June My Monthly Hero Countdown: Idea #4 + Giveaway

Michelle Short

It's time for another countdown peek! The June My Monthly Hero kit will be available to pre-order on Monday, June 8 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Now let’s join Michelle for some fabulous inspiration using this month's kit! 

Hello there, when I saw the kit this month, I immediately thought of the Northern Lights. I thought that the landscape dies in the kit would work perfectly to go with my Northern Lights sky. You can use the Bold Prints background stamp that comes in the kit to get the sky look, but I thought I would create it with ink blending for my card today. 

True North by Michelle Short for Hero Arts

I started off by die cutting the landscape die with the house and trees from Hero Hues Dove White Premium Cardstock. I then placed the same die on to a panel of Dove White Cardstock and ran this through my die cutting machine, but this time, I only partially cut it so that the bottom of the die did not cut. The fully cut piece was then adhered on top of the panel piece using Precision Glue

True North by Michelle Short for Hero Arts

I took a top folding card base and added ink blending to the top portion for the sky. Using blending brushes, I first blended on a line of Pool Party Reactive Ink, followed by Grape Slush Reactive Ink and then Taffy Reactive Ink on the right. For the rest of the sky, I used Blue Hawaii Reactive Ink and Navy Mid-Tone Shadow Ink. I splattered on some water and then White Iridescent Shimmer Spray. I then let the panel sit to fully dry.

True North by Michelle Short for Hero Arts

Once the panel was dry, I stamped the sentiment from the clear stamp set in the kit, in the top right hand corner using Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink. I applied White Embossing Powder and heat set. The landscape panel was then added to the card with foam tape. To finish off, I added a few jewels in the sky. 

*** 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, June 8, before the kit launches at 10am Pacific. The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Good luck!


  • Amanda Hicks

    Wow! I love the use of the reactive inks! Beautiful!

  • Eunice Brown

    Lovely card, I especially like the colors you used to create the northern lights. You did a wonderful job in blending the colors, and using it against your white die cut. Tfs.

  • Kim

    I love the white on white with the pop of color for the Northern Lights… beautiful!

  • Jade

    An incredibly beautiful card. I love it!

  • Nancy Pearce

    The colors in the skyline are perfect and the added jewels for the sparking stars makes me think of a snowy winter night. I can see using this die set in many ways.

330 Responses

Avra N Williams

Avra N Williams

Jun 06, 2020

Love your Northern Lights!

Kimberly McField

Kimberly McField

Jun 06, 2020

I thought I knew where this kit was headed, but this card surprised me! Now I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing the entire kit! Your card is beautiful.

Maria

Maria

Jun 06, 2020

Super cool kit love northern lights !! Fantastic background colors!!:)!

Julie

Julie

Jun 06, 2020

Love this card. It could be done in various colors for different seasons!

Julie

Julie

Jun 06, 2020

Love this card. It could be done in various colors for different seasons!

Lindarub

Lindarub

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful card love the background!

Rebecca

Rebecca

Jun 06, 2020

The night sky is beautiful!

Wendy

Wendy

Jun 06, 2020

Oh, Michelle! This is lovely work! LOVE that die! So many possibilities with trifold cards, Christmas cards! Hurry, hurry, Monday!!

Kim Earhart

Kim Earhart

Jun 06, 2020

Michelle, I cannot wait to try your die cutting technique of partially cutting one and fully cutting the other. Awesome!

Amy Cooley

Amy Cooley

Jun 06, 2020

This is such a beautiful card! I look forward to seeing more of this kit.

Gail O'Keefe

Gail O'Keefe

Jun 06, 2020

I can see this as a base for a great Christmas card! Looking forward to this kit

Eva

Eva

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful – I love the colours and the CAS Design!

Nancy Knapp

Nancy Knapp

Jun 06, 2020

Love the cabin in the woods!

Sherri Lang

Sherri Lang

Jun 06, 2020

Love the contrast between the sky blending and the white. Just stunning! Looking forward to seeing the kit and the add-ons.

Geri S

Geri S

Jun 06, 2020

I’m loving all the “northern lights’” cards and feelings they provoke! I can’t wait for this kit to play with, thanks to all the ideas from HA designers. Thanks!

Rosemary D

Rosemary D

Jun 06, 2020

fabulous ink blended sky! love your design!

