Hello, friends! Today I have ink blended greeting cards to share using April 2020 My Monthly Hero Kit from Hero Arts as well as an older sentiment stamp set from my stash.
This month kit from Hero Arts features a large 6×8 clear stamp set, coordinating dies to cut the images out, beautiful specialty papers, an intense black ink pad and, my favorite part of this kit is an absolutely amazing stencil. When I saw this stencil for the first time I really blew my mind – all the various color combinations that can be used with this design came rushing into my head and I started ink blending colorful backgrounds right away.
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VIDEO TUTORIAL
As always, I filmed a video tutorial showing how to create this project from start to finish. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy it. Watch it below or on my Youtube channel.
Like this video? Please give it a big thumbs up (you can do this on Youtube video page right under the video) and share it with a crafty friend! Leave me a comment too, I love hearing from you!
CARDS DETAILS
I made 6 cards using just this one stencil, they were so easy to make and I was feeling so much joy when using my inks and ink blending these backgrounds. During the current times, current restrictions, the quarantine I think we all feel a little bit down, I know some feel very much alone and isolated, I myself do feel very sad and depressed at times, but crafting is what keeps me going, crafting is what I look forward to every morning, crafting is what is putting a smile on my face and my crafty friends are the best friends in the world.
I want to mention how grateful I am to all the companies out there who design and manufacture products for us to create with. These are not just products, these are medicine that helps to keep us going, that helps us stay sane and still have a bit of joy in our lives despite the Coronavirus.
This stencil is what got me really excited and brought a huge smile to my face as I was making these cards. I pulled out a lot of inks from Hero Arts, I pulled out my ink blending tools and I just blended my heart out and created various colorful backgrounds.
I did use a lot of the ombre ink pads, especially Hero Arts Neon inks, I don’t typically use neon inks for my cards as I find the colors a bit too vibrant even for my taste, but here I think they worked perfectly for these sunset backgrounds.
I used washi tape to secure the paper to the stencil, although you can also use spray adhesive to make the stencil sticky and that might actually make it easier to use it as there are some very fine details, little clouds that get caught up in the ink blending tool if your ink blending is too vigorous. I’ve later found that dabbing the ink instead of blending it, especially over those detail areas is the easiest way to apply the ink.
The color combinations which can be used with this stencil, I think, are truly limitless. You can have a dark blue, almost a night sky background, and sunset. You can have a purple sunset, you can have a pink and yellow sunrise, it doesn’t have to be a sunset, it can be a sunrise too.
The waves at the bottom of the stencil don’t have to be waves, they can be sand dunes, and therefore can be blended in various shades of yellow, orange and brown. They can be hills and can be blended in various shades of green if those are green hills, or pink, yellow, purple or any other floral color if those are blooming hills or fields.
You can also make these into a fantasy background and just use any colors you like, even if they don’t really occur in nature. I like to think of this as my art and if I feel like using colors that aren’t seen in a real setting, I can use colors that aren’t seen in a real scene like this.
As I was ink blending my backgrounds I’ve found it easier to use Waffle Flower Mini Water Media Mat, it fits my stencil perfectly, allowing me to keep my work area nice and ink-free. I also used a smaller ink blending tool for some of the smaller areas, where I wanted to ink blend the ink over smaller areas to have as little ink overlap as possible.
I also ink blended on in just red. I used Taffy as my lightest red, well pink really as this is a pink color, next added a lot of Crimson and finished it all off with Raspberry ink. This is also one background where I sprayed Hero Arts White Shimmer Iridescent ink to add sparkly shimmer to my background.
The April kit comes with a beautiful stamp set picturing Australian fauna. I wanted to keep my cards very much on the simpler side, so I skipped using that stamp set and instead pulled out an older set from hero Arts with a variety of thank you sentiments. I just felt like I wanted to make Thank You cards – the stamp set I used is called Thank You Messages and I just stamped a Thank You inside the blank space that represents the sun or the moon.
I trimmed my backgrounds down, some were cut to 4 x 5 1/4”, some to 3 3/4 x 5” and foam mounted them to A2 light gray and kraft card bases.
