A crafty life

Do you ever find yourself buying new craft supplies -- ones that you really like and are very excited about -- and then never using them? I know I do. Sometimes it's because I have other projects I need to finish first. Or maybe it's patterned paper that is just too pretty to cut up. And other times I'm just not sure what to make.

For the past several months I've been trying to make a point of playing with ten unused craft supplies each month: stamp sets, papers, embellishments (sequins, ribbon, etc.), dies, or whatever. Several of those unused supplies have included past My Monthly Hero kits from Hero Arts. I love subscribing to the kits, but sometimes life gets in the way, and they just seem to stack up. 

One of the kits I finally used this summer was from May 2019 (yikes! over a year ago!) and featured all kinds of crafty images and sentiments. Perfect to make cards for crafty friends!

Supplies:
Kit: May 2019 My Monthly Hero (Hero Arts)
Paper: Solar White 110-lb card stock (Neenah); Whisper White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); alcohol markers - Flirty Flamingo, Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up! Blends/Blendabilities)
Accessories: Sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Frame in Frame 2 Cutting Plate (Taylored Expressions), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I'll admit, when I first pulled out this kit I wasn't entirely sure what to make, even though I think it's adorable. But I'm really happy with how these cards turned out.

For the first card I cut a panel of white card stock to 4" x 5-1/4", just slightly smaller than an A2 card base. I placed the card stock in my stamp positioner and masked off a strip near the bottom of the panel for a visual reference. Then I chose several of the stamps from the kit and placed them on the exposed strip of card stock until I had an arrangement I liked. I closed the lid of my stamp positioner to pick up all the stamps, applied the ink, and stamped the images on the white card stock. I removed the masks, colored the images with alcohol markers, and stamped a sentiment in the lower right corner just below the images. I rounded the corners of the panel and adhered it to a white card base using foam tape. Since this is such a clean card, I didn't want to add to much embellishment, so I settled on three clear sequins for just a touch of sparkle. (How could I make a crafty-themed card without sequins?!)

For the second card, I stamped a bunch of the images from the kit on white card stock, colored them with alcohol markers, and then cut them out with the coordinating dies. I love all these fun little pieces! I used a white card base again, but this time I added a black die-cut scalloped frame. I arranged the die-cut pieces inside the frame, and once I was happy with how they looked, I glued them in place. I used foam tape for the little "for you" card in the middle to add a little dimension and finished off the card with three clear sequins.

This layout would be fun to try with other themes, too, such as flowers, leaves, or different holiday-themed images. (Pumpkins, bats, and ghosts would be so cute for Halloween!) Here's a tip: color and cut out a few more images than you think you'll need. That gives you more possibilities for your card front, and if you do end up with extra pieces, you can always add them to the inside of your card. (That's what I did, although I forgot to take a picture.)

Thanks for stopping by today!