Well, well…what do we have here? Another Holiday sneak peek! This one is frightful and delightful…

Hope it didn’t startle you!

In addition to Winter Holiday stamps, this new release includes plenty of Halloween and Thanksgiving images to inspire your creativity this Fall. All of the stamps on the card above, with the exception of the cloud background, are from the new Frightful PolyCLEAR set (CL468). Isn’t that a FUN tree?! We can’t wait to show you more of what’s in store for Fall and beyond!

Signing off from Chicago,

Hello, Nancy here! Today I’m excited to reveal the next winner in our Win-a-Day on the Blog contest. Please join me in congratulating the very talented Nicky Hsu! You can check out her blog for more inspiration.

When you see a “Nicky card” you can tell how much she loves the craft of stamping. Often times I spend evenings looking at our Flickr cards and I can usually tell a “Nicky” card. I am so glad I could choose her as my Win-a-Day partner. I know we will have a lot of fun stamping together and I look forward to using the stamps she chooses.

Nicky’s white on white card has so many applications. The simplicity and subtle coloring make this card perfect for wedding invitations, garden parties and just “sending a smile” cards. The embossing is beautiful and adds just the right amount of texture to the background, without taking away from the softly patterned flower.

This Mother’s Day card is another example of how Nicky uses subtle details to make each card unique. The delicately torn edges of the watercolor paper and the light addition of color to the edges of the message and card make this work of art a piece worth framing.

Here is another example of Nicky’s beautiful embossing. Maybe we can get her to give us some tips on embossing on our day. Embossing on textured paper is difficult at best and combining different shades of green makes a nice backdrop for the charming punched butterflies. Although this card has no message, the soft colors speak for themselves conveying serenity and calmness.

Win-a-Day weeks are really what Hero Arts is all about…sharing ideas and creativity with friends and other stampers, we might not have met if it were not for the amazing technology of the computer and internet. Thank you Nicky for always making me smile when I see one of your posted cards.

P.S. - Scroll down to the post below this one for another CHA update. It’s a colorful peek at an addition to the Hero Hues line of accessories!

Anyone here like ribbon? How about ribbon that coordinates beautifully with Hero Hues papers, inks and accessories? If you’re raising your hand, we think you’ll love the newest addition to the Hero Hues lineup…

Hooray for ribbon! This rainbow of goodness is coming soon.

Enjoy!

Hello everyone!

This gets harder and harder each time!  Wow! So many wonderful entries and awesome cards. I am happy to announce that my next Win-a-Day blog partner will be Rosemary D. (You can see more of her work on her blog.)

Here is the card that was the clincher! So bright and so simple, and totally cheery. The pinky orange flower really makes a statement and is one of my favorite stamps! I love using it on fabric and making brooches to wear.

Next up we have her paper flowers card on our Write Your Own cling stamp. I just LOVE paper flowers. So elegant and sweet with it’s birthday message.

AND how about these vintage girls? They are “SEW” fun! Fabrics and sewing are SEW back in style!!

I can’t wait to see what she selects to work with for our day together. I am sure we will have BIG FUN!

Speaking of fun, we have an extra fun Watch It Wednesday video to share with you today! It’s an inside peek into the CHA Summer trade show in Chicago, where we’re debuting our new Holiday collection!

Sending smiles from the Windy City,

Hi! Jennifer McGuire here. I am so very honored and excited to announce my pick for the Win-a-Day on the Blog contest - Jill Foster!

Jill has incredible talent. Not only does she create mini-masterpieces with her cards, but she is encouraging to others. Her blog shares a card that she has seen in the stamping community and a card she created inspired by it. Whenever I am stumped creatively, I just check out her blog. Within minutes, I feel inspired. She is one of the best stampers out there.

I am in love with the softness of this card. The little touches like the inked edges, machine stitching and embellished punches make it stand out. It’s elegance is amazing…

Jill can rock any style of card. Proof of that is this card… so bold and full of color. The ribbon detail is just so unique. Stunning!

The layering of stamps is so eye-catching on this card…WOW!  I love the colorful background that she created and how it coordinates with the color on the foliage.

I can’t wait to share a blog day with Jill - what an honor it will be.

Until then, happy stamping…

P.S. We wanted to remind you that workshop sign-ups for ScrapFest begin online this morning at 7 a.m. Central time! Go here to learn more about ScrapFest and to register. Read all about the fabulous classes here, including two from Hero Arts — Color Your World and Winter Wonderland. Shari and I will be teaching again this year. It’s always a great time…hope to see you there!

Welcome back to the blog!  This is the week we’re announcing our Win-a-Day on the Blog contest winners.  I have chosen the talented Pia Overgaard.  You can also check out her blog for more inspiration.

I have admired Pia’s work for a while. Her style seems to catch my eye with the somewhat simple style that is really a fantastic mix of techniques and layers but not overdone. Soothing muted and earthy tones are usually the base for her creations.

This card jumped out at me when I was looking through the Flickr gallery. The dramatic hit of color she added to this embossed resist Grape Flourish looks just amazing! Subtle stamping in the background and the simply stamped tag finish the card perfectly.

You all know that I love stamping techniques and this card is a beautiful example of the stamp kissing technique. Mixing the Designer Woodgrain background with the Floral Brocade is brilliant!

On this card Pia embossed the Starburt Lace image with white powder on patterned paper. The subtle softness of the patterned paper proves to be a perfect accent for the embossed images.

I’m looking forward to sharing a day with Pia!

Enjoy!

So here it is…Friday… already!!!  Where did the week go?  Even more… today is my husband Tom’s birthday!  Poor guy has to work out of town for a couple days and will miss his birthday dinner. I was able to put this special card by the coffee pot so he could see it first thing this morning.  I hope it gave him a little cheer.  Okay, enough of that, I’ve got so much to share today so let’s get to it.

My last style of pocket card is your standard library type, where the goodies slide out from the top. I got my hands on some great Basic Grey papers and chip board letters then went to town layering all my notes!

I folded the bottom of a tag (kinda like a second pocket) to hold the mini card. When you pull the tag up, out comes the card. The Big Hugs set had so many messages for me to use, I just scattered them throughout the card.

Card by Shari Carroll.  Click HERE for the complete supply list and instructions.

Now it’s time for the final sneak peek of the week. Check out this scrumptious set of Cling Trees!!  Think of how easy it would be to make a batch of Holiday cards with this design.

As we do every week we feature a bunch more cards for our Idea Friday.  Look at the variety of these beauties below!

• Thank You
• Tokyo Metro
• Travel Card
• Asian Floral
• Made with Love
• Journey

Thanks for joining me for a week of pocket cards.  I love reading your comments each and every time I’m hosting here on the blog.  All of us are heading out this Sunday for the CHA trade show.  If you’re able to attend, please stop by our booth and say howdy!  Next week we have some special treats planned so it’s a MUST for you to come by and see what we’re up to.

Until next time, Enjoy!

This month has been so much fun so far - traveling to distant places, craving yummy foods, skimming through beautiful books - all while sitting at the computer looking through your amazing creations in the Flickr group pool!  We hope you’ve been enjoying your time with this month’s themes as much as we are!  Here’s what we’ve especially enjoyed…

First let’s meet our Fresh Face from the first half of July - Rina Damay!  She entered a bunch of fabulous creations in this month’s contest, including these gorgeous tags and delightful coasters!  We love all of the details she added, and the variety of stamps she used.  And it looks like she had a lot of fun making them, too.  Wonderful work, Rina!

Next up is our Digital category, which vanessa.1978 won with this absolutely gorgeous creation!  She combined the Old World Map and Whimsy DigiKits with some traditional stamping to create this hybrid masterpiece.

And now onto our Fab Five - some of our favorite projects this month, presented in no particular order. Just like our Digital and Fresh Face winners, every member of the Fab Five will receive a $50 Hero Arts shopping spree.

This fab creation from batraplume put big smiles on our faces!!  We don’t know why the owl is being such a party pooper, the poor little squirrel is just trying to eat a balanced diet.  hee hee

Next is a yummy creation from Linda van Vliet.  We love the different looks she achieved all from the same Engraved Fruits strawberry stamp.  Really gorgeous work, Linda!

Hxnnie (Hannah) had a go at this month’s Bookmaking Technique theme, and we adore the result!  She put so much detail into this wonderful little book - you can take a peek at it here.  Another fantastic variety of stamps used, too!

We just love how everyone seemed to have lots and lots of fun with their creations this month.  Here’s another example - this fun little traveler from Monarch Butterfly2000!  She took her little Italian girl (aka one of our dolls!) on a trip to France, where she brought home a baguette, some wine and of course an entire suitcase filled with French fashion!  Take a peek at her journey in Monarch Butterfly2000’s photostream!  Too cute!!

And finally, an absolutely beautiful trip to the beach with Jacqueline.fr.  She says she had some distressed paper scraps lying around so she stamped shells from Antique Engravings.  Wow.  Really, that’s all we can say - WOW!!  Just gorgeous.  Scraps have never looked so good!

Congratulations to all the winners!!  Please contact us at winner@heroarts.com with your address and phone number, and also include your list of $50 worth of product!  You can look through our store HERE to create your list.  Please include “July2010A Winner” in the subject line. There are also blog blinkies available for all the winners - if you’d like one, please let us know in your email and we’ll send it along as well!

So have you caught the travel bug yet?  Feel like playing with your food?  Got an idea for a fabby handmade book?  Our July contest is still in full swing until July 29 at 11:59PST, so get your creations uploaded to Flickr! You can read all of the contest details HERE.  And a great big thanks to everyone who has played so far.  Our Flickr family is the best!

And before we go, let’s check in to see what our wonderful new Hero Hostesses have been up to.  “What’s a Hero Hostess,” you say?  Read all about it HERE.  Then click on the image or the name below to visit the full card and leave a little love!

Cards created by joytaylor1975, “card”rageous (Robin), nancyljk, sugarbuffet, bdengler4 (Barb) and weememories (Jenny).

Happy stamping,

Next month I’m planning on heading down south for a week of rest and relaxation…. well deserved in my mind… (if only it was Paris!). Anyways, I plan on hauling my sister down there with me and was scheming of how I could make my invitation interesting… the aha moment…
A POCKET! So I devised this card with an acetate pocket filled with the vacation details.

Card by Shari Carroll.  Click HERE for supplies and instructions.

Once I made the base card that I had stamped with Paris, I added more images from the Travel Journal set.  I colored the pieces, wrote my notes and tucked everything nicely into the clear pocket. Then I embellished with ribbons and art flowers.

Are you ready for another little sneak of what’s to come in September.  Ah yes…cold winter days… snow covered roofs… glimmering icicles…  It’s never to early to start planning for the holidays… or dreaming… is it?

Tomorrow we will announce the first round of winners for the July Challenge.  The second round of entries are due on the 29th of July which gives you all about another week.  Click HERE for all the contest details.

I’ll be seeing you on Friday with another pocket idea for someone really special to me.

From Sweet ripened fruit to Sweet baby cards…

My nieces and nephews are starting their families and we have babies popping up all over the place.  Two more are due within the next few months.  When I saw the Butterfly Frame image it reminded me of a baby blanket and I couldn’t resist hanging it on the line secured with a couple of mini clothes pins.

To continue with my pocket theme for the week, I constructed a square card from a regular
notecard with a pocket flap on the inside.  The pocket holds a little note and a gift card for
the momma’s to pick out what they want.

Card by Shari Carroll. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I figured I could have the cards pretty much ready for the arrival of the little bumpkins and can stamp the blankets with either pink or blue once the babies are born.

And as promised… here is our first SNEAK PEEK of the week… I know, it’s crazy, we’re already thinking Christmas! I can’t wait for you to see the whole collection.  Complete and total yummyness!

Tomorrow brings another day, and with that another Holiday sneak peek, pocket card idea and a video.  I hope everyone is staying cool, it’s really going to be heating up this week in Illinois.  I plan on staying indoors with the AC on and dreaming of snowflakes… haha :o)

Enjoy!