Hero Arts August My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

I'm so excited to be participating in today's Hero Arts August My Monthly Hero Blog Hop!  Today is day that the kit and Optional Add-ons hit the Hero Arts Store.  

You should have arrived here from the Amy Kolling's!  If not, you'll want to start at the Hero Arts Blog where all the fun begins!

Check out the August MMH kit:   

Kit Contents:

(One) 6 x 8 Clear Stamp Set

(One) 3.5 x 4.5 Window Fancy Die

11 Coordinating Frame Cuts

Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen 0.5 fl. oz.

White Puff Embossing Powder 0.5 oz.

(Two) 5.5 x 8.5 Sheets of coffee & Tea Hand Dyed Decorative paper

Kit Value $77.00

Kit Cost $34.99

Check out the FABulous August Optional Add-ons:

CG748 Distressed Tile Bold Prints

CG749 Floral Doily Bold Prints

CM 298 Foam Animals

DI562 Foam Animals Frame Cuts

CM299 Tea Time

DI563 Tea Time Frame Cuts

CM300 Spill the Tea 

DI566 Spill the Tea Frame Cuts

DC243 Kit-Tea Stamp & Cut

DI561 Tea Party Fancy Die

DI564 Tea Pots and handles Infinity Dies

DI565 Cups and Handles Infinity Dies

K6298 Mocha Maiden

PD123 Cocoa Liquid Watercolor

WB1027 Get Them All August Add-ons

Get Them All - August Add-ons AVAILABLE HERE.

REMEMBER, when the MAIN KIT is gone, it is GONE - SOLD OUT!  Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday, August 10th.  Remember that you can now SUBSCRIBE to receive the kit monthly and never miss one!  

Hero Arts is giving away one kit as a prize to one blog reader - selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. (Hero Arts will reimburse if the winner has already bought the kit) Giveaway closes Sunday, August 12th at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts Blog the following week!

Whew!  That's a ton of information but I'm so glad that you made it this far!  If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I might be a bit of a coffee-a-holic.  I have several projects to share with you so let's get started!

Here's a project that uses the August My Monthly Hero kit:

The coffee cups and coffee art/sentiment are from the Main Kit.  They've been stamped with Hero Arts Intense Black and colored with alcohol markers.  The coffee art/sentiment have been heat embossed in white.

The background uses the fun new  CG748 Distressed Tile Bold Prints.  It's been heat embossed in copper.  The sheen is amazing!

My card was inspired by the Color Throwdown:

My next card uses the sweet DI566 Spill the Tea set and coordinating Frame Cuts.

Yup, I had fun with that set!  I started off with a panel from the Foliage Paper Layering pack.  I knew I wanted to use the CG749 Floral Doily Bold Prints.  The detail work on that is GORGEOUS.  It has been heat embossed in white.

All the images have been stamped with Intense Black and colored with various alcohol markers.  I'm such a fan of clustering images.  Do you spy the lemon and the beautiful silver spoon?  The addition of the sentiment balances out the card.  The extra trim is from a clipped frame I made using the Nesting Postage Stamps + Nesting Rectangle Infinity Dies.

My card was inspired by Fab Friday:

I could have shared a TON of projects because this particular release is my FAVORITE.  I managed to design just one more.  I'm a true fan of the infinity dies collection and I'm a happy crafter that Hero Arts released the Tea Pots + Cups with handles!

So I used the new DI565 Cups and Handles Infinity Dies.  Do you spy some other infinity dies in my design?  The tea bag is made from a Tag Infinity Die using vellum.

The sentiment has been stamped on a Nesting Rectangle Infinity Die.  Any guesses what it was stamped on?  I used an upcycled Starbucks coffee sleeve.

The Cup has been cut from a panel from the Sunshine Paper Layering Pack.  I heat embossed the Hero Florals - Nasturtium bloom in white.    The Deco Pattern Stencil has been used with modeling paste for added texture.

That's it for me!  Next up is the awesome Clare!  If you get lost along the way, here's the full hop listing:

The Hero Arts Blog
Amy Kolling
Amy Tsuruta 💚
Clare Prezzia
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Julee Tilman
Kelly Latevola
Laurie Willison
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr
Wanda Guess
Yana Smakula

Affiliate links at no extra cost to you:

Ellen Hutson | Essentials by Ellen | New Stamps & Dies from Brandi Kincaid

Happy Sunday!  I'm so excited to shared some super fun new products released today by Ellen Hutson.  Brandi Kincaid has new products that are being added to her Leading Ladies collection.

First up is the new Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - Teacher Lady by Brandi Kincaid:

So I'll explain what I did and the story behind who the card is going to.  I racked my brain about some type of school or teacher type themed paper I could use and then spied the notebook style in the Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow set.  I trimmed it down and use a hole punch to finish it off.

Chuckling, I color the leading ladies' outfits as I would personally wear them.   Gotta love the jeans, denim shirt, orange sweater + black flats, perfect.  I stamped a bunch of the items in the set, like the book, notebook, ruler, glue and mechanical pencil.  I stamped a sentiment on the notebook.

The water bottle is from the Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - Woodsy Lady by Brandi Kincaid.  Yes, there is a perfectly awesome mug in the Teacher Lady set, this is going to a non-coffee drinker (GASP). 

I really wanted to incorporate the World's Best Teacher sentiment so I used the Lawn Fawn Mini Picture Frames Lawn Cuts.

