The Card Grotto

22 May 2019

Hero Arts 45th Anniversary Blog Hop Day One

Hello there, today we are celebrating both Hero Arts 45th Birthday and also the release of the 2019 Summer Catalogue. If you haven't already seen, for the summer release, Hero Arts have recreated images that they have had throughout the years and re released them for this special occasion. As well as the stamps, there are also new inks. These are reactive inks and are so fun to use.

My first project uses the new From The Vault Beach And Sea Stamp Set. This is one of my favourite sets from this release, I was drawn towards the beautiful dolphins. I have actually made two cards using this set already and you can see those here. For my card today, I decided to use them with a fun background using the new inks. I first stamped the dolphins on to white cardstock with Intense Black Ink. I then simply coloured them using Copic Markers and fussy cut them out with scissors.

I took four of the new Reactive Inks that I thought would work together to create a nice sea. I first took Splash Reactive Ink and smooshed this on to my glass mat. I misted it with water and then pounced a piece of Alcohol Ink Cardstock in to it. I dried this with a heat tool and then continued to do this with the other colours - Blue Hawaii, Pool Party and Blue Raspberry. I dried the layers in between and then once I had completed my final layer, I took some Distress Glaze on an Ink Blending Tool and blended this on top. This brings out the beautiful colours of the inks and shows all the different layers.

I die cut this piece using one of the Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies. I took a Dove White Top Folding Card Base and cut this down so that it was 4" wide. I ran this through my die cutting machine to emboss the next size up of the Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies. I adhered the inked piece on top with tape runner and then added the dolphins using foam tape. I took the sentiments from the Mix & Match Compliments Stamp Set and stamped these on to Pitch Black Cardstock using the new Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink Pad. I applied Detail White Embossing Powder and heat set. These were cut in to strips and added to the card with foam tape. To finish off, I added a few Raindrops with Precision Glue.

My next card uses the adorable From the Vault Cute Animals Stamp Set, as well as the Reactive Inks. I took the hippo and bird image from the set and stamped this on to white cardstock with Intense Black Ink. I coloured them with Copic Markers and fussy cut out (but there are dies available). I set this aside while I worked on my background.

I took a panel of watercolour paper and masked off the bottom. Using a blending brush, I first applied Pool Party at the top of the panel. I then blended on Blue Hawaii in the middle, followed by Grape Slush at the bottom. I then splattered on some water to create the reaction and set aside to dry. Once dry, I stamped the sentiment in the top left hand corner. I took a thin strip of Pitch Black Cardstock and adhered this below the inked line.

The panel was added to a white Top Folding Card Base with tape runner and then I added the hippo and bird image on top with foam tape. I added black glaze pen to the hippos eyes and then added Crystal Clear Lacquer on the bird.

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Copic Markers: Dolphins - N5, N3, N2, N1, B41. Hippo - W7, E5, W4, W3, W2, W1. Bird - B06, B04, B02, B00.

BLOG HOP:

For the Blog Hop, you should have arrived here from the wonderful May Sukyong Park. Next in the hop is the amazing Yana Smakula. If you get lost along the way, you can find all the links over on the Hero Arts Blog.

GIVEAWAY:

There are some amazing prizes up for grabs during this hop, along with Hero Arts, there are some fantastic sponsors giving away prizes for the hop too:

Hero Arts: 3 $145 Gift Certificates, 3 $45 Gift Certificates
Altenew: $30 Gift Certificate
Art Impressions: $25 Gift Certificate Ellen Hutson LLC: $50 Gift Certificate
Gina K: $100 Gift Certificate
Jennifer McGuire Ink: $100 Hero Arts Gift Certificate, 5 Share Handmade Kindness goodie bags
Laurie Willison: 2 Card Hanger Dies
Lawn Fawn: $50 Gift Certificate
My Sweet Petunia: 1 Prize Bundle (Original MISTI, a set of Creative Corners, a Cut-Align, and a bar magnet)
Online Card Classes: 5 spots in the Stamp Happy In Good Company: Hero Arts class
Pink Fresh Studio: $45 Gift Certificate
Scrapbook & Cards Today: 3 copies of Scrapbook & Cards Today Summer 2019 Issue
Scrapbook.com: $50 Gift Certificate
Simon Says Stamp: $50 Gift Certificate

All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment on the stops in the hop over the three days. The more you comment, the more chances to win! The giveaway closes on Sunday 2nd June at 11.59pm PST. The winners will be announced on the Hero Arts Blog the following week. Good Luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, have a great day!

