Hero Arts – My Crafts are Like a Box of Chocolates

An Oceanic Tribute to Joanne Grzelak

July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 beccreates1

Joanne was one of the founding members of the Crazy 4 Challenges blog. Sadly she passed a few weeks ago. So we decided to create a Tribute Blog Hop, with all of us creating in a style she loved which included everything related to the ocean.

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So I created 2 ocean cards and a little beach shack. I’m sure she would love them as they truly celebrate the beauty of the sea. My first card uses a Beach Baby image by Penny Black. I coloured it a while back but it took me a while to find the best way to use it.

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She is done with Copics but the background is done with watercolours. I also added a few shells from the Beach and Sea set by Hero Arts.

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This card uses the same Hero Arts set. I wanted to make it look like the dolphins were in the foreground, not sure if I achieved it or not. As I was photographing it, I noticed my perspective was off on the waves. I think the white caps should be wider near the bottom of the card to make that area look nearer.

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I added the white with Copic white paint. I used Daniel Smith Kyanite for the dolphins, it’s the perfect grey-blue with flecks of glitter in it. I can’t wait to use it again!

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This adorable little box is by Lawn Fawn as well as the additions dies to make it a beach shack. It’s the most fun thing to put together, my kids both beat me to it! All the pieces were die cut and most inked to get an authentic worn beachy look. Using some tiny makeup-style blending brushes helped a lot as I’d already put it together when I decided to add the ink. I’m thinking of placing this in an upside down canvas with some sand mixed with glue to make an entire little scene including palm trees, a hammock and a clothesline with tiny bathing suits hanging on it.

I hope you will continue along the blog hop to pay tribute to dear Joanne. Please feel free to leave comments along the way with memories of her. I’d like to extend my condolences to her family and close friends.

Thank you, Rebecca

Cards

Art Deco Cupcake Celebrate Card

July 1, 2019 beccreates1

It’s the last Crazy 4 Challenges of the month! I’ve seen so many fun fold cards around lately that I decided we would make trifold cards this week. There are a lot of different types so if you play along, find one you like and join us!

c4c 19 trifold cupcake

If you’ve never made a trifold card before, it has at least 3 panels and 2 folds. Mine is made with a white card base and an aqua card base nested together. The front of the white card base is cut with the same die as the black cardstock. This makes it see through. I added some gold glitter vinyl to the inside. I was inspired to go for this art deco look because the cupcake set from Altenew included sentiments in a font that looked art deco to me. Then I remembered this die by Hero Arts from a previous card kit.

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I was also inspired by see-through cards by Jennifer McGuire. The open area in the cover die made it kind of flimsy which is why I used two layers of cardstock but adding the cupcake helped too. There is a second cupcake die cut behind the front cupcake so the cover die is sandwiched between them. I hope that makes sense. Then I also added a plain cupcake die inside the card with the fun sentiment! To get it lined up, lay the card open on your table and place the sentiment die cut face down on the back of the front cupcake die cut. Make sure it already has adhesive on it. Then close the card while leaving the front panel on your table. It should stay lined up perfectly.

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For finishing touches, I added a celebrate die cut to the inside and some gold confetti to the cover die. I thought the confetti really added to the art deco vibe. If you are interested in trying some trifold cards, check out the links over at C4C. I found a ton of inspiration on Jennifer McGuire’s blog so pop on over. I hope you’ll find one you line and join us this week!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Cards

Soft n Shabby Mermaid Card

June 15, 2019 beccreates1

I’ve got to say, I am LOVING the awesome weather we are having here! And I just got my Hero Arts My Monthly Kit along with a special edition set from the Vault I ordered. Did you know they’ve brought back some older sets for their 45th Anniversary? So I used Beach and Sea for my card today.

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I’m also using the sketch I designed for the Crazy 4 Challenges blog this week. It’s a classic I can never use too often! The image was stamped with Antique Linen Distress ink on ivory cardstock. I kept the colours as soft as possible to match the Authentique papers I’d chosen.

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The rocks were surprisingly challenging as I needed them to be all different colours or they’d look like a giant blob. Plus it took a lot of shading to make them look realistic. It’s quite small so that makes it even harder. In the end, I needed some coloured pencil to get the shading just right. But that’s ok, I’m adding it to my Copic colouring more and more often lately.

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The hello die is from Spellbinders from a monthly club kit. The frame and border dies are also SP, funny, I didn’t plan it that way.

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I know the weather is nice right now, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, but I’m sure a rainy day will come along so you can join us over at C4C to play with us using this sketch! You can of course flip or rotate the sketch or choose different shapes like I did!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Cards

Beach Retirement Card

June 8, 2019June 15, 2019 beccreates1

This week, my challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges was to use sand. Real sand, images, sandpaper, whatever works! I have plenty of sand images so I checked through my Summer stamps box and grabbed a set of stamps from a Hero Arts kit.

