Hello Folks! Scott here with an unusual unboxing of the Love From Lizi September 2020 Super Card Kit for you! Due to supplier issues during the pandemic, Lizi JUST released the kit today, Friday, August 28th. Since September is Love From Lizi’s fourth birthday, Lizi always treats us to these SUPER card kits. These Kits always sell out quickly, so I thought I would post this as soon as possible to give everyone a chance to grab one for themselves! I’ll try to do it justice, without actually having it in hand!

This is the “Wonderland” Card Kit featuring an Alice in Wonderland theme! Here is what’s featured in this Super Card Kit.

7 sheets of 8.5″ x 11″ card stock in Red, Green, Pink, Blue, Navy and 2 sheets of super-smooth alcohol marker-friendly White.

Pin Stripe Peel Off sheet in a NEW color: Ruby Red! Mirror finish on a nice warm red!

The “We’re All Mad Here” Paper Pad. 24 different 6″ x 6″ sheets of patterned card stock featuring many “Wonderland” characters, harlequin diamond patterns, sketchy polka-dots and bright lively colors!

The “Wonderland” Stamp Set is a big 4″ x 8″ and features one of Lizi’s eyelash girls starring as Alice! There’s also an ornate lock, a plain lock, key, teapot and two tea cups. Along with those icons we get 4 “Wonderland” sentiments that might actually be quite topical! “We’re all mad here” seem to work quite well these days!!

And then we get this humongous pack of ephemera! One hundred pieces ranging from a bunch of characters to florals and props in assorted sizes. 100 – count em’ – 100!

That brings us to the Embellishment Bag! WOO-HOO! To start with, we get our sample pack of the “Wonderland” sequin mix with Sky Blue, Black, White, Red and Gold sequins in assorted sizes.

We get a pack of 36 acetate sentiments – gold foiled script on clear acetate cut outs – “Wishing you a very Happy Birthday”, “Best Wishes”, “Get Well Soon” and other less “Wonderland” inspired sentiments.

There is a sheet of Enamel Dots (with glitter) in five colors and three sizes and they match our five satin ribbons this month absolutely perfectly!

We also get a landscape version of that pack of sticky notes for the inside of your cards introduced in the LFL June 2020 “Safe and Sound” Card Kit. On the bottom of each note is printed “I made you this card with love and hope you enjoy it. My greeting is on this sticky note so you can peel it off and reuse the card to brighten someone else’s day.” GREAT to have a version to use on landscape cards!

Finally we get a set of dies that match our stamp set – every icon has a matching die! Quite a fun set to celebrate Love From Lizi’s fourth Birthday!

Lizi has also introduced a bunch of add-ons this month – perfectly matched to this kit, and for the first time, includes four new stamp and die sets!

I also noted the two add-on peel off packs. There is the “Wonderland” pin stripe peel off pack with teal and silver and black and gold holographic pin stripes, and the “Wonderland” Assorted peel off pack with red and black mini hears, and white and cream straight peel offs.

If any of this catches your eye. I wouldn’t hesitate to get an order in as fast as possible! If you do go shopping with Lizi, please use my links! It is always graciously appreciated! Love From Lizi: https://shrsl.com/1yyuw LFL September 2020 Super Card Kit: https://shrsl.com/2gq7d

Thanks for spending some time with me today! Please remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, Share this with all your friends, Don’t forget to order early! And as always, I wish you Health and Happy Crafting!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). THANK YOU!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Hello Folks! Scott here with my 10 cards inspired by the My Monthly Hero August 2020 Kit. This month, Hero Arts is inviting us to explore the Staycation! I don’t think a lot of people are traveling much this summer, so this seems quite timely!

I thought the 4″ x 6″ postcards were a fun alternative and decided I’d make postcards this month! At first, my eye was drawn to that hanging basket chair… there didn’t appear to be anyone posed or ready to sit in it… then I saw the cat! Aha!

I took the full-card mask I made for the eagle card in June (Inkadinkado Stamping Mask Paper), centered that on the postcard, and ink blended some HA Soft Sky ink very lightly inside the masked opening. I cut a mask for the chair and cut out the center of the pillow to make room for my cat. I stuck the chair mask in place and stamped the cat in the opening. Then I lined up the chair stamp with the chair mask on my MISTI, picked up the stamp and removed the chair mask. I cut a mask for the cat, and placed that over the stamped cat and then stamped the chair on top. I removed all the masks and everything lined up quite nicely. It looks like the cat has always been there!

Being that these are postcards, I tried to keep the designs to a single layer. I wasn’t sure what card stock these postcards were made out of, so I thought I’d be safe and use my Prismacolor pencils to color the image. But I did run into problems when I stamped the sentiments using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. After sitting and drying during the whole dinner-hour, they smudged badly when I was coloring the image. I think the postcards are slightly coated, therefore the ink didn’t set completely. The chair and cat didn’t smudge, but I think that’s because they had been stamped on top of the Soft Sky ink.

I rectified the smudges by stamping the sentiments on some 80# Neenah Solar White card stock and fussy-cutting them out and glueing them over the sentiments stamped on the postcard. That gave me the option adding a frame to the inked shape in the center – that’s the Simon Says Stamp Frames die, cut from some brushed mirror blue card stock from my stash. I made sure to glue the frame down securely, and added some soft blue glitter tape to the top and bottom for a bit of bling. I love this stamped image much more than if I had die-cut the cat and just glued it in the chair. Looks like paradise to me!

If I’m going to do the rest of the postcards, I need to use some of my own card stock cut to the same size and glued to the postcard. These aren’t that thick, so a double-thickness postcard shouldn’t present a problem with mailing!

I cut a piece of 80# Neenah Solar White card stock to 4″ x 6″ and stamped all the images using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I had to cut a mask for Mom’s legs, the pitcher, and the left side of the tent, but those were very simple masks. Again, I’m going for a one-layer card here, so when I was thinking about the background, I got the idea of cutting a picket fence mask (Darice Picket Fence Border die) and using that with my Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers to create the fence. Well, Inkadinkado Stamping Mask Paper is NOT a stencil, so my alcohol markers bled a bit and didn’t give me clean sharp lines, but I decided to let that be since it was in the background. I kind of like the ‘blurry’ effect… it makes the sharp lines of the stamping pop a little more!

This is all colored with my alcohol markers and the sentiment stamped with Memento ink. I did add some suggestions of clouds using the MFT Mini cloud Stencil and HA Unicorn ink. I also added some stamped grass clumps on the lawn using HA Fresh Lawn and Field Greens ink. I do think I got the tent a little dark… I kept obsessing over the inside vs. the outside…! For a final touch, I drew a thin black frame around my panel and glued it down to the postcard. I like the extra length the postcards offer, and I think this is exactly what they had in mind over at Hero Arts when they designed this kit!

I might go mad creating full backgrounds for all these postcards! Let’s try some vignettes!

On a sheet of Bristol Smooth card stock cut to 4″ x 6″, I stamped the large fern stamp on the top and bottom edges using HA Lime Green ink, and the two images using Memento ink. I colored all with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, including adding a little bit of color to the ferns. I stamped the “Hello From:” with HA Green Hills ink and the sanctuary sentiment using HA Summer Sky ink. I did take a Pigma Micron pen and added a touch of shadow on the “sanctuary” to help pull everything together. The extra length of the postcards encouraged me to create the fern borders on the top and bottom. I do love the little bird perched on the hammock, and a simple vignette certainly beats having to color the entire card!

The wine bottle (liquor bottle?) inspired this next postcard… Talk about timely…!

This one makes me laugh! On more Neenah card stock, I stamped the bottles top and bottom using HA Lime Green and Dusty Blue inks, and stamped the images with Memento ink. With careful placement, no masks were needed on this one! I created this sentiment using my Silhouette Software and the Smoothie Shoppe font and printed it directly on the panel. I colored everything with my alcohol markers (including a touch on the bottles – but I love them being empty!), and glued the finished panel to a postcard. As if I really needed an excuse to drink alone…!

That postcard got me to thinking about our current pandemic situation, and inspired this:

This reminds me of a needlepoint sampler! On Neenah 80# card stock I stamped the smaller fern and the large leaf sprays (from the Simon Says Stamp Kind Flowers stamp set) using HA Fresh Lawn ink, and stamped the images using Memento ink. I did cut a mask for the watering can to stamp the pot and flower behind. I created this sentiment using my Silhouette Software and the Typewriter Hand font. I colored all with my alcohol markers and, using a T-square ruler and a Pigma micron pen, added the lines and dots. Finally, I glued my finished panel down to my last postcard. I love the look of this as much as I love this sentiment! Don’t forget to take care of yourself, too!!

Those are my five postcards, all of them (except the first) are truly one-layer cards. These should all go through the mail system with no problems!

I know that my living in New York City is quite different than most folks who have the luxury of backyards, and decks and patios. I couldn’t help but think that a Staycation for a city dweller might look a little bit different. My staycation would obviously be focused more on my apartment than any outdoor areas.

I had some free time before I received this kit, so I thought I would work on some backgrounds that might be appropriate for a city dweller Staycation!

Of course, one of the drawbacks to creating backgrounds before you have your stamp set in hand is the very real possibility that you will get the scale all wrong. I thought I had a pretty good idea how big our stamps were and I actually lucked out over all!

This wall unit is actually the “Cabinet of Curiosities” stamp set from the MMH September 2019 Kit, and a lot of the items on the shelves are from that same set. I stamped all this on Neenah 80# card stock using HA Sand Stone ink, drew in my own TV, stereo, books and vase and colored the whole background with alcohol markers. I trimmed the background panel to 4″ x 5.25″ and added a thin black mat behind that and glued those down to a white card base. BA-DUM!! Anyone using Netflix these days??

I stamped the three images on Bristol Smooth card stock with Memento ink, and colored them with my Stabilo watercolor markers. I thought the bright colors of the Stabilo markers would stand out against this rather busy background. I die-cut the images with their matching dies and attached them to the card front with foam tape. I die-cut the “Greetings From” sentiment from some Hero Hues Pitch Black card stock, glued that to a scrap of white card stock and fussy-cut the shadow. I stamped the ‘bliss’ sentiment using Memento ink, trimmed it down to size and attached both sentiments with more foam tape.

I think Netflix has been something of a life-line for many people during lock-downs and quarantines – I know it has been for me – and this lady seems perfectly happy on a lounge chair in front of her large TV! That must be a TV Guide in her hands!!

I thought catching a few rays on the roof was a perfectly acceptable Staycation activity!

I adore this card! This is what city living is all about!! I ink blended the sky directly on a white card base using HA Fruit Punch, Creamsicle, and Lemon Drop reactive inks, and a little touch of Pumice Stone Distress ink towards the bottom for a little ‘haze’! I die-cut the skyline from a piece of light grey card stock using an old Darice Citiscapes background die, colored the buildings with alcohol markers and traced in the windows with a white gel pen. I die cut a piece of fun foam and glued that behind my buildings and then glued them to the card front.

I sketched out my rooftop on more Neenah 80# card stock and colored it with my alcohol markers and attached that to the card front with more foam tape. I stamped Dad, the plant and the pot on Bristol Smooth card stock, colored them with my Zig markers and die-cut them out. I did trim away the original pot from the plant and inserted the fronds into the big empty pot – that felt more like an outdoor pot to me. I attached those to the card front with foam tape. LOVING the depth and dimension here!

I did stamp the “Greetings From” sentiment in the center of the sky using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. In lieu of a Staycation pun, I decided to actually document the unique summer we are all living through with a “Staycation 2020” sentiment. I created this using my Silhouette software and the Brady Bunch Remastered font and had my Silhouette Portrait cut it out along with a few extra blanks. I glued three of those together and mounted them with more foam tape. Unfortunately, we are not actually allowed on our rooftop, but we lived in a building in midtown where there was roof access, and lots of folks took advantage of that extra little bit of sunshine available. Love this card!

I have another backyard Staycation to create using an actual die cut picket fence!

