October My Monthly Hero Blog Hop + GIVEAWAY

Hi friends! The first Monday of the month is definitely my most favorite Monday! That means it's time to kick-off another FABULOUS My Monthly Hero release. The October kit has a super fun retro Christmas vibe.  A fabulous collection of add-ons complements this release beautifully,  so be sure to check them all out in the shop!

If you've been hopping along, you should have arrived from Jessica Frost-Ballas' blog. Your next hop stop after this will be Kelly Latevola's blog. The entire hop list can be found later in this post.

GIVEAWAY:
Hero Arts is generously giving away a fabulous prize for a lucky commenter along the hop.  Leave a little love in the comments section for all these amazing artists and if your name is drawn you'll receive a $50 gift card to Hero Arts! Enter by Sunday, October 13th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

For my cards today I picked a palette of purple and aqua that reminded me of the bulbs on my Grandma's Christmas tree. She loved lavender so it was no surprise to find purple on the tree! When I was young, we spent Christmas Eve at her house exchanging gifts with all the cousins, listening to Christmas carols on the record player, and eating lots of homemade goodies. Fun times. Often I'd have to stay over at my cousin's house because it would snow so hard the roads home would become impassable. We had an old car that looked just like this one, only it was white and we'd pile all the presents in the trunk and interspersed between all three of us kids in the back seat as we made the drive to Grandma's!

I started by stamping the car and presents from the October MMH kit in intens-ified black ink and then coloring with Copic makers and cutting with the coordinating dies. Next I stamped the snow and star images from the kit randomly in thistle and pool party reactive inks as a fun background.  The sentiment from the kit is stamped in black and embossed in clear.  I finished with a Snowflake Fancy Edge Die cut behind the car, then a bit of crystal clear lacquer accents on the windshield and window.

Next I moved on to a sweet & simple Christmas design.  Included in the kit is some super shiny Chrome Cardstock.  I knew I wanted to use it with the Merry Christmas Script Stamp & Cut add-on, so cut the words with the die and set aside. Isn't this font just fabulous? I then stamped one of the trees and several of the gifts from the kit and colored with Copic markers, die cutting with the coordinating dies from the main kit.

Next I pulled out what might just be my new all-time favorite background, the Line & Dot Pattern Bold Prints add-on and stamped it in pool party just on the lower portion of a panel of Arctic cardstock. I cut a thin strip of the chrome cardstock as a divider and then layered all my pieces together.

For my next card, I decided to do a little ink smooshing with pool party and thistle reactive inks on watercolor paper. Once I had smooshed my way to a background I liked, I cut the panel down to size and then stamped the new Mod Pattern Bold Prints in watermark ink and then embossed with white satin pearl embossing powder. I love the subtle texture it gives.

I then used the infinity circle dies to cut a leftover piece of the smooshed paper into a circle for my sentiment.  I shaped the rockin' around the Christmas tree sentiment from the main kit in a sort of semi circle on my MISTI and then stamped onto the circle.  I stamped, colored and cut the tree from the main kit, adding a little crystal clear lacquer accents to the bulbs.  I then matted the circle with chrome cardstock and popped the tree up over it on dimensionals.  I finished with a purple seam binding bow.

My final card for today features a couple of this month's add-ons.  The Ornament Pieces Cover Plate is so beautiful! I have lots of ideas for it, but for this one I went for a soft look. I pulled out my Gemini Jr. and Gemini Foil Press and foiled the die in gold foil onto watercolor paper.  Next I cut the die from low tack sticker paper to mask off the white parts and then blended thistle and pool party reactive inks onto different portions of the design to color the ornaments and accents in softly.

When I pulled the mask away, I just loved the result! So fun! I kind of go a  little batty with all the pieces for inlaid dies, so this is definitely my new favorite way to use these kind of dies! I popped this panel up on a foam sheet for dimension, then finished off with a sentiment from the Stylized Christmas Trees add-on set embossed in gold.

Okay,  if you're still with me, you deserve a crafty high five! ✋  I had a lot of fun creating with this month's kit and add-ons. There are so many fabulous add-ons this month that I can't wait to play with!

I hope you've enjoyed my makes and a bit of my creative process. If you're not a subscriber already, the kit is only available while supplies last, so pre-order your kit today! Kit shipping begins Friday, October 11 and continues throughout the following week.

If you ARE already a subscriber, remember you can order any of this month's lovely add-ons to ship with your kit with no additional shipping fees if you place your order before Thursday. All of the add-ons are added to the Hero Arts catalog and restocked.

Here's a closer look at the October My Monthly Hero kit. I've also linked the entire release along with the supplies I used for these cards below for your convenience. Hero Arts also pulled together an Autumn Factory Bundle and a Holiday Factory Bundle at a fantastic price you might want to check out!

Kit Contents:

6" x 8" Clear Stamp Set

19 Coordinating Frame Cuts

2 5.5" x 8.5" Sheets of Chrome Cardstock

6 5.5" x 8.5" Sheets of Neon Cardstock

Clay Snowflake Embellishments

Prisma Glitter 0.5 oz.

And here's a look at all of this month's add-ons...

For a chance to win the $50 Gift Certificate giveaway, leave some comments for the talented designers linked below. The full hop list is below. Next up on the hop is Kelly Latevola.  Happy hopping!

The Hero Arts Blog
Amy Kolling
Caly Person
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Julee Tilman ✋That's ME!
Kelly Latevola
Laurie Willison
Lydia Fiedler
Mariana Grigsby
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr

Compensated affiliate links are used where possible. When you place an order after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for using my links and supporting this blog. 💙

October My Monthly Hero Release

My Supply List