Hi and welcome to another fun week at the Hero Arts blog!

This month I did a technique article talking all about ways to expand your artistic efforts and create new uses and ‘looks’ for your stamps by stamping on things other than just patterned paper and cardstock. Not that paper isn’t a wonderful foundation to start with, but sometimes it is nice to break our boundaries and try something new for a change. Using your stamps in a variety of ways also makes them more versatile and you can find several different looks to every single stamp you own.

The article called “Beyond Paper” can be found HERE in our techniques section of the Hero Arts website. Since this is such a great topic and requires a lot of expanding of ideas, I thought it would be a fun topic to tackle this week on our blog. We’ll show you a huge variety of stamped projects where our talented designers stamped on all different materials.

Let’s get started!

First I am just dying to share this amazing little project that Tami Hartley made by combining her Hero Arts stamps and a canvas tote bag. Is it not so terrific?! I love how she used subtle brown tones and then added the pops of color in the green, mustard yellow and blue fabrics. The clear buttons tied on add just the right embellishing for this fun project.

Tami says:  “This bag started out as an experiment of sorts — I wasn’t sure what to expect when stamping on canvas but decided to give it a go since plain canvas bags are so cheap!  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the words from Four Bold Messages stamped beautifully and retained their detail.  I used Colorbox Chalk Ink on both the canvas and the fabric patches and then heat set it.  I love that this bag is one-of-a-kind and I can’t wait to use it at the farmer’s market this summer.”

Tami cut fabric scraps into rough rectangles, stamped on them, and frayed the edges for a casual look.  She then stitched each piece to the bag on three sides and stuffed them with quilt batting for a little dimension.

Project by Tami Hartley.

Supplies:

• Three Designer Leaves
• Four Bold Messages
• Clear Buttons
• Chocolates & Blueberries Chalk Ink Queue
• Other: canvas tote bag, fabric scraps, quilt batting, hemp, brown thread

Next is a card I made where I stamped on both metal and foam. The card is made by stamping on thin silver metal and then I punched the metal into scallop borders for the top and bottom of the card. I also stamped into the green foam flower with dye ink and I used white dye ink to stamp a subtle houndstooth design onto the pink foam flower. When the light catches the stamped metal borders on the card, it is shimmery and really eye-catching. A tip when stamping on metal: use Staz on ink pads for a quick drying and permanent design that will not smudge or require heat setting.

Card by Leslie Lightfoot.

Supplies:

• Design Block Flower Background
• Houndstooth Background
• Clear Design: Hugs and Hearts
• Light Green Accent Pearls
• Card Buttons: Summer
• Violet Notecards

The challenge this week is to create a card or project where you have stamped on something other than cardstock or patterned paper! Use your imagination and the inspiration we will offer this week to create something great! Remember you must use at least one Hero Arts stamp on your creations and please submit them to the Flickr Group by 11:59pm PST on Sunday, April 12. Include the tag “beyondpaper” (no space between the words “beyond” and “paper”) on your contest submissions. Next week we will award the following prizes:

• Fresh Face Winner (someone who has not yet won a contest): $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• Scrapbook Page Winner: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 1st Place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 2nd Place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 3rd Place: $15 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog

…I cannot wait to see what you all come up with!

So, now I think it is time to start this week off with a fun give away! We all like those, right?! Just leave a comment on this post before tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 7th at 11:59pm PST) and we will randomly draw a winner to recieve this Clear Designs: Sending Happy Thoughts set. I will post the winner on Wednesday, April 8th!

Here is what you could win:

To see some great cards made with these stamps, check out the Project of the Month by Shari Carroll HERE!

Good luck to everyone! Be sure to check back tomorrow for another great day of inspiration!

See you all soon,
Leslie

Filed under: beyondpaper

This entry was posted on Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 4:31 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.