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HERO ARTS HIPPITY HOP

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Today is a fun day! We’re havin’ a Hero Arts hop! There be prizes, too! Info on that is more towards the bottom of my post. Hero Arts stamps were among the very first I ever purchased over 25 years ago, and now they’re celebrating their 45th anniversary!!! That’s pretty amazing! You can learn more about them HERE in the Meet the Maker series.

On this hop, I’m sharing two cards with very different looks but from the very same set:

Color Layering Monarch Butterfly

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Watercolor goodness in this first one . . .

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Layered tints of blue, sage and deep aqua on the 2nd.

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PRIZE DETAILS:

You can win one of three $25 gift certificates to the Ellen Hutson shop! Winners will be drawn from commenters along the blog hop so make sure to comment at each stop before Friday, June 28th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be notified by email.

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And, by the by, there’s also an awesome Hero Arts sale going on at Ellen Hutson June 21-23rd! Use code meetHERO at check-out to save 25% on the Hero Arts brand category of products.

In addition to a wide variety of stamps, they also produce some of my favorite related tools and supplies! Just to name a few:

Thank you for stopping by and have a splendid weekend!

HOP ROSTER:

This post contains affiliate links.

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MASKED SPOTLIGHT EFFECT

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This is a really fun masking effect that works particularly well for a design like this—I thought this made for a fun birthday card for the guys!

It does take a little bit of forethought and pre-planning, tho.

Did a quick video tutorial on how to do this effect:

 
DESIGN NOTE: Shimmer Pen was brushed over the Big City die cut after it was mounted to the card front.

DESIGN NOTE: Shimmer Pen was brushed over the Big City die cut after it was mounted to the card front.

Whaddya think? If you’ve never done it before, would you give it a try?

And, heads’ up! It’s National Splurge Day! HAH! Anyhoo, if ya’ feel like treatin’ yo’self, here’s a coupon code for ellenhutson.com

Happy masking—and happy splurging!

3 CARDS USING SQUEEZE THE DAY

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I was having a hellacious time trying to shoot these against a white backdrop (bright sunny days are an exposure nightmare for me when I need to photograph something. Of course, so are dreary rainy days, too. Whenever I have to shoot something, I hope it will be a cloudy day; no such luck since last Friday. LOL!).

After a lot of frustration, I tossed aside all the white backdrops I had on hand and grabbed this lovely, minimalist woodgrain tray I found at Nitori while I was in Japan. I love woodgrain, and when I spied these trays that came in different wood finishes and a ton of different sizes, I had to bring at least two home with me. I mean, c’mon—something utilitarian that can also do double duty as a photography backdrop? No brainer. •fist pump• And I love the contrast they provide to my typical mostly-white cards!

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So. How ‘bout those limes? I love having a citrusy rainbow of color behind them and used that fun background from Wonky Backdrops—it’s so good for so many things!

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I taped together two Hero Arts Infinity Circle dies to make a die cut ring to cluster my lemons, etc. into. I was having trouble clustering all the elements how I wanted them and corralling them like this led me to a pleasing arrangement. Before I mounted them, I scored a trio of lines across my card front just for a little added texture and interest—gave it just enough without going over the top or cluttering things up.

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When life hands ya’ lemons, just remember . . . •chortle•

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I cut the sentiment apart before popping it up—Hey, Mikey! I likey!

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It’s hard to tell in the first photo, but I put a layer of Clear Pico Embellisher by Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts over the top of the lemons to make ‘em all juicy and what not. Hopefully, this angle shows it off much better. You could use Glossy Accents or NUVO Clear Drops, of course, if that’s what you have on hand.

All of today’s designs were stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento and colored in with Copics (specific colors I used are listed down below in the supplies).

Are you a fan of citrus? I love it. And margaritas. Shaken, not frozen. •chinkle•

Alrighty, then! That’s all I got today. Have a gooder!

SUPPLIES (affiliate links used wherever possible):

ALWAYS VOICES IN MY HEAD

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When it’s Monday, we drink the coffee and then we do the things. Or, at least we try to do the things; I apparently need a lot more coffee . . .

I digress . . .

Gonna cut to the chase: The images on all these were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics.

For skin tones, I used the following:


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My girl here is blonde; I intermixed swipes of:

BTW, the bow in her hair is a trick I learned eons ago from buddy Lisa Spangler —it’s washi tape folded in half and tied into a simple not. Mounted with a Mini Glue Dot. (yes, she is also a washi tape addict!!!)

Sometimes I like to take a soft color like Cool Shadow and swipe it across a sentiment.

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I just cut away the top of my card front with the 4 1/4” speech bubble die and then lightly blended a coral color along the bottom to give it a little definition; you can write a personal message underneath the speech bubble flap.

I used those Life-changing Brushes I’m always raving about—I could never in a million years could have gotten that soft and delicate a blend any other way—seriously, I have tried and tried and I just suck when it comes to the old ink blending tool.

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My brunette girl has some little auburn highlights goin’ on:

And, if you showed up for Monday, you do indeed deserve a whole sheet of gold stars! * chinkle *

Thanks for poppin’ today!

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MY JUNE 2019 COLLECTION IS UP!

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My latest stamps & dies collection for Ellen Hutson LLC is now available! You can see the full monty on the release page here: JUNE ESSENTIALS BY ELLEN

On this project the images were stamped (onto watercolor paper) with Versafine Golden Meadow (a surprisingly effective alternative to stamping in black, when watercoloring nature/foliage images) and watercolored by pressing waterbased ink pads (listed in supplies at the bottom of the post) against my Water Media Mat and then loading my water brush with color from there to paint.

After everything was dry, I lightly/sparingly spattered black acrylic paint over top. Speech bubble is attached to a mini action wobble so it boings around when you flick it. •chortle•

This particular collection is so me—and I mean SO, SO ME!!!

  • Always wanted a moped; now I got one (well, close enough, BAH HA HAAAAAA!!!).

  • I adore the smell of citrus—look at all that sassy, lemony goodness!!!

  • And I’ve had this idea for the skyline die of my dreams and finally got the chance to make it real! •fist pump•

  • While we’re on the subject of a stamp set truly reflecting “me” . . . I’m keepin’ it real with this one.

I’ve been frantically making samples but haven’t had a chance to shoot ‘em yet; I recently returned from Japan, welcoming a new grand-baby/ helping my daughter’s family. Anyhoo, I’ll share more projects with the release over the coming days as I catch up on work!

Thanks for stopping by and, if you haven’t yet, be sure to visit the Ellen Hutson blog to see some pretty freakin’ fantastic inspiration shared by our team members— trust me, you will not be disappointed; those gals are ON FIRE!!!

SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: The following links may greatly enhance your creative expression, leading to inky fingers, increased card making and excessive jocularity.

GOOD TIMES

BIG CITY & LANDSCAPE DIES

SQUEEZE THE DAY

VOICES IN MY HEAD & SPEECH BUBBLES

•cheeky grin•