Hi! Welcome to a new week! This week I’ll be taking you on a stroll through the clothing department and sharing cards inspired by Easter dresses! Inspiration can be found every day and every place you look. I often find myself looking at fabric and clothing and dreaming of new card designs. (Please tell me I’m not the only one?)

I was browsing baby girl outfits this past week, and as soon as I laid my eyes on this Daisy Party Dress from babyGap.com, I was inspired to stamp. It’s soft, sunny, and decidedly springy! The allover large scale daisy print instantly made me think of creating a card with a big flower as the main design element.

I turned to the aptly named Large Flower stamp and decided to stop running from the color yellow. I don’t have anything against the color, I just don’t find myself using it very often for some reason. Spring seems like the perfect time to give it a whirl! The Hero Hues Daffodil papers are a nice buttery yellow, very easy to use. Here I colored the flower with white and yellow colored pencils on kraft paper for a bit of a rustic feel.

Card by Tami Hartley. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

For our 100 Days idea today, Robyn Werlich also created a card with a bold flower as the focus, opting for a vibrant red on the layered die cut flower. This flower is one of the many wonderful Hero Arts Silhouette images. (You can see all of the Hero Arts Silhouette designs HERE.)  Isn’t the color combination on Robyn’s card fabulous?!

Card by Robyn Werlich. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

And just a reminder in case you’re joining us for the first time this month, our March challenge is underway!

The theme is Spring & Easter and HERE is a post with all of the pertinent information on submitting, prizes, and deadlines! Won’t you play along? We love seeing your creativity at work and look forward to seeing where the challenge topic takes you this month.

See you tomorrow for another dress and two more cards!

I am thinking most of you are REALLY ready for some spring sunshine and flowers, right? I have been really lucky since in the desert we only LOOK at snow on top of the mountains! We don’t shovel it! I thought this flowering spring tree was really appropriate for a 100 Days of Ideas card.

Card by Sally Traidman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

When I went to make some of my spring cards for this month’s theme, I was at a loss for several words and objects…which led me to pick this week’s theme…”make it work“. I simply created my own words from alphabets, and shapes from existing objects. Here’s what I mean. We didn’t have the words I needed, so I stamped what I wanted from two different alphabets. Then the chick’s wing was in the way, so I cut it off and mounted it on top of the word “spring.” See, I “made it work.”  Tim Gunn would be proud!!

Card by Sally Traidman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

So, let’s see how creative you can get by improvising with the stamps that YOU have. Remember, our March Spring & Easter contest is underway.  Maybe you can “make it work” on a card and enter!  The first round of entries are due by this Thursday evening, March 11 at 11:59pm PST - click HERE for details.

Ooh and what’s this I see?  A butterfly wing?  This is the fifth of six previews from the “New for Spring” release…which are coming soon! All New For Spring stamps will be available in the Hero Arts Online Store this Wednesday, March 10!

See you tomorrow…

Good morning! Is everybody ready for spring? After a week of rain I wanted to spread some bright cheery cards. We in California should probably consider ourselves lucky that we don’t have gobs of snow to shovel.

It’s March 1, and that means a brand new challenge here on the Hero Club blog. Three cute bunnies are here to announce our monthly theme…

For my first card this week I chose to use only two colors with variations in hues and accessories. Cling Dots is one of my favorite images to use as backgrounds…Of course I have stamped it in many different colors and punched shapes of every kind to use as accents and small backgrounds for other images. Sigh, “so many ideas, so little time.”

Card by Nancy Taylor. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Lisa’s 100 Days of Ideas card is a great start to the spring and Easter theme…they will both be here before we know it.

Card by Lisa Spangler. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

So as I mentioned, our month long theme is Spring & Easter and the first round of projects are due into the Flickr group pool Thursday evening, March 11th, by 11:59pm PST. Remember to tag your projects with March2010A. And to keep things simple, we have a handy calendar that explains all the important dates throughout the month - check it out HERE.