It’s amazing how much space you lose going from 6″ wide to 5″ wide! I colored the background panel with alcohol markers for the grass and ink blended the sky and clouds using the Mini Cloud stencil and Hero Hues Splash Reactive ink. I die-cut that panel with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die, mounted it to a blue-green mat and glued those down to a white card base. I die-cut the fence from a scrap of white card stock and a piece of fun foam, glued them together and added a touch of shadow on the pickets.

I stamped Mom and the Kids and the cat on Bristol Smooth card stock, colored them with my Zig markers, and die-cut them with their matching dies. I glued the cat flat to the card front and added Mom and the kids with foam tape. I die-cut the greetings die from white card stock, glued that to some Jet Black card stock and fussy-cut the shadow. I stamped the ‘happy place’ stamp with Memento ink and mounted the die-cut sentiment with foam tape. Phew! I think I got a much better result with that tent on this card, and the fence works well with all the other dimension. I also like all the red hair! Very similar to the postcard, but two completely different looks!

I did my window sketch on Neenah 80# card stock thinking I would color it all in with my Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers… but I was wary of starting every time I looked at it!

I stamped Dad on the card stock with Memento black ink and shifted the baseboard up a bit to accommodate the hammock. I started this piece coloring the outdoors. Here’s a pic and the markers I used.

Then I tackled the walls and the floor, trying to get a smooth and even application (note that the wall in MY living room is NOT beige!).

Lastly, I colored dad and the hammock. Funny how you use the most markers for the smallest details in your image!

I did finally wrap up the coloring using IG1 and BG1 to define the windows. I die cut my colored panel with my LFSRDie, added a thin black mat and a thin brown mat and glued them all to a white card base. I stamped the “greetings from” over the window using Memento ink and added another Staycation 2020 die-cut (three layers) on the floor.

The other all-wood wall unit background I made with the television wouldn’t work with this set because it had no floor… I suppose I could have strung the hammock from side to side, but wait a minute… How about this?

Not only do I use the Summer Twilight Palette ink pad, but I also use stamps from the first MMH kit I ever bought! Using a simple grass mask, I ink blended the sky using the six colors in our palette. I just used a small blending brush to pick up ink from the individual pads on the palette. Definitely a Summer Twilight! I ink blended the grass using Key Lime Fizz and Green Apple Reactive inks. The trees are stamps from the May 2018 MMH kit stamped with HA Sand Stone and Cocoa inks. I stamped them repeatedly using my MISTI to get them to cover up the background. I die-cut the colored background with a LFSRDie, mounted that to a black wood-grain mat, and glued it down to a white card base.

I stamped Dad in his hammock on Bristol Smooth card stock and colored him with my Zig markers. I colored the hammock and his skin first, and was struck with how summer-y this white outfit was, so I added a little shading and left it at that. I die-cut him out and trimmed away the hammock stand. Then all you have to do is cover the stray hammock stand stamp lines with a white gel pen. I like this stamp without the stand!!

Taking a cue from Dad’s ‘tennis whites’, I die-cut the “greetings from” die using white card stock and Pitch Black card stock and glued them together offset a little for the suggestion of a shadow. I stamped the sentiment in the grass using VersaMark ink and embossed it with white embossing powder. I glued the sentiment in the branches and mounted Dad with some foam tape. I totally love this card! I was so pleased to be able to use the ink pad, and I think all the ‘whites’ go together on this colorful background brilliantly!

That’s all folks! That’s my 10 cards inspired by the My Monthly Hero August 2020 Kit.

We’ve got five postcards and five greeting cards. I did use every single stamp in this stamp set (and a few more!) And I even used the Palette ink pad. We’ve got 4 Dads, 3 Moms, and 2 Kids… that seems about right!! No real puns but I do love my Staycation 2020 “logo”! It was fun working in a slightly different format with the postcards, and I think we have a unique variety of cards here. I had a ton of fun with each and every one of these, and I hope you like them as much as I do! Let me know which one(s) are your favorite!

If I’ve managed to ignite a spark or inspire an idea, this kit is still available! If you do go shopping at Hero Arts, please use my links! It is always gratefully appreciated! Hero Arts: https://shrsl.com/1f7qx My Monthly Hero August 2020 Kit: https://shrsl.com/2g9g0 If you’d like to subscribe, the six-month plan give you the option of skipping a month if you don’t care for a particular kit. MMH Six Month Subscription: https://shrsl.com/24ss0

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me here! I appreciate it more than you can imagine – especially these days! Remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, Share me with all of your friends, please keep yourselves safe and happy and healthy, I send you a heap of good blessings to you and yours, and Happy Crafting!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Hello Folks! Scott here with my 10 cards featuring the Love From Lizi August 2020 Card Kit. Lizi calls this the “Enjoy the Little Things” Card Kit, and we get all sorts of little things in this kit to help us make an amazing assortment of cards!

As usual, I do take the five sheets of card stock included in the kit, cut them in half and score them make my 10 card bases. Sometimes, when I’m looking for inspiration, the color of my card base will give me ideas for a card!

One of our pattern papers appeared to be a miniature cut-apart sheet, but upon closer examination, it looks like two pre-made collages ready for a card front!

I simply can’t resist a good quote from Dr. Seuss! I cut the left half of that pattern paper down to size (3″ x 5″ – I just trimmed off the smaller top images). I stamped the sentiment on a piece of vellum using Deep Purple Archival ink and embossed that with some clear embossing powder. I trimmed the vellum to 3/4″ wide, wrapped that around the collage panel and secured it to the back. I glued that down to a dark purple mat from my stash.

I took a 2.25″ wide piece of the tiny flower stripes pattern paper, added a thin dark purple mat behind that, and glued that down just above the center of the Lilac card base. I attached the front panel using foam tape and added some Nuvo Plum Pudding Crystal Drops (from the LFL December 2018 kit) for a final touch. I think the dark purple additions work really well with that Lilac card stock and helps keep this from being too pink..! LOVE that Dr. Seuss quote which compliments the sentiment perfectly!

Looking at all the “journaling” cut apart pieces on our cut-apart sheet, I came up with an idea that would incorporate our alpha dies and a sentiment stamp!

I cut out this lilac panel from the cut apart sheet, and stamped the sentiment using Hero Hues Grape Slush Reactive ink, and embossed that with clear embossing powder. That matches my dark purple card stock perfectly! I glued the cut apart to a thin purple mat and cut a piece of the lilac pattern paper to 3.5/8″ x 4.1/4″. I die cut the U and the R from the center of that piece before glueing it behind the cut-apart and adding another purple mat behind that. Those are all glued directly to the Grey card base.

I cut another U and R from the dark purple card stock and glued those behind the lilac letters to add a bit of an offset shadow, and mounted both letters to the card front with small pieces of foam tape. I glued strips of the grey ribbon to the top and bottom of the card base, added a single bow to the top of the ‘tag’, and finished up with three little mini-heart peel off stickers from our kit. Yes, you ARE one of a kind!! (Thank heavens!!)

You probably know that one of my goals with these 10C1K posts is to use every stamp in the included stamp set on my 10 cards… Let’s keep using up those sentiments!

For this card, I cut the blue grid pattern paper to 3.75″ x 5″ and stamped the background builder stamp from our kit on that with VersaMark ink and embossed that with LFL Warm Navy embossing powder. It was pretty easy to stamp this pattern twice to fill up the background pattern paper, and that Warm Navy embossing powder has a lovely shine! I glued that to a thin dark blue mat and down to the Pale Blue card base.

I cut another piece of the blue grid pattern paper to match the gridded banner from the ephemera pack, stamped the sentiment on that with VersaMark ink and embossed that with the Warm Navy embossing powder. I glued those two banners together and added a super thin mat of the dark blue to the top and bottom before glueing those to the card front. I added a little signpost to the ‘Let’s Ride’ ephemera piece using the same dark blue card stock, and mounted the bike, the ‘sign’ and the circle ephemera pieces with foam tape. Lastly I added the Hooray file tab under the background piece on the right side of our card. It stuck out a bit on the side, but not enough to hinder going in an envelope. I really like this card and trust me, fresh air is one of the little things I truly have left to enjoy these days!

More sentiments in this stamp set…

This one makes me giggle…! I die cut the floral pattern paper with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die and matted that to a thin dark green mat and down to the Deep Green card base. I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of white card stock with VersMark ink and embossed that with the LFL Emerald City embossing powder. I trimmed that to 5/8″ wide and glued it to a thin dark green mat as well.

I glued the sentiment piece flat to the card base and added all the “moment” pieces from the kit I could round up. Three from our ephemera pack, one from the puffy sticker sheet and the ‘lovely little moments’ piece is from the piece of pattern paper I trimmed away from card one! All but the sticker are mounted with foam tape, and I added three mini heart peel offs to the pattern paper piece. Like I said… this makes me giggle – I love each and every moment collected here!

This next card is dedicated to Lizi…!! Since the alpha dies in our kit are all boxy capitals, I thought I’d try something out…

With some careful partial die-cutting, I was able to die cut this “SWEETY” from a piece of mauve glitter card stock from my stash leaving a thin line of card stock holding all the pieces together. There are some dies on the market that do this with some sentiments, but I thought we could accomplish the same thing with our alpha dies! This glitter card stock is DCWV Glitzy Glitter cardstock stack and the ‘pink’ glitter matched the roof of our bakery here almost perfectly!!

I cut more of the flower stripes pattern paper to 5.5″ x 3.25″ and glued that down to the Pale Blue card base. I cut thin strips of that glitter paper and glued them along the top and bottom edges of the pattern paper. I glued my die-cut “SWEETIE” to the pattern paper and stamped the sentiment using Aged Mahogany Distress Oxide ink and embossed that with clear embossing powder – another great match! I added the bakery ephemera piece with foam tape, cut a little glitter mat for the puffy sun sticker, and glued those peeking out from behind the building. A few pink sequins from our sequin mix and we have a fun, glittery card that completes the “hello there” sentiment perfectly!! This one’s for LIZI!!

I was determined to use some of those word ovals from our cut apart sheet…

I think we all need love and fun in every day… not to mention MAGIC!! All of the mats on this card are cut from some watercolor card stock that I colored with the Nuvo Lunar Rocket Shimmer Powder from our kit – nice and shiny! I cut the matching pattern paper to 3″ x 5.5″and glued that to our Grey card base. I edged the top and bottom with thin strips of the Lunar Rocket watercolor paper. I stamped the sentiment using VersaMark ink and embossed that with the LFL Silver Dollar embossing powder.

I fussy cut the two ovals from our cut apart sheet and added Lunar Rocket mats behind both of those as well as the “Magic” ephemera piece. A few sequins by the sentiment and on the ephemera piece finish out this card. I love the “seeker of everyday magic” and the shimmer mats actually provide a lot of sparkle to this card!

I have to admit, this next card was inspired by my incessant need to crack a joke!

I cut a piece of off-white card stock to 5.3/8″ x 4.1/8″ and stamped the sentiment using the purple section of the HA Ombre stamp pad from the My Monthly Hero December 2019 Kit. I traced the placement of the flower shop ephemera piece in the middle over the sentiment and stamped all the greenery and flower stamps coming out around the shop. I spaced the stamps out around the shop by stamping each stamp at least 3 times and continuing with more stamps until I filled in the whole square. All of these are stamped using the same Ombre ink pad and a variety of Hero Arts ink cubes. I used every image stamp here except the heart ones and the smallest rose.

I added a strip of dark purple card stock to anchor my shop, mounted the ephemera shop with foam tape, and glued the panel to a white card base. This was a very fun way of using all those small botanic stamps in our stamp set and, though not quite a pun, this is still a funny way of illustrating that sentiment!

That covers the seven sentiments in our stamp set! In my unboxing of this kit, I said those stamps were perfect for making wreaths… let’s experiment with that…

It seems I can’t get through most of my card kits these days with out a Miss You card…!! Oh so true!! This “wreath” started with the heart branch and grew from there… I used my Ombre stamp pad, and I did stamp the two smaller hearts on top of the heart branch to create more of a flower feel, and thought that worked pretty well, but, as is often the case, I couldn’t stop myself and soon filled this whole wreath all they way to the center. I do use my homemade wreath builder template, but I have to admit, it doesn’t give us much of a wreath when the whole circle is filled in, so I grabbed the empty chair ephemera piece to be the center of our stamping.

