Hi everyone!! It’s Shari here…it seems like it’s been forever since I’ve had a blog week.

I’m very inspired with this month’s challenge of using flowers. Could it be that I’m ready for Spring??? It’s very likely!!! haha

For this week, I’ll be playing with all sorts of my favorite Hero Arts blossoms, using them with a variety of techniques and color combinations. Today’s card is a simple bouquet. I used a couple Hero Arts/Silhouette shapes (vase and leaves) along with the UBER cool Pop Flower Design Stamp & Die set.

Here’s a close-up of the flowers.

Card by Shari Carroll.  Supplies and instructions can be found HERE.

Did you notice I used three of the colors from this month’s color challenge as well? I think they really pop sitting next to each other. I’ll be back tomorrow with our Stamp of The week!!  Another favorite!!!

Enjoy your Monday!

Hi! It’s Kelly here and this week I’ll be sharing some fabulous cards from the girls on the Designer Team.

First up, Lucy Abrams created this sweet and simple flower card using some of the gorgeous new Hero Hues Digital Patterned Papers.  She used the Earth Papers for the tone-on-tone kraft background and the Blush Papers for the pink flowers.

Card by Lucy Abrams. Find complete supplies and instructions here.

The pink flowers were printed on watercolor paper and then die cut using two of the flower dies from the Floral Stamp and Die Cut set.  I just love the gorgeous texture and dimension to these flowers! Then she finished off the card with some buttons and a couple of pink gemstones.

See you back here tomorrow!

Hello! It is good to be back here blogging again. Thanks for stopping by!

I often hear people say they struggle with masculine cards. So I thought I would make this week a “His and Hers” week - showing a masculine and feminine card using the sames supplies. Also - to go along with this month’s theme - I incorporated die cutting into each.

Coming up with a gender-neutral color scheme can be tough for me. So when I saw the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for March, I was thrilled! It works for guys or gals. Both cards also feature a stamped label from the You and Me Frames and Year Round Sentiments stamp sets, die cut with the Large Frame Tag Frame Cut. And to create the rounded rectangle window? That was easy with the Rectangle Frame Cut die. I love the look of stamped pieces stretched across a window.

Here are my two cards - the yellow is for a dear girlfriend and the other is for my hubby…

For the “her” card, I used a fun yellow card and punched hearts.

For the “his” card, I used a kraft card and punched stars.

Cards by Jennifer McGuire.  Complete supplies and instructions here.

I hope this inspires you to try a few “his and her” cards. I’ll be back tomorrow with a few more ideas!

Speaking from the heart, just like the song and also the February Hero Arts theme goes, “Friendship, you’ve gotta have friendship!”  And how lucky is the Queen of Hearts (aka ME!!) to get the week of Valentine’s Day to share some friendship cards on our blog??? I’d say LUCKY!!

I love the Thank You For Being My Friend set - a very versatile all year round clear message set. I will show a few cards this week using it, as well as a few of my go-to, must-have background stamps!!  Today I used my favorite new background, Newsprint Background, in Wet Cement mid-tone ink (another new fave!). The cutie patootie image is from our stamp & die-cut set Style is Eternal.  Bling it up and you are done.

Card by Sally Traidman.  Find complete supplies and instructions here.

Come back tomorrow for my Valentine wish…

Hi everyone, it’s Lisa here, and oh do I have a week for you! You see, last week at CHA, the BIG craft and hobby trade show, Hero Arts released THREE new catalogs for spring: Hero Arts Spring 2012, Hero Arts-BasicGrey Spring, and Hero Arts-Studio Calico Spring! I’m going to introduce you to each one, starting today with the Hero Arts Spring 2012 Catalog!

This catalog features new Add Your Message Sets, new clear stamps, new cling, and new Art of the Card! Check them all out right here in the digital Spring 2012 Catalog.

See those two cards on the cover? Sally made both of them — love what she did with the Frame Cuts and stamps, don’t you? Did you know that stamps are marked to show which stamp goes with which Frame Cut? Find a handy guide on the last page of the Spring Catalog or on the Frame Cuts page.

Since die cuts are the technique for the monthly contest I just had to create a card using the OTHER cupcake stamp that goes with the Frame Cut — the Zig Zag Cupcake! (Pssst, have you entered the contest yet? There’s still plenty of time!)