Nicole S

Nicole S

Jun 06, 2020

So gorgeous! Love the landscape die!

Kimberly T.

Kimberly T.

Jun 06, 2020

So pretty! The colors are amazing!

Art_of_albara

Art_of_albara

Jun 06, 2020

Love your card ! This sky is beautiful. Northern lights are a dream to me. So glad to get house dies ! :)

Jackie Lee

Jackie Lee

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful. Seeing the sky like that is on my bucket list. In the meantime I’ll just have to make cards like this.

Giselle D

Giselle D

Jun 06, 2020

I’ve only ever seen the Northern Lights in pictures and your ink blending is gorgeous! I love the contrast of the stark white against the sky, simply beautiful!

Leanne in Cali

Leanne in Cali

Jun 06, 2020

Oh wow, this looks like a really cool kit! Love this card created with the Northern Lights in mind. Thanks for sharing!!

Margaret T.

Margaret T.

Jun 06, 2020

This is shaping up to be a wonderful release. I’m getting more excited with each new sample.

Jenni stafford

Jenni stafford

Jun 06, 2020

Wow didn’t know about partial cutting such a beautiful card the colours are so beautiful too

Pat vanderwolf

Pat vanderwolf

Jun 06, 2020

Really beautiful card and set

Vicki D

Vicki D

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful colors! Someday I’ll be able to blend like that (-:

Carolyn Pokorney

Carolyn Pokorney

Jun 06, 2020

Live this already looks like a dream place to be and the colors make me happy!

Marie T

Marie T

Jun 06, 2020

Love the clean look of this beautiful card!

Diana Curtis

Diana Curtis

Jun 06, 2020

So excited to see the kit.

Kerri P

Kerri P

Jun 06, 2020

The house and tries landscape die would really come in handy to make some awesome scenes on cards at Christmas.

Nina S

Nina S

Jun 06, 2020

Silhouette dies are brilliant and these ones are beautiful! Perfect for sky backgrounds. The sky in this card is absolutely stunning.

Kerri P

Kerri P

Jun 06, 2020

I really like your ink blended Northern Lights sky – it’s stunning.

SarahC

SarahC

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful sky!!! The contrast between the land and sky is just eye catching and makes you dream of far away places while relaxing at home. Thank you so much for sharing. I think I’ll need this kit.

Sandye Curry

Sandye Curry

Jun 06, 2020

So cute! Love the colors.

Carol H

Carol H

Jun 06, 2020

Love this card! I thought exactly the same about the Northern Lights when I saw the other sneak peeks.
So excited about this kit!! 😊

Cindy Plourde

Cindy Plourde

Jun 06, 2020

Gorgeous! I really love landscape and winter scenes!

Joni Morrill

Joni Morrill

Jun 06, 2020

Looks like a great kit!

Lynn Dansie

Lynn Dansie

Jun 06, 2020

Your design team is awesome! What a great card and simple too! Love it!!

MANETTA KANEFSKY

MANETTA KANEFSKY

Jun 06, 2020

wow! This is really elegant! such a beautiful card..perfect winter card.

Donna Billingsley

Donna Billingsley

Jun 06, 2020

OH MY GOSH! Hero Arts has out-done all other kits with this one. I love the winter and I love the Aurora Borealis. I am flipping over this Kit! WOOHOO!!!!!! Thank YOU!

Shannon Kessler

Shannon Kessler

Jun 06, 2020

I am loving the white foreground against the colorful background. So exciting.

Dawn

Dawn

Jun 06, 2020

Landscape dies!! 😍

Pam

Pam

Jun 06, 2020

This is just so pretty!

Nancy Deffner

Nancy Deffner

Jun 06, 2020

Gorgeous card! The sky is stunning and great contrast with the white die cut.

Dgolly

Dgolly

Jun 06, 2020

What a great card. Love the tree line die.

KATHY HERRI

KATHY HERRI

Jun 06, 2020

I can tell that this is a kit I would love to own! This is a beautiful card!

Krystal Showalter

Krystal Showalter

Jun 06, 2020

I love, love, love this card!!! It is gorgeous!

Kathryn Brown

Kathryn Brown

Jun 06, 2020

Absolutely gorgeous!

BECCA YAHRLING

BECCA YAHRLING

Jun 06, 2020

Your inking is beautiful and superb! Gorgeous card.