See you tomorrow!

Good Monday morning to you, hope you all had a great weekend! This week on the blog we’re turning our attention to hybrid cards! Four Hero Arts team members will be combining Hero Arts digital kits with good ol’ paper and stamps, showing the versatility and fun of digital.

If you aren’t familiar with Hero Arts Digital, our kits are available for purchase exclusively at Two Peas in a Bucket. As of today there are 170 kits to choose from. There’s truly something for everyone! Today I will be showing you a VERY easy way you can incorporate digital into your projects — through custom patterned papers. It’s a perfect first step if you’re new to digital.

Let’s take a look at our 100 Days of Ideas card, because it provides the inspiration for the card I’m going to show you today! Feast your eyes on this beautiful creation from the fabulous Sally Traidman. A stunning example of “less is more”! I love it.

Card by Sally Traidman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Inspired by the simplicity of Sally’s design, I created a card using the Silhouette Burst and Silhouette Spray stamps, and paired them with a sentiment, lots of white space, and just touch of patterned paper. Despite the large stack of patterned paper I’ve accumulated over the years, I somehow didn’t have the perfect paper. (Does this happen to you too?!) Enter the Polky Dots DigiKit! This kit includes five different styles of dots that can be altered in any number of ways for endless polka dot possibilities. I decided to reverse the boldest dot image and print with tan ink right onto our Eggshell cardstock. Here’s a screenshot prior to printing, and how my custom printed paper looked afterwards.

And here is my finished hybrid card…

Card by Tami Hartley. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

As we embark upon the last week of February (can you believe it?!), I just wanted to remind you that our monthly challenge theme is Flowers and St. Patrick’s Day.

The second round of projects are due into the Flickr group pool this Thursday evening, February 25th, by 11:59pm PST. HERE’S a handy calendar with all the details you’ll need to enter for a chance to win one of seven $50 Hero Arts shopping sprees. Remember, we even have a special Digital category so check out the Hero Arts digital kits and have fun playing with them!

We’re just getting warmed up this week — be sure to stop by tomorrow when Lisa will share another hybrid creation. Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Hi everyone!  Are you ready for another fun and inspirational week?  I’ve got a lot to share this week, including new Designs in Wood sneak peeks and giveaways, so let’s get started.

This week is all about ribbon! The uses for ribbon go way beyond just tying a bow to finish off your card.  So this week, four members of the Hero Arts Designer Team will be sharing creative ribbon ideas with you.

And just a reminder of our month long theme:

First up, I’m sharing an adorable ribbon flower card made by Kandis Smith. And here’s what Kandis had to say about her card…

“If you’re like me you have a GIANT bucket of scrap ribbon. I hate to get rid of them, but I hardly ever use them! So I’m always on the look out for ways to use them to add a little texture to my cards. Making ribbon flowers is one of my favorite ways — you can use even the tiniest pieces! This is the perfect project to whittle down your scrap ribbon stash!”

Card by Kandis Smith. Click HERE for supplies and instructions.

For the 100 Days of Ideas card today, we have a special SNEAK PEEK of a new stamp from the new Designs in Wood supplement.  This sweet Floral Scallop image is perfect for coloring and making the focal point of any card, like Jennifer has done here. And check out that ribbon…she just colored a white ribbon with a blue marker to perfectly match the card. Love that idea!

Card by Jennifer McGuire. Click HERE for supplies and instructions.

I’m sure many of you are anxious to get your hands on some of these new stamps, so let’s have a GIVEAWAY!  In fact, check back every day this week for a chance to win one of the new stamps from the Designs in Wood supplement.  Just leave a comment on this post to be entered to win the Floral Scallop stamp shown in the card above. We will randomly select a winner from all comments each day this week…and on Saturday I will announce all five winners!

The 26 new Designs in Wood stamps are arriving at your favorite local retailers now and will be available in the Hero Arts Online Store starting next Monday, February 22!

