Summer Fun Cards + Giveaway

I'm back!

I just got back from Junkie Fest, and it was an absolutely amazing community event! Chris and the admins outdid themselves, and everyone left with a full heart and lots of inspiration. I ran into a lot of my Splitcoast buddies, part of my local stamping group and met new friends I loved instantly, like Sue Doherty from ThermoWeb. There were an amazingly generous bunch of sponsors as well, and the students not only got awesome education and fun with friends, but they got to do a little shopping as well. And by a little shopping I mean a LOT of shopping :).

I taught an atmospheric watercolor class three times over three days, where I really asked people to get out of their comfort zone with technique, and we had so much fun. They created some really beautiful things that they can go home and continue work on.

Before I left though, I got to work with the new Hero Arts kit for July, and it is all about summer.

Summer took a long time to get here this year, but it has most definitely arrived, so this was perfect timing in the inspiration department.

I remember visiting my friend and college roomie Melisha in Maine, and hiking the Beehive in Acadia National Park. After we did the hike, we visited this stunning little tiny, clear lake at the bottom, and waded into it. You could see each pebble at the bottom of the lake and all these teeny fish would come up to your legs and nibble on them a bit. It was an extremely hot day and the water was really, really cool and refreshing. I don't think we saw another person that day on that hike.

When I saw the kit, that's exactly the day I thought of. We didn't have bathing suits with us that day, but if we had, this first card totally would have been us.

I used Splash, Lemon Drop, and Creamsicle Reactive inks and Life Changing Blender Brushes to create the water and the sky. I stamped the mountain and the little girl in Intense Black, and the layering dock from the kit in Wet Cement, Pumpkin Pie and Charcoal inks. I started with Wet Cement, and then slightly moved my cardstock in the MISTI before doing the second layer in Pumpkin Pie - I just wanted a bit of that showing. I put the cardstock back in the corner and then stamped that second layer again in Charcoal, so the brown is just peeking out, but it's mostly neutral.

To make her shadow, I set the stamp up backwards (so the stamp image side was stuck to the lid) on my MISTI, and inked up the larger footprint of the back of the stamp - that's one of my favorite shadow tricks.

I stamped the mountain highlight in Unicorn.

Isn't that fun? I love silhouette images like these and there are tons of fun ones in this kit - here's what it looks like. You get 27 stamps, 16 dies, five ink cubes and Blue Pearl embossing powder - all for $34.99! Just for fun this month, I compared that at random to other, smaller stamp sets, which are typically about $16. So the stamps alone would normally be nearly the price of the kit! It's really a steal. 

In the add-ons this month, there's a super fun scenic die. It's a negative and positive space die, which is fun, and I actually thought of a few fun ideas for Christmas cards with this die!

But for a warm, summery card, I just used the die on a Gel Press print, used the Hello die on the same print and glued those both to a black card front.

Also in the add-ons - SQUEE! This adorable camper die! I cut it out of white cardstock, and then colored it with Copic markers. Then I opened the door, which has a little score line on it for this purpose.

Then I stamped, colored and die cut the critters from S'mores Bonfire to complete the scene. The sentiment is from that set too. If I decided I wanted to go camping, this is definitely what my camper would look like, complete with marshmallow eating forest friends!

When we went on our summer road trips when I was little, for some reason, I was fixated on bears. Every time we saw anything remotely wooded, I'd be telling everyone THERE ARE BEARS IN THERE! I don't think I was really afraid of bears - we didn't have bears where I grew up - I think it was maybe just more a hope that I would get to see a bear in real life. I never did, outside of zoos, so maybe I still look for bears.

This new bear set is so cute - it's modern, and lets you stamp a few different kinds of bears - the one I used on my card could be a polar bear or black bear, while the standing bear looks more like a grizzly bear. You can also make them Canadian bears with that cute little maple leaf. I made mine a more Western bear, with the addition of the cool feathers from the set. I cut the bear out with the matching dies to add him to the Gel Press print, but I stamped the feathers directly onto the print and added some white gel pen.

And now, my favorite card of all - A LOCH NESS MONSTER IS IN THE KIT! Crazily enough, I was listening to a podcast on the plane home about the guy who faked that famous photo of the monster. 

I'M NOT SAYING THE LOCH NESS MONSTER ISN'T REAL. CALM. DOWN. It's clearly real, because it's right here on my card. Hey Hero Arts - where's my Bigfoot stamp?? :) 

I cut a mask with my Infinity dies out of masking paper, and then blended Splash Ink and Blue Hawaii ink in the opening with Life Changing Blender Brushes. Then I stamped Nessie on the lighter portion, and used the sentiment from the kit as well. 

She's so tiny and cute. Because she was actually a miniature in real life. KIDDING - SHE IS REAL. So this stamp is either a nod to that hoax or a lucky accident.

Chris Dayton's husband was nice enough to pick me up from the airport when I arrived, and we did some serious talking about fishing. Fishing is so relaxing and fun on a lake. I wouldn't enjoy it out on a boat on the ocean, but I have fished for redfish in the Gulf from a bay, which I loved - they are both feisty and delicious fishies. But lake fishing is so peaceful and serene. The new fishing stamp set expresses that perfectly. I love the silhouette images in this set, so I built myself a scene on top of another Gel Press print.

If you're interested in seeing a video on how I did this background, it's here.

My Monthly Hero July 2019 [ HA ] Get Them All July Add-ons [ HA ] Lake Time Fun [ HA ] Camp in the Wild [ HA ] Ice Cream Cling Background [ HA ] Fishing Net Bold Prints [ HA ] Log Letters and Numbers [ HA ] Fishing Pattern Bold Prints [ HA ] S'mores Bonfire [ HA ] Lake Time Fun Frame Cuts [ HA ] Camp In the Wild Frame Cuts [ HA ] Forest Sunset Fancy Die [ HA ] Camper Fancy Die [ HA ] S'mores Bonfire Frame Cuts [ HA ] Circle Infinity Dies (H) [ HA ] Hello Message Fancy Die [ HA ] Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Fine Line 05... [ SSS ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Hero Hues Premium Cardstock Meadow [ HA ] Hero Hues Premium Cardstock Lapis [ HA ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] Avery Removable Label Paper [ AMZUS ] Splash Reactive Ink [ HA ] AF429 Blue Hawaii Reactive Ink - Hero... [ HA ] AF423 Lemon Drop Reactive Ink - Hero... [ HA ] AF345 Intense Black - Hero Arts [ HA ] AF422 Creamsicle Reactive Ink - Hero... [ HA ] AF249 Unicorn Pigment Ink Pad | Hero... [ HA ] Wet Cement Mid-Tone Shadow Ink | Hero... [ HA ] Pumpkin Pie Mid-Tone Shadow Ink [ HA ] AF236 Charcoal Mid-Tone Shadow Ink [ HA ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Life Changing Blender Brushes. 4 Pack... [ PFS ] iCraft Mixed Media Adhesive 2.1 fl... [ THR ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Cut Align [ MSP ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]

So head over to grab the kit while supplies last (the add-ons stick around, but the kit is while supplies last), and leave me a comment for a chance to win your own kit, or a refund if you're a subscriber!

Hero Arts will announce the winner on their blog - and one note about shipping, since this is a holiday week - the kits will ship next Monday instead of this Friday.

I hope you have an amazing holiday if I'm not back before then.

Check out some more inspiration while you wait for yours to ship. Loveyameanitbye.

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