RWKrafts: August 2024

Saturday, August 31, 2024

A Super Spooky Hero Studio Countdown

It's time to get spooky! The Hero Studio September countdown has begun - make sure to comment on the countdown posts for a chance to win the kit before you can buy it!

My card today features the spooky September Layering Stencil of the Month. I did a lot of different color combos but this one was my favorite - the cotton candy sky combined with the darker eerie bats really made me smile :)

The sky is inked with Peony first, then a touch of Cotton Candy, and a tiny smidge of Butter Bar. I used my large blending brush for this open space on the stencil.

The haunted house uses inks first in Granite, then Charcoal, and finally Nautical. I also added some Glow in the Dark Lacquer to the windows. The batty bats were die cut from another soon-to-be-released product... stay tuned!

The grass portion was masked off because I wanted separate colors for the house compared to the rest of the card. I used my handy Post-It Tape to build a mask, and then inked the grass.

Instead of a traditional sentiment on the front, I opted for just the number 31. Black Wax was spread over a new Halloween Words stencil to act as a sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to comment on the Countdown posts for a chance to win this amazing kit before you can buy it!

Monday, August 26, 2024

Sightseeing Safari Card

I've been determined to use all of the sets from the Hero Arts August 2024 release... especially this beautiful stencil...

Some links used are affiliates are no charge to you. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts and Hero Arts!

This card uses the lovely new Jungle Scene Stencil. I love how this one stencil can be used in different ways to create a variety of designs.

I started by inking the stencil first in Charcoal and then on the top portions of each "scene" were inked again with Nautical. I used my small blending brushes for this step.

I then cut three scenes that I wanted for the card, and mounted them on Pitch Black Cardstock. Each little frame is like a mini work of art!

The background panel of the card uses the gorgeous new August Cling of the Month rubber stamp, which has a beautiful orchid pattern throughout. It's stamped with Embossing Ink on Nautical Cardstock, and heat embossed with Silver powder.

Finally, the 'big thanks' sentiment (fitting for the elephant, I thought!) is from the August Clear Set and Dies of the Month. It was embossed with White powder on Pitch Black cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Hero Arts Holiday Catalog Release Hop

Happy Hero Arts Holiday Release Day! Be sure to visit every blog on the hop, get an eye-full of inspiration, and leave comments for a chance to win one of TWO $50 gift cards to Hero! You definitely don't want to miss this.

Some links may be affiliates. Thank you for supporting Hero Arts and rwkrafts!

I have FIVE CARDS to share today! I am thrilled that each of these cards was published in the 2024 Holiday Catalog.

Holiday Products Used:

Geometric Holiday Stencil

Festive Pattern Bold Print

Snowflake Pattern Cover Plate

Offset Holiday Messages Bundle

I absolutely loved creating this card as it includes several new products and just looks like cotton candy filled icicles. (The Adult Disney in me was channeling It's a Small World... did I succeed?). This card panel began with the Geometric Holiday Stencil that I inked in Soft Blossom and Dandelion. I kept the stencil in place on the panel, and then stamped the Festive Pattern Bold Prints stamp with Granite Ink. THEN again while keeping the stencil in place, I spread Glitter Paste on top with the palette knife. NOW I'm finally ready to remove the stencil.

I finished off the card with some snowflakes cut from Arctic Cardstock and the new Snowflake Pattern Cover Plate. The sentiment is from another new set called Offset Holiday Messages. Finally, I added some Hero Hues Enamel Dots to follow along the pattern of the snowflakes.

Holiday Products Used:

Little Finch Woodblock Stamp

Holiday Foliage Stencil

Wreath and Finch Letterpress + Foil Plate

Joyful Christmas Message Bundle

This card is much more traditional with it's festive green and red colors. It features the beautiful woodblock Little Finch stamp, which I colored with Polychromos Colored Pencils and fussy cut. The background panel begins with Shamrock Cardstock that was die cut with the Rounded Jewels Infinity Dies. I then inked with Pine Ink through the Holiday Foliage Stencil. Next, I hot foiled in gold with the Wreath and Finch Letterpress + Foil Plate using my Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil Machine.

I glued the Shamrock panel onto a lovely Cranberry card base. The Little Finch was added with foam adhesive, and then I included the sentiment. The Merry Christmas stamp is embossed in Gold and die cut from the Joyful Christmas Messages set.

