hero arts liquid watercolors

Good morning! I have a special post for you today…. I get to help showcase the new Essentials By Ellen March release! These Japanese-themed stamps and dies are the result of the fabulously talented Julie Ebersole’s recent trip to Japan. We have a sushi themed set, a fortune cookie die, and a sweet set filled with iconic Japanese images called So Matcha. How unique, right?

For my first project today, I did some masking to create this sweet little scene using the So Matcha stamp set. I started by stamping the lantern images onto some masking paper and fussy cutting them out, then I stamped them in a cluster on some Arches Hot Press watercolor paper. I also stamped one of the adorable kimono-clad ladies using Intense Black ink.

I watercolored the images using the new Hero Arts watercolors in a bright red, blue, and green color scheme. I had to do some creative mixing to create the gray kitty, but it was totally easy to mix some Moss, Mulled Wine, a touch of Deep Ocean, and a little Artprint Brown to create a pretty gray! After I had finished watercoloring all of the images, I fussy cut the lantern cluster and the kitty with her friend. I could have used the dies and die cut the pieces individually, but I wanted a more seamless look without the white die cut edges for my masked lanterns.

For the card base, I wanted to highlight the pair of friends, so I used my ink blending tool to lightly blend some Pale Tomato ink on a natural white card base. I also used the little floral clusters to add some stamping on the card base to add a little interest to the background, then stamped and heat embossed the sweet greeting from the So Matcha stamp set. I adhered the lanterns and the little girl and her feline pal using dimensional foam adhesive.

Isn’t the little pair just so darn cute?!

This next card focuses on the absolutely darling Wasabi stamp set. (Does looking at these images make you super hungry, too? Just me? Okay then.) I made this card around Valentine’s Day. My hubby introduced me to the wonder that is sushi for Valentine’s Day several years ago, so for date nights (or afternoons… or lunches… haha!) we like to go eat sushi just the two of us. It was Valentine’s Day…. I figured he’d prefer a heart shaped box of sushi more than he would like a box of chocolates! 😉

To create the heart shape, I used the solid heart die from the Hero Arts Paper Layering Floral Heart with Frame to trace a heart shape lightly with a pencil on my white A2 card base. I then stamped the images using Intense Black ink, starting with the largest images and trying to keep things as symmetrical as possible. I used the smallest images to fill in the edges to really help it look heart-shaped. After my black images had been stamped, I added the solid stamped images using Rose Madder, Indigo, Dark Quartz, and Forest Green inks (all from Hero Arts, all linked at the bottom of the post).

I also used my Copics to add some shading to the sake bottle and cups, as well as the bottom of the rice on the sushi rolls. After I had added all of the color to the rolls and accessories, I used the Hero Arts Lacquer Pen to add some shine to the colorful sections of the sushi rolls. It really adds some great texture to this flat card!

For the greeting, I stamped the “You maki my day!” sentiment from Wasabi onto a strip of black card stock and white heat embossed it, then popped it up with some dimensional adhesive. The final step (after allowing plenty of time for the inks and Lacquer to dry) was to erase my pencil lines.

Well, what do you think of this release?? Isn’t it just so clever and so cute?? Well done, Julie! If you’re like me and struggle with masculine cards, the Wasabi set is just perfect for those guy cards! If you haven’t shopped yet, head over to Ellen Hutson and get your shop on!! #shoppingismycardio

Thanks for stopping by, and have a marvelous day, friends!