Hello, Nancy here! Today I’m excited to reveal the fourth winner in our Win-a-Day on the Blog contest. Please join me in congratulating the very talented…

Vanessa.1978 (Vanessa Menhorn)

I love Vanessa’s use of a limited color palette and the simplicity of her designs. I know we will have fun on our blog day because we design cards in similar ways.

It’s such fun to see a single stamp used in different ways (that’s the way I stamp too.) Vanessa’s Tree tag and Santa card below use the same simple tree stamp, yet her finished projects turned out with completely unique looks .

Here is another lovely creation of Vanessa’s featuring a tree. This time she created her own by using an elegant background stamp on a triangular shape. I love the scalloped card base she used here.

And finally, Vanessa’s dragonfly ATC is beautiful with the softly colored background and the dimensional dragonfly.

Congratulations Vanessa, I’m looking forward to working with you on our blog day!

Thanks for stopping by today. Just a note: Jennifer and Kelly have the “Cards that Give” challenge winners in the post right below this one, so be sure to check it out for even more inspiration.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year,

Hi everyone!  We are back to announce the winners of the Cards That Give two-week challenge.  There were so many creative and amazing projects submitted.  Thanks to all of you who played along!  You can see all the fabulous entries HERE. Now, on to the winners…

First up, our Fresh Face winner is eterno-ly yours with this clever money tree branch card.  The embossed woodgrain background really makes a big impact!

Coming in First Place is newkidfish (CathyA) with her super creative penguin money holder.  It is obvious that Cathy put a lot of thought in to making this masterpiece and it certainly paid off.

Next up, in Second Place is Heather Ruwe with her cute monkey card using some new 2010 stamps.  The googly eyes on the monkey are a perfect finishing touch!

Coming in Third Place is AliceW. (Aliceh83) with this adorable birthday card that holds a cute handmade owl keychain.  The inside of this card is just as gorgeous as the front!

Vera Rhuhay is the winner of the Digital category.  She created a little pocket on this digital owl image to hold some cash.  The stitching is a great touch to finish off this creation!

We also have a few Honorable Mentions to recognize for their outstanding entries!  Jennifer will be sending out some goodies to these six winners.

First up, scrapperjjb created this recipe card to go along with some delicious looking Caramel Bars.  Love the dimension the liquid pearls add to Santa’s beard, coat and hat!

Check out this amazing money card from crzy4stamps-kathy.  She blew us away with the creativity on this one!

Next, wteresa15 created this adorable mitten that opens up to reveal a gift card.  So fun!

Our next Honorable Mention is Agata Dag with this creative baby card.  So many cute elements!

Check out this adorable creation from shannavineyard.  What a cute idea for a baby card too!

And finally, prospurring(Anne) wowed us with this gorgeous gift card holder.  Curious about how she created the look of those Silhouette Flowers?…Check out her photostream and she gives the details.

Congratulations! Winners and honorable mentions, please email us with your name/address/phone number and we’ll arrange for your NEW 2010 Catalogs and prizes!

Once again, thanks to everyone who entered the challenge and for providing so much incredible inspiration for all of us!

Have a great day,

Page by Robyn Werlich.

Robyn says: “I was so excited to see that Silhouette is now carrying exclusive Hero Arts designs to be cut on their machine. This butterfly is one of my all-time favorite images and it was so fun to be able to die-cut it and add it to my page.”

For full layout instructions and supply list, click here.

Hi everyone! We’re half way through our week and I’m happy to announce that my Win-a-Day pick for the blog is…

TRace44 — Tracey Kuzniak!  She is from Canada. Her great ideas really caught my eye. She has been contributing lots of super stuff and I would like to show you three cards that I loved.

Look at this first card. The white embossed design really pops on a kraft card. The scallop die cut and lightly inked edge on top adds a subtle finishing touch. Those pink hued flowers are colored for depth and the gems really accent it.

I just LOVE this vintage looking tag. All the little pieces are put together to make one beautiful greeting. The brown, pink and cream give it a soft look. The lace, jute and picot edge ribbon “tie” it all together.

And you HAVE to love this pink and green one that caught MY eye…I velcro to anything pink and green! It’s so darn cute! Nice mix of green background scraps to make the hills. Once again, that white embossing really makes things stand out.

So, I am looking forward to working with Tracey to see what fun things we can come up with! I wish everyone around the world a VERY Happy 2010 and one LOADED with lots of wonderful, new stamps!

Hi! Jennifer McGuire here. I am so very excited, happy and honored to introduce my pick for the Win a Day on the Blog contest:

Kathy Racoosin (crzy4stamps-kathy)!

Kathy’s creations have always caught my eye.  They are little works of art with creative, unique touches that bring them to life - like magic.  Just by looking at her cards, I can tell she has a playful and thoughtful soul - I love that!

Here is one great example of Kathy’s creativity. How fun is it? I love how she has the mouse running off with the snowman’s head - too funny!  And at the same time, the project is filled with amazing details that just draw you in… magical…

Here is another perfect example of a card by Kathy that is filled with creativity and life.  Check out Santa’s list.  WOW!  Even the simple way she tilted Santa’s head and stamped extra presents for the gift pile… every little touch is perfect.