Holiday Products Used:

Kaleidoscope Snowflake Bold Print

Perforation Cover Plate

Snowflake Pattern Cover Plate

Joyful Christmas Messages Bundle

I love this card because it is all about SNOWFLAKES! The Kaleidoscope Snowflake Bold Print rubber stamp was embossed in White Powder on Nautical Cardstock. I then die cut it from the beautiful (and super versatile) Perforation Cover Plate. This panel was mounted on Ultra Pink Cardstock, which you can see peeking through the perforation dots.

The finished panel was then sprayed with White Iridescent Shimmer Mist and Blue + Shimmer Metallic Spray. The snowflakes are cut from the Snowflake Patterned Cover Plate and glued in a diagonal pattern. The sentiment from the Joyful Christmas Messages bundle is embossed in White on Ultra Pink cardstock.

Holiday Products Used:

Fall Pattern Cover Plate

Fall Pattern Stamp

Joyful Christmas Messages Bundle

Now I have an autumn themed card to share! This Fall Pattern Cover Plate is so great because it gives you a beautiful background, but also several individual leaves that can be used on a second card. The background uses Sand Cardstock that I heat embossed in Brass powder with the new Fall Pattern stamp set (which pairs perfectly with the cover plate). Then the panel was sprayed with Orange Shimmer Metallic Spray and Bright Yellow and Copper Metallic Spray.

With the cut out Fall Pattern Cover Plate from Espresso Cardstock, I placed it on top of the embossed leaf stamped panel. I then misted the entire card with Iridescent Shimmer Mist.

Holiday Products Used:

Winter Town Cheer

Etched Winter Scene Bold Print

Bold Graphic Hot Foil Plate

The final card I have published in the catalog is actually from my very first official Hero Arts blog post! I'm so honored they included this beauty in the catalog. Please visit the original post for all the details!

Thank you SO MUCH for getting this far! It is a lot to share and hopefully you gained some inspiration. Thank you for shopping through my links!

Now continue along the hop to leave comments and have a chance to win a $50 gift card:

Hero Arts
Hero Arts Creative Team:

Seeka

Special Guests:

Cathy Zielske

Laura Bassen

Mindy Eggen

Monday, August 19, 2024

Hawaiian Inspired Birthday Cards

Channeling Hawaii for these birthday cards today...

Some links are affiliates at no charge to you. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts and Hero Arts!

I could basically smell the Hawaiian florals in my mind while I was coloring these stamps. Aren't they beautiful?! The main images are all from the Hero Studio August Clear Set and Dies. I used my Polychromos pencils to try to get the most realistic coloring my unartistic hands could manage. I'm pretty happy with the result!

The main floral images for both cards today were stamped on Dove White Cardstock with Hero Arts Intense Black Ink. Once I colored them with the Polychromos Pencils, I used the matching dies to cut the images with my Compact Cutter. This first card has the birthday sentiment stamped in Bermuda Ink.

The background uses a panel of Ultra Pink Cardstock, which I stamped with the lovely Flowers and Swirls Bold Print in Azalea Ink. I also mounted the Birds of Paradise flowers on a white cut out from the Pointed Arches Infinity Dies.

As you can see, the second card follows the same card design as the first. For the background panel this one uses Papaya Cardstock with Tangerine Ink for the Flowers and Swirls Bold Print. I also added some Clear Enamel Dots to both cards. They look like dew drops on a humid morning :)

Thank you so much for stopping by! I appreciate all your support for rwkrafts!

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Smile! Tropical Cards with Hero Studio

I'm on a mission to use every single product from the Hero Arts August 2024 release because everything is just that good! So here we goooo...

Some links are affiliates at no charge to you. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts and Hero Arts.

Today's card duo features the August 2024 Hero Studio Layered Stencil of the Month. I defaulted to my color combo of choice this year, teal and purple... with a touch of Glitter Paste! I couldn't help it!

The Layered Stencil has four layers - the first layer was inked with Paradise, then Bermuda, then Passion Flower, and finally Amethyst. The final stencil layer was also given a spread of delicious Glitter Paste (yummy on the eyes).