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I stamped two layers of the ocean but used the last layer to create surf on the top of the waves. If you have this set, you omit inking the solid section that creates the horizon line and, once heat embossed, you get perfect white caps! I used puff embossing powder this time to get a 3-D look. I also added a few more waves with an embossing pen. Previously I’d cut a mask to cover the waves so I could ink the sand. Always be sure to save those!Then I used a very old Stampin’ Up! stamp to create texture on the sand with two darker I inks and some copper pigment ink. It makes the sand shine and sparkle. Gold works very well too.

I wanted some detail in the ocean so I used a Kaisercraft set called Sandy Toes to add the island. I selectively inked it to get the various colours as it’s a one piece stamp with no layering stamps. I also added the sailboat from the Hero Arts set and the sea gulls. I stamped them in 3 different greys to make some look closer and some further away. I added stenciled clouds and sky and the shells to the beach along with the sentiment. But I thought it needed one more thing to complete the card. So far this was a one layer card which is something I hardly ever do. But I just had to add some die cut beach chairs also from the Hero Arts stamp set.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Cards

I Adore You Heart Balloons Card

February 8, 2019 beccreates1

Wow! So many love-themed challenges this week including ours at Crazy 4 Challenges! I actually make love cards a lot, not just before and for this particular holiday. Love should be celebrated all the time right? I’ve had quite a few on Instagram lately. You should check out what I post over there, just saying!

I started with a soft background using Distress inks, I think Tumbled Glass and Cracked Pistachio. I made my own stencil for the ground/sky line but I used a Simon Clouds for Days stencil for the clouds. I love that there are full clouds and 4 sides for single cloud edges plus you can get different looks by flipping the stencil over, just be sure to wash it first! Ask me how I know… 🙂

The stamps are all from the January My Monthly Hero Card Kit. Here’s a closeup of the balloons. I may have stamped/coloured them on the wrong paper as they over blended to the point that you can’t tell I blended them at all on some. Argh… I used some R80s, RV 50s and RV60s series Copics. Then, after cutting off the strings they came with, I carefully glued gold strings to the bottom of each one. I added the balloons to the card with foam tape at the tops (the glue dots I used for the thread secured the bottoms) and very carefully tied the strings so they all lay straight and neat, adhering the knot to the bike. I wanted them to appear to be blowing back in the wind and I think it worked! I added some pink gems from Studio Katia to the card to accent the pinkness of the balloons. The bike was also coloured with Copics, this time in the Y20s and 30s, probably Y21, 35 and 38 with some Cool greys for the metallic parts and a bit of BGs for the ombre bike basket. Everyone needs an ombre turquoise bike basket right? I know I do!

I hope you still need some lovey cards and will join us over at the C4C blog! We’d all love to see you over there! Don’t forget to find me over on Instagram, click the sidebar link or search for BecCreates1!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Cards

Winter Critter Scene Card

February 2, 2019 beccreates1

Winter has a solid grip on us here in Southern Ontario. Even though I hate winter, I do like watching the snow fall when it’s quiet and dark outside. So I tried to incorporate some of that peaceful stillness in my card.

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Our challenge this week at Crazy 4 Challenges was to use groundhogs in honour of Groundhog day or, if you don’t have any, use another small critter that lives on or in the ground. I recently bought Winter Time Fun by Hero Arts so the critters in there are perfect for this challenge.

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I couldn’t decide what medium to use to colour them in. Do you ever have that problem? I finally decided that my coloured pencils could use some love as I hadn’t used them in a while. So if you enlarge the photo and notice some of the black lines aren’t all that dark, that’s why.

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I decided that the deer would be a reindeer. Did you know that most deer except female reindeer lose their antlers in the winter? I only learned that recently! I had to look up what they look like of course, I think we have reindeer in northern Canada but I’ve never been north enough to see them. I chose a red fox for some additional colour.

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I used two colours for the tree and added some light blue to soften the snowy areas. Then I used orangey reds for the cardinal and warm greys for the raccoon. Now that I see it enlarged, I covered some of the black lines here too. But I really don’t mind. The background was done with Distress inks over the masked images; the snowy hill was masked too with a simple hand cut mask made of plain printer paper.

So now to add a sentiment. I was thinking of a large scripty font but when I placed the clear stamp in the sky, it overwhelmed the small images and made the sky look cluttered. I finally decided on a small simple sentiment at the bottom which kept the calm look intact.

While you are staying indoors staying warm, I hope you will pop on over to the C4C blog to see the other designer’s creations and join us!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Cards

Floral Art Thankful Card

December 8, 2018 beccreates1

I can’t believe the year is almost over. Today is the last Crazy 4 Challenges of the year as we take a break for the holidays. The challenge was to use any of the sketches from this year as inspiration.

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I’ll be honest, I completely forgot to create a card for this challenge until it was pretty late on Friday. I’d already stamped the floral images and sentiment then started creating a card by adding the flower and leaves to the background when I remembered! Ooops! So I quickly checked the sketches to see if I could make this card work. It didn’t really fit any of them until I saw the one I designed which would work if I added a frame. I would have placed the sentiment lower and maybe on an angle if I’d planned to use this sketch from the beginning but oh well. Make it work like Tim Gunn always says on Project Runway.

