December 2020 My Monthly Hero Release Hop + GIVEAWAY

Hi friends! It's time to kick-off another My Monthly Hero release! This month the kit is filled with blue skies, sunshine, and hope for a better tomorrow. Sounds good right about now, don't you think? The kit includes a fabulous 6 x 8 set, a few beautiful fancy dies, 4 reactive ink cubes, and some super fun yellow embossing powder. Plus there are also lots of amazing add-ons to round out the theme!

If you've been hopping along, you should have arrived from Amy Kolling's blog. Your next hop stop after this will be Mariana Grigsby's blog. The entire hop list can be found later in this post.

I absolutely love encouragement cards, and this kit is perfect for sending a little pick-me-up to a friend.  I just couldn't get enough of this gorgeous Hope fancy die from the kit, so my first card today (and several more) features the hope die. For this card I blended some reactive inks onto cloud white cardstock and then die cut, leaving me with a hope frame and a bunch of pieces.  Here I did the inlaid technique to piece those blended pieces back inside of a white die cut, then popped the whole thing up on foam tape and accented with some bling.

For the background, I used the cloud scape from the kit in pinks, purples and blues.  I added the sentiment in black, and then matted with some purple cardstock and finished off with a few sequins.

I just couldn't neglect the frame from when I cut the inlaid pieces, so created a clean and simple type card with it.  I cut the outline shape from the hope die out, then coated with a thin coat of glitter glaze and then glued down the frame over the top.  It's super sparkly!

Next I embossed white cardstock with a rays embossing folder, aligning the folder on the paper so the rays would be coming out from the o in hope.  After embossing, I then used the sun rays from the kit, stamping the smaller rays in the orange yellow combo up top, then again below with the pink purple combo.  I popped the whole panel up on a foam sheet and this ray of paper sunshine is ready to go!

The other fancy die in the kit is this beautiful cloud scene. I layered it with a larger circle die and cut it from white cardstock. I then separated the pieces, ink blending the outer portion with aqua inks and the inner portion with yellow and orange.  I stamped the sentiment in black, then used just one of the cloudscape stamps to emboss with white puff embossing powder.  I love that these clouds look great whether you use one, two, or all three layers!

For the background I lined the hope an sunshine stamps up in my MISTI, then stamped on adriatic cardstock, moving over and down each time to fill the whole background.  I matted and then finished off with a white card base.

This next card was my most involved card from this post, but it still came together super quick. Can you tell I'm smitten with this hope die? {grin} Here I cut the outline shape from vellum, then used both dies together to cut the frame from white cardstock and layered together.

For the background, I started off with the center half sun images, then worked my way out with the small and larger rays. I then masked off my stamping and ink blended the water below, adding a bit of white pain with a stipple brush for highlights in the center.  The it's a new day sentiment is stamped onto it.  I then stamped the birds twice in the sky section of the card and blended some aqua and white inks for a billowy cloudy looking sky.  I accented with the cloud die cut from cardstock and then accented with glitter.  I  then adhered my vellum and white hope die cut, centered over the horizon line and finished with a big rhinestone heart in the center of the o.

My final card for today came about while I was playing with color combinations for the clouds. I stamped the three layers in fun colors, then masked off a stripe as high as the letters in the die and blended in turqoise inks.  I cut the die again from yellow cardstock, then inlaid jus the o, adding a bit of highlighting with a copic marker for some shading.  Then I decided to coat the entire die cut with embossing ink and emboss with sparkle embossing powder.

I added some dimension with a foam sheet behind the panel and left the rest of the card white so the hope could really shine.

Crafty high five! You made it to the end of the post! I hope you've enjoyed my makes and a bit of my creative process.  I think this one is gonna go quick! If you're not a subscriber already, the kit is only available while supplies last, so pre-order your kit today! We estimate kit shipping will begin Friday, December 11, and continue throughout the following week.

Here's a closer look at the December My Monthly Hero kit. I've also linked the entire release along with the supplies I used for these cards below for your convenience.

Kit Contents:

• 6" x 8" Clear Stamp Set
• Hope Word Fancy Die
• Cloud Fancy Die
• Cloud Window Die
• 4 Reactive Ink Cubes (Early Dawn, Morning Mist, Yellow Chartreuse, Thistle)
• Yellow Prisma Embossing Powder 0.5 oz.

Kit Value: $78.00
Kit Cost: $34.99

GIVEAWAY:
Hero Arts is generously giving away one $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, November 8th at 11:59pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

 For a chance to win the $50 Gift Certificate giveaway, leave some comments for the talented designers linked below.  Happy hopping!

Next up on the hop is Maria Grigsby! 

Hero Arts
Channin Pelletier
Dana Joy
Daniel West
Debi Adams
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Lydia Fiedler
Maria Willis
Michelle Short
Mindy Eggen
Pocono Pam
Seeka
Amy Kolling
Julee Tilman
Mariana Grigsby
Nichol Spohr
Rebecca Keppel

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. 💙

December My Monthly Hero Release