I can’t wait to see what new and creative ideas you all come up with for using ribbon!  Projects for the second round of our contest this month are due into the Flickr group pool Thursday evening, February 25th, by 11:59pm PST. Remember to tag your projects with February2010B.  HERE is a handy calendar to help you keep track of all the important dates throughout the month.

Have a great day!

Hi everyone, it’s Lisa here, with my take on our monthly theme:

Since Sunday is Valentine’s Day, I decided to focus on the romantic side of flowers. Nothing says romance quite like a big bouquet, or even a single rose, right?  And the smell…ahhhhh, the smell…

I’ve got lots of lovely floral ideas to share with you, starting with a card inspired by hydrangeas.  I keep seeing them everywhere — from pink ones, to blue ones, to purple ones, and even creamy white ones like the one in the photo:

Card by Lisa Spangler.  Click HERE for the materials and instructions.

Now for our 100 Days of Ideas, I wanted to share these wonderfully romantic table place cards by Sally – they’re so pretty!  I can just imagine using these for a dinner party, along with candles and a scrumptious chocolate dessert, can’t you?

Cards by Sally Traidmain.  Click HERE for all the info.

Hope this post gave you some ideas for our monthly challenge — there’s still plenty of time to submit your entry for the first round! Remember, if your entry isn’t chosen to win in the first group of winners, it is automatically entered in the second round.  So, the earlier you enter, the more chances you have to WIN!  Click HERE for all the details.  I can’t wait to see what you come up with!  And, if you’ve never entered a weekly challenge before, you should know that we are always seeking new stampers — in fact, we have a Fresh Face prize just for you!

See you tomorrow, when I’ll be back with more romantic ideas and a sneak peek of a NEW stamp,

Hello, stampers!

I am excited to be here to announce our next monthly theme and challenge:

And for this week, I am going to focus on BOLD color projects.  I hope to show you lots of ideas for creating cards that pop with color and more.  This will be fun!  Today, I thought I would start with a striking yet simple card set I made for a friend.  Since I knew I wanted bold colored flowers, I decided to keep the background simple and light.  I then created my own box by hand to hold the cards and decorated it to match, too.  (Click on the images to see them larger.)

Cards by Jennifer McGuire. Click HERE to see supplies and instructions.

And, for today’s 100 Day of Cards, I picked a layout and card combo that shows similar bold coloring with a simple background.  Color can really make a project eye catching!  I remember creating this page and card - it was the first project that I did for the new catalog.  Such fun.

Layout and card by Jennifer McGuire. Click HERE to see supplies and instructions.

Now as a special treat, we have a gorgeous sneak peek card from Shari Carroll that features two new stamps from our “Designs in Wood” supplement! This release, which debuted last week at CHA, includes 26 beautiful woodblock stamps plus accessories. Stay tuned…stamps will be shipping out to stores soon. By coloring, cutting, and layering the classy new Etched Medallion image, Shari was able to achieve incredible dimension. So elegant!

Card by Shari Carroll. For complete supplies and instructions, click HERE.

And here are a few more glimpses of what’s to come - many wonderful florals and images that will be a dream to color:

Remember that our month long theme is Flowers and St. Patrick’s Day and the first round of projects are due into the Flickr group pool Thursday evening, February 11th, by 11:59pm PST. Remember to tag your projects with February2010A. And to keep things simple, we have a handy calendar that explains when all the important dates throughout the month - check it out HERE.  We have LOTS of prizes - seven prizes of $50 stamp shopping sprees twice this month!

Have a great week!

Hello there! Today we’re super excited to kick off a very special week, as we introduce a new group of  Hero Hostesses! Those of you who have been around the blog and Flickr group are likely familiar with the Hostess program we introduced last spring. (Here is a post with more information on the role of the Hero Hostess.)

Now it’s time to introduce our first Hostess…Suzanne Czosek (stampersuzz)!

