can hear them crashing around out there. But any frustration with them dissolves when you see them and their little masked babies from time to time. The problem with trash pandas is that they are SO. DARN. CUTE.

So we live in peace. I was THRILLED to see a trash panda add-on set this month - it was calling my name! I decided to re-enact some of their escapades in our trash with this card. I stamped the image from Stealing My Heart (matching dies here)and Love Bandit (matching dies here) in Memento. Then I carefully masked the beam of light with this masking paper, and used stencil brushes to add the Soft Granite and Butter Bar ink for the light and shadow. I colored the images with Copics (C3, C5, C9, W7, Y18, RV02, B41, B34, B45, R29), adding yellow to the illuminated side of the trash panda, and added white gel pen accents to the hearts. The sentiment perfectly captures my conflicted feelings about the raccoons in our trash.

I matted the panel with Real Red and then put it on a Whisper White card base.

Love Bandit [ HA ] Love Bandit Frame Cuts [ HA ] Stealing My Heart [ HA ] Stealing My Heart Frame Cuts [ HA ] Hero Arts Butter Bar Shadow Ink [ HA ] Soft Granite Shadow Ink - Hero Arts [ HA ] Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad by... [ SUP ] Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Refill (133456) [ SUP ] Copic Markers [ SSS ] Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Fine Line 05... [ SSS | MFT ] Clarity Stencil Brushes – 4 Pack (3825) [ MFT | ART ] Avery Self-Adhesive Removable Laser... [ AMZUS ] Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock by... [ SUP ] Multipurpose Liquid Glue by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | SBC | ELH | SSS ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Whisper White Cardstock - Thick [ SUP ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Bone Folder by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ]

I started a new podcast when I got this beautiful Window on Love die (an add-on, not part of the kit), and it's very good (you can see a list of all of my favorites here) for binge listening, so I decided to try something ambitious with this gorgeous die that I knew would take a little longer than my average card. I cut it seven times from black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red cardstock and then pieced it for a beautiful rainbow Valentine. I toyed with the idea of putting a small sentiment in the center opening, but I thought that a general love sentiment was conveyed so well with just the die. I adore this card. Tip when paper piecing like this - after it's been run through the Big Shot, carefully remove the top plate (my tip for foolproof die cutting here), replacing any pieces that came out when you lifted the plate, and cover the whole thing with Press 'n Seal. Flip the stack over so your bottom plate is on top, and then carefully remove the die - use a pin and the release holes if there are some stuck to the die and not the Press 'n Seal. Then the entire die cut will be stuck to the Press 'n Seal exactly where it goes and you can easily piece them back into the negative space. It goes really fast this way!

Here's another idea using the outline that the die cuts. Since I had cut all those colors I had lots of the outlines. I decided to offset the red and turquoise ones for a fun layered drop shadow look. Again - no sentiment necessary. Isn't that fun and modern looking?

Window On Love Confetti Fancy Die [ HA ] Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock by... [ SUP ] Tangerine Tango 8-1/2" X 11"... [ SUP ] Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" X 11"... [ SUP ] Tempting Turquoise 8-1/2" X 11"... [ SUP ] Elegant Eggplant 8-1/2" X 11"... [ SUP ] Daffodil Delight 8-1/2" X 11"... [ SUP ] Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock by... [ SUP ] Whisper White Cardstock - Thick [ SUP ] Multipurpose Liquid Glue by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] Marvy Uchida JEWEL PICKER Tool 91GRC [ SSS ] Glad PRESS'N SEAL Multipupose Sealing... [ SSS ] Sizzix BIG SHOT EXPRESS Gray and... [ SSS | SBC | ART | BMS ]

They also have a super fun DIY Calendar stamp set out this month - this is an add-on, so it won't sell out. The most common thread started on Splitcoast is "Where do you buy little calendar pages to make gifts with?" I start seeing that question pop up every December, and I long wished I could just refer people to a stamp instead. Well now I can! The calendar is the perfect size for those little gift calendars, with the frame stamp for it measuring 3" x 4". The months come in two fonts and there are cute little planner type images that go with it.  

And then there's this beautiful color-layering rose set. (Matching dies here) Be still my heart!

I know it will be stunning in traditional colors, but because of the woodblock/etched look of the second step of the rose, I wanted to see it in grey and black, so I made a simple sympathy card. What's cool about this stamp is the way there are openings on the stems that the leaf stamps seamlessly fit into. And the omitted areas of the stamps that add natural white highlights is genius. I masked the flower before I stamped the right hand leaf so that those look like they're behind the rose. 

Color Layering Rose [ HA ] Color Layering Rose Frame Cuts [ HA ] Prayers - Stamp and Die bundle [ HA ] Soft Granite Shadow Ink - Hero Arts [ HA | ELH | SBC | SSS ] Hero Arts Intense Black Ink [ HA | ELH | SBC | SSS ] Whisper White Cardstock - Thick [ SUP ] Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock by... [ SUP ] Silver Glimmer Paper by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] Avery Self-Adhesive Removable Laser... [ AMZUS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ HA | MSW ] Sizzix BIG SHOT EXPRESS Gray and... [ SSS | SBC | ART ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Multipurpose Liquid Glue by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Bone Folder by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] Sizzix Big Shot Express Machine [ BMS ]

They're letting me hop with the big girls today, so leave a comment for all these beautiful humans for your chance to win the kit (or a refund for it if you buy it because you're worried it will sell out)! 

The Hero Arts Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Yana Smakula
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Wanda Guess
 You are here >>> Lydia Fiedler <<< You are here
Amy Tsuruta
Laurie Willison
May Park
Janette Kausen
Michelle Short
Libby Hickson
Ilina Crouse
Clare Prezzia

Emily Midgett

So glad you stopped by today! Good luck in the giveaway!

Loveyameanitbye.