The large 'smile' die was cut from Glitter Cardstock that I inked with Passion Flower, then backed on Pitch Black cardstock. The 'celebrating you is easy' sentiment is from the Composition Notebook Messages Stamp and Cut. The whole panel is layered onto Passion Flower cardstock.

With the stencil panel cut in the middle with Rounded Rectangle Dies, I used the border for this second card. The center is inked with the palm tree stencils from the August 2024 Card Kit of the Month. I inked the palms in Aquatic and added a little parrot on top (also from the card kit).

Thank you for stopping by!

Other tools used:

Hero Arts Blending Brushes

Hero Arts Compact Cutter

Hero Arts Palette Knife

Monday, August 12, 2024

Jungle Themed Birthday Cards

It's definitely a jungle out there... but that can mean a peaceful, calm, serene jungle. Today I'm sharing two cards that focus on one of the August releases from Hero Arts.

Some links may be affiliates. Thank you for supporting Hero Arts and rwkrafts!

These cards began with me just stamping every single image from the Jungle Serenity stamp set. I didn't know what direction I was going, but I knew I wanted to use these pieces.

This card uses the large lily pad image and MULTIPLE little froglets. I just stamped and stamped and stamped the heck outta those little froggies. They're too cute not to! I colored the images with Copic Markers and die cut them with my handy Hero Arts Compact Cutter.

I cut the Sand Cardstock with Wood Frames dies and propped the imaged on foam tape. The 'happy birthday' sentiment is from the Breath of Spring HeroScape set.

This card uses the leaf and vine images also from the Jungle Serenity set stamped three times, along with the sweet butterfly. They were also stamped with Intense Black ink and colored with Copic Markers. The Wood Frame is cut from Arctic cardstock this time.

I love how these two cards use the same stamp set and the exact same design but have completely different looks.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Monday, August 5, 2024

Hero Studio August Release Day!

Happy Hero Studio August Release Day! I have FOUR CARDS to share in today's post, because I really just could not stop creating with the goodies in this month's kit. Make sure to leave comments along the hop (sign in so your comment isn't anonymous!) for a chance to win a $50 Hero Arts gift certificate!

Some links are affiliates with Hero Arts. Thank you for supporting rwkrafts and Hero Arts!

The first card today features the August Card Kit of the Month. There are SO MANY elements included in the kit, but I focused on the stamp set and large dies for this card. The leafy elements are stamped with Green Hills, then layered with Fresh Lawn Ink. The darling parrots (I stamped out so many parrots) are inked with Mist and then Aegean ink. This image was die cut from the Pointed Arches Infinity Dies.

For the embossed background, I ran the large dies included in the kit through my die cutting machine on the emboss setting. This is on Paradise Cardstock (isn't this color so yummy).

Everything included in the August Studio Card Kit

The second card focuses on the gorgeous large dies included in the kit. I started by spraying Watercolor Paper with Green + Shimmer spray and Ocean Blue + Gold Metallic Spray. Once dry, I die cut the leaves, and the shimmer when dry is so beautiful.

I tried my best to capture the shimmer in this photo! The flower dies were sprayed on Watercolor paper with Yellow + Copper and Fuchsia + Gold Metallic Spray. The card panel was embossed with Leaves and Abstract Shapes Stencil on Ultra Pink cardstock. I diecut the window for the sentiment with Rounded Rectangles Infinity Dies.

My next two cards use the amazing August Fancy Dies of Month.

Ok - my favorite part was creating these little beetles and insects! I die cut the green bugs from Kiwi cardstock and ink blended the edges with Green Apple. The purple ones were cut from Plum cardstock and blending with Blue Hawaii ink. NOW THE FUN PART!...

I inked the bugs with Embossing Ink and heat embossed with Clear Embossing Powder - I then repeated this step 3 times to get a fully covered glossy finish on my buggies.

The blue background panel was stamped with the Leafy Background Cling Stamp on Bermuda cardstock with Bermuda Ink. The inside panel was also stamped with the Leafy Background, but with Key Lime Fizz and Green Apple ink, then heat embossed with Iridescent Green Embossing Powder.

I had so many shiny insects leftover that I quickly put together a second card with them...

I simply embossed the large vine die onto Dove White cardstock and added the sentiment. Easy peasy.

Thank you so much for reading this far! I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog hop - make sure to leave comments for a chance to win (sign in so your comment isn't anonymous!).