Suzanne is always generous with words of encouragement and her cards are works of art, filled with luxurious layers and fabulous details. Each of the new hostesses will be sharing a card on the blog this week, so let’s take a peek at what Suzanne created especially for today!

Isn’t it beautiful?! Complete supplies and instructions for Suzanne’s card can be found HERE.

Now, let’s get to know Suzanne with a little stamping Q & A!

How long have you been stamping and how did you get started? I started stamping around 4 years ago. My good friend Lisa had given me a few beautiful cards that she had stamped. This peaked my interest and before I knew it I had a few ink pads, stamps, and card stock and was creating cards and loving it!

When did you discover the Hero Arts blog and did you leap into the Flickr group right away too? I saw the announcements about the new Hero Arts blog and Flickr group when they first started. I was very excited because I already was a big fan of the Hero Arts products. As soon as the first challenge started I was participating. I have learned so much from the Hero Arts blog and the Flickr group. The HA design team and the Flickr members are so helpful and wonderful!

What has been your favorite Hero Arts blog challenge so far? The vintage and distress challenges were two of my favorites. They are things that I love to do which made them even more fun. I find all the challenges are fantastic, they drive you to try new things as well as give you so much inspiration from the blog and all the Flickr group entries.

What is your favorite kind of card to stamp? Nature and scenery. I tend to create cards that use the natural elements: flowers, butterflies, and trees.

If you could have one “stamping wish” what would it be? Bigger craft space and storage. I have so many supplies that I have to keep re-organizing to try to make everything fit!

Thanks Suzanne! We’re honored to have you as a Hostess!

Now, here’s even more inspiration for this Monday morning! Presenting an elegant grouping of poppy cards that appeared in the 2010 catalog, courtesy of Sally Traidman:

Many have asked about the technique used on the tan and cream card, so be sure to click HERE for the how-to. Hint: it involves a “kiss”!

Please join us tomorrow as we welcome another Hero Hostess!

See you then,

How timely for me to have the blog during Friendship and Valentine’s month! You all know by now my passion for hearts.

So let’s make some cards this week that you can send out for Valentine’s Day. First I will show you one of my cards from the catalog for our 100 Days of Ideas:

Card by Sally Traidman

You can find the complete instructions and supply list HERE.

Just cut a scrap of white, scallop punch the top edge, fold up and “sew” into a fun little pocket you can fill with hearts and words.

I made this card again with the featured stamps for the month, this time with more of a pastel Valentine’s theme.  No sewing here, just a few staples under the yellow message!

Card by Sally Traidman

You can find the complete instructions and supply list HERE.

Don’t forget that our month long theme is Friendship and Valentine’s and the first round winners will be announced this Thursday!  The second round of projects are due into the Flickr group pool Thursday evening, January 28th, by 11:59pm PST. Remember to tag your projects with January2010B.

Better go find some hearts NOW and start stamping!

This week’s theme is from my favorite song by The Beatles, We Can Work it Out.  Each day I will be taking an inspiration and doing it my way. You can find inspiration everywhere you look, so it is a great way to get ideas for cards and scrapbook pages. It may be a color scheme, theme, design element or even a greeting or sentiment.

Jennifer McGuire’s page inspired me with the soft subtle background and her use of high key colors. I borrowed that layout’s colors and theme and put my own spin on the design. Going with this week’s theme you can see how easily can you duplicate the feeling of the page but still make it your own.

Layout by Jennifer McGuire

For complete instructions and supplies, check it out HERE.

I used stamped envelope flaps to mirror her paper palette. The background papers and white note card are stamped with our new Soft Brown Shadow Ink to make your own patterned paper.

Card by Nancy Taylor

For complete instructions and supplies, check it out HERE.

Remember that our month long theme is Friendship and Valentine’s and the first round of projects are due into the Flickr group pool Thursday evening, January 14th, by 11:59pm PST. Remember to tag your projects with January2010A.