Nan Brown

Nan Brown

Jun 06, 2020

Love the die cuts. Looks like this with be a very versatile kit.

Jackie S

Jackie S

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful sky and I love how you’ve put the card together.

Gayle M

Gayle M

Jun 06, 2020

This card is stunning! I can’t wait to see what all is in the kit for June. I love lighthouses so this kit would be right up my alley!! Thank you for the chance to win.

Susan Cadek

Susan Cadek

Jun 06, 2020

Feels frosty! Love it!

Karin W

Karin W

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful card! I love your sky and I am excited about the dies in this kit!!

Seema Raja

Seema Raja

Jun 06, 2020

Love the aurea borealis colors! And the new die looks very promising. Looks like we have some inspirational sentiments in this kit. Looking forward to this month’s release.

Jane A McBee

Jane A McBee

Jun 06, 2020

You are so right about the Northern lights sky going with the die. The Hero Arts team is so amazing and creative.

Susan Carlson

Susan Carlson

Jun 06, 2020

Again with the creative scenes! I can think of so many cards – & I Havent even seen the whole release yet! Really appreciate your inspirational card! Thanks!

Donna Rohwer

Donna Rohwer

Jun 06, 2020

Just what I’ve been looking for, I want my Christmas card this year, to show northern lights.

Nini Kelley

Nini Kelley

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful card, I wish my blending looked this good!

Deborah Cooper

Deborah Cooper

Jun 06, 2020

Lovely card! Your sky is incredible!

Cindy C.

Cindy C.

Jun 06, 2020

Wow awesome sky above the white winter scene!!!

Amy Reser

Amy Reser

Jun 06, 2020

Gorgeous card. I like silhouettes. Good idea to do the die cutting on white cardstock

Beverly Robinson

Beverly Robinson

Jun 06, 2020

Stunning card, Michelle. Love your ink blending! This looks like a must-have kit.

Elisa

Elisa

Jun 06, 2020

Just love this card’s scene. So peaceful. Very creative.

Vikki H

Vikki H

Jun 06, 2020

My absolute favorite of this wonderful intro to the June kit!

Tamra Barnes

Tamra Barnes

Jun 06, 2020

Gorgeous! Glad to see there are mountains and ocean included in the set! Can’t wait!

Naomi

Naomi

Jun 06, 2020

Great background! The large die is very intriguing.

Kailash

Kailash

Jun 06, 2020

Oh I absolutely love this card, gorgeous!

Dawn N.

Dawn N.

Jun 06, 2020

OMG OMG OMG!!! THIS IS THE KIT I SUGGESTED AND HOPED FOR!!!

THANK YOU!!! 💚💚💚💚
THANK YOU!!! 💛💛💛💛
THANK YOU!!! 🧡🧡🧡🧡
THANK YOU!!! ❤❤❤❤
THANK YOU!!! 💗💗💗💗
THANK YOU!!! 💜💜💜💜

Susan Petersen

Susan Petersen

Jun 06, 2020

I like how you modified the die cut.

Marlene Huerta

Marlene Huerta

Jun 06, 2020

Lived in Alaska 30 years. Your northern lights are perfect!

Karen L Hetherington

Karen L Hetherington

Jun 06, 2020

The blended sky is lovely. I like the choice of white for the landscape. Thanks for sharing.

Susan McRae

Susan McRae

Jun 06, 2020

Love the colorful background with all the white, such a great contrast!

Linda Price

Linda Price

Jun 06, 2020

Another beautiful card-love the contrast of the white foreground with the bold sky.

Beth Merrill

Beth Merrill

Jun 06, 2020

I love the colors of the sky. Very Northern Lights looking! And the depth added by the landscape cut-outs is terrific!

Lindar C

Lindar C

Jun 06, 2020

Beautiful night sky!! Excited to see the full reveal.

Josmary

Josmary

Jun 06, 2020

very intrigue by this kit can’t wait to see it all on monday

Christina M Dauven

Christina M Dauven

Jun 06, 2020

This card is gorgeous and the sky is a perfect Northern light system the small town is a nice touch also.

Marty Harris

Marty Harris

Jun 06, 2020

Are these dies part of the kit, too? Such a wonderful variety. I was thinking it was all seascapes.

Leslie Birdsall

Leslie Birdsall

Jun 06, 2020

I love the versatility of this kit so far! Can’t wait to see more, your card is beautiful!