Feb 15, 2018

Hero Arts 2018 Catalog Blog Hop and Giveaway


Welcome to the Hero Arts 2018 Catalog Blog Hop! I'm thrilled to be part of it.

The 2018 Catalog rocks. Check it out!  Details on the hop itself and the prizes are at the end of this post.

ABSTRACT SKYLINE BOLD PRINTS

I chose to work with Abstract Skyline Bold Prints. Love it because it's modern and graphic and different from anything else I have. Sometimes I have to step away from the flower patch...

I paired it with sentiments from You Are Loved Messages. 100% of the profits of this messages set go towards fighting bullying. Got to love that.

1. Foggy Card

For the first card, I wanted to create something that looked soft and a little like fog as it went up to the sky.

Blended Distress Oxide inks onto the white embossed design and then trimmed the panel. Flicked some water and added a few raindrops. Hint: blending on Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper is a lot easier than anything else I've tried.





2. Acting Like an Artist

Then I wanted a colorful, modern, abstract look. Put a small dab of yellow and magenta gouache paints on a craft mat and "painted' the stamped image with the edge of an old parking pass (the hard plastic kind that hangs off your review mirror).

The first time I tried it, the gouache covered up too much of the black lines. Toss. (I could have restamped the image after applying the gouache if I had a MISTI big enough to do so.  So, I mixed a tiny bit of water it into the yellow gouache with the parking pass, and applied it to the card, and then added some magenta. As I pressed down with the parking pass across the image, the paint spread thin and the colors mixed.

I love how the color changed as I added the magenta and played around with the parking pass. Used linen cardstock as it is very white and holds up quite well to gouache as long as you don't add a lot of water.



3. We Are All One

I stamped the image on water color paper, painted with Distress Oxide inks, lifted off most of the paint with a paper towel, and trimmed to get a different skyline.



SAFARI WILD ABOUT YOU


I also chose this set primarily because I "had" to have the giraffe!

1. Too Long -- Get It?






2. Awwwww

And, finally, a non traditional love card. Black "grass" is from the You Are Loved Messages set linked above. Yes, I know the giraffes appear to be walking on top of the grass. My giraffes are magical.



If you got this far, thanks!!!

GIVEAWAY! Hero Arts is giving away three $50 shopping sprees, drawn from comments left across all blogs in the hop. Please comment by Thursday, February 22nd at 11:59pm PT.  Hero Arts will announce the winner the following week. Good luck!

MOOD WHEN DONE = ***Grateful to Libby at Hero Arts for inviting me. I haven't done anything like this for awhile and it was fun.

145 comments:

Hannelie said...

Wow, Joan! Your cards are absolutely beautiful! LOVE the different effects you created . That safari set is on my wishlist because... Africa ♥

~amy~ said...

Joan, I'm loving ALL of your fabulous cards! So much fun! It's great seeing the sets in different ways.

Rubeena I. said...

I always love how you come up with your designs, Joan! I had so much fun with the Abstract Skyline Bold Prints, too! :)

Lydia Fiedler said...

Acting like an artist my arse! These are AMAZING!!!

Francie said...

Joan, YOU are magical. ❤️

Jan Elmore said...

Your art just says 'HAPPY'. Thank you!

Katy said...

Wonderful cards and ideas Joan! You are amazing!

Pdesmaraisdesigns.com said...

I love your cards especially the last one, so simple yet so pretty. Thanks for sharing :)

Natalie Winterstein said...

Awesome cards! I love that background building stamp. Really cool.

Debbie Rumpza said...

Wonderful cards!

Natalie said...

I love how you did those giraffes! Adorable!

Mary said...

LOVE all your cards! Neither of those sets are ones that would make it on my wishlist normally, but now I want both...oh...and the messages set...so I can CASE these cards! Really beautiful and creative and just...yummy.

Em said...

Love your style and those stamps you've chosen.

Unknown said...

love this!
Great ideas! thanks for sharing ;)

patti said...

wonderful cards

abhoneyab said...

Beautiful cards! Thanks for the inspiration!

Diane K said...

I really like all your cards. The white embossing with colored background is my favorite but I love love the giraffes too. Thanks for sharing all these new ideas.