21 May 2019

Birthday Confetti

Hello there, today I have a simple birthday card to share with you. I am still on my quest to make some more masculine cards and I thought the MFT confetti stencil would work well with a simple sentiment.

I started off by taking a panel of white cardstock (this can be done directly on to the card base but I usually always add panels on to my card bases just in case I change my mind or something doesn't work) and placed the first MFT Card-Sized Confetti Stencil on top with Post-It Tape. I blended Distress Oxide Inks over using a blending brush. I randomly picked different areas for the different colours. I did not mask off the dots so I did get some blending of the colours, but I think that looks ok.

I used Faded Jeans, Salty Ocean, Twisted Citron and Peacock Feathers. Once the first layer was completed, I added the second stencil on top and blended more ink over with the same colours. I did not blend ink in to all the openings of this stencil, I wanted to keep most of the confetti to the top of the card. The panel was then added to the front of an A2 white card base with tape runner. I took the MFT Happy Birthday Script Die and cut this three times from black cardstock. These were stacked up one on top of another with MFT On-Point Precision Glue and then added to the card.

SUPPLIES:

I will have to make some more cards like this. I really love the simple design and the colour combos could be endless! Thank you so much for stopping by to see me today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great day!

16 May 2019

Faux Stitched Personalised Tags

Hello there, today I am over on the Hero Arts Blog sharing three tags I have made using the new Cross Stitch Alpha and Cross Stitch Stitched Patterns Stamp Sets. These are so fun because they look like stitching without actually having to do any stitching!

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the tags. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

To find out how I made the tags, please visit the blog post here. I love the bright colours on these tags and I love that I could personalise them for friends. Thanks so much for popping by today, I hope you have a great day!

15 May 2019

You're The Best!

Hello there, today I have a card to share using the new Rounded Alphabet Dies from Simon Says Stamp. It is part of the Celebrate You release which is out today. I really love the font on this alphabet and it is a good size - 7/8"/ 2cm tall. I also have the small version of this set, so it will be great if I wanted to combine them.

For my card, I started off with the background. I took images from the Simon Says Stamp Even More Spring Flowers Stamp Set and stamped them on to a panel of white cardstock with Versamark ink. I applied Ultra Fine Clear Embossing Powder and heat set. Using Blender Brushes, I applied Distress Ink for an embossed resist look.

I used Wilted Violet at the top, followed by Blueprint Sketch and Peacock Feathers and then finally, a little Tumbled Glass at the bottom to fade into white. This piece was then adhered flat to an A2 white card base with tape runner.

I took the Simon Says Stamp Rounded Alphabet Dies and cut them three times from white cardstock (I actually had to cut it six times to get three each of the 'Ls') and layered these up with Multi Medium Matte glue so each letter was stacked three high. I then spritzed them using Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz and set aside to dry.

Once dry, I adhered them to the card with more MMM using a T-Square Ruler to get them straight. I then took the sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Stamp Set and stamped it on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied Super Fine White Embossing Powder and heat set. It was cut out using one of the Simon Says Stamp Nested Banners Dies and added to the card with foam tape. To finish off, I added a few Simon Says Stamp Moonshine Sequins.

SUPPLIES:

It is such a shame that you cannot see the sparkle in the photos, it is so pretty in real life! I hope you will check out the new Celebrate You release. Thank you so much for visiting me today, I really do appreciate it. Have a great day!

13 May 2019

Insides In Or Out?

Hello there, today I have two cards to share with you using the MFT Happy Birthday Block Die, along with Alcohol Pearl Inks. The cards are super simple but I do like how they turned out. I do struggle with masculine cards sometimes.

I started off by creating the backgrounds. I took Tim Holtz Silver Sparkle Alcohol Ink Cardstock and added a bit of Alcohol Ink Blending Solution on first. I then added the Alcohol Pearl Inks on top. The first card uses four colours - Sublime, Envy, Tranquil and Celestial. Some places did get a bit dark/greyish but overall the colours worked nicely together.

The second card uses just the Sublime and Tranquil - the lighter green and blue. I used more Alcohol Ink Blending Solution and used the Distress Marker Spritzer Tool to help move the colour around. I don't think the inks move around on this cardstock as they do on Yupo, but they do still move nicely and I love the added sparkle that it gives, although since I used the Alcohol Pearl Inks, I didn't really need it!