I die cut the stamped piece, a pattern paper mask and a dark green mask using my Hero Arts Nesting Circles Infinity dies, cut out the letters from the center of the pattern paper and the dark green circles, and then glued the circles all together. The dark green letters are offset behind the pattern paper letters and glued together. The matted stamping is glued to the Deep Green card base and the letters are glued along the edges. I mounted the ephemera chair using foam tape and added some LFL Green Glitter peel offs around the green mat and down the left side of the card front for a little sparkle. The thinnest pin stripe peel offs with often hold a curved shape if you burnish them down firmly! Pink and Green! Okay… Lilac and Green, but close enough! My furniture misses your butt!!

This IS the “Enjoy the Little Things” kit… I thought of a way to use that sentiment again!

Pattern paper cut with a LFSRD, matted to a thin white mat and glued to the last Lilac card base. Sentiment stamped on a scrap of white card stock using Seedless Preserves Distress Oxide ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I trimmed the sentiment to 5/8″ wide, cut three more and glued them all together for some chip-board like dimension. I die-cut four of these 2″ circles using my circle dies and glued them all together as well. Everything is glued to the card front and all the “little things” are gathered from the puffy sticker sheet and arranged on the circle die-cut. I like the smallest piece… the center round sticker is a ‘home’ button! Perfect!!

Okay, I have one more chance to make an actual wreath from all these stamps!

Again, I used my wreath builder template and the HA ombre stamp pad, and started with the heart branch stamp, though this time, I didn’t bother to try to make the hearts into flowers. You can get a small curve going on that heart branch which helps a lot. I believe I got to the last few stamps I hadn’t used yet with this wreath – there’s the big heart and that tiny rose. The little blue dots I stamped using my Micro Applicator brushes. I stamped the dotted hearts border from the add-on Borders stamp set using a Hero Arts Cotton Candy ink cube. I trimmed my stamped wreath to 4″ x 5.25″, glued that to a thin dark blue mat, and down to my last white card base.

I attached a double bow tied from the green satin ribbon, and the ephemera sentiment and heart are mounted using foam tape. Some extra sequins from our kit fill in this wreath quite nicely! I believe “Let’s Hang Out” is as close to a pun as I can get this month! I will definitely remember that I have these small organic stamps and they should come in quite handy anytime I have the need for some wreaths!

And that’s my 10 cards featuring the Love From Lizi August 2020 Card Kit. I don’t know if you noticed, but I made all of these cards without using any black! I didn’t start out avoiding black but as I went along, it became one of my guiding goals for the cards!

This proved to be much more fun than I initially thought it would be…! We have a great variety of sentiments and a good assortment of designs. No real puns this month, but I did manage a couple of light chuckles! I love the alpha dies and the little botanical stamps should prove very useful! Yes, there’s plenty of pink here, but I think it’s tempered a little by the Lilac and Mauve… I really LOVE the flower shop card – Plenty of flowers for you botanists out there!

I did use every stamp in this stamp set (WOO-HOO!) and the background builder stamp, and one of the add on border stamps. I used eight of the 16 sheets of pattern paper, I used a few pieces from the cut apart sheet, some of the puffy stickers, and a few peel offs too. I did use a little bit of everything in our embellishment bag – some shimmer powder, some sequins, the alpha dies, some of the satin ribbon and a good amount of the ephemera!

This kit has sold out, as most of Lizi’s kits do! If you want to join in on the fun I would suggest becoming a subscriber! Lizi constantly surprises us with kits that are unlike anything else on the market these days! And they are always stuffed full of supplies! If you do go shopping with Lizi, please use my links – it helps support my channel and I am always hugely grateful when you do! Love From Lizi: https://shrsl.com/1yyuw LFL subscriptions for US and Canada: https://shrsl.com/23usr LFL United Kingdom subscriptions: https://shrsl.com/2b1ev LFL European Union subscriptions: https://shrsl.com/2b1es LFL The Rest Of the World subscriptions: https://shrsl.com/2b1ey

Thank you so much for sharing your precious time with me here. I know everyone has a million things on their plates right now and I am so thankful for your attention! Please remember to Like me, List me, Pin, me, Post me, Share me with all your friends, Don’t forget to keep wearing a mask, and keep washing those hands!! I wish you and yours continued health, patience and Happy Crafting!!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Hello Folks! Scott here with my 10 cards featuring the My Monthly Hero July 2020 Kit. This kit invites us to take a crafty voyage to the lost city of Atlantis, deep in the ocean!

The stamp set in this kit features a brand new HeroScape design, enabling us to build a beautiful reef by inking up the various layers. Our 6″ x 8″ stamp set also includes four sentiments and nine assorted silhouettes. To assist with all that stamping, we get FIVE cubes of Hero Hues Reactive inks in Pool Party, Taffy, Key Lime Fizz, Splash and Blue Hawaii. I LOVE it when we get inks in our kits! We get nine coordinating frame dies to match the stamps (even one for the reef!) and a Fancy Edge Die that cuts three sides of some building ruins. This kit is rounded out with six sheets of glitter sticker paper in , Teal, Purple, and Diamond Blue, and a .5 oz. pot of Coral Embossing powder. Very interesting…! The HeroScape layering stamps are usually very cool! Let’s see what inspiration this kit manifests!

I was drawn to the glitter sticker paper and wondered how I could use it effectively.

Since it IS sticker paper, I stuck some of the Diamond Blue Glitter mylar to some card stock and trimmed it down to 3.7/8″ x 5.1/8″. I die cut the Fancy Edge die from some vellum, and tried that over the glitter, but I thought it hid too much of that sticker paper, so I cut the bottom edge of the vellum from the back using the same die. I ran the vellum die cut through my Zyron sticker maker to apply adhesive to the back, and glued that on top of the glitter background. Interesting! I stamped the long water ripple all over the background with Unicorn Pigment ink, and embossed that with clear embossing powder to add some watery shine and to help integrate the die cut with the background.

I stamped the Reef stamps using the Pool Party ink then the Blue Hawaii ink and lastly the Key Lime Fizz on some Neenah Solar White 80# card stock using my Hero Arts MISTI. I die-cut my reef and added a bit of extra color with my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers – including toning down the die-cut white border. The double dolphin is stamped with Splash ink, die-cut and detailed a little as well. The reef and dolphins are attached to the background with foam tape.

How about a sentiment! I stamped the “hello friend” on another piece of vellum with VersaMark ink and embossed that with white embossing powder. Kind of like the dolphins are saying Hi to each other! I trimmed that to a banner shape, ran it through my sticker maker and attached it to the card front. I cut a simple grey mat to 4″ x 5.25″ and glued that to a white card base. I mounted the assembled card front with more foam tape, and finished this up by adding a touch of Vintage Platinum Distress Glitter Dust to the edges of the reefs with my Quickie Glue pen. That brings all the sparkle in the background to the front for some equal time! Very sparkly and I think I’m getting a feel for how to use this kit to get some interesting dimension on my cards!

For my next card I wanted to see how much depth I could create with one-layer stamping.

For this card I took some light blue card stock from my stash and ink blended the background with some Splash ink and Unicorn White inks. I stamped the ruined temple towards the bottom, and the curved water ripples with HA Soft Granite Shadow ink. Then I die-cut our Fancy Border die from a piece of Fun Foam , and used that as a stamp on the top of the background. LOVE THAT! I think this is the first time I’ve made a foam stamp from a die and it worked so well!! Definitely a great sense of distance with that stamp!

I stamped the HeroScape stamps using Splash, then Blue Hawaii, and then VersaMark ink for the final plant layer and embossed that with the Coral embossing Powder. Though shiny, I thought it was a little flat, so I added a touch of more color with my alcohol markers. The dolphins and bubbles were stamped in Pool Party ink, the crab in Soft Granite ink, and the fish and seahorse in Sea Glass Reactive ink from the MMH March 2019 kit. I stamped the sentiment using Blue Hawaii ink, then masked off the reef and sprayed the rest of the background with Sheer Shimmer sparkle spray for a nice bit of shine in the water.

I die-cut my stamped piece with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die, and made a frame for that with some iridescent blue card stock from my stash with the largest LF Stitched Rectangle Frames die. I glued those down to a plain white card base, and added a few orange sequins from my stash for an extra touch of bling. I think this card has a great sense of depth! Making a foam stamp from the Fancy Edge die really made this card come together… I know I’ll be using that foam stamp more..!! And that Sea Glass ink works very well with all the blue inks included in this kit.

This next card is just two layers – I wanted to use that Fancy Edge die as it was intended!

I took two pieces of 80# Neenah Solar white card stock cut to 4.25″ x 5.5″ and ink blended the top of one piece with Broken China Distress Oxide ink, and used Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Spray (with water) to color the second piece. When that was dry, I sprayed some Sea Foam Shimmer spray (from the MMH June 2018 kit) on top. I trimmed both pieces down to 4.1/8″ x 5.3/8″ and I die-cut the darker piece with the Fancy edge die.

On the background piece, I splattered little water droplets to activate the ink and make the ‘bubbles’. I stamped the ripple stamp in Pool Party ink and the sentiment with Sea Glass ink, and glued that piece to a white card base. On the die cut piece, I stamped the reef using Pool Party, and Blue Hawaii inks for the first two layers, and selectively inked up the plant layer with Taffy, Creamsicle, and Sea Glass inks. I stamped the dolphins using Soft Granite ink, and pulled in a few more fish stamps from the MMH March 2019 kit to add the smaller fish and the turtle to this scene. A few blue droplets from the March 2019 kit adds shine and a little dimension. I like the plants in different colors, and some extra fish are always welcome…! This is quite a shimmery card with a nice sense of depth.

We have a statue stamp with a missing arm in our set… could I restore that statue?

Sure!!! On a 2.3/4″ x 4.1/8′ piece of light blue card stock, I stamped the Fancy Edge die foam stamp with Soft Granite ink, and stenciled in the water ripples with Splash ink through a home-made stencil I created. I stamped the two ends of the #1 reef stamp in the center using Blue Hawaii Ink, then masked off a crude rock shape on top of that and ink blended some Seedless Preserves and Black soot Distress ink down to the bottom of the panel. I stamped our statue standing atop the reef with Blue Hawaii ink, and added his arm back in using my Disposable Micro Applicator brushes.

I find these tiny brushes invaluable for touching up stamps, adding textures or even drawing in a whole new arm! I used those tiny brushes to add a hint of golden highlights to the statue using some Golden Glitz Delicata ink, and used a white gel pen for more detailed highlights. I stamped the sentiment (from the MMH August 2019 kit) with VersaMark ink and embossed that in white. This is a perfect sentiment for this card and I thought we could get away with the ancient typeface being that we are in Atlantis!!

I glued the stamped piece to a thin white mat, then to a thin Purple Glitter mat, then a thicker black mat and finally down to my white card base. For a little more sparkle I traced the stenciled ripples with a Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen. I really like this card… VERY masculine! And I’m thrilled I was able to give this poor statue his arm back!

Naturally, there’s a mermaid stamp in this set… let’s see what I can do with her.

This is a fun card! I die cut another piece of light blue card stock with a LFSRD (2.75″ x 4″) and did some ink blending on that with the Splash and Pool Party inks. I stamped the pillars (the ruined temple stamp turned upside-down) and bubbles with Soft Granite ink, figured out where I wanted my mermaid, and stamped her with Unicorn white ink. Once she was dry, I masked the mermaid off and stamped the right side of the first reef stamp using Blue Hawaii ink. (I masked the left side of the stamp off before inking).

I added some texture to the reef with my alcohol markers, and stamped the two plants with Unicorn ink on some plain blue card stock. I broke out my colored pencils to color the mermaid and plants, and fussy cut the two plants before gluing them down. I added some spots of green to her tail with a green gel pen and gave her a bit of sparkle with my Sakura Stardust gel pen. I masked off the light beams on the background with some Post-it tape and blended in some Unicorn pigment ink for the spotlights on the mermaid. A touch of white gel pen highlights the bubbles.

