Good morning! We are celebrating the release of the darling February My Monthly Hero kit with a blog hop full of inspiration for both the main kit as well as the super cute add-ons, all of which are now available for purchase! Here are some details of the kit:
Kit Contents:
24 Coordinating dies
3 Ink cubes (Nest, Robin’s Egg, Feather)
2 5½” x 8½” sheets Stone woodgrain cardstock (111 lb. cover)
2 5½” x 8½” sheets Bubinga woodgrain cardstock (111 lb. cover)
2 Mini grapevine wreaths

To start, I die cut a little bird house using one of the new Infinity dies (available at certain retailers now, but will be available at the Hero Arts store on February 15!) and a Circle Infinity die from some Pool Layering Paper and Midnight Mix papers. I stamped the birdhouse using a (sadly) retired Hero Arts woodgrain background stamp, but you could also use the lovely embossed woodgrain papers that come with the kit! (I didn’t have those papers when I made this card, but expect to see them soon, because they’re GORGEOUS.)
I stamped the bird from A Little Bird Told Me and a few of the flowers using the “rock ‘n roll” technique. Essentially, you stamp your image once with a lighter color, then add some “shadows” with a darker color. For the bird, I stamped first with Wet Cement, then added some robin-esque details with the Vintage Ombre Metallic Rust. I repeated the process with the flowers using Soft Pink and Ultra Pink. I used a similar technique for the branches; since they are all one piece, I stamped the brown part of the branch after wiping the brown ink from the leaves, then added the green, being sure to wipe any extra green from the branches so as not to create a muddy mess. I die cut all of the different elements with the coordinating dies and set them aside.
For the card base, I blended some Pool ink around the edge of an A2 Snow panel to create an ethereal “sky,” then added some vellum and white clouds cut with the Nesting Cloud Infinity dies. I arranged all of the die cuts on the card front to get an idea of placement, then stamped my sentiment from the A Little Bird Told Me stamp set using Intense Black ink. After adhering all of the die cuts, I decided that the branches needed a little more fullness, so I added some of the standalone die cut branches from the main kit die cut from plain white paper, then colored with some aqua and brown Copic markers and adhered them directly to the card base. I like doing a mixture of dimensional and liquid adhesive to add lots of depth to the card.
The final touch was to add some of the new Hero Arts Lacquer Pen to some of the flowers. (This accent pen is part of the new catalog and will officially be released in the Hero Arts store on February 15!) And that’s all! Lots of layers and dimension on this project, and that’s okay by me! Sometimes you just need depth and texture on a project.
Now, for some giveaway fun! Hero Arts will select one winner from the comments across the blog hop… the more comments you leave, the more entries you have, and the more chances to win! Giveaway closes Sunday, February 11th at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced the following week. (If you have already purchased the kit, Hero Arts will reimburse you!)
Now, your next stop on the hop is the incomparable Jessica Frost-Ballas!
The Hero Arts Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Yana Smakula
May Park
Emily Midgett
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Wanda Guess
Lydia Fiedler
Amy Tsuruta
Janette Kausen
Michelle Short
Ilina Crouse
Clare Prezzia
Libby Hickson
Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you enjoy the hop! So much beautiful inspiration to see… good luck with the contest! Have a marvelous day!
Such a cool, charming creation! 🙂
Love the scene on your card.
there is so much dimension to the design.
thanks for sharing
txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com
Wow, what a beautiful card! Love how you built the scene. Cannot wait to receive my kit.
You created a beautiful scene with the nesting bird house dies.
love the delightful scene you created and how you colored in the bird – very inspiring 🙂
what a darling scene you’ve created, Emily!
Lots of fun layers!
Beautiful spring card, Emily!!
Really sweet card!
Cute birdhouse scene–I like the spring colors.
So colorful!
You made such a sweet card, thank you for sharing it!
Love the rock n roll on the cute bird
Beautiful card!!
Hi
How great to see that a designer has used the stamps but with the dies too. I love the whole design on your project, thank you. :O)
Such a pretty card! Love the wood grain on the birdhouse
Lovely card! Using the woodgrain for the birdhouse was a beautiful choice.
Love the addition of the birdhouse and the soft hues you used!
Beautiful card!
great idea with the bird house in the background.
The colors are so sweet and pretty! I love your creation!
What a pretty card.
What a sweet scene!
gorgeous card…love the beautiful scene you created!!
A sweet card idea.
Beautiful card, love the spring colors and the cute birdhouse, brilliant!
I love that lovely green birdhouse with bird nearby! Really attractive card! Thanks for inspiring me today and for the opportunity to win!
🙂 Marie
Very nicely done. I love the vellum for the clouds–wonderful idea. The added texture on the branches is just the perfect touch. Thank you.
Terrific card. Makes me hope spring is around the corner!
Using a birdhouse to ground your scene is a wonderful idea. Lovely card.