Diane K said...
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Joyce said...

Love the giraffes card. Thanks you.

Purple Princess said...

I love the giraffes!

Marcie Lovett said...

Love the parking pass card. The skyline stamp is a must have!

Shanna said...

I love all of the ideas!

Terebene said...

I love the multicolored giraffes. Thanks for the ideas!

Mechele Dunlap said...

Great colors

Teresa Doyle said...

These are all great Joan, I especially like the foggy card and giraffes.

Dorothy C. said...

Loved all your cards. My favorite is the Foggy card. Also realized I have a pad of that Strathmore paper so I am definitely going to try blending on it.

dligon said...

very inspiring cards. Thanks for sharing

Leslie Miller said...

Holy cow, these cards are all amazing! I especially love everything you've done with the cityscape. We're talking artistic here! I hear you about stepping away from the flower patch. I'm so stuck there I've grown roots!

mddavis53 said...

Thank you.

Georgee said...

Great fast cards. Love them. Read the post below this. Thanks for all your help to women and children in need.

Jayell said...

Love all of your cards Joan, and how you used the same set in such varied ways.

Casey said...

Nice cards!!! i am partial to the giraffes all lines up. That is so cute!!!

Lisa O’Reilly said...

Love the artistic ideas!

StephB said...

I like how you went from subtle colours to bold vibrant, very nice! It's nice to see the range of designs in the new Hero Arts release.

Janet D. said...

You have a great eye, your creations are outstanding!

Caly Person said...

Love your simple cards, Joan! The vibrancy of the colors you use really makes the cards beautiful!

Betty said...

what a fun array of cards, Joan - especially love the first one!

Linda S. said...

I really like how colorful and graphic your cards were.

Unknown said...

These are amazing! I have to try the first technique!

Jennifer said...

These are all fantastic! Love the giraffes, contemporary buildings - really great ideas!

Christina Dauven said...

I love the art city card with the wild colors and purposefully crooked buildings.

liz said...

There are so many stamps I love from this release! I have the African animals from last year's kit!

Barbara said...

This is a great release and I love your cards. Thanks for the inspiration.

Geri S said...

Love the use of colors in these great cards! and love the new release!

Isabelle said...

Your colorful cards are really beautiful ! Thank you for sharing.

Iris said...

Amazing and gorgeous cards - love the colors.

Rema DeLeeuw said...

Lovely cards!

Danni M said...

love these cards!!

SmilynStef said...

How fun to participate in the hop ... you did an amazing job ... love them all.

NatQuebec said...

Beautiful !

Windy said...

Awesome cards! I love that you stepped out of your comfort zone! Good job!

Katie said...

So many neat ideas here - thank you!

Heather said...

What a fabulous collection of cards! That city scape stamp is unique and I love the different ways you showed it off.

sharon said...

I must have this set. I too, love giraffes.

Frances said...

Love the giraffes.

Deanna said...

Beautiful cards

Unknown said...

I love your color schemes here! Great inspiration!

Kirsty Vittetoe said...

In one word "WOW"!

DoriG said...

Great cards! I especially like the parking pass card.

Unknown said...

I am in love with the safari cards....makes me want to buy the set!

judy said...

I love your colorful cards, especially the giraffe cards!

Jodi Warren said...

Great giraffe cards. Love the 2nd one with the vertical lines to go with the long necks.

Christi Conley said...

Love your cards!! But the last one, is just, awwwwwww!

Arianna Barbara said...

Wow! Beautiful cards and colouring!!!

Patti H. said...

Super cool designs, Joan! Love all the different techniques with the skyline & adore the "too long" card! Thanks for the inspiration!

Trish said...

Joan, you ARE an artist and I love the cards that show off your talents. I like the parking pass technique, I will try it with a credit card and see what happens. Thanks for your beautiful work.

Becky said...

I love your cards, Joan. They show off your talents. The giraffe cards are cute. My daughter would flip over them. She loves giraffes.

Kelli said...

Love your cards - especially the ones with the skyline stamp! I live in NYC so I may have to get that one - and try some gouache! Thanks for sharing!

Meg M. said...