I printed this sentiment on my white card base using my Silhouette software and the Dream State font. I die-cut the glitter frame with another LF stitched rectangle frames die, and glued all to my card base. I’m loving this card! That mermaid is pretty tiny, but I think I managed to color her up sufficiently. I think the beams of light really sell this card… This is my little art-piece for this month!

We also have a stamp of what appears to be a Longnose Butterfly fish in this kit…

I need to focus on something a little simpler now…! I stamped the fish stamp across the middle of my white card base using HA Grape Slush, Blue Hawaii, Green Apple, Lemon Drop, Creamsicle, and Fruit Punch reactive inks. I printed this sentiment using my piggy-back printing method and the Freebooter Script font and the Border Bits font, and I added tiny little gold stars to all of the fish using the Love From Lizi Mini Heart Gold peel offs. I love this pun-ny sentiment rendered in a formal cursive, and these do appear to be the best fishes – – they all have gold stars!!

I thought the “celebrate today” sentiment was a little odd in a kit themed to an extinct civilization… but I thought I might be able to make that a little more relevant.

I don’t mean to get all philosophical here, but this makes a little more sense to me! I did some ink blending on a piece of white card stock using Broken China Distress Oxide ink and stamped the water ripple and my die cut foam stamp and the dolphins and the upside-down temple and the bubbles using HA Soft Granite ink – repeat stamping using my MISTI gave me the different values of that grey. I added some dimension to the dolphins with my alcohol markers, and some white bubbles with a gel pen.

I stamped the sentiment with Blue Hawaii ink and printed the addendum using the American Typewriter font. I die cut that piece with a Spellbinder Deckled Rectangle die and did a little distressing on the edges with more Blue Hawaii. I took a 3.75″ x 5″ piece of parchment paper and crumpled it up a few times then spread it out and ran some Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks over the wrinkles. I also sponged a little of the leftover Broken China on the parchment to add a touch of blue. I distressed the edges a little and glued it down to a white card base. I mounted the inked panel on top of that with foam tape. I really like the look of this card and I believe that compound sentiment could actually mean something to the right person! That’s all I’m after!

Okay, we’ve done Poseidon, the mermaid, the fish, the dolphins… how ’bout that crab?

If all you have is a small stamp, just stamp a lot of them!! With the help of my MISTI, I stamped these crabs using (bottom to top) Fired Brick oxide, Candy Apple oxide, Fruit Punch reactive, Worn Lipstick oxide, Taffy reactive, and the one on the top in Tattered Rose oxide. I guess you can think of this as the different stages of cooking..!! I printed the sentiment on my stamped panel using the Henny Penny font, and then die cut that panel with a LFSRdie. I glued that to a mat of dark red and then down to a white card base.

I’ve used all the stamp in this set by now… trying to come up with appropriate sentiments.

I think “Explore the Unknown” is a great sentiment to use with this stamp set! A piece of regular blue card stock with my ripple stencil in Unicorn white and then a couple spays of Sheer Shimmer mist for some sparkle in the background. A piece of white card stock ink blended with the Splash ink, the reef stamped in Splash then Blue Hawaii, then Sea Glass inks. The temple and the dolphins stamped in Soft Granite ink. The crab is stamped in Sea Glass and there’s some bubbles in Unicorn white. I die cut both pieces with a LFSRD, then the front piece with the Fancy Edge die and I sponged a little Pumice Stone Distress ink on the cut edges.

I laid out the sentiment using my Silhouette software and printed that using the Copperplate font. I did lay some Post-it tape over the die cut edges when I sent that piece through my printer. I glued the two layers together, then to a black mat and down to a white card base. I did add more dots of sparkle on the front panel with my stardust gel pen – can’t let the background have ALL the sparkle! I like this card… the sentiment is useful for many occasions, and I like the reef all in blues… feels a touch more realistic!

I was trying to think of a smaller framing device for my last card – I’m feeling a little water-logged by now – and I came up with this fun idea.

It’s been a while since I did a shaker card, and I think this goggle cut-out is fun! I created this shape using my Silhouette and cut it from some black shimmer card stock three times and glued them all together. I traced the goggle on a piece of card-sized masking paper and cut out the goggle to mask off my inking on the card front. Splash ink for the background with Soft Granite for the stamps and a little Hickory Smoke Oxide ink for the bit of reef on the right. I did add a touch of detail to the reef with a micro applicator and some Pool Party ink. I got the diagonal dapples of light in the water by simply taking a white eraser to the ink. Subtle but noticeable! Of course the best part is taking off the mask and revealing the perfectly shaped ink job!

Yes, it’s Latin… Yes, it’s referencing carpe diem… I think this comes close to being a meta-pun. If such a thing is possible!? I have to admit this tickles me to no end!

At first, I wasn’t thinking beyond putting some acetate in the goggles and glueing them down to the card front, but when I realized that my Darice double-sided foam adhesive strips fit in the goggle frame perfectly, I couldn’t NOT do a shaker card! I dug out some clear micro-beads from my stash to be the shakers and these are kind of mesmerizing! The do have a kind of water-like sense of movement as they shake around. In order to make sure I got the frame on the inked background perfectly, and I didn’t lose bunches of these micro-beads all over, I made a small funnel out of some foam square sheets (so it wouldn’t stick to the foam strips), and laid the frame in place on the card front from the left to the right, finally catching the funnel in the edge on the right side of the goggles. Then it was easy to pour in the micro-beads through the funnel and they didn’t go all over the place! Just pull out the funnel and stick the last bit of the frame down! VOILA! No Mess! LOVE this card! It’s worth catching the video just so you can see those beads move!

We’ve made it through all ten cards featuring the MMH July 2020 Kit. I admit there were a few minutes there when I thought I wouldn’t be able to do 10 different cards, but I think I managed to create a nice variety with some useful sentiments and a couple puns as well!

Lots of underwater scenes here, but what did you expect!? I am really thrilled with my foam stamp from the Fancy Edge die, that HeroScapes reef set is really fun, and I love the dolphins and that water ripple stamp. I just wish I knew more oceanographers!

This kit is still available at Hero Arts if I’ve managed to ignite your imagination or given you some new ideas! Please use my links whenever you go shopping at Hero Arts – it helps support my site and channel, and it is always truly appreciated whenever you do! Hero Arts: https://shrsl.com/1f7qx My Monthly Hero July 2020 Kit: http://shrsl.com/2f3rr

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me here! Let me know if you have any questions and which card(s) you like best. If you’d like a PDF copy of my sentiments or my Silhouette file with the sentiments AND the goggles, just drop me a note at the contact button on the top of this page and I’ll gladly share with you! Remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, Don’t go swimming right after you eat, and as always I wish you Health and Happy Crafting!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Hello Folks! Scott here with a new Scor-Pal Project for you! I was talking with Diana Crick (the Designer and Owner of Scor-Pal) and we thought it would be a lot of fun to do a series of projects for you highlighting the Scor-Pal and Scor-Tape. These tools do a lot more than just scoring and folding and sticking layers on top of each other!

BUT FIRST! I must announce the Winners of the new Stacker! Our last Score-Pal post introduced the new Stacker to the Scor-Pal family of products, and Diana was generous enough to give away three Stackers for the introductory promotion. And our winners are (drumroll please) Marilynn Solis from Mesquite, Texas; Gail Loyola from Columbus, Ohio; and Nancy Flemming from Prairie Village, Kansas. CONGRATULATIONS to all the winners, and a big THANK YOU to all who entered!

Let’s start with the basics – The Art of Box Making. If you have card stock and a Scor-Pal (or any scoring board) you can make customizable boxes for all your gift-giving, organizational, and storage needs.

When we first started talking about these projects, Diana surprised me by mentioning that she gets a lot of questions about how to figure out eighth-inch markings on a ruler or on a Scor-Pal. It seems a lot of folks have a hard time figuring out where 3/8″ is or where 7/8″ is… granted, eighths of an inch are rarely marked on any kind of ruler, so Diana came up with an easy way to remember your eighth inch markings.

Diana equates an inch to a pie cut into eight pieces – 2 eights are a quarter of your pie – 4 eights are a half – so 3 eights would be between the 1/4″ and 1/2″ marks. The same would be true for 5 eighths and 7 eighths. I think this is a very clever way of reminding oneself exactly where those specific eighth inch measurements are!

So let’s make some boxes!! Today is all about simple boxes with single-thickness walls. Nothing fancy – yet! I’ve always struggled with how to make sure that the top of a box will fit over the bottom of the box, and have run across many different ways to solve that… I think this technique is fairly simple and easy to remember! There is a little formula that will help you figure out what size of card stock you need in order make a box the size that you want. Here’s a little Box Basics guide for easy reference.

To determine the size of card stock you need to start with, decide on the dimensions of your box. Let’s start with a simple 2″ x 2″ x 1″ box – 2″ wide by 2″ long by 1″ tall. For the bottom of your box (always start with the bottom) You add 1″ (side) + 2″ (wide) + 1″ (side) to give to 4″ for the width of your card stock. You do the same for the length of your box. Add 1″ (side) + 2″ (long) + 1″ (side) for a 4″ length of card stock. 4″ x 4″ is the size of card stock we will start with for this box. Any square box will start with square card stock.

If you make the top and bottom exactly the same size, they will not fit together very nicely at all! So… using a 4 1/8″ x 4 1/8″ piece of card stock we follow the exact same steps to make the Box Top! 1) Score all four sides at 1″. 2) Make four tabs by cutting away the ‘channel’ left by your Scor-Tool on opposite sides. 3) Commit your creases as you fold along the score lines. 4) Do a dry-fit to make sure your corners line up well, and trim away any irregular edges. 5) Add Scor-Tape to the four tabs – along the fold, and the outside edge (the two pieces at a right angle to each other). 6) Burnish down your Scor-Tape. 7) Remove the liner paper. 8) Assemble your box taking care to line up the corners and edges.

Since the top is fractionally larger than the bottom, it should fit with no resistance. On a small box like this, where the top and bottom are both the same height, it is helpful to punch little finger notches on two sides of the top so you can grab the bottom as you remove the top. You see we get nice, clean corners and even edges on both pieces. Square boxes are pretty straightforward, but what if you need a rectangular box?

This box is 3″ wide by 4″ long by 2″ tall. So our formula for the bottom of the box is 2″ + 3″ + 2″ (7″ wide) by 2″ + 4″ + 2″ (8″ long). The bottom starts with a 7″ x 8″ piece of card stock. The sides of this box are 2″ tall. That means we will score all four sides of our 7″x 8″ card stock at 2″. On a rectangular box, I like to have the tabs glue down to the long side, which adds a little strength for the longer part. So when you cut your tabs, cut the scores on the long side of your card stock (the 8″ side for this box) so the tab will fold in and attach to the long side. That’s the only real difference with a rectangular box. Cut the ‘channels’ away on the long side, commit the creases, dry-fit, add Scor-Tape (on the seam and outside edge at a right angle) burnish tape, remove liner paper, assemble box bottom!

We do have a 1″ shorter top on this box. To make the Top then, we figure 1″ + 3″ + 1″ + 1/8″ = 5 1/8″ wide, and 1″ + 4″ + 1″ + 1/8″ = 6 1/8″ long. We’ll cut our card stock to 5 1/8″ x 6 1/8″ (there’s those pesky eighths!). Since our sides are only 1″, we’ll score this piece at 1″ on all four sides. Cut your ‘channels’ on the score marks on the 6 1/8″ sides and continue as before to assemble the lid. Of course you won’t need notches in the top of this box! When a box is taller, a shorter top often makes sense.

I love making boxes from pattern paper – they require little decorating to make them special. A simple ribbon and bow on this box would be very sharp. Of course you can decorate your boxes with flowers and ribbons and die-cuts and just go crazy if you like!

I wanted to show you that you can create your own box for almost anything – – let’s create a box for my NYC Taxi Cow…!

