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Hero Arts 2018 Catalog Blog Hop (VIDEO + GIVEAWAYS!)

15 Feb

Good morning!  Today the 2018 catalog is now available at Hero Arts and we’re celebrating with a giant inspiration-filled blog hop!

Sending Mermaid Kisses and Starfish Wishes by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Hero ArtsMermaid Kisses was one of our most popular My Monthly Hero Kits ever and by popular vote we are rereleasing it!!  I was excited to pair it with our new beautiful liquid watercolors for a peaceful ocean scene.  If you missed the kit you can finally add the gorgeous mermaid to your collection!  You can watch the video below or in HD at my Youtube channel!

I wanted to keep my card simple and let the watercolors speak for themselves.  I also wanted to figure out a way to get a soft, more pastel look from the normally bright and bold watercolors!  I added a few drops of unicorn white pigment ink reinker to the liquid watercolors and created a watercolor wash for my background.  Then I added a few dabs of white pigment ink across the waterline to create seafoam and waves.  I heat-embossed that with white satin pearl embossing powder for a little extra shimmer.

Sending Mermaid Kisses and Starfish Wishes by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Hero Arts

Next I watercolored my mermaid using the same liquid watercolors but in a much more saturated form.  I added a little sparkle with a spectrum noir clear glitter brush and then added a little extra shine to her tail, shells, and hair ornament with the new lacquer pen.  Then I stamped the sentiment from Mermaid Kisses onto the background with versamark and heat-embossed it with silver embossing powder.  I adhered my little mermaid to the card with foam mounting tape and finished it with a few sparkling clear sequins.

Sending Mermaid Kisses and Starfish Wishes by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Hero Arts
I love the subtle sparkle, shimmer, and shine on this card and I REALLY love the new liquid watercolors.  You’ll see them used quite a bit on this blog hop in so many different ways and I know you’ll love them!! 🙂

To celebrate the 2018 release Hero Arts is giving away $50 shopping sprees to three lucky commenters randomly selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop so make sure you leave a comment at each hop stop for the most chances to win!  Please leave your comments by 11:59PM PT on February 22nd, 2018!  Here’s a list of all the stops on the hop:

  • The Hero Arts Blog
  • Jennifer McGuire
  • Kristina Werner
  • Jessica Frost-Ballas —> You are here!
  • Yana Smakula
  • Cathy Zielske
  • May Sukyong Park
  • Nichol Spohr
  • Michelle Short
  • Wanda Guess
  • Amy Tsuruta
  • Lydia Fiedler
  • Heather Ruwe
  • Laurie Willison
  • Clare Prezzia
  • Iliana Myska
  • Emily Midgett
  • Janette Kausen
  • Jenn Shurkus
  • Sean Fetterman
  • Simon Hurley
  • Joan Bardee
  • Megan Hoeppner
  • Lisa Stein
  • Ilina Crouse
  • Amy Kolling
  • Rubeena Ianigro
  • Kelly Latevola
  • Libby Hickson
  • Lucy Abrams

Your next stop on the hop is the amazing Yana Smakula!  Thanks so much for visiting and enjoy the hop!

Interested in the products I used?  To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate disclosure can be found here). Your purchases help keep my blog running and I thank you for the support!!

CM160 Mermaid Kisses | Hero Arts
[ HA | SSS ]
DI456 Mermaid Kisses Frame Cuts (E) |…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD111 Liquid Watercolors Strawberry |…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD110 Liquid Watercolors Dandelion |…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD116 Liquid Watercolors Moss | Hero…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD115 Liquid Watercolors Pine | Hero…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD113 Liquid Watercolors Deep Ocean |…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD114 Liquid Watercolors Indigo |…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD112 Liquid Watercolors Mulled Wine…
[ HA | SSS ]
PD117 Liquid Watercolors ArtPrint…
[ HA | SSS ]
NK350 Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen |…
[ HA | SSS ]
Inkadinkado EMBOSSING MAGIC Powder…
[ SSS ]
VC250 Versamark Watermark Ink Pad |…
[ HA | SSS ]
Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink…
[ SSS ]
PW118 White Satin Pearl Embossing…
[ HA | SSS ]
PW104 Clear Embossing Powder | Hero Arts
[ HA | SSS ]
PW101 Silver Embossing Powder | Hero…
[ HA | SSS ]
Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun…
[ SSS ]
AF249 Unicorn Pigment Ink Pad | Hero…
[ HA | SSS ]
NK026 Unicorn Reinker | Hero Arts
[ HA | SSS ]
NK345 Intense Black Reinker | Hero Arts
[ HA | SSS ]
MI002 Sponge Daubers with Caps | Hero…
[ HA | SSS ]
MT200 MINI MISTI Laser Etched Tool |…
[ HA | SSS ]
MT201 MINI MISTI Mouse Pad | Hero Arts
[ HA | SSS ]
Pretty Pink Posh SPARKLING CLEAR MIX…
[ SSS ]
Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH…
[ SSS ]
Amazon.com : Fabriano Artistico 140…
[ AMZUS ]
Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 2…
[ SSS ]
Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 4…
[ SSS ]
Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 0.75…
[ SSS ]
3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE…
[ SSS ]
3M Scotch PINK ATG ADVANCED TAPE…
[ SSS ]

