The greening of the company and its products has been CEO Aaron Leventhal’s goal since he came on board in 1999. Here’s Aaron with some information on Hero Arts wood and clear stamps:

“Hero Arts woodblock stamps use wood from sustainably-farmed forest supplied by FSC-Certified wood suppliers. This means more trees are planted every year than are cut down, and the ones that are cut are done in order to make the whole forest more health. Plus, all saw dust generated is collected and provided to local dumps to help rejuvenate the soil.

Hero Arts also uses the highest quality material for its clear stamps, which are made in the USA. The photopolymer used is non-toxic, biodegradable, and classified as an organic, unlike some of the clear stamps that are made in China or Taiwan, which are composed of silicon, stamp poorly, and must carry a carcinogenic label if sold in California

It can cost more to manufacture responsibly, but we feel it is important, and it is the type of product we want for ourselves, so why not do it right.

We believe that quality can be both a competitive advantage and eco-friendly. For that reason, we manufacture in our own Northern California facility, where admittedly the cost structure is higher than if we produced in facilities overseas. But local production allows us to do two important things: control quality and practice a just-in-time inventory system, making our products always available. We believe these things bring us closer to our customers. Plus, there are less shipping costs, less packaging materials, and less waste compared to products made abroad.

The logo above, which you will find on all of our stamps, reflects our vision: Green Business, US Made, and Original Designs, the later reflecting our commitment to design, elegance and quality.”

Thanks Aaron!  Now it’s time for some more recycled creations from the Web Artists!

I enjoy wrapping gifts, but it can be so wasteful. So I set out to wrap a package using repurposed materials.  I started out with a piece of bright pink tissue paper saved from a Mother’s Day gift and transformed it into a tissue paper flower that serves as a package topper. It’s a fun alternative to a bow, and earth friendly too!

I cut the tissue into several 6-inch squares and stamped each square repeatedly with the Dots stamp using Soft Blossom Shadow Ink.

Then I stacked up all of the squares, folded them accordion style, and twisted a length of thin gauge wire around the middle.  I rounded the ends with scissors, then spread out the petals and “poofed” them up. Voila!

A reused brown paper sack stamped with the new Large Artsy Circles stamp serves as wrapping paper.

Supplies:

• Large Artsy Circles
• Dots
• Clear Design: Birthday Sayings
• Soft Blossom Shadow Ink
• Summer Card Buttons
• Other: reused pink tissue paper, reused paper bag, green cardstock, Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, thin gauge wire, string

Tami’s Tips:

• Since the flower is on a wire, it can be removed from the package and used again and again.  A little crumpling just adds to the charm!
• Ink the edges of the tissue paper after folding and cutting, prior to poofing.
• Create smaller tissue paper flowers and use them to adorn cards. Or create a faux corsage or everlasting bouquet!

[Edited to add: I added detailed instructions for the tissue paper flower in comment #39 below this post.]

Next, Jacki Jones has given some everyday business envelopes a fabulous makeover! Here’s Jacki with more on her creative idea:  “I’ve seen many cards done with envelope linings and frankly I wasn’t inspired to try using ‘trash’ when I had a whole room full of brand new paper. All that changed one day last month. As I was opening the bills and statements and tossing the envelopes, several different patterns caught my attention.”

“One in particular spoke to me and told me that I needed to do something with them.”

Take a look at the two cards Jacki created from the envelope linings — so clever!

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Birds and Branches
• Clear Design: All Occasion Messages
• Sparkle Clear: Full of Sunshine
• Sparkle Clear: Cute Letters
• Memories Ruby Ink
• Pale Pink Gemstones
• Crystal Gemstones
• Fine Ball Point Glue Stick
• Prisma Glitter
• Other: recycled envelopes, white cardstock, Xyron adhesive, 1″ square punch (EK Success)

Jacki’s Tips:

• For best results, use the Xyron to apply adhesive to the entire front of the card.
• Because I used a 1″ punch, I trimmed the cards to even measurements. The smaller card is 4″ x 5″ and the larger card is 5″ x 6″.
• Use the “x” in a plain alphabet to replicate stitching.
• Whenever possible leave the gemstones together on the adhesive strip because it makes them easier to place. It is still possible manipulate them. Use tweezers when handling them.

Jacki, thanks for sharing! Bills and statements have never looked more appealing.

Thanks for stopping by today! We’ll be back tomorrow with a must-see video for Watch It Wednesday. Happy green stamping everyone!

Filed under: gogreen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 4:00 am and is filed under Take Two Tuesdays. 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.