I’ll put her in the box on her side, and we don’t want to squash her, so it looks like she’s 5″ from horn to hoof and 6 1/2″ from nose to tail. Looks like her horns (??) are the widest part of the cow, and they are right at 2 1/4″, so we’ll make our box 2 1/2″ tall. My cow box will need to be 5″ x 6.5″ x 2.5″. So… 2.5″ + 5″ + 2.5″ = 10″ and 2.5″ + 6.5″ + 2.5″ = 11.5″ For the Box Bottom we’ll need card stock cut to 10″ x 11.5″. The box is 2.5″ tall so we score all four sides at 2.5″. Cut your four ‘channels’ on the 11.5″ long side, fold, fit, tape, assemble!

A taller box can have a shorter lid… I’ll make this lid only 1″ tall. 1″ + 5″ + 1″ + 1/8″ = 7 1/8″ and 1″ + 6.5″ + 1″ = 1/8″ = 8 5/8″. Card stock for the lid needs to be cut to 7 1/8″ by 8 5/8″ (there’s those darn eighths again!!). The lid is only 1″ tall so you score the four sides at 1″ and cut the four “channels” on the 8 5/8″ side. fold, fit, tape and assemble!

Nice clean corners, straight sides, and perfectly sized to the item I wanted to box! Unfortunately, I don’t have card stock large enough to box this cow standing up.. I’d need paper over 16″…! So laying it on the side is perfect. A little tissue paper, and some ribbon make this a lovely presentation of a unique item that didn’t come in a box to begin with!

That’ll conclude Part One of The Art of Box Making! I hope we’ve been able to impart a few tip and tricks to ease your box-making fears. I always give my family members a Christmas ornament each year (some home-made) so it seems like I am always making ornament boxes. Remember these open top boxes can also be used for organizing (craft drawers need some help?) and simple storage too!

The walls of these boxes are all single-thickness. I think in Part Two we will look at boxes with double-thickness walls. Not only are they sturdier, but they also hide the tabs on the inside as well! Keep an eye out for Part Two coming the first of September!

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me here, you know how much I appreciate your support! Do let me know if you have any questions, and if you have any ideas for new Scor-Pal Projects that you would like to see, forward along to me! Remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, don’t lose your score-tool, and, as always, I wish you and yours Health and Happy Crafting!

Hello Folks! Scott here unboxing the Love From Lizi August 2020 Card Kit! Lizi is calling this the “Enjoy the Little Things” card kit and, as usual, it is chock-a-block with colorful supplies ready-made to create sumptuous summertime cards!

Everything is our kit is packed in zip-lock bags for protection during shipping – Love that!

We get our usual 5 sheets of 8.5″ x 11″ card stocks this month. I use these for my card bases in my 10 Card 1 Kit videos… sometimes the colors of a card base will inspire my whole card design! We get 1 sheet each of Deep Green, Grey, Lilac, Super-smooth alcohol-friendly White, and Pale Blue. The Lilac appears to be substituting for Pink this month!

We do get a 12″ x 12″ cut-apart sheet in our kit, though this one has been cut in half…

On side features these 3″ x 4″ panels that mostly seem to be journaling or note cards. Perfect for scrapbook pages or as a noteworthy addition to any card front.

The back of that is full of these interesting ovals (shaped like a Milano cookie!) with floral icons and lots of sayings and sentiments. I really like the one-word ovals that use the outline of the oval to draw the word in the center. Fun!

We get 16 sheets of 6″ x 6″ single-sided paper papers. These (and the cut-apart sheet) are nice and thick, quite sturdy card stock! Here we have a nice assortment of patterns, texts, cut-aparts, and smaller versions of our large cut-apart sheet. There’s plenty of pinks in the papers, though it might officially be called Lilac!! Great assortment!

This month our Peel Off sheet features the Mini Heart shapes in Mauve Moondust. We also get a 5″ x 7″ sheet of Puffy Stickers with lots of sentiments and some fun icons – sized from large to quite small, and TWO (count ’em two!) stamp sets. The “Enjoy the Little Things” stamp set is 4″ x 6″ and features a bunch of little greenery and flower stamps – perfectly sized for creating your own bouquets! There are seven sentiments in a lovely cursive font: “Enjoy the little things”, “Live in the moment”, “One of a kind”, “Just be you”, “Hello there”, “Make the most of today”, and “Happiness blooms from within”. For a bonus this month we also get a new Background Builder stamp set! This is a 4″ x 3″ stamp that has a grid pattern of little tiny triangles… the next best thing to a large background stamp!

That brings us to our Embellishment bag…!! We get five 1/8″ satin ribbons in Pale Blue, Wine Red, Green, Soft Grey, and Lilac. A meter-long length of each! We get a new pot of Nuvo Shimmer Powder in Lunar Rocket (can’t wait to see what that looks like!) and our “Enjoy the Little Things” sequin pack featuring Green, Pink, Oyster, Grey and Petrol colored sequins in a variety of sizes and styles. This month we are also treated to a complete alphabet die set! These are about 3/4″ tall capital letters from A to Z – perfect size for single word sentiments on front of your cards!

AND WE GET EPHEMERA! I know everyone loves their ephemera pieces…!

Here we have an amazing assortment of die cut ephemera pieces – again made with nice, thick card stock. LOTS of sentiments and words from large to small, some florals, some furniture, tags, flags, banners and a bird. Lots of choices here!

That’s everything included in the kit, but I was thrilled to get some extras this month too!

I was especially pleased to get the add-on “Stripes and Borders Stamp Set”. This is a 6″ x 8″ stamp set featuring 10 border stamps in different patterns – from candy stripes to bar codes, wood grain to dotted hearts, polka-dots to plain – different sizes of borders all long enough to span the 5.5″ side of an A2 cards! This should prove to be a very useful set…!

I also got the “Pin Stripe” Peel Off Pack with Mauve, Gold, Denim Blue, and Racing Car grey pin stripe peel offs, and the “Variety” Bundle featuring Teal Mini Circles, Silver Glitter Pin Stipe, Clear Irridescent Pink Straight peels offs, and Soft Lilac Pin Stripe peel offs . All of these peel offs have been bundled to coordinate and match this card kit!

As of posting, this kit is currently available at Love From Lizi – if I have managed to pique your interest or spark your imagination, I would suggest grabbing a kit for yourself and any add-ons you might enjoy. Lizi’s kits almost always sell out – most sooner than later – so if you do go shopping with Lizi, please use my links! They help support my channels and I am always super thankful when you do! LFL August 2020 Card Kit: http://shrsl.com/2eiz3 Enjoy the Little Things “Pin Stripe” Peel Off Pack: http://shrsl.com/2eiz7 Enjoy the Little Things “Assorted” Peel Off Pack: http://shrsl.com/2eizf LFL Stripes and Borders Stamp Set: http://shrsl.com/2eizl Of course there are a number of other add-ons and new releases so if you want to browse, you can use this link: https://shrsl.com/1yyuw

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me here! I always appreciate every moment you spend with me! Please remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, Share me with all your friends, Don’t forget to wear your masks, and as always, I wish you and yours Health, and Happy Crafting!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Hello Folks! Scott here with my 10 cards from the My Monthly Hero June 2020 Kit. I received this kit on Monday, July Sixth – I know Hero Arts is still operating with a reduced staff, and San Francisco has rolled back some of their reopening restrictions, so the folks at HA seem to be doing a remarkable job catching up to the backlog of orders!

I colored my die-cut lighthouse piece with my Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers, adding a piece to the back to provide color for the openings – that’s actually a little glitter paper in the lamp house! And who can resist adding stripes to this lighthouse! I cut a piece of white card stock to 4″ x 5.25″ to use for my background. I masked off and ink blended the sea with HA Splash and Blue Hawaii Reactive inks, then embossed the bottom of the cling stamp over that with VersaMark ink and clear embossing powder.

I ink blended the sky with Fruit Punch Reactive ink and Black Soot Distress Oxide ink. I spattered the stars with Permanent White Gouache watercolor paint, let those dry, and then embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. I marked where I wanted the lighthouse, and started coloring the light beam with a Prismacolor White colored pencil and added some light yellow to that, but I didn’t think it was quite bright enough. So I reached for my Permanent White Gouache watercolor paint again, thinned it down a bit and added that on top of the colored pencils… THAT seemed bright enough to me, and the gouache let some of the yellow colored pencil show through. When everything was dry I glued the background panel to a white card base, and glued the lighthouse die cut directly to that. I think that dark red horizon and the bright light beams really sell this card! Love it!

Now I think I’m ready to play with that big cling stamp and that black watercolor paper.

I loaded that cling stamp into my HA MISTI, and stamped a half piece of that watercolor paper with Unicorn Pigment Ink. I let that initial stamping dry overnight, then I took my Yasutomo Pearlescent Watercolor Paints and watercolored the blues and greens and the ocean as well. I was a little surprised that the watercolors did reactivate the Unicorn ink – even though it is a pigment ink – but I had prepared for that by leaving my cling stamp in its original place on my MISTI. Once the watercoloring was dry, I placed the panel back in my MISTI and stamped the cling stamp again using Unicorn Ink and then I clear embossed that stamp. That added all the fine white lines back on top of the watercoloring and the embossing matches the shimmer of the watercolors!

Once I was happy with my watercolor background, I trimmed that panel down to 4″ x 5.25″. I die-cut the whale tail from some Hero Hues Pitch Black card stock and did some dry-brushing on that with the same pearlescent watercolors. I cut a small slit in the ocean and slipped the tail into that slot. I glued the panel directly to a white card base (4.25″ x 5.5″) and added a spot of foam tape behind the tail. I stamped the sentiment on Pitch Black card stock, embossed it in white, trimmed it to size and added that to my card front with more foam tape. It doesn’t read well in a photo, but that pearlescent watercolor really looks like it’s shining – and the embossed stamping just adds to it!

I thought I’d try this same technique using some Glimmer Metallic Inks from Hero Arts..!

I created the background of this card exactly like the last one, but I used Glimmer Metallic inks in Aqua and Gold instead of the pearlescent watercolors. I did re-stamp the cling stamp with Unicorn ink and embossed that with clear embossing powder. Not quite the same effect of the watercolors but close! I die-cut the mountains from Pitch black card stock, backed the die cut with some black glitter paper and added a touch of gold highlight to the edges with the metallic ink. I stamped the sailboat with HA Soft Granite ink and Blue Hawaii Reactive ink, die-cut that out, and added some highlights with a Gold Metallic Sharpie.

I cut the background down to 4″ x 5.25″, cut a slit in the sea for the sailboat, glued that to a white card base and glued the mountain piece on top of that. I embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. It’s a little bumpy because it is embossed on top of the embossed cling stamp, but I think it reads perfectly well. I slipped the hull of the sailboat into the slit and added a spot of foam tape behind the sail. Really pretty card, but I don’t think the Glimmer Metallic inks are quite as vibrant as the pearlescent watercolors.

Let’s see what happens if we stamp that background stamp in black instead of white!

Now this card feels totally different! I stamped the whole cling stamp in black on a piece of plain paper, then layered some white card stock on top, and, using a light board, ink blended the background using Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, Broken China, Picked Raspberry, Blueprint Sketch, Wilted Violet, and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks.

I glued the background to a mat of Black glitter card stock and down to a white card base. I embossed the sentiment in white on some Jet Black card stock, trimmed it down and added it to the card front with foam tape. I added some Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen to the Auroras and finished this card with a generous sprinkling of stars using the Glow in the Dark lacquer pen! They really DO glow in the dark! This is a really sparkly card that actually feels like the Auroras are lighting up the sky!

That covers all the sentiments in our stamp set, but I do have one more stamping technique I wanted to try with that Aurora Borealis stamp!

How about some emboss resist for this card! I stamped the cling stamp on a 6″ x 6″ panel of soft blue watercolor-y pattern paper using VersaMark ink and embossed that with clear embossing powder. Then I ink blended Blueprint Sketch and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks on top of the whole panel, and wiped the excess ink off of the embossed stamping. Again… a whole new look with that background stamp! I trimmed that piece to 3″ x 6″ and cut three slices in different thicknesses from the right side.

