Flippin' Awesome // Hero Arts

Hello all! I'm here today participating in the Hero Arts May 2017 My Monthly Hero blog hop!

I'm gonna be honest - as pretty as the little mermaids from the main kit are, mermaids have never really been my thing. Ariel from The Little Mermaid always annoyed me, though I do enjoy the soundtrack. ;)

So, for today's cards, I used the super versatile and fun Manatee Stamp and Cut, as well as some of the fabulous fancy dies from the main kit.

To start the card off, I blended a background using Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon and Salty Ocean, on watercolor cardstock. I'm not gonna lies, I totally picked those colors out pretty much because their names fit the occasion. ;)
I added some water droplets, then picked the water up with a paper towel, for a little ghosting.

I also blended a second background, using Navy and Grape Juice, then covered it with Sparkle embossing powder. I heat set the powder, then die cut a bunch of seaweed, using the main kit Fancy Dies. The sparkle embossing adds such a nice touch!

Setting the stage for the manatee, I die cut an oval out of a piece of cardstock I had die already die cut using the Rectangle dies. I adhered a piece of acetate behind it, then tucked the die cut seaweed between the acetate and cardstock.
Next, to create my shaker, I die cut a piece of one-sided adhesive foam, using the a slightly larger oval die and a slightly smaller rectangle die, then adhered it to the back of the die cut cardstock. I added a dash of Ombre Blue sequins, and then added the cardstock to the front of my blended background.

Finally, I stamped the manatee in Charcoal, colored the manatee simply with Light Gray and Light Pink ZIG pens, and blended it out using some water. Then I quickly colored a present from Irreverent Birthday Messages - a perfect example of using one of those little images often included in sentiment stamps sets.
I cut out both the manatee and present and adhered them to the card front, adding a little bit of clear Stickles to the present for some extra pizzaz.

Finally, I used the sentiments from the Manatee Stamp and Cut, but I did some creative masking to arrange the words the way I wanted, then heat embossed in white, cut the sentiment out, and adhered to the card.

THE KIT

The supplies included in this months kit:

• 1 4” x 6” clear stamp set
• 18 coordinating dies (5 Fancy Dies & 13 Frame Cuts)
• 1 6” x 6” stencil
• More than 2.5 teaspoons cyrene sequins 
• 3 ink cubes (Deep Blue, Aqua, Amethyst)
• 5 5” x 6” acetate sheets
• 1 bottle of turquoise silk liquid ink (iridescent)
• 3 sheets of 6” x 6” lightweight paper (Ice blue, Marble Tissue and Swirl Tissue)

The kit value is over $70, an amazing deal at $34.99.

The kit is available for a limited time only - once it's gone, it's gone. However, you can now subscribe to receive the kit monthly and never miss one! Kits begin shipping from Hero Arts on Friday, March 10th.

BLOG HOP

For loads of inspiration and a chance to win a prize, follow this hop! If you've been following the blog hop, then I'm your last stop, but if you haven't, here's the entire list:

The Hero Arts Blog 

Jennifer McGuire 

Wanda Guess 

Jessica Frost-Ballas May Park 

Heather Ruwe 

Yana Smakula 

Amy Tsuruta 

Lydia Fiedler 

Libby Hickson 

Michelle Short 

Ilina Crouse 

Clare Prezzia

Hero Arts is giving away one kit as a prize to one blog reader - selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. (Hero will reimburse the winner if they have already bought the kit) Giveaway closes Sunday, May 7 at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced the following week.

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Canson watercolor cardstock, gray scrap cardstock

Stamps: Hero Arts Manatee Stamp and Cut
Ink: Hero Arts Grape Juice, Navy, Charcoal, Tim Holtz Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon and Salty Ocean
Other: Hero Arts Sparkle embossing powder and White embossing powder, Ombre Blue sequins

Tools: Cuttlebug, water, paintbrush, paper towels, Hero Arts May 2017 My Monthly Hero Fancy Dies, Rectangle Infinity dies, Oval Infinity dies, heat gun