Lastly, I wanted to add some embellishments, but at the same time I really wanted to keep these cards as simple as possible, so I went ahead and added an enamel heart to each and I tried to match the color of the heart to my stamping.
I had the best time designing and making these cards. Stay safe, stay healthy and have fun crafting!
HERO ARTS MY MONTHLY HERO KIT & ADD-ONS
Please note, this month shipping will be delayed. Currently we estimate that shipping will begin April 20. We know you are excited to get your kit and appreciate your patience as we work through delays during this time of COVID-19. We are sending love and support, as well as healing thoughts to those who know people who have fallen sick or are sick themselves.
 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit April 2020 Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts CH330 We Are In This Together World Enamel Pin Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI760 April Word Fancy Die (B) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts H6431 Koala on Branch Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI759 Nature Border Fancy Die with Frame (F) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI753 Surfs Up Fancy Die Set (F) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts CG809 Eucalyptus Bold Prints Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI754 Beach HeroScape Frame Cuts (C) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts CM447 Beach HeroScape Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI755 Protea Flowers Frame Cuts (C) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts CM448 Protea Flowers Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI756 Bandicoot & Friends Frame Cuts (C) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts CM449 Bandicoot & Friends Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI757 Patterned Animals Frame Cuts (C) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts CM450 Patterned Animals Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts DI758 Color Layering Joey Frame Cuts (B) Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts CM451 Color Layering Joey Shop at: HA |
BLOG HOP
Hero Arts
Michelle Short
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Channin Pelletier
Daniel West
Ilina Crouse
Debi Adams
Janette Kausen
Yana Smakula – you are here!
Lydia Fiedler
Jennifer McGuire
Julee Tilman
Maria Willis
Seeka
Laurie Willison
Amy Kolling
Libby Hickson
GIVEAWAY
Hero Arts is giving away one $50 gift card to one lucky commenter, picked randomly from comments left across the hop. Enter by Sunday, April 12th at 11:59 pm pacific, and the winner will be announced on the Hero Arts blog the following week.
SUPPLIES
I’m listing the products I used below. Click on the link to go directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!
Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kit April 2020 Shop at: HA |
 Hero Arts Stamps Thank You Messages Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Waffle Flower Mini Water Media Mat Shop at: SSS | SC |
 Neenah Classic Crest 80 Lb Desert Storm Shop at: SSS | AZ |
 Hero Hues Premium Cardstock Pebble Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Hero Hues Cardstock Dove White Shop at: SSS | SC | HA |
 Hero Arts AF420 Taffy Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts AF421 Fruit Punch Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA |
 Hero Arts Crimson Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts AF423 Lemon Drop Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA |
 Hero Arts AF424 Key Lime Fizz Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA |
 Hero Arts AF426 Pool Party Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts AF427 Blue Raspberry Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA |
 Hero Arts AF428 Splash Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts AF432 Grape Slush Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Ombre Pool To Navy Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Green Apple Reactive Ink Shop at: SSS | SC | HA |
 Hero Arts Ombre Neon Red to Purple Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Ombré Neon Yellow to Orange Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Ombre Spring Brights Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Ombre Mermaid Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Ombre Neon Chartreuse to Blue Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | SC | HA |
 Hero Arts Raspberry Jam Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts Ombre Meadow Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Hero Arts White Iridescent Shimmer Spray Shop at: SSS | SC | HA | AZ |
 Spellbinders Circle Replacement Foam Shop at: SSS | SC | SB | AZ |
 Ranger Mini Round Ink Blending Tools Shop at: SSS | SC | AZ |
 FSJ Dauber Dowel Small (2 cm) Shop at: SB |
 Spray Adhesive Shop at: SSS |
 White Fun Foam 12 Pack 9 x 12 Shop at: SSS | AZ |
 Simon Says Stamp Craft Tacky Glue Shop at: SSS |
Awesome cards! What a perfect stencil to use to mass produce cards!
Yana, love your cards! This kit is awesome, I may just have to order one.
Your cards and this release are amazing. Great job!
These cards are so unique and versatile.