I stamped the moon on some light blue card stock using HA Soft Sky ink and the whale on the same card stock using Blue Hawaii Reactive inks. I die-cut both pieces with their matching dies, and again, cut a slit for the whale between the lines in the ocean. I added the white highlights on the whale’s belly and flippers using Unicorn ink, and added some texture to him with with my alcohol markers and a white gel pen.

I printed this sentiment directly on a White card base using my piggy-back printing method and the Paprika font. I glued the four background pieces to the card base leaving thin white spaces between them, slipped the whale into his slot and added a spot of foam tape behind his body. I added some shine to the moon with my Spectrum Noir sparkle pen and mounted that to the card front with more foam tape. Finally I added a sprinkling of stars with a white gel pen. This sentiment is perfect for this monochromatic card… I think we are all feeling a little blue theses days!

Okay, enough with that cling stamp! Let’s get back to our last Fancy Scene die!

I colored this die cut with my alcohol markers again, and added a backing piece as well. This time I colored the backing piece with highlights instead of shadows and I glued those pieces together. On white card stock I ink blended the ocean and sky just as I did on the lighthouse die cut. I did add Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Oxide inks for a bit of a halo around this cabin scene, and I did clear emboss the bottom of the cling stamp on the water. I die-cut the background with a LFSRdie and glued that to a black mat and then down to a white card base.

I printed this sentiment using the Copperplate Gothic Bold font, trimmed it down to a banner shape and clear embossed the whole sentiment. I added the scene and sentiment to the card front with foam tape. Yes, I know I’m missing an apostrophe on the “LETS” but (believe it or not) that was a design choice. I also added three of the little silver stars from our kit in the sky on the top right for a touch of sparkle. I think a little cabin on a remote island is about as socially distanced as one can get…! If only that was MY island! And the lights in the cabin are quite welcoming!

Now we arrive at that point in my 10 cards where I’m looking hard for new card ideas…!

When I’m looking for new card ideas I often focus down on just one image from our kit. I think it really paid off on this card! I cut some masking paper with a Simon Says Stamp Frames die and masked off the top half of a white card base. I stamped the bird on some masking paper and fussy-cut it out and added that inside the frame mask before ink blending the sky with Broken China Distress Oxide ink. The cloud is stenciled with a MFT Mini Cloud Stencil. When I was happy with the background, I removed the masks and colored in the eagle using my colored pencils. I spent a good deal of time coloring this little eagle and used very sharp pencils to get a nice sense of feathers.

I printed this sentiment (Steve Miller Band anyone??) directly on the card front using the Dream State font, and then die-cut the thin frame from a piece of dark blue pearlescent card stock from my stash. I adore this card! You know how much I love white space, and I think this card highlights how much bang for your buck you can get out of a single small stamp in a stamp set! This card was quite a refreshing break for me!

Her come the puns. Here come the puns. Order in the Craft Room, here come the puns!

I simply couldn’t resist this one! Those cute narwhal stamps and dies were just begging for some puns! I created this whole background using my Silhouette Software (remember it’s FREE) and printed it out on some plain card stock. That is the Death Star font (I know, right!) and the Copperplate Gothic Bold font. I did again clear emboss the water lines from the bottom of the cling stamp on the bottom of this background panel. I will make a PDF of this and will be happy to share this background with anyone who would like it. Just send a request to me using the comments button on the top of this page!

I stamped the narwhals on Pitch Black card stock using Unicorn ink and colored them with alcohol markers and colored pencils for the “light saber tusks”. I did reverse stamp one of them to get them pointing in different directions. I do have a short video showing how I do reverse stamping here: https://videopress.com/v/Pzefmftc. I die cut the normal stamp and fussy cut the reverse stamp. I cut slits between the water lines to slip my narwhals into, and added highlights behind their tusks with Unicorn ink. Tiny pieces of foam tape add some dimension behind their heads and light sabres… I trimmed the background panel to 3.75″ x 5″, matted that on some black glitter card stock and glued everything down to a white card base. This card makes me laugh out loud, and would be a terrific greeting for any Star Wars fan or sci-fi geek on your list!

I know there are lots of whale puns out there but the narwhal is a little more unique!

Okay, gnarly may be a bit past it’s prime as a slang term but this card still makes me smile! This is the other half of the emboss resist panel I made for my fifth card. I cut that to 2.75″ x 5.5″, glued that to a white mat and then down to a card base made from Hero Hues Mist card stock (we got some of that in our MMH March 2020 kit). I again stamped the narwhal on Pitch Black card stock with Unicorn ink and added some texture with my alcohol markers and a white gel pen. I cut a slit between the lines in the ocean for our narwhal and added a little foam tape for some dimension.

I printed this sentiment on some scrap card stock using the Smoothie Shoppe font and the Arial Black font, fussy-cut it out and mounted it with more foam tape. I die-cut our three star shapes from some silver glitter paper and glued those around the sentiment and added a sprinkling of the little silver stars from our kit as well. For a final touch of glitter I added two strips of Love From Lizi Silver glitter peel offs on either side of our center panel. This is a fun encouragement card especially for those of us who may be of a certain age! Makes me giggle! This is the first and only narwhal stamp in my collection!

It’s been a while since I did a double slider pull tab card and I thought the spouting whale stamp gave me the perfect opportunity for something new!

I stamped the two whale pieces on a piece of white card stock with some Soft Granite ink and masked them off before ink blending the ocean with Broken China and Blueprint sketch Oxide inks. Before removing the masks, I clear embossed some water ripples using my homemade stencil. I ink blended the sky directly on a white card base using Orange Marmalade and Squeezed Lemonade Oxide inks. I removed the masks from the sea and colored in the whales using alcohol markers and a white gel pen. You can see the little pull tab under the whale…

I stamped and white embossed the spouting whale stamp on some heat resistant acetate and die-cut it out using the matching die. I have made many of these double slider pull tab cards – it basically consists of creating a plastic (trash bags work well) “conveyor belt” wrapped around a channel cut into card stock and attaching your pull tab to one side and your cut out moving piece to the other. You can see an in-depth post on this technique here: https://cardcutups.com/2018/02/26/project-double-slider-pull-tab-cards/.

My big variation here was cutting this v-shaped notch from the top of the whale to the horizon. I glued this cut-out piece to the background to allow the spout to come out between the front and the back. I was trying to make it so the spout started out small and got larger as it went up… instead of coming out of the whale’s blowhole at full width. I think this works pretty good..! It certainly gets the idea across in a fun way! Of course I could have just stamped the whale on the horizon line and let the spout erupt as a whole, but I was in the mood to experiment a little!

I printed this sentiment on the inked card base using the Arial Black font, and stamped the birds (from the MMH April 2019 Italian kit) using Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide ink. After adding the sea and mechanism, I decided to add the extra “congrats” sentiment using the Lawn Fawn Big Scripty Words stamp and die. I really like this sentiment set – the dies are super easy to line up with the stamped words! A fun interactive whale card! HOORAH!

That covers my 10 cards inspired by the My Monthly Hero June 2020 Kit! I love that large cling stamp and I guess everyone else did too – this kit sold out super fast!

I used almost every piece of this kit on this fun set of cards! I used all of the Fancy Scene dies and five of my cards feature the Aurora Borealis cling stamp. Of course I love the puns and am totally into that eagle card – love me some white space! – especially in contrast with all of these full-image cards. Let me know which card(s) are your favorite!

It seems every time Hero Arts offers a cling stamp in a kit, it sells out almost immediately! If you don’t want to miss out on any of these value-packed kits I would suggest becoming a subscriber! If you opt for the six-month plan you can choose to skip a monthly kit anytime – in case it’s not to your liking. If you do go shopping at Hero Arts please use my links whenever you can! It helps this channel tremendously and is hugely appreciated! Hero Arts: https://shrsl.com/1f7qx MMH Six Month Subscription: https://shrsl.com/24ss0

Thank so very much for sharing your time with me here! I appreciate you all more than you can ever know! Please remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, Share me with all your friends – continue keeping yourselves and others safe and healthy – we aren’t out of the woods yet…! And, as always, I wish you Happy Crafting!!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Hello Folks! Scott here with my 10 cards featuring the Love From Lizi July 2020 “Love You Always” Card Kit. This kit is unique in its plethora of flowers as both backgrounds and focal images, and lots of accessories to add to all your loving creations.

As usual, I do take the 5 sheets of card stock that come in our kit and cut them in half to make my 10 card bases. This month is World Watercolor Month, so I thought I would dive into this kit by practicing some watercolor techniques using different mediums and the stamps in our kit.

This is actually a stamp from the add-on “Just Because” stamp set. I really like this spray of flowers and the versatility it affords for using on a card. I stamped this on 140# Cold Press watercolor paper using VersaFine Onyx Black ink. I reached for my Derwent Intense Watercolor pencils (I don’t use these as often as I should!) to watercolor this card. I love the vivid colors these pencils provide! They melt like butter and layer just like any good watercolor paint should!

I stamped the sentiment from the “Love You Always” stamp set in VersaFine Onyx black ink, and embossed that with some clear embossing powder. I die-cut the watercolor paper with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle Die, glued that to a thin black mat, then to a thicker green “cracked paint” pattern paper mat and then down to the back card base. I added some Nuvo Morning Dew Crystal Drops from our kit for a sprinkling of shine and a touch of dimension. I really need to remind myself to use these watercolor pencils more often! They work so well and I truly love the watercoloring on this card!

Let’s use some Daniel Smith Watercolors for our next card…

This is one of the stamps from our “Love You Always” stamp set. The same VersaFine ink, the same watercolor paper, but these DS watercolors feel like they were a little more in the spirit of this kit – quite a bit softer than the watercolor pencils! I did add the extra greenery sprig from the stamp set behind the flowers on the left. I die cut the colored stamp and the black mat using Gina K Designs Large and Small Oval Die sets. I love using this oval set because they are sized to work together to create a perfectly thin mat behind the double stitched main panel.

I cut a background (5.5″ x 3.75″) for this card using the large flower garland cut-apart sheet, glued that down to the Blush Pink card base, and glued some of our black ribbon along the edges. I glued my matted art directly to the card front, stamped and embossed the sentiment on a piece of pattern paper, cut that into a banner, added a black mat, and attached the sentiment using foam tape. I cut the Butterfly die from our embellishment bag twice from some HA Pitch Black card stock, attached some Scor-tape behind the wings, and glittered the open spaces with red and purple super fine glitter. It doesn’t read very well in this picture, but it’s beautifully sparkly in real life! I glued the two butterfly bodies together, added a touch of foam tape between the wings, and glued that assemblage to the card front. One of our black bows provides a final touch of class for the sentiment. I really like that round glass vase and think this Thank You card is the perfect embodiment of this kit!

Both of those cards took me about an hour each to watercolor. Let’s try something simpler…

This is the other stamp from the “Just Because” add-on stamp set. Stamped with VersaFine ink on the same watercolor paper, but I sponged Distress Ink on the stamp using my small finger daubers and then sprayed the image down with a good amount of water. That gave me a nice, loose watercolor feel, but bled a great deal, so I fussy-cut the stamped image. The green “cracked paint” background pattern paper is cut to 5.5″ x 1 7/8″, glued to the middle of our Dark Grey card base, and lined with the Mint Glitter Straight peel offs from the kit. I added the fussy-cut colored bouquet to the card front with foam tape.

I embossed the tops of the two wood-veneer butterflies and one of the wooden buttons from our embellishment bag using VersaMark ink and the LFL Atlantis Green embossing powder. The sentiment is from the Circles and Sentiments add-on sticker pack, matted on a thin black mat and foam taped over a small black banner to the right of the bouquet. I glued the embossed die cuts to the card front and added two spots of our Nuvo Drops and three Mini Heart peel offs (from the Variety Bundle add-on) under the sentiment. Nice touch of bling and those hearts reflect the gold accents in that embossing powder. I did add some glitter to the lace wrapping on the jar with my Stardust Gelly Roll pen for a little extra sparkle. I think this is a very effective short-cut for watercoloring an image, and really like the final effect of this card!