Your card is awesome ! Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful card! Bird, birdhouses and flowers! How can we go wrong! Love this kit! Thank you for the inspiration!
thanks for the card and sharing! looking forward to seeing your designs!
You created such a lovely card.
Ooooo! I love the woodgrain touch to your birdhouse!
So pretty, love your design, thank you for sharing.
Such a cute card. Thanks.
Lovely cards! Thanks for your inspiration!
Nice scene! What’s a bird, without a house 😊
Your card is so cute! Thanks for sharing.
Pretty birdhouse scene
This is just so darling! I love this
set, being a birdie lover.
Love your card and how you used the birdhouse. Thank you for the inspiration.
Darling card and
the birdhouse is
such a neat touch.
Carla from Utah
I absolutely adore that little bird. And the sentiment could be used a thousand times. . .
Oh my goodness Emily I love the scene you created and I saw the woodgrain paper on someone else’s work and it looks AWESOME! I HAD to pin this to try. L♡VE!
Love your card! Such a cute birdhouse! 🙂
Beautiful card. Thanks so much for sharing…
Pretty Spring card! Great details.
Sweet and cute!
Gorgeous card. Can’t wait to get my kit
Tweet sweet with wonderful colors & layers for great dimension.
Melissa
“Sunshine HoneyBee”
What a pretty card! I love the colors and that house!
Sweet scene and sentiment…lovely card and such a beautiful bird stamp!
Beautiful card – i love the bird house dies … that and the awesome birds. Love it all.
Love this month’s kit. Great card.
Really a delightful card!
Oh my ! I love your card so much ! It has a touch of sophistication that’s awesome !
[margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]
What a sweet and cute post with lovely creation!
Wow. Such a cool scene you built. Great showcase of these wonderful new products.
such a card cutie
lovely little scene. What a great kit this month’s is!
fabulous card, love the birdhouse! ♥
Adorable! Such a clever idea 🙂
Love the colors and design.
Love the scene you created! Beautiful M
Fab birdhouse and a wonderful card!
The bird house make this the perfect scene. Thanks for sharing.
What a beautifully sweet card. It is really great. Thanks for sharing your ideas
I love that “rock and roll” effect you created on the bird! I’ve never used stamps in that method and it’s so inspiring to learn this through the blog! I’ve only used ink pads of classic colours like jet black, combined pastels and hot pink. Looks like there’s a need to add more to the collections 😰😰
Emily, love your SWEET card.
I love what you have done!
Very pretty card! I like the birdhouse especially.
Your card is just so sweet and pretty! I love the shadows on the bird!
AWWW,Your card is so adorable, I love it. I love the colors and I really love that bird house, so sweet.
What a very sweet and lovely card you made, It makes me long for spring.
So darn cute!
WOW!! Your card is so stunning and so very beautiful!!!
Sweet card! I really like the birdhouse die that you used with the kit.
Such a pretty card, Emily. Really great little scene.
Such a pretty spring scene you created !
Beautiful card. I love the birdhouse
Such a sweet card. My mom would adore it!
Lovely scene, Emily!
Such a sweet card. Love the colors. -Karen Sue
Wonderful scene you created with items from this great new kit !
I love your darling card!
Emily your card is so delicate and pretty. I love the beautiful pink blossoms you added tfs.
Cute card! Love the spring colors and the little bird is so cute!
Very different use of the add-on stamps and dies – nice composition – very inspiring
Sucha pretty scene! Great detail and color!
Very pretty scene you created with elements from this great release !
Simply sweet!
Looks like spring, with the pretty pink blossoms and a robin, lovely.
Love your colors on this sweet layered scene!
Your card is so sweet! I love how your layered up all the diecuts and stamps to create the lovely scene. You can almost hear the little fellow chirping! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your work! 🙂
I like all the details you added with repeat stamping and dimension. Terrific card.
Beautiful. I love the colors you chose.
Amazing and super original card!
Your little scene is so sweet. Love birds…
Lovely cards, thank you for sharing
Just darling! Loving these birds!
So sweet, love the birdhouse you added!
What a soft, pretty card! Thanks so much for sharing!
Such a cool card with so much interest on it. Great birdhouse to go with the bird set.
Love the texture and depth – I bet a Wood Grain Embossing Folder would work beautifully on the Bird House too. 🙂
What fun card. Love all the layers.
Love your card! I really love this month’s kit and the add-ons!
Such a cute card. This is a really cool stamp set and I love the way you used it to make a scene. Thanks.
Love your bird scene! The bird is nicely colored and looks great with those branches!
love this pretty scene!
I like the way the whole card came out.
Beautiful!! Love the colours you used and the sky is perfect. It all together feels like spring, especially with those pretty flowers
Lovely card and unique idea.
Love the scene that you created.
How pretty and creative!
This is gorgeous and so cute! Love the colours!