Sunday 9 April 2017

Getting my Hero on

Some super cool products I'd been itching to play with arrived from Hero Arts this week so I couldn't wait to get playing with them this weekend.

I started with the party confetti fancy die which is a really fun die for backgrounds but could be used in sooo many ways I've barely scratched the surface with my first two plays with it.  As well as using it for backgrounds, the streamers would make great accents on their own and could also be used in shakers, you could also use it to create your own stencil - some tonic mousse spread through would make a brilliant shimmering backdrop to a celebratory project.  I'll be having a go at that next!

I just went for a couple of different backgrounds first.  I used some super thick 300gsm navy card stock and ran it through the machine lightly so I could keep all the "bits" in the card and stick it straight on to the card.  Its a sort of like flat embossing that way and the texture alone with no colour looks fab for a classy card.


I added a simple white frame using a couple of stitched rectangle dies and created a focal image using the large Martini die also from Hero Arts - it comes with lots of different garnishes (cherry, olive, citrus peel and slice as well as bubbles and cocktail stick) so you can get creative and make any cocktail you fancy!  I went with a cosmo for this one and finished with a complimentary glittery cheers sentiment.

For my second card I used the same die but cut it twice - once from the blue (this time I ran it through twice to make sure it cut through) and once from white.   I popped out all the little bits and one the white card coloured the streamers using zig colour clean pens.  I then simply pieced the coloured streamers into the blue background for a colourful fun card.


I wanted the background to be as much the star as the rest of the card so just went with a simple white embossed sentiment (brushstroke birthday greetings from MFT) on some vellum with a single die cut party balloon using Lawn Fawn's Party Balloons.   I just traced the back of the word using a glue pen to adhere the vellum and folded a thin edge to tuck behind the blue panel on either side.

For my final project I switch to a different die as I've been waiting for the new You're a Fungi stamps to come in to stock to pair with it.   The Branch Wreath Fancy Die is a large die and because it's a nice plain twiggy version can be used all year round - just add your seasonal embellishment of choice and it works from Spring through to Winter (I also think if you cut it from grey it could pass for barbed wire too for a more masculine look)


I had lots of fun colouring the fungi - there is something quite relaxing about colouring mushrooms, I went for something approaching realism but you could equally go fantasy and pair them with some fairies!

I coloured them with zig color clean markers and a water brush so I used the pens like water colour paints (scribble them onto the back of any acrylic block and pick up the colour with the water brush - that way you can get more shades of colour from the one pen.)   Once coloured I just cut them out with scissors and arranged them in the twiggy frame - the idea was to create a sort of window into the fairy dell.  I added one of the super cute little snails and one of the fun sentiments from the same stamp set.  Simple quick and easy guy card!


NEWS FROM THE STORE

  • We've just received our delivery of the latest release from Stamping Bella  - there is ALOT of it - so it may take a few days before I can get it all added to the store (I always do orders first to get them out to you all, and work on adding stock once that's done each day)
  • We have an order for the new release from Concord and 9th in but that won't ship until later this week (we always get their releases but they don't ship until after they've released themselves each month)
  • Our restock order from Lawn Fawn shipped on Friday so we should get that early this week too.
  • We have ordered the latest release from Altenew (with the double dies) and are waiting for it to ship.  It usually takes them a couple of weeks to process and ship orders so we expect that towards the end of the month.







2 comments:

  1. I love that background - it's so fun! Totally head over heels with the Fungi set and have just popped it on my ever-growing wishlist (uh oh). Stop encouraging me!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh I'm totally in love with all of your cards today! Heading over to the store now to add to my (already very long) wishlist.

    ReplyDelete

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The Seven Hills Crafts Design Team