Kathy also has some “trademark touches” - little things she does to her cards that scream her name. My favorite? She often adds little dots of white pen for amazing details to stamped images.  One example is on the title of the first card above, and another is on this stunning ATC…

And, I had to share just one more of Kathy’s creations. Isn’t this beautiful!? It was created using Hero Arts digital images… showing us that Kathy has many talents…

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

Until then, happy stamping…

Welcome back to the blog everyone!  Can you believe it’s almost time for the new year? 2009 has flown by for me.  As you can see by the title of today’s post, this is the week we’re announcing our Win a Day on the Blog contest winners.

So everyone, my pick is the one and only…Jenn B., better known as scrapperjjb.

I have admired Jenn’s work for such a long time and was shocked to see that she has yet to be chosen to share a day on the Hero Blog.  Her style is close to my heart with her attention to detail, not to mention the texture she creates and that her pieces are always finished to the hilt!  She has a way with color that is always pleasing, plus finds the perfect accent to add to her cards that always leaves me in awe.

Jenn submitted this little beauty which is an example of her classic style.  Not just perfect stamping but distressed edges and details of stitching.

Jenn didn’t stop at stamping, she incorporated some digital into her artwork as well.  I love the texture she added to the background of this snowman piece, it is just the perfect touch well along with the perfect scarf!

This adorable birthday card is one of my favorites!  Jenn’s coloring makes the cake look good enough to eat along with the glittery touches and tiny gemstones.

I’m looking forward to sharing a day with Jenn, and I know that I had better get my game on to keep up with her.

Enjoy!

If you’re looking for a way to say thank you to friends and family after the holidays, here’s a simple yet beautiful idea from Sheri Reguly. Pair the Silhouette Flower image with one of many sentiments from the Thank You Sayings set for a card that’s perfect for expressing your gratitude and is easy to create in quantity. Click HERE for the how-to on Sheri’s card, including a great tip for visually extending the floral image. Enjoy!

Happy Saturday, everyone!  I hope you’re enjoying your holiday celebrations! Here’s a quick look back at some of the fun projects from the past week:

• On Monday I shared Erin Lincoln’s gift box card that held a cute little pair of earrings.
• On Tuesday Lucy Abrams and I brought you two takes on making cards that included a CD.
• Wednesday was such fun with Nichol Magouirk’s video for creating a holiday thank you with a necklace inside.
• And Thursday’s 2009 wrap up post was a tribute to this wonderful community and a creative year!

Thanks for all your amazing entries so far to the “cards that give” challenge.  The challenge is open until Sunday, so you still have time to enter. Click HERE for details.

Have a wonderful weekend and the happiest of holidays!

Welcome to another “You’re Talented Thursday” here on the blog! Since our current challenge runs two weeks and we’re closing in on the final days of 2009, today we thought we’d do something different and highlight your collective talent. We’ve compiled this photo montage of the first place challenge winners from 2009 — grab a cup of cheer and enjoy this eye candy!

Below is a chronological collection of links to ALL of our 2009 challenges, so grab a second cup of cheer and check these out for even more inspiration!

• Sketch Challenge with Basic Grey
• Thank You Challenge
• Layers Challenge
• Pocket Challenge
• Valentine Challenge
• Heartfelt Challenge
• Birthday Challenge
• Favorites Challenge
• Friendship Challenge
• Win-a-Day Challenge
• Little Things Challenge
• Shapes Challenge
• Spring Challenge
• Window Challenge
• One Layer Challenge
• Beyond Paper Challenge
• My Message Challenge
• Distress Challenge
• May Flowers Challenge
• Inspired By Win-a-Day Challenge
• Dots Challenge
• Go Green Challenge
• Masculine Challenge
• Background Challenge
• Die Cut Challenge
• Be Inspired Challenge
• Complementary Color Challenge
• Photo Challenge
• Vacation Challenge
• Website Challenge
• Monochromatic Challenge
• Tag Challenge
• Sneaky Inspiration Challenge
• Sketches 2 Challenge
• Mail It Challenge
• Color It Challenge
• Man Week Challenge
• Fall Color Challenge
• Learning Challenge
• Photo Card Challenge
• ATC Challenge
• Paper Piecing Challenge
• Holiday Accessory Challenge
• Paper Tearing Challenge
• Simple Holiday Stamping Challenge
• Unexpected Holiday Color Challenge
• Glitter Challenge
• Trimmings Challenge
• Holiday Tag Challenge
• Catalog Sneak Peek Challenge

In addition to all of the weekly challenges, we’ve had some exciting happenings at heroarts.com this past year! Back in March we celebrated the one year anniversary of the blog. In July, the blog and website received a makeover and we opened our new online store. In the Fall we reached a Flickr milestone — 2000 members! At the time of this writing, there are 26,556 member-submitted works of art in the Hero Arts Flickr group. And just last Friday, we hosted our first ever blog hop to celebrate the launch of the 2010 catalog. Through it ALL, you’ve been here — visiting, leaving words of kindness, creating, inspiring, and spreading the joy of stamping. We thank you for sharing your time, your talent, and your enthusiasm with us. Here’s to more fun and creativity in 2010!

With gratitude and our warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday,