Hello and welcome to the last stop of today’s hop! The Hero Arts Mixed Media summer catalog is here and we’re celebrating the amazing new release with a blog hop full of ideas and a giveaway. If you’ve arrived from visiting Pocono Pam, you’re right on track!
The Mixed Media catalog includes a number of brand new products, including waxes, pastes, and pearls. Hero Arts has also introduced a new color system! This launch will feature 57 Core Ink colors, ideal for everyday stamping and cardmaking. Core Ink pads offer a mix of updated current color formulas and 6 new colors. Each will have a matching Inker. Plus, many of the Core Ink colors match the Premium Cardstock, with 12 new paper colors also available. The new Color System will become available for purchase on the Hero Arts site starting June 20.
I’m not very experienced with mixed media so some of the projects I’m sharing today were a fun stretch for me and I still used a technique (brayering paint) that I’m already familiar with. For these three coordinating projects, I used the Swirls and Dots background stamp, acrylic paints, and gold embossing powder.
For the card, I pulled out my gel press and brayered on a thin layer of two shades of turquoise acrylic paints. I gently pressed the background stamp onto the gel press to lift away the stamp pattern and while the acrylic paint was drying on the gel press, I quickly cleaned the stamp. When the turquoise paints were dry, I brayered on a thin layer of iridescent gold acrylic paint and then lifted the image with a piece of white cardstock. I trimmed the panel down to 4.25″ x 5.5″ and then used foam tape to adhere a stamped sentiment (this one is from the Message Strips Stamp & Cut XL set). To finish, I glued the card front to a card base.
The necklace uses a piece of an extra gel plate print and necklace pieces from Craft Fantastic. This was very quick and easy to create!
For my third project with this background stamp, I began with a white wood letter “S” that I purchased from Michael’s. I used painter’s tape to mask off the sides of the letter, leaving the top surface exposed. Next, I added small dabs of the same two turquoise acrylic paints and then used the brayer to spread the paint. When the paint was dry, I treated the surface with an anti-static powder tool and then inked up the background stamp with Clear Embossing & Watermark ink. I stamped down onto the letter and then sprinkled Gold embossing powder over the S. Using a very small paint brush, I cleaned up any stray embossing powder and then used a heat gun to quickly melt the embossing powder. I did not have any trouble with the heat gun and acrylic paint, but I recommend letting the heat gun warm up first and then being quick to melt the embossing powder without lingering too long.
Giveaway
Hero Arts will be giving away a prize pack (pictured below) valued at $68 to a winner drawn from the comments left across the hop. Comment on the hop through Sunday, May 22 at 11:59pm PT to enter. Winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.
SkyPaperScissors 