I then moved on to cutting my top panel. I took two pieces of 4.5" x 4.5" white cardstock and cut the MFT Happy Birthday Block Die from both. Once the alcohol inked pieces were dry, they were cut down and added to the front of white 5" x 5" card bases. The die cut panels were then added on top with foam tape.

For the card with the four colours of ink, I added the insides of the letters back in. The other one I left them without. What do you think looks better? I do think it looks quite good without them but I'm actually not usually a fan of doing this and always add them back in! I may still do that! :)

SUPPLIES:

These were really quick to put together. I did think about adding an accompanying stamped sentiment but ultimately left them off. I quite like the simplicity of them as they are. Thanks so much for visiting me today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great day!

10 May 2019

Mother's Day Flowers

Hello there, today I have the card to share that I made for my mum back in March for Mother's Day. It has taken me some time to share it but I did notice that most of the rest of the world celebrate it on the 12th May (we celebrated it on the 31st March here in the UK), so I am still in time for that! My mum loves flowers so I thought the MFT Fresh-Cut Flowers background would be perfect for her.

I started off by stamping the MFT Fresh-Cut Flowers Background on to a panel of white cardstock with Gina K Amalgam Ink. I then coloured the image with Copic Markers (the colours that I used are listed below the supplies area). My mum loves the colour purple so I went with purples for my flowers and added a slight bit of pink on the edges for some added interest. I then added some blue around the image to help it pop.

I adhered the panel to a 5" x 7" white card base with foam tape. I took the sentiment from the Clearly Besotted So Much To Say set and stamped it on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was cut in to a strip and added to the card with more foam tape. To finish off, I added a few Pink Moonstone Sequins from Lucy's Cards.

SUPPLIES:

COPIC MARKERS: flowers - V09, V17, V15, V12, V01, R81. Stems/leaves - YG67, YG17, YG23, YG03, YG01. Outside shadow - B00, B000, B0000, 0.

This is such a beautiful image and I am looking forward to using it again with some other mediums. Thank you so much for stopping by to see me today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a lovely day!

8 May 2019

Reverse Confetti May 2019 Release Blog Hop

Hello there and welcome as we celebrate the May 2019 release from Reverse Confetti. Reverse Confetti turns 6 this month and I am so excited to be working with them, they are a wonderful company. If you are following along in the hop, you should have arrived here from the amazing Heather, but if you get lost along the way, I have the full list of participants below.

I have a lot to share with you today so sit back and relax and grab a cup of something nice to drink! My first two projects use the wonderful new Party Animals set. It is such a fun set and perfect for birthday cards.

PARTY ANIMALS

I started off my card by stamping the monkey riding the bike from the Reverse Confetti Party Animals Stamp Set on to white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I then coloured him with Copic Markers (the colours that I used are listed below the supplies section) and then cut him out with the coordinating dies. He was set aside while I worked on the background.

I took a piece of Yupo paper and added a wash of Aqua, Pool and Sailboat Blue alcohol inks on to it. I kept them quite smooth and then splatted on some Alcohol Ink Blending Solution to create some interest. Once it was dry, I cut it down using a Hero Arts Circle Infinity Die. I took a 5.5" x 4" white card base and added a strip of paper from the new Reverse Confetti Sweet Stripes Paper Pad to the side. I then added the alcohol inked circle with tape runner, having the circle hang off the side of the card slightly.

The monkey was added on with foam tape. I took the sentiment from the Reverse Confetti Word Up Stamp Set and stamped it on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied White Detail Embossing Powder and heat set. It was then cut in to strips and added to the card with foam tape. To finish off, I added Crystal Glaze to the hat/crown and also the monkey's nose.

I couldn't resist the elephant in the set so I thought I would add him to a tag. I started off by stamping the elephant and balloon from the Party Animals set on to more white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I coloured them with Copic Markers and cut them out with the coordinating dies. I then took the Reverse Confetti Topped Off Tag Die and cut this from white cardstock. I also cut it from the Sweet Stripes Paper Pad. I cut the patterned paper one down and added it to the top to the white cardstock tag for some added interest.

I took the sentiment from the Party Animals set and stamped it on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was cut in to a strip and ribbon ends cut at the sides with scissors. This was added to the tag with foam tape. I then added the elephant and balloon on top with more foam tape.

To finish off, I added Crystal Glaze to the balloon and then wrapped twine through the top of the tag.