Joan... you've outdone yourself. I am amazed at how versatile your style is. you truly have a gift and passion for papercrafting. Now I want the city skyline stamp and the greeting set you featured. I could see me using the city skyline on the back of stamps - as a signature since I live in a neighborhood that looks just like that skyline. Thank you for always sharing so much of what you do. XO

Laetitia Lisa said...

I have to admit I'm in love with the girafe too ;)

Ginger said...

Your cards are inspiring and delightful! So happy to see so many cards.

Becky Moore said...

Amazing cards!!

Jeanne H said...

Love the giraffes too. Such fun cards.

D.Ann C said...

Ok, I want to live in a world where giraffes are bright pinks, blues and rainbow, too! These are all terrific... love your foggy and artistic cities, too!

Karen said...

I love your use of Hero Arts safari set! The simplicity is stunning!

Marilyn said...

Love your simple clean style!

Lisa A creations said...

So much inspiration! So many cute cards!

Aimee LaCroix-Slocum said...

I am so excited about the skyline stamp and so excited to see it used here....I absolutely LOVE the cards you have created! The gouache one is incredible and probably my fave one, but I really like all of them. The giraffes are AWESOME! I love the first one...those colors together!

Kjudy1 said...

What fun and creative cards!

Cynthia Cole said...

Such lovely cards!

Lisa Moline said...

Your cards are great! Hero Arts new catalog has really got some great new stamps and dies! Thank you for sharing!

Sue D said...

I like the variety of cards you created.

Annette Gordon said...

Each and every one of those cards are amazing. Just love the safari stamps and how you used them.

Daria said...

Wonderful cards! My favorite is the foggy skyline card. Thank you for sharing these.

Good Kardma by Jules said...

Great cards! I love how different they all are - very creative!

Kathy Eddy said...

Wow, what an assortment! Love the animal ones.

Unknown said...

Love the modern design. Thanks!

Sheila said...

I must say that I really like the modern design stamp that you used. Like you, I need to get away from my usual themes. Thanks for inspiring me! Your cards are very eye-catching.

Penny Hanuszak said...

Beautiful cards Joan, everyone. I love the cityscapes especially the bold yellow and reddy orange one and your giraffes with the score lines heading up are out of this world. Delightful! Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

Cynthia Clark said...

Wow, I love the artsy look you achieved on the first cards and those giraffes are too sweet. They've gone straight to the top of my list. Fabulous!!

stampcz said...

Love the artsy look!

Michelle Lupton said...

These are all awesome, but I love the multicoloured giraffes the most ;)

MelissaF said...

All such beautiful cards, my fave is the artsy gouache colored skyline, love those vibrant colors!

craftytreen said...

All of them are so creative and artsy! i love them! hugs, treen

Unknown said...

You’re too hilarious 😂. I love all your cards. And I’m excited to use the safari set (I got it due to giraffe 🦒 as well)

None None said...

Wow - what a great collection of cards, Joan!! Your giraffe cards are just beautiful! The gouache technique is interesting and your cards are lovely, especially with that abstract background! I'm still not clear on the parking pass technique you described - maybe my second latte hasn't fully woken me up yet. Did you use the parking pass (or hard plastic) as a squeegee?

Anushree Vaish said...

Adorable cards....thanks for sharing

Karen @ Misplaced Mojo said...

All of these are beautiful and I love the variety of looks you achieved, but my fav is the "Been Too Long" card!!! Love it so much!!!

Cyndi said...

Love the Safari set, and your multi-colored giraffes are wonderful.

goksmurf said...

So beautiful!

Jeanne Beam said...

Really awesome cards. Thanks for sharing...

Tammy L said...

Your cards are amazing, but I am just loving the abstract skyline ones! I don't have anything like that in my arsenal, and I am loving those!

Owl Make It Crafts said...

Great ideas! Love the colorful skyline and giraffe card :)

Andre M. said...

Love the different takes on the skyline stamp. It's great that a change in colour can totally alter the vibe of the card. Thanks for the inspiration.

Denise Bryant said...

Great cards! I love that skyline stamp!

Betty Lim-Silvernail said...

I love all the ideas you have shown with your beautiful cards! Thank you for the inspiration!

