VIDEO: Don't Worry - Bee Happy! + Giveaway

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It's the first Monday of the new year - WHEE! After last year, I'm ready for anything! 

Mostly I'm ready for spring. It's been an odd weather year and my garden doesn't know what to do with itself. It alternates between parched, drowned and cold. Time to get some tomatoes going! Which reminds me, it's time to order seeds!

But I digress. Today the new Hero kit is out and it's looking forward to spring too, so I have a video for you with the main kit today - using an art journal collage style to create a vintage card background, so stay tuned for that. 

But first, I had to share this dramatic background stamp that's in the add-ons this month - I love this graphic style of background, and I love bees, so winning! This adorable queen bee set with all her worker bee minions is too cute! I just colored them with my fine point Graph'it markers (coupon in the footer!) and then I added liquid snow to her collar and the hem of her skirt - she reminds me of the Snow Queen anyway! It's very puffy and dimensional. I cut a little square of white cardstock for the sentiment and used a bee and the dies from the set next to that. The glitter paper is from the main kit, cut with circle infinity dies. 

The kit itself is BEE-utiful! The large flowers are so beautiful for coloring. I have a card with them coming later this month. I'm not sure what type of flower that is but it sure looks like my dogwood in the backyard, which I love. The chonky bees are really big, as you'll see on my card and I'm 100% in love with that honeycomb die. 

I cut a piece of Duralar with the die and then blended Dandelion and Caramel inks over it for a background for chonky bee #1. This bee was left over from the vintage card I did the collage background video for below. The sentiment is from the kit.

Now I love art journaling because you have the opportunity to make sensory cards - textured surfaces that are fun to look at, but also fun to run your hand over in your journal. I'm convinced this is how texture pastes, etc. were born, because I spend almost as much time touching my textured art journal pages as I do making them! And you'll see in the video, creating these is done with my built in paintbrushes - my fingers! I had a piece of ephemera that was postage AND bee themed, so I started with that, and used the postage stamp infinity dies to frame my bee and sentiment focal point to tie in with that theme. I'm used to the "plaid" style of drywall tape, and love using it, but I found a new patterned tape that I love at Lowe's - I cut that with my circle infinity dies and added those for texture. I used the honeycomb die from the kit with translucent embossing paste to create a frame for the letter writing girl on the ephemera, and used Dandelion, Caramel and Cup o' Joe inks for the rest. The postage stamp is cut with the new Honeycomb fancy die and then I used the stencil I created with the kit honeycomb die to ink blend on that as well. The final accents were made with turquoise paint, a silicone paintbrush and a flat stencil brush. 

Ready for the video? Click here if you don't see the player below.

Here are all the bee-worthy add-ons this month. 

Here are the supplies I used.

Hero Arts January 2021 My Monthly... [ HA ] January 2021 Add Ons [ HA ] Hero Arts Geometric Bee Pattern Bold... [ HA ] Hero Arts Bee the Queen Stamp Set [ HA ] Hero Arts Bee the Queen Frame Cuts [ HA ] DI199 Nesting Circle Infinity Dies... [ HA ] DecoArt Snow Writer Paint | BLICK Art... [ BLIC ] Graph'it Brush & Liner — Marker Universe [ MRK ] postage stamp infinity - Hero Arts [ HA ] Hero Arts Honey Pot Fancy Dies [ HA ] Hero Arts Hexagon Infinity Dies [ HA ] Bee and Flowers Wreath Frame Cuts [ HA ] Hero Arts Bee and Flowers Wreath... [ HA ] Hero Arts Floral Love Frame Cuts [ HA ] Hero Arts Floral Love Stamp Set [ HA ] Hero Arts Peek-a-Boo Honeycomb Fancy Die [ HA ] Hero Arts Abstract Honeycomb Bold Prints [ HA ] Hero Arts Bees and Flowers Wreath... [ HA ] Hero Arts Bees and Flowers Fancy Dies [ HA ] Hero Arts Bees and Flowers Bold Prints [ HA ] AF331 Dandelion Bold Ink - Hero Arts [ HA ] AF332 Caramel Bold Ink - Hero Arts [ HA ] AF214 Cup O' Joe Mid-Tone Shadow Ink... [ HA ] Colour Shapers Tools | BLICK Art... [ BLIC ] Blick Economy White Bristle Stencil... [ BLIC ] Ranger TEXTURE PASTE TRANSPARENT... [ SSS ] Easy Joint Tape 2-in x 100-ft Solid... [ LWS ] Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint... [ RNG | SSS ] Duralar Matte - Yupo Substitute [ BLIC ] Hero Arts Blog [ HA ]

And for one lucky commenter, there will be a $50 gift card waiting! So leave me a comment with your thoughts on bees, and then see what other inspiration is out there with this kit!

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Nichol Spohr
Jennifer McGuire

Loveyameanitbye.

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Shake Our Tail Feathers

Every now and then, a stamp just cries out for a certain medium. It's weird how certain stamp styles seem to go with certain techniques or mediums.

