A Blog Named Hero’s 5th Anniversary Celebration Hop (+GIVEAWAYS!)

Don’t forget to check out my Crafty Christmas Collaboration with Sharna Waksmulski and a chance to win a $25 gift card to Lawn Fawn and a $100 gift card to the crafty store of your choice!

Good morning!  I am SO excited to be celebrating the 5th anniversary of A Blog Named Hero today with an incredible roster of design team members, past design team members, guests, collaborating companies, and sponsors!  I am honored and privileged to co-run A Blog Named Hero with my dear friend Lisa and grateful to Mary Dawn and Linda for allowing us to continue it!

So, grab a cup of coffee and settle in for a little storytime…I blogged my first card publicly in May of 2014.  Don’t go looking for it…it’s painfully bad.  But I eagerly entered the online world of cardmaking that summer and discovered challenge blogs, including A Blog Named Hero.  In December I saw their design team call and entered, completely expecting to be turned down with yet another polite rejection letter…but a few weeks later I was ridiculously excited to receive an offer from Linda and Lisa and I officially started with A Blog Named Hero in January of 2015!  I completed my first year term with the team and was having so much fun that I stayed on for a second year.  And at the end of last year I offered to help Lisa run the team when Linda stepped down.  So here we are today!

I also recently joined the Creative Team for Hero Arts and decided to use my very first card for A Blog Named Hero and my first card for Hero Arts as the loose inspiration for my hop card!  I thought it would be appropriate! 😉  Here’s a quick look at those cards:

And here’s the card I created for today’s hop:

One of my favorite aspects of this challenge blog and the design team is how diverse our team is and the international friendships I’ve made over the last two and a half years!  So I wanted to incorporate that feeling into my card!  I started by inking the London, Paris, and Washington DC Destination sets with charcoal ink, stamping them once on scrap paper, and then stamping them again on my card panel for a softer, muted look.  Then I stamped the International Skyline stamp across the bottom of my card with versafine and heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Next I stamped the sentiment from Uplifting Thoughts onto Audrey Blue cardstock with versamark and heat-embossed it with white embossing powder.  I trimmed it down and adhered it to my card and finished by adding a sprinkling of ombre ocean sequins!

I love that sentiment…I feel like the crafting community (especially the large extended A Blog Named Hero family) is a wonderfully happy, supportive, and kind place and I love being part of it!  Organizing this hop with Lisa has been a lot of work but I am so thrilled to have so many crafty friends and companies celebrating with us and sharing their crafty kindness!

A Blog Named Hero is so thankful for our wonderful sponsors and collaborating companies!  Several companies decided to help us celebrate our fifth anniversary with giveaways and they were so generous that we decided to spread the love over both hop days with different prizes to be won each day!  Giveaway prizes total more than $500!  To win, leave a comment on each hop stop.  We will select winners randomly from different blogs so the more blogs you visit each day, the greater your chances of winning!  And be sure to visit the Saturday post from A Blog Named Hero for the list of Saturday hoppers and prizes!  Comments must be left before 11:59 PM EDT on Tuesday, March 28th and winners will be announced on March 30th!

And I also wanted to offer a prize on my blog!  I will be giving away one Hero Arts stamp set of your choice to a lucky blog subscriber.  You can subscribe to my blog via the sidebar on the right and I’ll choose the winner from my subscriber list next Tuesday.  If you’re already a subscriber, you’re already entered! 😉

If this if your first time visiting my blog I hope you’ll come again!  You can subscribe to my blog via the sidebar on the right or visit me on Instagram or YouTube!

This is the last official stop on the hop but if you’re just starting you can head to A Blog Named Hero to start at the beginning!  And just in case you encounter a broken link here is the full hop list:

• A Blog Named Hero
• Mary Dawn Quirindongo 
• Simon Says Stamp
• Jennifer McGuire
• Emily Midgett
• Lil’ Inker Designs
• Kelly Szafron
• Swapna Patil
• Kimberly Rendino
• Mateja Povse
• Jana Millen
• Yana Smakula
• Libby Hickson
• Barb Engler
• Betty Keefe
• Danielle Walls
• Ilina Crouse
• Cindy Chiu
• Maya Isaksson
• Niki Garcia
• Lin Brandyberry
• Francine Vuilleme
• Kathy Racoosin
• Winnie & Walter
• Studio Katia
• Jessica Frost-Ballas —> You are here!

Thanks so much for visiting and have a wonderful day!

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!

Hero Arts Rubber Stamp DESTINATION WASHINGTON D.C. H6162	Hero Arts Rubber Stamps DESTINATION PARIS H6194	Hero Arts Rubber Stamps DESTINATION LONDON H6195	Simon Says Clear Stamps UPLIFTING THOUGHTS SSS101623 Among The Stars	Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# AUDREY BLUE AB19
Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	Hero Arts Ombre Sequins OCEAN CH300	Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad CHARCOAL Black Mid-Tone af236	Tsukineko VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad VF-82	EK Success POWDER TOOL Applicator 54-04002
Hero Arts EMBOSS ULTRA FINE CLEAR EMBOSSING POWDER PW111	Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun Hero Arts PW200 Wagner	MISTI PRECISION STAMPER Stamping Tool Kit	Ranger Inkssentials MINI GLOSSY ACCENTS Glue Adhesive .5oz GAC27898

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