One more image stamp from the “Love You Always” stamp set… Let’s try some watercolor markers for this one… I’ll try my Stabilo Markers for this one!

I did add the extra floral branch from our stamp set to this arrangement – I thought that filled out this two-blossom stamp quite nicely! Stabilo markers move quite well on watercolor paper, and I’m very pleased with how this one came out – kind of a midpoint between the watercolor pencils and the DS watercolors…! I die-cut the colored stamp with a LFSRdie, and glued it to this cut-apart floral frame – this is the cut-apart that has journaling lines in the center of the frame. I glued those to a thin black mat and added some Nuvo Drops for a little watery shine…!

I printed this pun-ny sentiment directly on the white card base using my Silhouette Software, the Smoothie Shoppe Font and my Piggy-back printing method. Makes me giggle! I glued the framed assembly directly to the printed card base. This is more vibrant that the DS watercolors, approaching the tones of the watercolor pencils, but I was able to get some better color mixing with the pencils… almost tit for tat, but I especially love the water in this vase!

I know a lot of you cringe at the thought of coloring anything, so I did one more stamped card with no coloring at all…!

Here’s some hard-core pink for you! I turned to the floral spray stamp again, and stamped that directly on the Warm Pink card base with VersaFine ink, and embossed that with clear embossing powder. I also added the two small flower stamps to the corners of the sprays as well. I wanted a tiny bit of variety to the flowers, so I painted a little bleach on the center blossoms to lighten them up a touch… subtle, but recognizable, I think that added just the right touch to this arrangement. The sentiment is from our sticker sheet, matted on black and added to the card front with foam tape. A bunch of small metallic embellishments (can’t figure out which LFL kit these came from) and a black Mini Heart peel off on the sentiment itself add a final shiny touch to this very pink card! I really like the black and pink – very sharp and ultimately fairly simple!

It seems that “slim-line” cards are all the rage these days.. and we have a cut-apart sheet that I thought lent itself perfectly to that slim-line concept!

I fussy-cut a 9″ strip of the floral garland cut apart sheet – leaving a bit of a white border on the edges to make it easier to cut out. I ink blended some Tattered Rose Distress Oxide ink on this 4″ x 9″ card base (behind the edges of the garland) and mounted the garland with foam tape. I stamped and embossed this sentiment on a piece of pattern paper, added a black mat and mounted that to the center with more foam tape. This is a really impressive card that is ultimately pretty simple – especially if you like to fuss-cut! Very trendy and actually quite beautiful!

I’ve got my fussy-cut mojo running on full speed… let’s do a collage card now!

I cut a piece of the ‘taped single-blooms’ pattern paper to 5.5″ x 3″ and matted that on a piece of 5.5″ x 3.25″ black card stock and glued those to the Blush Pink card base. The flowers, letter box, postcard and wax seal were all fussy-cut from the large cut-apart sheet. I ignored the fine foliage around the blooms and just cut out the larger leaves. These are all attached to the card base with foam tape (double thick for the letter box). I stamped the sentiment (from the add-on stamp set) on a piece of pattern paper, trimmed that down and added a black mat, and foam taped that to the card front. I think these kind of cards are a perfect use for all the images in this kit. You’re going to have to do some fussy cutting, but I think the end result is certainly worth it! No sparkles or bling on this card – I don’t think any are needed… and seem to detract from the vintage feel.

One of our cut-apart panels featured a single shutter in a field of pink. Just the thing for a little interactive card this month!

I cut one of the ‘shutter and doors’ pattern papers to 4″ x 5.25″ and glued that to the Black card base. I trimmed the single shutter cut apart piece down to 2.5″ x 3.5″, cut the shutters open (top, bottom and center) and scored the ‘hinges’ so the doors would open. I added a piece of the simple distressed beige pattern paper behind the opening, added a thin black mat behind that, and glued those to the center of the card front.

I stamped this sentiment from the “Love You Always” stamp set in the center of the open doors and added two little pieces of heart shaped glitter above and below. That’s all the bling this card needs… I thought about adding more stamps inside here, but was ultimately very pleased juxtaposing this simple sentiment with the nice open background. A really nice masculine card from a very feminine kit – I like this very much!

One of our cut apart panels was basically the front of a decorated envelope – with address lines and background post cancellations… I thought about making an actual envelope from that, but then came up with another idea…

I trimmed that ‘envelope’ cut apart panel down to 5″ x 4.25″. I printed this sentiment directly on the cut apart panel using my Silhouette Software, the Henny Penny font and the Dream State font. I did use a light board to make sure that I was able to achieve proper alignment of the printing with the pattern paper. I ink blended the edges of that panel with some Fired Brick Distress Oxide ink, curled up the opposite edges and glued that to the Warm Pink card base. I added one of the postmark stickers from the Circles and Sentiments add-on sticker pack – removing the sticky with some powder and using foam tape to mount it. Little pink heart glitter pieces add some nice bling, and I did use my Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen to add some glitter to the large lovin’. Not only is this a great Beatles lyric, but I think it works especially well with this pseudo envelope panel!

I was determined to use that little windmill die we got in our embellishment bag…

I die-cut that windmill from a piece of watercolor paper and trimmed out the fan blades and did some light ink blending on those with some Pumice Stone Distress ink. That really highlights the embossed details on those blades! I die cut the windmill a second time from the large green bead-board pattern paper and trimmed away the fan blades. I ink blended the building with more Pumice Stone ink, cut a piece of yellow card stock to fit behind the windows and door, and ink blended more Pumice Stone ink on that before gluing it to the back of the windmill. I glued the blades to the building and VOILA! A little itty-bitty windmill!

I die-cut the hillside using some the green ‘cracked paint’ pattern paper and a Stitched Hillside die, and did some ink blending on the edges of that piece with Peeled Paint Distress Oxide ink. I die-cut a piece of Bristol Smooth card stock with a LFSRDie and ink blended behind the hill with Broken China Distress Oxide ink and added the clouds using the MFT Mini Cloud Edges stencil. I glued the hillside to the cloud background and glued those to the cut apart panel that featured this nice wood frame.

I cut the small bead-board pattern paper to 5.5″ x 3.5″ and glued that to my last Dark Grey card base, and added some of our green ribbon to the top and bottom edges. I printed this sentiment on more pattern paper using the Brady Bunch Remastered font, and die-cut that out using the square die in the Background Builder Die Set 1 from the September 2019 LFL release. I mounted the framed background and sentiment with foam tape and glued the windmill to the top of the hill. A few Nuvo Drops – including one in the center of the blades – adds a little shine to this fun card. I love pairing the “biggest fan” sentiment with this tiny windmill! Makes me laugh! And, hey! We don’t need no stinking’ tulips!!

That’s my 10 Cards 1 Kit post using the Love From Lizi July 2020 Card Kit. I did manage to use every stamp in the “Love You Always” stamp set, and most of the stamps in the “Just Because” add-on stamp set. I have plenty of leftovers to add to my stash too…! I managed to use 6 of the 12 pattern papers, I used some of all three of the cut-apart sheets, some of the stickers, some of the peel offs, the Nuvo Drops, both dies, some ribbon, a button and a bow… seems I didn’t use any of the sequins or those pesky mini-clothespins..!

I’m quite pleased with the variety of cards I created this month! I think the only thing missing is a Birthday card! Of course this kit sold out almost instantly… most of Lizi’s kits do… so If you would like to get in on some of the excitement, I would recommend becoming a subscriber! If you do go shopping with Lizi, please use my links – It is always supremely appreciated! Love From Lizi: https://shrsl.com/1yyuw USA/Canadian Subscriptions: https://shrsl.com/23usr UK Subscriptions: https://shrsl.com/2b1ev European Union Subscriptions: https://shrsl.com/2b1es The Rest of the World Subscriptions: https://shrsl.com/2b1ey.

Thank you so very much for sharing your time with me here… I truly appreciate it whenever you visit my page! Remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, Share me with all your friends, PLEASE keep yourself and your loved ones safe… we’re not out of the woods yet…! Sending you and yours Healthy prayers and, as always, Happy Crafting!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you).

Hello Folks! Scott here with a new post introducing a NEW product coming to us from the Scor-Pal family of products. THE STACKER is a great new tool to organize all your rolls of Scor-Tape and keep them accessible on your craft table! It’s like having a helping hand!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve misplaced a roll of Scor-Tape on my desk only to find it later hiding under a piece of pattern paper or a stamp set…!

This is a fairly simple idea brought to glorious life by Diana Crick and the folks at Scor-Pal. This will hold any roll of Scor-Tape as well as any other roll of double-sided tape with a 3″ (75mm) core – that means this would hold most larger rolls of foam tape as well! It also sports six little rubberized feet on the bottom so it won’t slide around on your desk!

One of the most interesting things about this new product, is the fact that a stand like this should most likely be weighted – it should have a heavy base so it doesn’t tip over when used. But, in order to save on shipping costs, and keep the price of The Stacker as low as possible, Scor-Pal designed this nifty gadget so we can add our own weight!

NOT using water or other liquids seems like a very good idea…! There are two rubber caps on either side of the center storage bin. Simply open those and fill the inner chambers with whatever you wish (except liquids!). I used some old aquarium gravel that was small enough to fill the chambers. That gave me a nicely weighted tool with little chance of spillage even if tipped over.

I grabbed all the different widths of Scor-Tape rolls in my stash and added them to my weighted Stacker. I was actually able to add a 2.5″ roll, a 1″ roll, a 1/4″ roll and a 1/8″ roll on The Stacker while still having a little room to spare!

I love the fact that this stand lets me use both hands when applying my Scor-Tape and keeps the roll from moving around on my desk and letting extra tape stick to anything it comes into contact with!

If you happen to be in the middle of taping a number of pieces, I found it quite easy to simply pop the end of my active roll on the top of The Stacker – it’s readily available for the next use and you don’t have to fish around for the beginning of the roll. Once you’re done, it’s simple enough to rewind your extra length of Scor-Tape back onto the roll.

I got a bit of a giggle from the top of The Stacker box. It says “Can’t find the roll of tape on your desk? The Stacker is the Answer!”. When I’m contentedly crafting away, (especially when I have a monthly kit spread out) I often end up losing my most used tools somewhere on my desk as well…! My bone folder, craft knife, poker tool, small fussy-cut scissors, those are the regular tools I misplace most often. The Stacker IS the Answer!

With this central storage compartment built into The Stacker, I have the perfect place to hold my most used tools! It keeps them up and above the chaos on my desk and keeps everything nice and handy. I’ll just have to train myself to remember to put these tools BACK in The Stacker after using them. I’m sure that will soon become second-nature.

I think that just about covers all the cool perks of this newest tool from Scor-Pal! I love having a convenient storage spot for my Scor-tape and crafting tools that is small enough to keep on my desk at all times. I’m thrilled Diana asked me to introduce you to The Stacker!

The Stacker is now available at scor-pal.com. If you’d like one of these handy tools for yourself, you can use my coupon code at scor-pal.com to save 10%: STACKER (all caps!)

Diana has also graciously provided three Stackers for an introductory give-away. To enter, simply leave a comment on my accompanying YouTube video and telling me what your favorite Scor-Pal product is, and WHY it’s your favorite. Here’s the link to The Stacker video: https://youtu.be/gsm3yUCLY0Q I’ll collect entries through July 15th and announce the winners by July 20th. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

Thanks for sharing your time with me here, please share this post with all the folks who find that having an extra hand at their craft desk is a good thing! Remember to Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, Share me with all your friends… Don’t forget to grab one of these for yourself, and as always, I wish you Health and Happy Crafting!

DISCLOSURE: This site contains some affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links (at no cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!

Hello Folks! Scott here with my 10 cards (and 5 envelopes!) using the My Month Hero May 2020 Kit. After being on lockdown for a couple months, the Hero Arts staff is slowly getting back to work and trying to catch up on all their orders. I received this kit on Monday, June 15th, so I’m hoping you have your kit in hand already. You may not be able to be with friends and family at the moment, but you can let them know you’re thinking about them by sending a little sunshine their way! This release is all about the act of making and sending handmade greetings to the people you care about. And with this kit, the envelope can be just as cheerful as the card inside! 

