
Hi there! Today, Hero Arts is releasing their newest My Monthly Hero kit and coordinating Add-Ons! We have a fun blog hop with lots of fantastic, super graphic inspiration for you. You should have arrived here from Debi Adams, and your next stop is Ilina Crouse. This month’s kit features super fun, chunky images in a neat graphic style.

This month’s kit includes: 6” x 8” Clear Stamp Set, 16 Coordinating Frame Cuts, 3 Geometric Rotating Stencils, 3 Ink Cubes (Tangerine, Grape Juice, Raspberry Jam), 1 Ink Blending Brush. The total contents are valued at $83, but you can purchase the kit for only $34.99! These kits frequently sell out very quickly, so don’t hesitate to purchase, because once it’s gone, it’s gone! You can also subscribe to ensure that you get your own kit every month.
I am always in need of fun birthday cards for both kids and adults, and I thought that the super chunky and graphic images in this kit would lend themselves well to creating some fun background paper for both a feminine and a masculine color scheme. Let’s get started with the details!

I began by stamping a variety of images from the main kit stamp set on two white card fronts. For the feminine card, I used Neon Pink, Rose Madder, Pale Tomato, and Fresh Peach inks; for the masculine card, I used Ocean, Tide Pool, and Antigua inks, all from Hero Arts, and all linked below.

For both cards, I started with the largest images and stamped them randomly, but somewhat evenly spaced on my card front, then chose another slightly smaller image, and stamped it in a different ink shade, filling in the gaps with a smaller image in another shade. I frequently rotated my paper to try to keep the pattern from looking repetitive.

Once I had stamped my patterns, I white heat embossed the Happy Birthday greetings from the main kit (featuring that luscious graphic font!) onto some Pitch Black cardstock, then mounted them on some silver glitter cardstock. I also used the tiniest coordinating dies (the star and the heart) to die cut some silver glitter die cuts, which I added to the card front with some gems to add a bit more sparkle and texture to the card front. I mounted the A2 stamped panels on some more Pitch Black cardstock to create a bold black mat around the edge.

My second card features the new Graphic Reef stamp set, along with the new Flowy Stripes stencil. I began by silver embossing several of the images from the Graphic Reef onto some white cardstock using silver embossing powder, then coloring them with Copic markers and die cutting them with the coordinating Frame Cuts.

On the card base, I blended some Sapphire ink on the edges of a panel of Paradise cardstock. (I love blending on colored cardstock-the color saturation in the cardstock makes it so much easier to get a beautiful, color-saturated background!) I also used some sparkling glitter paste with the Flowy Stripes stencil to create a graphic “under the sea” vibe.

Once my stenciled background had dried completely, I used white embossing powder to emboss a greeting from Graphic Reef on a strip of Sand cardstock, which I adhered to the stenciled background panel using foam adhesive. I added my colored, embossed images using a combination of liquid and foam adhesive for a sparkly, colorful birthday card!
Well, that’s all for me today! Hero Arts is giving away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, April 11th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Your next stop is Ilina Crouse. Happy hopping!
