Hello and welcome to a brand new week here on the Hero Club blog! This week is devoted to a topic near and dear to our Hero Arts hearts — it’s all about stamping green!

We turned to our talented team of Web Artists to create some stamped projects using recycled or repurposed materials and we’ll be sharing their work over the next several days. Hero Arts CEO Aaron Leventhal will also be joining us throughout the week, providing insight into Hero Arts’ commitment to green business practices. Here’s Aaron now to share the company’s Green Vision:

“When you stamp with a Hero Arts stamp, you are stamping green. Hero Arts is working to lead the craft industry into a more successful, sustainable, and eco-friendly future.

Making stamps and stamping products that are inspiring, creative and eco-friendly is integral to the company’s core beliefs. For that reason, Hero Arts not only has a business vision for running the company, but also a Green Directive, making clear that in everything we do, from energy use, to wood block stamps and clear stamps, to shipping, we use the best materials and processes possible. Why? Because we believe it is the right thing for the customer, for the business, and for the environment.

Hero Arts is a certified green business. What does that mean? There is a California State and local program that looks at four aspects of a business: waste stream, energy use, water management, and product inputs. On all four aspects we passed the stringent California standards and Hero Arts was awarded a Contra Costa Country (where we are located) and California Green Business award.”

Thanks Aaron!  Tomorrow Aaron will be back to share some interesting facts about the nature of Hero Arts wood and clear stamps.

Now, let’s dive right into some recycled creations from our Web Artists!

First, Sheri Reguly created a card any father would love — and it all started with a tissue box!  Here’s Sheri with more:  “Substitutions for patterned papers can be found all around you, especially in small quantities that are perfect for your next card project. Before tossing that next magazine, tissue box, greeting card or torn up piece of gift wrap, ask yourself if there’s a way to put it to better use. To add a touch of color and pattern to my card, I recycled an empty tissue box that was in my son’s room. Although it was pretty beaten up, I managed to salvage just enough to add a unique touch to my design.”

Before…

…and after!

Supplies:

• Dots and Flowers
• I Heart My Dad
• Lime Notecards
• VersaMark
• White Embossing Powder
• Pumpkin Patch Chalk Ink Queue
• Assorted Clear Circles
• Art Flowers Neutral
• Card Buttons Summer
• Light Blue Gemstones
• Other: cardstock (Bazzill Basics), circle punch (EK Success), border punch (Martha Stewart), scalloped rectangle die cut (Spellbinders Nestabilities)

Next, Barbara Hache took a common “laundry leftover” and turned it into the focal piece for a fabulous thank you greeting. Barbara shares:  “I have always thought that used dryer sheets look very much like mulberry paper. When we were asked to make cards using green materials, this was my first choice. I found that they were easy to cut and took chalk ink very well. I will be saving these to use from now on!”

From trash…

…to treasure!

Check out the great texture on that flower!

Supplies:

• Dots and Flowers
• Designer Woodgrain
• Clouds
• Clear Design: Dolls (for “thank you”)
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Memories ArtPrint Brown Ink
• Chocolate Notecards
• Summer Notecards (Lagoon)
• Pink Notecards
• Lemon Notecards
• Other: used dryer sheet, circle die cuts (Spellbinders Nestabilities), needle and thread

Barbara’s Tips:

• To make the flower, cut four different sized circles out of dryer sheets with Nestabilities and then ink them with red ink. When dry, stitch together using a single stitch down the middle. Cut the leaves freehand.
• Oftentimes the dryer sheet will be quite wrinkled so you may need to iron it on a fairly low temperature before using.

If you haven’t already guessed, the challenge this week is to create a stamped project that features at least one repurposed/recycled material! So take a look around and see what items you can reuse on your cards and scrapbook layouts — you will be looking at trash in a whole new way!  Please include at least one Hero Arts stamp on your projects and submit them to the Flickr group with the tag “gogreen”.  The deadline for the challenge is Sunday, May 24 at 11:59 pm PST.  A panel of judges will select winners for 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

Now, we thought a green giveaway was in order today…check out this assortment of goodies!

(Garden Notecards, Soft Green Shadow Ink, Light Green Pearls, Citron Gemstones, Sparkle Clear: Hello Tree)

To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post by 11:59pm PST on Tuesday, May 19 and tell us one change you can make today to live a greener, more environmentally friendly lifestyle. We’ll announce one random winner on Wednesday morning.

See you tomorrow, when the Web Artists will share more green stamping ideas!

Filed under: gogreen

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 5:00 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.