At first glance, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to come up with ten cards using this set, but, armed with my penchant for using every stamp in a set, I persevered! I did think the large unadorned sun might be the most difficult stamp to put to use…

Thinking along the lines of the sun traveling across the sky in the course of a day, I came up with my first card using that great big bold sentiment in our kit. I stamped the suns and the sentiment on Neenah 80# Solar White card stock using VersaFine Onyx Black ink, and colored the suns using my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers.

This still needed something else, so I stamped one of the hearts from our stamp set in the middle of the center sun, colored that in with a Ranger Emboss It Pen, and embossed it using some Love From Lizi Lemon Zest Party embossing powder. THERE’S the sunny sparkle this card was asking for! I did add a little sparkle to the other suns with a light touch of my Spectrum Noir Crystal Clear Sparkle pen. I trimmed the stamped panel down to 5 1/8″ x 3 7/8″, added a thin black mat and glued those down to a Yellow card base. The yellow is certainly bright and cheerful, and I really like the simple two-color scheme.

I’ve never been much of an envelope decorator… I certainly don’t have the calligraphy skills of Kristina Werner, and I’m more than happy if the recipient keeps the card, much less the envelope! And of course, I worry about the wear and tear an envelope goes through as it makes its way through the USPS…! But, I do like the envelope flap sentiments and believe these are my first stamps of that sort!. They’ll get some use I’m sure!

On another “I’ve got too much time on my hands these days” side-note, after watching Sandy Allnock use her Copic Airbrush system numerous times, I remembered that I had an old Paasche air-brush and compressor in storage. Many years ago, I spent a summer air-brushing t-shirts across the Canadian mid-west with my brother who happened to be working with a carnival at the time. I recently purchased a set of Distress Oxide Sprays and thought they might be a good contender to send through the air-brush. I played with those sprays using my airbrush, and soon became confident enough to try it on a card.

I stamped the rainbow, and then using a fussy cut mask of the rainbow, stamped the sun using VersaFine ink on Neenah 80# card stock. I cut another mask of the Sun and placed both masks on the stamping, and airbrushed the sky using Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Spray. That gave me a really nice, smooth gradient that laid down very quickly, and dried almost instantly! I peeled up the masks and colored the pristine white spaces with my alcohol markers. I die-cut the colored panel with a Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die, mounted that to a thin white mat and then down to a Blue card base. I stamped the sentiment using VersaMark ink and embossed that with some white embossing powder.

I do have a little problem with this sentiment… rarely is there “always” anything…! And rainbows do not appear “at the end of every rain”. I’m being picky, I know, but, c’mon! Other than that, I love this card a lot! I like adding the big sun stamp to the rainbow with clouds stamp, and I really like this bright pop of colors and the intensely colored sky!

I wasn’t sure if this sentiment was meant for an envelope, or for a card, so…

I stamped the plane on some Bristol Smooth card stock and colored it with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, and cut it out with the matching die. I wanted the hearts to match the plane, so I used the same markers to color a gradient swatch on the same card stock and die-cut the hearts using the smallest HA Nesting Heart Infinity die for the smallest heart and the double-heart die from the MMH May ’19 kit for the two larger hearts. Again, I ink blended the MFT Cloud Edges stencil on some Neenah 80# card stock using Broken China Distress Oxide ink, and stamped the sentiment with VersaFine ink and embossed that with some clear embossing powder. I die cut the background panel with a LFSRdie, added a thin black mat and glued those to a white card base. I die-cut nine of the swirly clouds from our kit (the three on top were cut from the airbrushed over-spray scraps) glued three layers together and glued the three clouds to the card front. Finally, I attached the plane and the hearts using foam tape. I really like this card! You can’t go wrong with red, yellow and blue…! And I think the little cloud die-cuts add a fun, whimsical touch.

Just like the large rainbow stamp, the skinny rainbow only has four separate strips to color… that gave me an idea for this next card.

If I can’t get six colors in my rainbow, then I’ll just get six different colored rainbows! Using my Hero Arts Misti, I stamped this row of rainbows on Neenah 80# card stock by masking off the right cloud, and not inking up the two ‘sparkles’ on the right side of the stamp. I colored the rainbows using gradients of my alcohol markers. I printed this sentiment (one of my favorite rainbow sentiments of all time) directly on the card panel using the Smoothie Shoppe font, and trimmed the panel down to 5 3/8″ x 4 1/8″ and mounted that to a Gina K. Designs Sea Glass card base. I colored the larger stamped diamonds between the rainbows with the Metallic Blue Karin marker, stamped the diamond to the left of the sentiment using the Metallic Gold marker, and stamped the two ‘sparkles’ using the Metallic Pink marker. Lastly I added two strips of blue glitter card stock from my scrap drawer above and below the rainbows. Just the right touch!

I grabbed another one of my airbrushed panels for this next card.

This one is for all my crafty friends living in the American SouthWest! The background is airbrushed with Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, and Fired Brick Distress Oxide sprays. This colored gradient could turn me into an airbrush junkie! I LOVE IT! The ‘Monument Valley’ silhouette at the bottom is the negative die-cut of Venice from our MMH April ’19 Kit (still available!) cut from dark grey card stock and turned upside down. This sentiment is from an old Stamping’ Up! “Sky is the Limit” set stamped in VersaFine ink and clear embossed. I die-cut that panel and a black mat, with HA Nested Oval Infinity dies and glued those down to a white card base. I die-cut the three hot-air balloons from some Hero Hues Pitch Black card stock and colored them all with the Karin Metallic Decobrush pens. Lastly, I attached the balloons with some foam tape with the top one breaking the frame a little bit. Many of my southwestern friends mention the prevalence of hot-air ballooning in the SouthWest, and I think this card perfectly captures that.

I did consider making these five cards and five envelops be my whole 10C1K post for this kit, but there were still more stamps and dies I wanted to use… and had a few ideas for…

Back to regular ink-blending again… this is a really beautiful gradient on the background and makes me question the hassle of using my airbrush…! Hmmmm… This background is brush-blended with Picked Raspberry, Candied Apple and Fired Brick Distress Oxide inks. I did cut a heart mask (smaller than the sentiment heart) and attached that to Neenah 80# card stock to help me create this gradient in the shape of the heart. I used a SSS Falling Hearts stencil to emboss the white hearts on that background, added a thin black mat and glued both to a white card base. I stamped the (seemingly intended for envelopes) “Handle with care”, the lightning bolts and small heart on more Neenah 80# card stock and printed the “life is fragile” portion using the American Typewriter font and the Dream State font. I die-cut that with a HA Nesting Hearts Infinity die, colored everything with my colored pencils, added a little Fimo heart embellishment to the top left, and inked a little Candied Apple Distress Oxide ink around the edges. I mounted the completed heart to the card front with foam tape. This card feels especially topical these days… as we have learned and often experienced first-hand, life is indeed FRAGILE!

I still have that ‘snail mail’ stamp and snail die to use… let me see…

We have to have a Birthday Card this month! I was wondering how to use the snail die in our kit, and came up with this partial die-cut snail border – really cute…! I cut a piece of Neenah 80# card stock to 1.75″ x 5.5″, cut a simple ground mat from a piece of Post-it tape, and ink blended Antique Linen Distress Oxide ink for the ground, and Broken China for the sky. I glued that to my black snail border piece and trimmed the bottom to make a thin mat. I printed this sentiment on a Kraft card base using the American Typewriter font, and glued my matted piece to the card base. I stamped the snail on a scrap of Bristol Smooth card stock, colored that with my Zig markers, cut it out with the matching die, and mounted it to the card with foam tape. I added a little dashed trail with a Pigma Micron Pen and I have a belated Happy Birthday card with an implied excuse!

We received two paper airplane dies in this kit. One was pretty obvious on its own, but the other was just pieces of the plane with no background for them. Hmmmmm…

I made a background stencil with the separate pieces airplane die! And a bit of a pun!

I printed this sentiment on the stenciled background using the Britannic Bold font. I die-cut the background with a LFSRdie, added a thin black mat and glued them down to a white card base. I die-cut six of the paper airplanes and glued three of them together to make two chunky planes. I added a light touch of alcohol marker for a little definition on each plane. I die-cut the rainbow stripes on the cloud/rainbow art icon fancy die from HA Pitch Black card stock and arranged all the black rainbow pieces to be my “flying trails” for the two planes. I added two LFL Denim Blue Mirror Pin Stripe peel offs to the top and bottom for a little shine, and mounted both planes at the end of their trails with foam tape. I’m really thrilled with this stencil (I will definitely keep it!) and feel like I got a really fun, cohesive and punny card using just those three dies! You ARE awesome!

The “HELLO” banner die cut and the stamp banner die cut didn’t really go together – The HELLO had fish tails on both ends, and the stamp banner die only had one… It took a little finagling and some partial die-cutting, but I managed to get them to work together!

I stamped the plane on a panel of Bristol Smooth card stock and colored that with my Zig markers. I ink blended the MFT Cloud Edges stencil above and below the plane with Broken China DO ink. I trimmed that panel down to 4″ x 5.25″ and glued that to a card-sized piece of Gina K Sea Glass card stock and then down to a white card base. I die cut two stitched clouds from 80# Neenah card stock using My Favorite Things Stitched Cloud Edges die, trimmed them to fit the card front, and stamped this sentiment from the HA Many Everyday Messages stamp set using Wilted Violet Distress Oxide ink on the bottom cloud piece and added some clear embossing to that for a little shine. I glued the top and bottom edges of those cloud die cuts to the card front and used some foam squares to add some dimension to the stitched edges.

I die-cut the HELLO die from a piece of dark green card stock and carefully placed the stamp banner die over that (they do have the same curvature, just not the same ends) and did some partial die-cutting to avoid the flat end of the stamp banner die. I then fussy cut that right end of the HELLO die, glued it to a scrap of orange card stock and fussy cut the orange backing around the green frame. Looks like they were meant to go together! Lastly, I mounted that banner to the card front with foam tape. I really like the double clouds and the added dimension that gives this card. Doesn’t seem like I can make it through a 10C1K post these days without doing a “miss you” card… A sign of the times!

I still have the two flower stamps and the smiling sun stamp left to use…!

I stamped the two two flower stamps on some Neenah 80# card stock using a Gina K. Designs Wreath Builder template and then stamped the smiling sun in the middle. I added some leaves to this wreath using a stamp from the MMH April ’19 Kit (still available!) – I thought their curly stems echoed the curly cheeks on the sun. I colored everything with my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and turned to my Silhouette Software to create this sentiment. This is printed on the colored panel using the Typewriter Hand font and the Dream State font. I trimmed my panel to 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ and glued that down to an orange card base. For a final touch, I added some Colorful Confetti sequins and some Moonshine Confetti sequins for a bit of sunshiny sparkle and extra color. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey.” Yes you do!!

That wraps up my 10 Cards 1 Kit post using the My Monthly Hero May 2020 kit! I did manage to use every single stamp in this stamp set and almost all of the dies. I used the Karin markers (I do think those are meant more for calligraphy than coloring) and all five of the A2 envelopes.

This is a fun, colorful assortment of cards with lots of practical sentiments and some matching envelopes as well! When I started, I never thought I’d be able to come up with such a variety of cards this month! This kit is still available at Hero Arts if I’ve managed to ignite your imagination or you need some fun envelope stamps to help cheer any and all recipients. I don’t know if this has changed my mind about decorating envelopes, but I will certainly put these envelope stamps to some good use. Please use my links when you do go shopping at Hero Arts. It is truly appreciated and helps me a great deal as I patiently wait to go back to work. LINKS: Hero Arts online and the MMH May 2020 Kit.

Thank you so much for sharing your time with me here. I hope I’ve managed to spread a little cheer in your life today. As our states start opening up again, please remember to stay safe out there! Remember to wear a mask, keep away from large groups in enclosed spaces, keep washing your hands and take care of yourselves and others! Please Like me, List me, Pin me, Post me, share me with all your friends, Don’t touch your face! Not yet!! And as always, I wish you happy crafting!