A bit of background on the card....Darin's daughter is going into her 2nd year of teaching this fall.  She has found the perfect job and I couldn't be happier for her.  I had the opportunity to volunteer in her classroom, actually for a field trip to the Space Needle/Seattle Science Center.  It was so fun to 'see her in action'.  Her kids loved her and you could really tell that she was enjoying herself.

How lucky to be in an occupation that you love and that you excel at.  I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up...LOL.

I'm linking up my card to the Inspired by Challenge:

Next up is Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - Medical Lady by Brandi Kincaid:

So yes, I combined here with the following other friends (from left to right):

Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - Craft Lady by Brandi Kincaid

Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - Woodsy Lady by Brandi Kincaid

Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - Medical Lady by Brandi Kincaid

Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - City Lady by Brandi Kincaid

Essentials by Ellen, Leading Ladies - Cozy Lady by Brandi Kincaid

The sentiment is a combo from the Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps - Be Strong by Brandi Kincaid + Essentials by Ellen dies - Strong by Brandi Kincaid

I was talking to my friend and walking buddy, Laura about an idea of combining several of the Leading Ladies on one card with an empowering sentiment.  It reminds me of this quote:

Here's to Strong Women.

May we know them

May we be them.

May we raise them.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Affiliate links at no extra cost to you:

Coffee Loving Cardmakers + Our Daily Bread Designs Collaboration Blog Hop!

Hello and Happy Friday!  We're so excited to be hopping with Our Daily Bread Designs today!  You should have arrived here from the Coffee Loving Cardmaker's Blog.  If not, you'll want to start at the Our Daily Bread Designs where the fun starts!

Prize:  Our Daily Bread $25 Gift Certificate

Leave comments along the way for a chance to win!

Check out the special SALE over at the Our Daily Bread Designs store:

The code is valid from August 3rd - 10th, and is valid on the purchase of ODBD, NCC and AO stamp sets, Custom Dies and Paper Collections on the ODBD Website when you enter the code coffee in the discount codes area.  Please note that Bundles are NOT included in this sale.

I'm sharing two projects so let's get started!  

My first project features the Beverage Cup Dies + the I Love Coffee Stamp set.  

Did you know that Our Daily Bread Designs also carries pattern paper?  I used the Latte Love 6x6 paper pad too.

Bonus that the dies cut + emboss.  You can't tell by the photo, but the whip has been cut from craft foam AND has some great embossed detail too.

The die set is so detailed and has so many cutting options!  Isn't the I Love Coffee sentiment set awesome?!

Next up I used the Beverage Cup Dies.

Seeing the fruit slice made me think of Tea + Lemon.  I used the Wafer Cookie as part of the tea bag, using ink to slightly distress the edges.  The Lemon has embossed details that made it easy to color with alcohol markers.

I used foam alpha stickers from my stash to design an appropriate sentiment for my card.

Next up is Kerry Urbatch!  Remember to leave comments along the way for a chance to win a $25 Our Daily Bread Gift Certificate!  In case you get lost along the way, here's the complete hop listing!

Our Daily Bread Designs Blog

Coffee Loving Cardmakers
Amy Tsuruta 💚
Kerry Urbatch
Helen Gullett
Lisa Bzibziak
Robyn Jordan
Lori Turner
Dana Gong
Dana Warren
Erin Thiem
Katie Brooks
Kathy Schweinfurth
Laurel Seabrook

Paper Sweeties 6th Anniversary | Guest Designer

I'm thrilled to be helping Paper Sweeties celebrate their 6th Anniversary!  Check out their newest challenge that starts today:

I'll be definitely sure to come back to play along with that fun inspiration!  The winner will receive a $100 shopping spree to Paper Sweeties. Voting is turned on for viewers to 'like' their favorites so the public can choose who wins!  There is also a coupon for 20% off any full-price products over on the Paper Sweeties blog!

I'm sharing two cards today so let's get started!  They feature Eat Cake, Keep Calm and Drink Coffee stamps + coordinating Sweet Cuts.

My first card features the Eat Cake stamp set.  I love this one, cake and tea = yes, please!

My card design was inspired by Sunday Stamps:

I love tilted panels!  Although funny story, I gave my Momma a card that was designed with a tilted panel.  She whispers to me that I might want to fix it since it was crooked (Sigh).  

My next card features the Keep Calm and Drink Coffee stamps + coordinating Sweet Cuts:

Think Kona Coffee!  This card was fun to put together.  The papers are from a shop in Maui called Island Paperie.  I love the coffee cup Sweet Cuts!  I mounted the pattern paper on black craft foam for some visual interest.

Did you happen to see my psychedelic steam?  It's some fun embossing powder that I've had forever.  The pattern paper is a bit 'slick' so I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Onyx and quickly covered it with WOW! Clear Embossing Powder.  That will set the ink, I hope :)

My card was inspired by CAS(E) this sketch!

Thanks so very much for stopping by today!  Make sure you check out the Paper Sweeties blog and wish them a Happy Anniversary!

Reverse Confetti | Cool Friend

Hello and Happy Wednesday!  I'm doing a bit of live blogging.  I whipped up this winter time card this morning.  The weather has become drastically cooler in the Pacific Northwest and I thought it was a good time to start designing some holiday cards.

This card features the Reverse Confetti Cool Friend stamp set + coordinating confetti cuts.  I teamed it up with the Geo Panel confetti cuts that have been altered a bit.

Do you spot the bit of glitter on my card?  I love to add a bit of detail and it makes me a happy crafter when it is of the postal friendly kind.

Have you started your holiday cards yet?

My design was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches: