Welcome to another fun week at Hero Arts!  I am so excited about this week.  Not only do we have a fun challenge for you, but each day we will have a special guest from one of my favorite companies.

This week, Kelly Goree from BasicGrey will join me in a sketch challenge.  Sketches can be such a great timesaver… something we could all use this time of year, huh?  Each day we will have a new card AND scrapbook page sketch for you.  And, for some added fun, Kelly and I picked a favorite Hero Arts stamp set and BasicGrey paper line to use together each day.  So, not only will you see some great sketches, but you will get some ideas for the versatility of your stamps and papers.  I am so excited to have Kelly here.  Welcome, Kelly!

First, here are the products we will feature today.  The stamp set is the fabulous Hero Arts Patterned Hearts… new for 2009!  And the paper is BasicGrey’s new Bittersweet line.  Both are arriving in stores now.  Aren’t they wonderful?

And here is today’s card sketch… (Click to see it bigger.)

This is the card I created based on this sketch.  There are a few tips on this card to share:

• For some added fun, I turned a Hero Arts Crimson notecard inside out.
• On the white, I stamped Hero Arts new Valentine Flourishes with Versamark and embossed with white powder.  This gives a subtle tone-on-tone white background.
• For the hearts and butterfly, I again embossed with white on red paper before cutting out each image.
• Nothing makes a card more special than a cute little photo.

And since these new Patterned Hearts match our Patterned Butterflies perfectly, I just had to use them together!  Here is a close-up showing the wire antennae I added, along with the greeting inside, which was signed by my son.

Supplies:

• Hero Arts Patterned Hearts (NEW)
• Hero Arts Patterned Butterflies
• Hero Arts Valentine Flourishes (NEW)
• Hero Arts Basic Alphabet
• Hero Arts Crimson Notecard
• Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
• Hero Arts Small Pearls
• Versamark & Memories Black Ink
• BasicGrey Bittersweet Paper
• Other: Wire

And now it is time for the scrapbook page sketch!  (Click to see it bigger.)

And the wonderful Kelly Goree created this great page with the same products.  Here are some great tips from her page:

• The hearts were stamped with Versamark on white paper and embossed with clear powder.  She then rubbed pink and brown ink over it, wiping off the excess.  What a great resist technique!
• The hearts were given even more texture by cutting them out with decorative scissors.

Page by Kelly Goree
Supplies:

• Hero Arts Patterned Hearts (NEW)
• BasicGrey Bittersweet Papers, Stickers and Chipboard
• Colorbox Chalk Ink Queues
• Versamark and Clear Embossing Powder
• Other: Cardstock (Bazzill), brads (Queen and Company), pen (Zig)

So… this week’s challenge is to create a project inspired by one of the sketches we use this week.  You can make any type of project (card, page, etc.) and use any of the sketches we share… just be sure to use at least one Hero Arts stamp.  And remember that we added a new BIG prize that will go to a scrapbook page!  And, this week, we have an added prize that will be given to someone who also uses BasicGrey on their project.  That is a lot of prizes! :)  Upload your card to the Hero Arts Flickr Group by Sunday, December 28th (this date was extended) at 11:59 pm PST and tag it with the code word “sketches.”  Please tell us which sketch you used in your description, and if you use BasicGrey please note that as well.

Here are the prizes:

• NEW! Scrapbook Page Winner: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• Fresh Face (someone who has not yet won a contest!): $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 1st  place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 2nd place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 3rd place: $10 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• This week only: Use BasicGrey on your project, too, and a random winner will win an assortment of BasicGrey paper!

And, would you like some peeks of this week’s sketches?  Here they are.  But if you want to get a head start on the challenge by seeing all the sketches, just click on the peeks to see the full size.

Monday’s card and page sketch, from me & Kelly:
 

Tuesday’s card and page sketch, from Pagemaps:
  

Wednesday’s card and page sketch, exclusive for Hero Arts from Pagemaps:
 

Friday’s card and page sketch, from me:
 
Be sure to come back each day this week.  We will have some GREAT giveaways, tips on sketches and inspiring projects.  And!  I will have lots of peeks at the NEW stamps now available at Catalog Debut stores!  Have fun creating…

Filed under: sketches

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 7:25 am and is filed under Motivation Mondays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.