RAINY DAY FUN

My next card uses the new Reverse Confetti Rainy Day Fun Stamp Set. This is another adorable set that contains lots of images but that duck stole my heart, so I had to use him! I stamped the duck and umbrella on to white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I then coloured them with Copic Markers and cut out using the coordinating dies. I also die cut the clouds from the die set from white cardstock.

I took a panel of white cardstock and die cut the Reverse Confetti Stitched Rays Cover Panel Confetti Cut on to it. This doesn't actually cut anything out as such, but cuts the stitched lines. I thought it would make a fun background for the duck as a sun. I cut it down and added it to the top of an A2 white card base with tape runner. I then blended a little Tim Holtz Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink on top.

I took the sentiment from the Rainy Day Fun stamp set and stamped it with black ink on to the card base. I then took a strip of paper from the Sweet Stripes Paper Pad and added this where the stitched panel ended. The clouds were added with tape runner and then the duck and umbrella with foam tape. To finish off, I added a little black glaze pen to the duck's eye.

OVER THE RAINBOW

My final card uses the new Reverse Confetti Over The Rainbow Confetti Cuts. This is a wonderful standalone die set that consists of a rainbow, two clouds and a sun. I cut the rainbow from white cardstock and blended Distress Inks on to it using a blending brush. I tried to concentrate the darker colour towards the ends and leave the middle a little lighter for some dimension. I used Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw, Twisted Citron, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire and Wilted Violet. I then spritzed them with Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz and set aside to dry.

I die cut the two clouds from the set using white cardstock and then die cut the hello from the Reverse Confetti Thanks & Hello Word Duo Confetti Cuts set three times from black cardstock. These were stacked up with liquid glue. I took a white cardstock panel and using the Reverse Confetti Leaf Lattice Stencil, I ran this through my die cutting machine to emboss the pattern on to the cardstock. This was added to a white A2 card base with tape runner.

The rainbow was added on top with liquid glue and then the clouds added with foam tape. I added the hello word with a combination of tape runner and foam tape. I then took the sentiment from the Reverse Confetti Word Up Stamp Set and stamped this on to black cardstock with Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. This was cut in to two strips and added to the card with foam tape. To finish off, I added a few Lucy's Raindrops.

SUPPLIES:

COPIC MARKERS: Monkey - E59, E57, E55, E53, E51, E50. Hat /crown - BG15, BG13, BG11. Balloons - YG17, YG23, YG03, YG01. B06, B04, B02. B39, B37, B34. BG57, BG53. Bike - C7, C5, C3, C1. Elephant - W7, W4, W4, W3, W2, W1. Hat - B39, B37, B34. Balloon - YG17, YG23, YG03, YG01. Duck - Y17, Y15, Y13, Y11, YR16, YR12. Umbrella - BG18, BG15, C3, C1.

BLOG HOP:

We are celebrating the release with an inspiration filled blog hop. Here is the full list of participants in the hop today:

Reverse Confetti Blog

Michelle Short - you are here!

This is such a fun release so I hope that you will check it out. Next on the hop is the fantastic Julee. Thanks so much for visiting me today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great rest of the day and enjoy the rest of the hop!

7 May 2019

Magical Unicorn

Hello there, today I have a card to share that I showed in my Clearly Besotted May 2019 Release Preview video. It uses the super cute Magical Plushies set. I used the narwhals from the set for my teaser card but loved this little unicorn so much, that I had to use him too!

I started off my card by stamping the unicorn from the Magical Plushies set on to white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. I then created a mask for him from masking paper and placed this over the image. I stamped the balloons so that it looked like he was holding them and then made a mask for them too. While I was stamping, I stamped the sentiment to the side of the images from the Feeling Sentimental set.

I took the MFT Cloud Stencil and using a blending tool, I blended on Shaded Lilac Distress Ink on to the panel, moving the stencil down as I went to create a cloud background for my unicorn to fly in. The masks were removed and then the images coloured with Copic Markers (the colours that I used are listed below the supplies area). I adhered the panel on to a white A2 card base with foam tape and then to finish off, I added black glaze pen to the unicorn's eyes and white gel pen highlights on the unicorn and balloons. I also added some Aqua Shimmer Pen to the balloons and the unicorn's tail and horn.

SUPPLIES:

COPIC MARKERS: Unicorn - E51, E50, R00, R0000. Horn & balloons - V17, V15, V12, BG18, BG15, BG13, BG11, R85, R83, R81.

This is such a cute and fun set! My friend and teamie Lisa made a card using these images too. We used the same supplies (except for the sentiment) but the cards look quite different. I love hers! Thanks so much for popping in today, I very much appreciate it. I hope you have a great day!