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Comments:
300 Comments
Categories:
bloghop, card-making, crafting, design team, hero arts, video tutorial
Tags:
hero arts, video, watercolor

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Comments

  1. tsurutadesigns1 says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:25 am

    Jess, your mermaid card is just too sweet!

    Reply
  2. Ruby N says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:29 am

    So cute – love that background lots!!

    Reply
  3. Karthikha Uday says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:36 am

    What a lovely soft mermaid card! Pretty!

    Reply
  4. Danielle Coutu says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:42 am

    love these products beautiful

    Reply
  5. Paula Desmarais says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:42 am

    Hi Jess, Totally love your card the background is gorgeous 🙂

    Reply
  6. Amy Cooley says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:43 am

    Beautiful blend of colors for your background. Great mermaid!

    Reply
  7. Angela R says

    February 15, 2018 at 7:59 am

    So soft and elegant! Thank you it’s beautiful.

    Reply
  8. Sarah Seals says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:01 am

    I absolutely love your card and video, Jess! Thank you for sharing! Hugs!

    Reply
  9. K kraft says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:02 am

    Beautiful background and card.

    Reply
  10. Viveca V. says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:03 am

    I like the color gradient of the background that highlights the mermaid and sentiment stamps from one of my most favorite HA MMH card kits ever!

    Reply
  11. Jan Elmore says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:16 am

    I’ve commented on your awesome backgrounds before. You do such an amazing job!

    Reply
  12. Shannah says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:21 am

    So sweet!

    Reply
  13. Kathy says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:22 am

    Love the mermaid! Very cute !

    Reply
  14. Tara Prince says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:23 am

    Gorgeous background!!

    Reply
  15. Betty says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:29 am

    thanks for the idea of using the white reinker to soften the colors – am definitely going to order these watercolors and love how you’ve used them!

    Reply
  16. Natalie Dominguez says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:45 am

    Love how you muted with the white! Beautiful card!

    Reply
  17. Natalie Winterstein says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:46 am

    Gorgeous card! The background is stunning!

    Reply
  18. Sharon O says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:50 am

    Lovely background! I really liked how you softened the vibrancy of the liquid watercolors.

    Reply
  19. Betty Bywater says

    February 15, 2018 at 8:51 am

    I never would have thought to use a pigment reinker to mix with watercolours. Something I’ll have to try. Your background turned out beautifully,

    Reply
  20. Sherri says

    February 15, 2018 at 9:01 am

    I would have never thought to add white to a watercolor. Thanks for the idea!

    Reply
  21. Tammy J says

    February 15, 2018 at 9:17 am

    The back ground is so pretty I love the softness of it. Pretty card. TFS

    Reply
  22. Dionne says

    February 15, 2018 at 9:18 am

    Beautiful card, love the background

    Reply
  23. Debbie Rumpza says

    February 15, 2018 at 9:22 am

    I love this stamp set. One of my favorite card kits from Hero Arts! The shimmery embossing is gorgeous.

    Reply
  24. Suz Gray says

    February 15, 2018 at 9:24 am

    I love that mermaid stamp. Your card is so pretty. Lovely background

    Reply
  25. Joyce Gary says

    February 15, 2018 at 9:25 am

    I love that you used both the very diluted colors and then the saturated colors. Thanks.

    Reply
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Jessica About Me Photo
Hi, I'm Jess! Thanks for visiting my blog where I share my adventures in cardmaking and papercrafting! I hope I can inspire you to craft with a little extra sparkle!

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I design for several companies because I truly love their products! Anything I recommend on my blog is something that I genuinely love and regularly use. I do not get paid for product reviews and I will never recommend a product that I do not like or would not use.

I am affiliated with several of my favorite crafty companies which means I receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you!!) when you click on one of my links and make a purchase through the store.

You can find my full disclosure as well as a list of the companies I am affiliated with HERE. Thank you so much for supporting me!

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