Hero Arts Winter Catalog Blog Hop + Hurricane Laura

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I was all ready for Christmas cards today until I saw our storm is now supposed to be a cat 4! What the heck? That escalated quickly! Never a dull moment in 2020! 

But I am in the mood for winter and Christmas cards. Based on Maddie's fur and what our birds are doing, I feel like we are in for an early and cold winter here. Maddie put on her undercoat earlier this month, which has never happened this early. Really strange. And we are expecting temperatures in the low 90s this week which is also quite odd for this time of year. So who knows - we may be hip deep in snow soon!

So pull a chair up to the fire because I have some pretty stuff for you to look at.

I've been waiting months to show you this first card because I'm constantly on the hunt for perfect Christmas angel stamps, and I have never had the perfect angel die before now. I cut out several of this - I started with white cardstock, but it had so much more impact in black on my crazy background. I created that with a credit card and Golden Open acrylics - just scraping it on white cardstock. One of my fave, simple mixed media techniques.

After I die cut the angel, I used my circle infinity dies to cut a circle of gold glitter paper out to put in the opening of her little aura. Then I used the same glitter paper to cut out the Joy ornament, and I snipped the sentiment out of it. This would be the PERFECT mass production holiday card - so simple - you could quickly create full sheets of the background and cut it down.

Dies just make holiday cards better. For the next one, I did a liquid watercolor background to put this beautiful wreath die on. Then I used a handheld punch and the same glitter paper to add glittery berries. The sentiment is from Comfort & Joy Messages.

For the next card, I thought I'd start with orange cardstock and do ink blending with a darker orange for the sky for something different. Then I paper pieced the village die cut with white and green - this is a cool die because you can make a layering tri-fold edge card with the town! So neat. 

Are you noticing a die theme? I TOLD you dies make quick work of Christmas cards - especially if you have a large UFO pile filled with backgrounds like I do. 

At the beginning of the pandemic I started doing daily lives, and one day I did Marabu ink backgrounds with their rainbow additive, which is sparkly and makes an iridescent rainbow, and Libby said - save that for winter cards - so I did! I used the snowflake die to cut an opening in my card front and put it over the background. The sentiment is from Gift Peek-a-boo Infinity Parts.

Last, but not least - I did a New Mexico Christmas card - I thought these Cozy Town dies looked like buildings in the desert so I added warm oranges and yellows and some Ombre Sunshine sequins. The sentiment is from the set that matches the dies. 

Trumpeting Angel Fancy Die [ HA ] Joy Ornament Fancy die [ HA ] Greenery Medallion Fancy Die [ HA ] Comfort and Joy Messages [ HA ] Tri-Fold Edge Village Fancy Die [ HA ] Snowflake Medallion Fancy Die [ HA ] Cozy Town [ HA ] Cozy Town Frame Cuts [ HA ] Gift Peek-A-Boo Infinity Parts [ HA ] Watercolor - Hero Arts [ HA ] Golden Open Acrylic Sets - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] Marabu Alcohol Inks - Set Of 14 June... [ JGG ] Neutrals Glitter Paper Pack - Concord... [ C&9 ] CH304 Ombré Sunshine Sequins [ HA ] My Sweet Petunia [ MSP ] Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock [ CTC ] Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Fine Line 05... [ SSS ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Mermaid tidy towel case and glue... [ ETS ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]

Want more inspiration from this beautiful catalog? Stop by and see my friends! And - if you leave me a comment you'll be entered in their giveaway of 3 $50 gift cards! Leave a comment by Sunday, September 6th, and it will be announced over HERE the following week.

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Seeka
Amy Kolling
Cathy Zielske
Janette Kausen
Jenn Shurkus
Jennifer McGuire
Julee Tilman
Lisa Stein
Lori Craig
Mariana Grigsby
Nichol Spohr
Nina-Marie Trapani
Teri Anderson
Wanda Guess

Loveyameanitbye.

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