When I saw this glorious, somewhat abstract peacock tail, I knew exactly what it needed. It needed some A Bit Jaded, Slime, and Violetta infusions. I used this masking tape across the front of a watercolor paper card front first, and then stamped the image in Nocturne and dried it, and then sprinkled the powders all over the image and sprayed them with water to activate them. I dried that and removed the tape and stamped the sentiment from the same set in the void. Then I took the gold glimmer ink - I love this ink - and a colour shaper (my fave tool for working with metallic inks), and I added gold details to the feathers in places. These are silicone, so the ink cleans off them easily but they also grab and hold the ink for precise application. 

Even with that detail work, this is like a three minute card and so fun.

Remember this video? That's how I created the background for this art journal spread. Then I took these gorgeous girls, stamped them and cut them out with the matching dies, and colored them with Copics. I accented each one with this fun Jane Davenport tape from my friend Kat, and then stamped these sentiments in the background. I love partially completing art journal spreads until just the right focal point calls to me.

Speaking of pretty girls - the sun came out today - finally - so I wanted to make this girl a little sunkissed. I colored her with Q-tips and this beautiful pastel palette I got to try with the ACTUAL Jane Davenport at Creativation. She is a DELIGHTFUL, joyful human being with so much passion for art. I could have watched her for days. She is a ray of sunshine herself.

I made the background with a favorite Alexis Toupet trick from the show - adding Distress ink (listed below) in layers to this Gingham stamp and layering the colors with the MISTI. Since Distress ink stamps sort of blotchy - it makes for beautiful texture in the background. I cut her out with her matching die, and the circle die is this one.

 Then, I made this last card while I was on the phone with my friend Brian. I stamped this koala in Black Hybrid Ink, and colored him with Copics. That circle that I used on the card above? It's from where I cut this shaker window out - they are double stitched dies, so each side gets a stitch. Then on the card base, I used the Life Changing Blender Brushes and the Random Dots stencil to create a background. I used Blue Raspberry, Sea Glass and Lovely Lavender inks. I built my little sequin dam with these shaker strips, and used them around the edge of the card front too. Want my cheaty trick for getting shaker card fronts perfectly aligned on the base? Use two pieces of acetate! I always felt so blind holding my card base over the upside down card front with the open shaker recess to get it JUST RIGHT which it never was - and then I realized, I can put a piece of acetate down behind the opening, build the shaker foam, fill the void with sequins, remove the liner tape, and then put another piece of acetate on that! Then I can flip the whole thing, position my card front in the corner of the MISTI, and put the shaker section down perfectly aligned on top. Why was I being so cheap with my acetate before now? The simplest things make the biggest difference, I swear.

All the products I've used today are below, along with the rest of the Picket Fence release. Sweet Nicole and her daughter (who does her shipping) had a terrible fight with the flu and still managed to pull off all of this awesomeness AND get ready for a show next week! They are superwomen, like most stamp company owners. If you are lucky enough to be in one of Nicole's classes at a show next week, please give her a hug for me. She's a peach. The two of us will be doing a Create & Take at the Simon Says Stamp CREATE event this spring - so if you're coming, be sure and stop by and say hi! 

And, I think Valentine's Day is stupid, but I do love you! Meanitbye.

Let's Shake Our Tail Feathers [ PFS ] BFF Girl Avery [ PFS ] BFF Girl Avery Coordinating Die [ PFS ] Shop Hard [ PFS ] Shop Hard Coordinating Die [ PFS ] I Wish We Could Hug [ PFS ] I Wish We Could Hug Coordinating Die [ PFS ] Gingham Background Stamp [ PFS ] Simon Says Stamp STITCHED CIRCLES... [ SSS ] Life Changing Blender Brush 2-Pack -... [ PFS ] Strathmore Hardbound 500 Series Mixed... [ BLIC ] Jane Davenport Spellbinders Palette... [ CST ] Paper Artsy A BIT JADED Infusions... [ SSS ] Paper Artsy VIOLETTA Infusions... [ SSS ] Paper Artsy SLIME Infusions Colored... [ SSS ] GM100 Gold & Pewter Glimmer Metallic... [ HA | SSS ] Colour Shapers Tools - BLICK art... [ BLIC ] Jane Davenport STRIPS AND PHRASES... [ SSS | JGG ] Darice Double-Sided Foam Sticky... [ ETS ] Random Dots Stencil - Picket Fence... [ PFS ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Blue... [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Sea Glass [ GNK ] GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Lovely... [ GNK ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SPICED... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PICKED... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MERMAID... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MUSTARD... [ SSS ] Tsukineko VersaFine Clair NOCTURNE... [ SSS ] Hero Arts Acetate Sheets [ HA ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] Fabriano Artistico Extra White... [ BLIC ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | 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 ] 3M Scotch ROLL WHITE MASKING TAPE... [ SSS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Cut Align [ MSW ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Waffle Squares Stencil - Picket Fence... [ PFS ] I Love Your Face [ PFS ] I Love Your Face Coordinating Die [ PFS ] Fabulously Perfect [ PFS ] Olivia Kitten [ PFS ] Rescued Is My Favorite Breed [ PFS ] Succulent Blossoms [ PFS ] Succulent Blossoms Coordinating Die [ PFS ] Latest Release Archives - Picket... [ PFS ]