Hero Arts March 2024 My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Hi friends! I am helping my friends at Hero Arts introduce their new My Monthly Hero kit collection for March 2024, and this month’s theme is so beautifully timeless, featuring cherry blossoms, luscious textures, and even a bit of whimsy. We are hopping along today, and you can find the full list over on the Hero Arts Blog. Here’s a peek at this month’s Classic Kit:

Classic Kit Contents:

• Clear Stamp Set, 6”x 8”
• 17 Coordinating Frame Cuts
• Cover Plate Window Die
• 2 Rub-On Transfer Sheets
• 3 Ink Cubes (Cherry, Periwinkle, Deep Ocean)

And here’s a peek at the Premium Kit:

Premium Kit Contents:

• Clear Stamp Set, 6”x 8”
• 17 Coordinating Frame Cuts
• Clear Stamp Set, 4”x 6”
• 10 Coordinating Frame Cuts
• Cover Plate Window Die
• 2 Rub-On Transfer Sheets
• 3 Ink Cubes (Cherry, Periwinkle, Deep Ocean)
• Translucent Pinks Hero Hues Enamel Dot

You can also purchase the Premium Kit Elements a la carte, which includes the beautiful Cherry Blossom stamp set that I used on my project today. The individual contents of both the Classic Kit and the Premium Kit are valued well over double the kit price, so these kits are definitely a bargain!! I used lots of elements from the Premium Kit to create this pretty-in-pink project today, so let’s get started with the details!

To begin my project, I die cut the beautifully intricate coverplate die included in the Classic Kit from a panel of Peony cardstock from Hero Arts. This new die features both a cover plate that impresses a unique pattern into your cardstock without actually cutting that also leaves a circular area in the center of your panel, as well as a circular patterned die that fits in that open circle space and cuts a delicate pattern in the center of your cardstock. This circular pattern die is is also removable so that you can place it wherever you wish! After die cutting my panel of pale pink cardstock, I trimmed it down 1/8″ on all four sides, then used a blending brush to lightly blend Peony ink around the edges of my cardstock. This blending helps to enhance the debossed pattern on the background and add some extra depth to the area behind the focal point!

To frame the detailed circular patterned section, I heat embossed the beautiful cherry blossoms in the 4×6 stamp set featured in the Premium Kit using Rose Gold embossing powder on some vellum from Hero Arts. To help enhance the pretty blooms, I added some simple color on the back of the floral images with an OLO marker. I made sure to select a marker that was fairly vibrant, because the semi-opaque vellum mutes the color considerably. I die cut the floral images with the coordinating frame cuts.

After I had finished creating my floral images, I heat embossed a greeting from the cherry blossom set onto some pearlescent blush cardstock, again using Rose Gold embossing powder. I die cut the sentiment with the coordinating frame cut. I backed the die cut window opening with some more of the pearlescent blush cardstock, adding a touch of shimmer to the card front. I popped up the blended, debossed panel on a full size A2 panel of Peony cardstock using foam adhesive, then arranged my flowers in a swag around the circular die cut opening, hiding the adhesive behind the solid the flower centers where the heat embossing was very dense. I popped up the greeting die cut, then added a few of the translucent enamel dots included in the kit for one last pop of color and texture!

My next pair of cards features the utterly lovely Cherry Blossom Cover Plate die. I was so entranced by the beautiful pearlescent blush cardstock that I used on my first project that I wanted to feature it more prominently with these stunning, super intricate and delicate Cherry Blossom Cover Plate die cuts. As you can see, this beautiful cover plate is gorgeous when used as intended as well as when snipped apart to create custom arrangements.

Both of my projects feature ink blended backgrounds using some luscious pink inks from Hero Arts: Peony, Ultra Pink, and Raspberry Jam. For my first project, I concentrated the ink blending towards the bottom of my card front, first blending Peony ink over nearly all of the card front using a large blending brush, then adding Ultra Pink around the bottom and sides of the card front, then lightly blending some Raspberry Jam around the very edges of the bottom edges of my card front, creating an ombré fade down my card front. After I had blended my card front, I splattered the background with some super sparkly watercolors to add some extra interest and texture to the background.

To enhance the background, I die cut the new Cherry Blossom Cover Plate from that beautiful pearlescent blush cardstock from my stash and mounted it using Precision Glue. For the greeting, I die cut the large “love” Fancy Die from the Love You Stamp & Cut XL from some rose gold foil cardstock and heat embossed a coordinating greeting on a strip of bright pink cardstock using some Rose Gold embossing powder. I popped the greeting pieces up with foam adhesive over the top of the cherry blossom background, then added a few iridescent pink pearls for added shimmer and shine!

One of my favorite attributes of standalone dies is the ability to use scissors to customize them for a new look. For my second project, I die cut the Cherry Blossom Cover Plate again from the pearlescent blush cardstock, then used my scissors to trim the individual branches off so that I could arrange them a little differently! I blended some more Peony, Ultra Pink, and Raspberry Jam around the edges of my card front and splattered the blended areas with some more glimmering handmade watercolors. I oriented my blended background horizontally, then arranged my cherry blossom die cuts across the top, adhering some with liquid adhesive and some with small pieces of foam tape. I created another greeting using the Love You Stamp & Cut XL, popping it up with some foam adhesive. Finally, I embellished the card with some more iridescent pink pearls!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now for some fun giveaway information!

Hero Arts will give away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by  Sunday, March 10th at 11:59pm PT, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog  the following week.

You can see the full hop list on the Hero Arts Blog. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!