Stamp Kits
Hero Arts has been putting out monthly stamp kits that include: stamps, dies, paper and some embellishments for over a two years now. It is a great way to get a set of exclusive stamps and accouterments for a great price. The Kits sell out quickly so you need to either pay for a subscription or order quickly. I like ordering these because I come up with a ton of ideas of what to do with them quickly. Here are a few of my ideas using the August Kit highlighting: die inlay, stencils and watercoloring.
Die Inlay Technique
Inside the kit, are many dies some of which coordinate with the stamps one of which is a Hero Arts Fancy Frame die with clouds and stars. As soon as I saw this die, inlay jumped into my head. To make the inlay, I first needed to create a galaxy background. I laid down Distress Inks in: Stormy Sky, Scattered Straw, Picked Raspberry, Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord. I then added Black Soot all over trying to let the initial colors show through. I then used my white UniBall Gel Pen to dot all over the background. For a finishing touch, I sprayed the galaxy background with shimmer spritz from the kit.
 |  Savannah’s galaxy background. The stars were added with a white uniball gel pen |
When setting up for a die cut inlay, Stik It Double Sided Adhesive is your friend. I adhered Stik It to one side of a piece of Neenah Solar White 80lb. Using the cloud and star frame die, I die cut out the white and galaxy pieces using the cloud and star frame cut and saved all the bits.
 Die Cutting the galaxy background. Remember to save the pieces. I have a small metal pet food bowl for this purpose. |  Die Cutting the white piece with added Stik It Adhesive. With the adhesive already present, it is easy to add the inlay pieces. |
Closeup of the inlay. All the galaxy pieces have been added which gives the inlay effect. It adds dimension and interest but not bulk to your card. The result is a smooth card front.
On the die cut white piece, I inserted all the galaxy die cut pieces like building a puzzle; because the Stik It was present, I did not have to glue each piece down. To complete the card, I die cut the boy sitting on the moon out of both paper (after first gold heat embossing the image) and fun foam and mounted both to the card using Ranger Multi Medium Matte Adhesive. I then used the Hero Arts Nesting Cloud Dies to cut out the appropriate sized cloud of vellum with “dream big” heat embossed onto it. I the adhered the card front to a prescored A2 sized ivory notecard. On the envelope, I stamped stars in gold pigment ink on the front and the saying “life is but a dream” on the envelope flap.
I then used the left over pieces to make another card with a galaxy outside and white inlay.
I then used the left over pieces to make another card with a galaxy outside and white inlay.
Using Stencils
The kit came with a Celestial Stencil with a pattern of stars and moons. After taping the stencil onto a piece of Neenah 80lb white cardstock, I applied Distress Ink in: Stormy Sky, Blueprint Sketch, Dusty Concord and Wilted Violet over the stencil. While the Distress Ink was still wet, I added Perfect Pearls in Perfect Gold to give the background a soft sheen. For the card, I used an add on set from Hero Arts, Dream Big to stamp the Planet Balloon bouquet and the little boy in Hero Arts Intense Black ink. I used Spectrum Aqua watercolor markers and a Kuretake Waterbrush to watercolor the planet balloons on Tim Holtz watercolor paper. |   |
I stamp multiple cards at a time. When watercoloring, it is good to allow colors to dry in between layers or else the colors can run and your image will become muddy.
To assemble the card, I cut down the watercolored panel to 51/4″H x 3″W. I also cut a piece of Fun Foam to slightly smaller than the planet balloon panel. I heat embossed stars from the Dream Big stamp set with Color Box Gold Glitter Embossing Powder for some additional interest and spritzed the whole panel with Tsukineko Shimmer Spray. The sentiment is from the Hero Arts Dream Big Stamp Set. I adhered the Celestial Stencil panel onto Hero Arts A2 sized pre-folded notecard and used Scor Tape to adhere the fun foam and planet balloon front panel.
You can do these techniques with many different types of stamps and stencils. Be creative and use what you have. If you are interested in purchasing the Hero Arts My Monthly Card Kit, the kits are available at 1pm EST every first Monday of the month. During the preceding weekend, Hero Arts showcases some card ideas that highlight aspects of the kits. I have included some links to the products I used in this post. These are affiliate links and I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support and happy crafting!
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