Betty Lim-Silvernail said...
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Kris in Alaska said...

Bold, bright, beautiful!

gabriella said...

I like your first card best , but emboss resist is a technique that I love

MyLittleBlueDog said...

Great cards, glad you enjoyed yourself.

Robin P said...

Awesome set of projects. Thanks for sharing.

Barbara said...

So creative! Love your cards.

Unknown said...

Love the different looks you achieved with the skyline stamp. I also love the repeated giraffe; the color combo is great. Thanks for the inspiration.

Barbara said...

I love all the cards, but I have to say the giraffes are my favorite! Just because! :)

Karen H said...

Terrific, fabulous cards! Know what you mean, had to have that one too...for the giraffe!

mtscrapgal said...

I enjoyed your "away from the flower patch" cards. They are all unique and stylish. Thanks.

Sue McRae said...

Really love the fun and artsy way you used the skyline stamp!

Unknown said...

I enjoyed all the cards. I especially liked how you scored from the giraffes neck to the top of the card! Just that extra little oomph! Great job!

Dana M said...

Fantastic cards! So fun to see the same stamp sets used in multiple ways.

Helen said...

love all the cards you share...thanks for your inspriation!

Patty said...

Wow!! Love all your cards & am seriously thinking of getting that cityscape stamp!!

vdoyle8 said...

Joan - Don't know if you'll get this far down in the comments section but I absolutely LOVE your cards. Your style is different from mine so I get great inspiration from your work. Your truly have an artistic soul! I would NEVER give these stamps a second glance, that's how far outside my norm they are. But your interpretation inspires me to open my eyes and really look at images in a different way. Thanks for sharing your work with us!

Laura said...

Very creative cards! I'm loving both city background stamps.

Anonymous said...

When I saw the city stamp I did not like it. But then I saw how you used it and my opinion changed. I love what you did with it. Those soft tones on the first card are lovely! I also really like the giraffe cards. They are wonderful!

Miriam Prantner said...

These are wonderful! I especially love the city scape ones, especially that second one with the bright colors on an angle, LOVE!

Marjorie DUMONTIER said...

This is such a fantastic set of cards !! I love your unique way to play with colours !
[margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]

Unknown said...

I love the play on words & use of color. Creative uses of the skyline stamp.

Judie said...

What awesome cards! I love their unique style!

Suzan Dorchik said...

Amazing cards. Love the Abstract Skyline Bold Prints.

Cathy Lillie said...

Great cards! I especially like the giraffes, my daughter adores them! Your magical giraffes are my favorite!

Deepti Aggarwal said...

Wow!! Awesome cards..Love each one of them... Love the abstracts one so much.

Unknown said...

I enjoy your sense of whimsy with these. From the "super artsy" to your magical giraffes, I would be happy to receive any one of these cards. :D Thanks so much for sharing!

Jackie said...

What wonderful cards! They are just so different from the normal. I love it!! Love what you did with the bold background stamp and your different coloured giraffes are awesome. You've inspired me to think outside the box. Thank you!!

Kathy M said...

I love your bold background stamp card!! Thank you for the fresh look!

Heather DePasquale said...

Beautiful, unique cards. Love your bright colors! Thanks to everyone for great products and inspiration.

Mateja M said...

Lovely designs and the sentiments are perfect :)

Carol Cel said...

love, love, love these

Andrew and Bertha Pilgrim said...

All great cards! My favorite is the first one: something about the blending and that bright white at the top make it stand out to me. Thanks for sharing.

Daniela May said...

Beautiful and graphic - nice cards

Karen L K said...

Wow it is refreshing to see some really interesting cards! I love giraffes too!

Henriëtte Creatively Happy said...

Great cards, I love the ones with the Abstract Skyline stamp, so diverse. You showed, also with the Safari stamp, what you all can do with one of those stamps. Thanks for the idea's and grogeous examples.

Hannah said...

Love what you and others are doing with those safari stamps

Cindy C. said...

Love the playful cards, so fun!!

Stacey Kowbel said...

Those are really great cards! Love the style!

Sabrina said...

That foggy city card is particularly beautiful. It makes me think of Paris, for some reason.