6 May 2019

Hero Arts May 2019 My Monthly Hero Kit Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello there, today we are celebrating the release of the May 2019 My Monthly Hero Kit and what a fantastic kit it is! It is especially geared to all us crafters but I love that there are lots of different crafty pursuits represented in this kit - paper crafters, painters, sewers, quilters, artists - they are all there! If you are following along in the shop, you should have arrived here from the Hero Arts Blog but I have the full list of participants below too, in case you get lost along the way.

This kit screamed rainbow at me as soon as I saw it! I especially love all of the craft tools and products in the main stamp set and wanted to try and use as many of those as I could on my card today. I started off by creating the background. I took a piece of Tim Holtz Silver Sparkle Alcohol Ink Cardstock and added Hero Arts Liquid Watercolour on to it to create a rainbow. I used the watercolours almost as they are out of the bottle, but I used a wet brush to help move the colour on the paper.

I used Pink, Orange, Dandelion, Leaf, Deep Ocean and Purple and overlapped the colours each time to help it blend. I then set the piece aside for a couple of hours to dry. I don't think it actually took this amount of time to dry but I wanted to be on the safe side! I placed the panel in my Mini MISTI and arranged the product images on top. I prepped the piece with an antistatic powder tool and then inked up the stamps with the new Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink that comes in the kit. The images were stamped down and then heat embossed with White Detail Embossing Powder.

I adhered the panel on to an A2 white card base with foam tape and then stamped the sentiment from the main stamp set on to Pitch Black Cardstock and again heat embossed in white. This was cut in to a strip and added to the card with more foam tape. To finish off, I added a few raindrops. This card has lots of sparkle and shine thanks to the silver sparkle cardstock and the liquid watercolours worked perfectly on it.

SUPPLIES:

THE KIT:

The May 2019 My Monthly Hero Kit contains a 6" x 8" clear stamp set, 20 coordinating Frame Cuts, 2 Fancy Dies, Purple Sparkle Embossing Powder, Clear Embossing & Watermark ink cube, Lavender washi tape and 5 mini clothes pins. All of this is valued at $70.00 but you can get it for an amazing $34.99 (approximately £28 depending on exchange rate). I think this kit will go very quickly so if you do not want to miss out on future kits, you can subscribe here. International subscribers will get a discount off shipping too. The kits start shipping on May 10th.

ADD-ONS:

There are some amazing add-on sets this month. These are not limited edition (unlike the kit) and can be purchased from the Hero Store or from your favourite Hero Arts retailer. Here is a look at them:

BLOG HOP:

Here is the full list of participants in the hop today:

The Hero Arts Blog

Michelle Short - you are here!

GIVEAWAY:

Hero Arts are giving away one kit to one lucky blog hop reader. The winner will be selected from all of the comments left across all of the stops in the hop. The more you comment, the more chances you have to win. If the winner has already purchased a kit, they will be reimbursed for it. The giveaway closes May 12th at 11.59pm and the winner will be announced the following week on the Hero Arts Blog. Good luck!

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. Next on the hop is the fabulous Caly. Have a great rest of the hop and day!

3 May 2019

Have A Little Fun On Your Birthday!

Hello there, today I am back to share another card that I have made with the new Sunny Meadow Fair collection from Purple Onion Designs. Today I am using the super cute Roller Coaster image. This is a large image that can take the full focal point on card.

I started off by stamping the Roller Coaster stamp on to a panel of white cardstock. I then made a mask for this and added it on top. I stamped the sentiment from the new Carnival/Marquee Sentiments set in to the top right hand corner and then started blending on inks for the background. Using a blender brush I blended on Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Inks.

I removed the masks and then coloured in the image with Copic Markers (the colours that I used are listed below the supplies area). The panel was then simply added to a 5.5" x 5.5" card base with foam tape.

SUPPLIES:

COPIC MARKERS: Pig - R21, R30, R00, R0000. Neck Tie - V17, V15, V12.Owl - E47, E44, E43, E42, E41, E40, Y26. Roller-coaster track - E59, E57, E55, C5, C3, C1. Train - C10, C8, C7, C6, V17, V15, V12.

It was nice to do some different colours in the background for this image. I think it helps with the fun factor! For more inspiration using the new release, please do check out the Purple Onion Designs Blog. Thanks so much for popping by to see me today, I really do appreciate it.

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