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The flowers, dies and sentiment are all from Altenew as are the inks except the Versamark I used to heat emboss the sentiment. The leaves are a mix of an aqua and a green in case you are looking for the exact colour; you won’t find it! Again, another make it work move. I used the aqua but then wasn’t happy with it. So I added the green overtop which I ended up loving. I may even deliberately use this combo again. The frame was cut with 2 Hero Arts Rectangle Infinity dies then I added some gold paint pen. I love gold mirror cardstock but it’s so dang expensive! So this is a quick and cheap alternative way to get the gold we all love. It’s a bit more matte than shiny but for such a thin frame I didn’t think it mattered. The sequins are from Lucy’s Little Things from the Sunset pack. I usually take sequins from several packs but today just the one. I loved how the sequins looked so much, I ended up wishing this was a shaker! But as you may have noticed, I’m a bit obsessed with shakers!

I’m so grateful for all of you who come by to see my art! I treasure every comment you leave! Your kind words make my day!

I hope you will pop on over to the blog to see what our team has created! Join us my adding your creation to the link up.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Cards

Swing High, Swing Free

December 1, 2018December 1, 2018 beccreates1

When you were a kid, did you love swinging? I know I did! I was able to swing higher than any other kid in my school in grades 5 and 6, my favourite activity at lunch! Did you ever have a tree swing? That would have been the best thing ever but alas, we didn’t have a tree large enough with an overhanging branch.

c4c 18 tree girl swing

At Crazy4Challenges this week, our theme was to create a project with a tree. The obvious move is to make something holiday. But as you know if you’ve been here a while, I don’t celebrate any holidays. So I went in search of something cool to use for my card. This summer (spring?) Hero Arts released a tree kit. I love the awesome frame dies they’ve included lately that almost fill a 4.25×5.5″ card base. Amazingly, I think I only used the kit twice since I got it! So it felt good to get some more use out of it for this card. I always feel guilty if a kit arrives and I don’t make at least 4 or 5 cards right away. Do any of you feel that way?

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The background was watercoloured with a few Daniel Smith watercolours. They are amazing for their depth of colour and I adore the ones with real gemstone pigment and the ones with sparkle, I think they are called Duochrome. Most of the time, I use cold press, aka mid textured watercolour paper but when I’m making a background, especially one with minimal stamping, I like to use rough paper, aka very textured paper. (Hot press is very smooth, like it’s been ironed so that a way to help you remember hot vs cold pressed. If you use a cold iron, you’d have far more texture in your clothing than with a hot iron right?)

The sentiment was hard for me to choose. I find when I make cards with basic sentiments, I use them up from my stash or sell them far sooner than the others. But this one might be perfect for someone from More Love Letters so I used it anyway.It wouldn’t surprise me if you are going to make a tag or card with a tree in the coming week so don’t forget to link it up at C4C!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Uncategorized

Mermaid’s Treasure

July 13, 2018 beccreates1

For the last few years, I’ve been obsessed with all things related to the ocean and blue-greens like teal, aqua and turquoise. I didn’t have any mermaid stamps until this year but I am so hooked!

This sweet little gal and her accompanying stamps are by Stamping Bella. This style of illustration is my favourite from this company. She was so much fun to colour with my Copics. The little dots on her tail look like scales right? The coins in the treasure chest are coloured with a coppery gold pen. Isn’t the ocean-themed frame stunnning? It’s by Hero Arts, cut from Bristol Smooth paper, sponged with Distress Oxide inks and flicked with water to create texture. The little tiny fishies I added as accents were cut from the area behind the mermaid; rather than wasting them, I trimmed the fish colouring them with warm colours to help them stand out. The background is hard to make out here but it’s stamped with the sea weed stamp that accompanies the mermaid.

Do you love the ocean? I could make nothing but beach and ocean themed cards and be very happy!

I’m hosting a giveaway! Read the details HERE!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Uncategorized

Last but not Least, TSTR DT Application 4!

June 29, 2015 beccreates1

I went all out on this one. Shabby but bold!

I started with a rather painstaking process of learning how to use foil. My first three attempts failed miserably despite following directions from several different prominent crafter’s blogs! Grrr… But I finally got results I could use even if I didn’t love it. I applied Versamark through a stencil and clear embossed it. Then I added foil and ran my paper through my laminator. It melts the embossing powder so the foil can stick. Unfortunately, it also flattened the melted embossing powder causing it to spread out. So my pattern is a bit more messy than I had hoped for but hopefully that just enhances the shabby chic-ness.

I made the small white flowers, I realized that I hadn’t use the baby’s breath as inspiration at all so I made the closest flowers I could! I think they softened an otherwise quite bold card. I used the yarrow die set from Susan’s Garden. Sizzix used to manufacture them but now I believe you can get them from Elizabeth Crafts. I used the Paper Players sketch 225. and of course The Shabby Tear Room DT call.

Enjoy, Rebecca