Beautiful and simple cards. A great way to make multiple cards. Thanks Yana! Love your work. Thanks HA!
Great cards, love the colors!
Love the color combinations, fabulous cards!
Love Love Love the rainbow card
You go girl!!!! Cool stencil and some really great/interesting color combos! And I agree … crafting is medicine for me too. Hugs back.
Wonderful ink blending creations.
Melissa
“Sunshine HoneyBee”
Can’t wait to get that stencil. I love the multiple colors that you used with it. AND adding the Iridescent shimmer ink on the pink card was a great idea!
Love making multiple cards and your cards are wonderful!
Very pretty cards. And so colorful. It looks like you had a lot of fun with colors. I just love this stencil.
Yana – thanks for describing the hard times that are happening all over and how just one item lifted you up if for only a bit. The colors are very bright and happy.
I’ve seen your work before and really like it. These cards are great. Love the colors.
I am so excited about getting this stencil. I love the colors that you combined to make such bright cheerful cards. I am thankful that we have such talented crafters to share with us to give us something to smile about in these difficult times.
Your ink blending color combos with the kit stencil made fabulous cards, and they are so cheerful!
I love that awesome stencil & your colorful cards are wonderful! Thanks so much for all the great inspiration!
Agree with you that the color combinations are timeless. These colors brings much cheer to me especially at a time like we are experiencing.
Lovely simple cards. Thanks.
Your video was such a joy to watch as you had so much fun creating these backgrounds! Thanks for sharing with us and creating some light during these difficult times!! Love Hero Arts and their wonderful products.
I LOVE your sentiments and GORGEOUS backgrounds! Especially the blue!
Good seeing the different color mixes for the stencil.
All your cards are stunning! I can’t wait for my HA kit to get here and try out that ink blending.
Thank you for sharing the video. You stay healthy too.
Boy, I really wanted this kit!! I love the little animals. However, I still think, that this sky would be perfect for Halloween. Hero Arts you have such a great heart! Thanks for the inspiration and please stay safe and healthy!
All of your cards are so serene. I grew up in California, and this reminds me of the vibrant sunsets I remember. Thank you for sharing these beautiful scenes with us!
Love the vivid colors that was used in these cards! I’m looking forward to trying out this stencil!
Love the rainbow sky
Thank you for the amazing inspiration ❤️
Just a big WOWza…what gorgeous cards just using a stencil and different color palettes! So incredibly creative!!
This stencil is great. I love ow you did the ink blending,
Wow! These ink blended cards are beautiful. Especially the one with all the different colors. What a fun way to use the stencil.
Simply gorgeous!
Another kit that knocks it out of the park! Thanks for all the inspiration and joy these kits bring❣️God bless!
These are so pretty! LOVE your color choices! I need to order this ASAP!
I love the colors you chose for the sunset and the added shimmer. Thanks for sharing and stay safe.
This set of cards are wonderful. I think it will be therapeutic to just try out a variety of colour combos.
The very colorful ones are SO COOL!!! I never would have thought to do something so different. THANK YOU for expanding my thinking…
Gorgeous cards, beautiful colors. I agree with you — that stencil is amazing!
Love love love your cards! The ink blending is sooooooo good! Smart idea too!
Oh what lovely cards! It is amazing to see the same design with different colors and mediums – fabulous inspiration.
Those reactivate inks look amazing! I cheated and just watched the video. Much more fun listening to you.
Wow! I love all three of these cards. The rainbow colors are especially fun. Great new kit!
Lovely color blending and the moon was perfect for your verses.
All your cards are Beautiful! Love the colors you use. Thank you for sharing.
I love your cards – they just make me happy. Thanks for sharing them.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful creations.
Beautiful backgrounds, Yana! I love your gorgeous colours of ink blending! Thanks for your super video as always! Stay safe!
Fantastic cards! I love the rainbow stenciling!
Wow, such an amazing use of color!
I just love all the possibilities with this kit – Thanks
Love your cards. Beautiful as always. Thanks for sharing this great release.
I love the use of a single color with this stencil.
These are beautiful! Love the colors.