Hello and welcome as we begin the countdown to the release of the April My Monthly Hero Kit! Release day is Monday, April 6 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Our Creative Team will be here all weekend sharing sneak peeks. Please note, this month shipping will be delayed. Currently we estimate that shipping will begin April 20. We know you are excited to get your kit and appreciate your patience as we work through delays during this time of COVID-19. We are sending love and support, as well as healing thoughts to those who know people who have fallen sick or are sick themselves.

Now let's join Jess for the first look at this "Aus-some" kit...

You guys! This kit is INCREDIBLE and you're going to LOVE it! I couldn't resist playing with the stunning stencil that's included in the kit!

To start I marked where the sky part of the stencil begins and masked it off on a piece of bristol cardstock. Then I blended Hero Arts Reactive Inks in Pool Party and Blue Raspberry across the bottom of the panel keeping the darker color on the edges of the panel. Next I placed the stencil over the panel and blended Blue Hawaii Reactive Ink and Navy Mid-Tone Shadow Ink over the panel again focusing the darkest colors along the edge. I also kept it lighter opposite the sun (or moon)!

Next I masked off the bottom and blended Berry Smoothie Reactive Ink, Fruit Punch Reactive Ink, and Soft Canteloupe Shadow Ink across the sky. I also added a little Mulled Wine Hybrid Ink around the bottom of the sky to give it more depth. Once everything was dry I added a tiny bit of Unicorn White Pigment Ink in the reflection of the sun on the water and then blended a little Soft Vanilla Shadow Ink onto the bottom of the actual sun. I love that you can mix all the various types of Hero Arts inks together to achieve whatever look or shade of color you desire!

I let the panel dry completely and then stamped the rock and shark onto the panel with Versafine and heat embossed it with Black Detail Embossing Powder. Then I carefully shaped the sentiment around the shark on the lid of my MISTI and stamped it the same way! I love how it looks like it's designed to be used with the shark! Next I went a little crazy on the sparkle....so first I used a cheap paintbrush to add a little Crystal Clear Lacquer onto the bottom of the sun and then sprinkled it with a tiny bit of Snowfall and Icicle Glitter. I used more Icicle Glitter since the Snowfall reflects colors more and I wanted just a hint of sparkle. Then I've been cleaning and organizing my craft room for the last few weeks of social distancing and finding all sorts of old treasures I haven't seen in forever and I came across an old glitter spray. I was shocked that it still worked since I'm pretty sure it's been buried in a drawer for like 4 years but it worked to spray a fine mist of glitter across the entire panel. When the card catches the light it has the most gorgeous shimmer!

And that's it! Make sure to check back all weekend for tons of inspiration with this amazing kit. It's going to be a must-have for sure!

Win a kit before you can buy it! Just leave a comment on this (and every) Countdown to Creativity post. We’ll randomly draw one lucky winner from all the comments left across all countdown posts. The winner will be announced first thing Monday morning, April 6, before the kit launches at 10am Pacific. The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Good luck!