It's time for another fabulous monthly release! And who doesn't need a little extra boost of caffeine on their Monday morning? The August My Monthly Hero kit and add-ons are all about coffee and tea...

Get ready for a high-octane kit, coming your way! It's everything to do with coffee, in all its glorious forms. A 6x8 clear set packed with cups, foam art, messages and more, coordinating dies, and a fabulous café scene window die make up the core of the kit. A lacquer pen, some puff embossing powder and coffee & tea dyed paper will help you achieve some stunning crafty results. Be sure to watch our artists show off a surprising effect that you can get when mixing the lacquer and the embossing powder!

This month's kit includes:

6" x 8" Clear Stamp Set
1 3.5" x 4.5" Window Fancy Die
11 Coordinating Frame Cuts
Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen 0.5 fl. oz.
White Puff Embossing Powder 0.5 oz.
2 5.5" x 8.5" Sheets of Coffee & Tea Hand Dyed Decorative Paper

This kit is valued at $77, but is an incredible deal at $34.99. It is available in limited quantities - be sure to get yours before they are gone!

We also have several optional add-on products this month - lots of coffee and tea-themed fun for your projects! Let's take a look...

For you tea lovers out there, the Spill the Tea set includes a gorgeous fine porcelain teacup and accessories, and also has matching Spill the Tea Frame Cuts available.

Inspired by the latte artists who make adorable little critters on top of the cups they serve, Foam Animals lets you top your favorite cuppa with the cuties. You can line them up using masking techniques, or there's also Foam Animals Frame Cuts available. (Note: it's on this blog post author's bucket list to get a latte like this in real life someday!!)

Who would like to join us for a tea party? It's Tea Time, with a full selection of finger sandwiches, cookies and treats to go with your cup of tea. And of course, Tea Time Frame Cuts are available for this one, too! After all, it's always time for tea.

Ok forget the tea leaves, I'd like a warm cup of kit-tea, please! This adorable kitty is perhaps a little naughty, too. Kit-Tea Stamp & Cut has the stamps and matching dies all together in one handy package.

There are two new 6x6 cling backgrounds with this release. The first is absolutely gorgeous - Floral Doily Bold Prints.

Next is Distress Tile Bold Prints - there are so many fun possibilities with this one!

Our window dies have been a huge hit, so we're adding to the collection with the gorgeous Tea Party Fancy Die. Such a cozy garden patio to enjoy your cup of tea!

You asked and we listened - we have revamped our tea-themed Infinity Dies to include dies to cut out the handles! We're happy to introduce Tea Pots and Handles Infinity Dies, and Cups and Handles Infinity Dies!

Our woodblock release this month is this beautiful Mocha Maiden.

And of course our new watercolor this month could only be a gorgeous shade of brown - introducing our Cocoa Liquid Watercolor!

Love all of these fabulous new add-ons? You can Get Them All in a bundle for roughly a 10% savings!

A note for our kit subscribers: You have the opportunity to shop and add items this month without any additional shipping charges. Simply log in to your account and place your order by Thursday, August 9th at 11:59am Pacific in order to take advantage of this offer. Your kit may ship in a separate box than any extras and add-ons, but no additional shipping costs will apply. Kit shipping begins Friday, August 10th and continues throughout the following week.

Now let's take a look at some of the projects Libby created with this month's kit:

I had so much fun playing with this month's kit! I absolutely love the coffee theme, as I am a certified coffee addict! I was immediately drawn to this beautiful die included in the kit.

I die cut the cafe scene from white cardstock, then got to work coloring with my Copic markers. There are so many ways you could use this die - colored with Copics, as I did. Or watercolored with our Liquid Watercolors. Or cut from various shades of cardstock to form more of a silhouetted look. Lots of possibilities! And the message from the kit is so true - coffee really IS always a good idea!

All of the various coffee cups and mugs in the kit are so much fun, as are the various foam toppers you can add to them. I love what you can do with a couple of the extras from the kit...

Included in the kit are a Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen as well as some White Puff Embossing Powder. A fun technique is to draw on the foam using the lacquer pen, sprinkle with embossing powder and heat. You have to be careful that you don't heat it for too long, and the resulting "foam" does need to set aside to harden for a bit - but the "foam" it creates has so much fun texture - it really looks like the top of a latte, or some delicious whipped cream!

For even more ideas with this month's release, we've asked our talented Creative Team and crafty friends to help us introduce this kit. Please be sure to visit all of their blogs – and leave a comment at every stop along the way. One reader will be randomly selected to receive a free August kit (or reimbursement if you have already purchased your kit!) Leave your comments on all of these blogs by Sunday, August 12th at 11:59pm Pacific, then look for the winner announcement here on the blog the following week.

The Hero Arts Blog (you are here!)
Amy Kolling
Amy Tsuruta
Clare Prezzia
Emily Midgett
Ilina Crouse
Janette Kausen
Jennifer McGuire
Jessica Frost-Ballas
Julee Tilman
Kelly Latevola
Laurie Willison
Libby Hickson
Lydia Fiedler
Michelle Short
Nichol Spohr
Wanda Guess
Yana Smakula

Thanks for stopping by!