Card by Lisa Spangler. Click for complete materials and instructions.

Here are the two NEW clear sets that I used: Be Happy (CL606) on the right, and Together (CL607) on the left:

These sets are really fun! I used the friends message from the Be Happy set, and I stamped the zig zag stamp with the new Unicorn ink repeatedly to make the background, then embossed it in clear for a subtle texture that goes with the cupcake. Oh and the doily under the cupcake? It’s the frame from the Together set! Love it when you can use the same stamp many ways.

Wondering when you can get your hands on these new stamps? Well, they’ll start arriving in stores starting February 15th, and will be in the Hero Arts online store starting March 1st! Why the delay? Because Hero Arts supports local stores: orders placed in the Hero Arts online store are fulfilled by local stores!

See you tomorrow when I’ll be back to share another new catalog,

Hello, and welcome to a new week on the Hero Arts blog. It’s Lucy here, and I have a week of very different cards to share with you this week. Plus, later in the week I will be announcing the February contest details… so stay tuned!

For today, I have created a fun and simple Valentine card using the new Sweet Hearts stamps. Aren’t they just too cute! And I just LOVE the new Newspaper Background stamp - I am pretty sure this will go with any card! Such a versatile stamp - definitely a new favorite.

Card by Lucy Abrams.  Find complete supplies and instructions here.

I stamped the hearts on some Blush Designer Paper then had fun masking and mixing up the sentiments and inking the edges with Distress Ink.

On Friday’s post we asked you all to confess how much ribbon you own for a chance to win more from May Arts.  The responses had us smiling all weekend long!  No matter how much you have, there was one common consensus - it’s impossible to ever have too much ribbon, and there’s always room for more!

And the randomly chosen winner is comment #39, Karen Lee, who said:  “I have 82 rolls of ribbon plus a lot of scraps and coils of it in two jars. YIKES!”

Congratulations Karen, send us an email at winner@heroarts.com and we’ll get you hooked up with the ribbon!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a card featuring our new stamp of the week. See you then,

Hello, friends!  This week we are doing something fun here on the blog.  We’re playing with ribbon!  And of course not just any ribbon - we’re sharing cards made with glorious, yummy May Arts ribbon! And that’s not all, over on the May Arts blog, their designers are working with our stamps! What fun!  Oh, gee, and did I mention there will be giveaways, too??  But more on that in a bit, first let’s look at today’s cards!

The first card comes from the sweet and talented Kelly Rasmussen.  She combined two wonderful ribbons - Lace (390-38-09) and Brown Satin Pleats (379-58-33) - to make a super sweet Valentine.  Here’s a little more about the card from Kelly:

“I couldn’t decide whether to use the brown pleated satin ribbon or the white lace on this card…so I used them both! :)  I love the layered look of the two ribbons together and they seemed perfect for a love themed card. The sentiment from the You and Me clear stamp set was also fun to create…with all the different words and ampersands, the possibilities are endless!”

Card by Kelly Rasmussen.  Find complete supplies and instructions here.

Next up is a bright and cheerful card from Jennifer McGuire.  We just love how she used the May Arts jute ribbon (408-05-10) to create the background for her stamped and die-cut Garden Flower.  More from Jennifer:

“I adore May Arts ribbons. They are all very high quality and unique! One great way to use them on a project without adding too much bulk is to create a background or background piece with them as I have done here. You can do this with any ribbon - just line them up and trim the edges.”

Card by Jennifer McGuire. Find complete supplies and instructions here.

And now, how about the scoop on that giveaway we promised at the beginning of this post?  Just leave us a comment and we will draw one random winner.  May Arts has generously offered up three spools of ribbon of the winner’s choice!  We’ll be announcing this winner on Friday morning, so please leave your comment by Thursday, January 26 at 9pm EST.

There will more giveaways throughout this week, so you’ll need to stay tuned!  And be sure to head on over to the May Arts blog as well, for lots of great ideas and more goodies up for grabs!

We’ll be back tomorrow with more designs featuring May Arts ribbon, see you then!

Hello! It’s Julie Ebersole and I’m tickled to be guesting here on the Hero Arts Blog this week. Today I have a love-dovey clean and simple design to share.

Sometimes, short, sweet and to the point just says it all, like this sentiment from Amour. After wetting and tearing the edge of some watercolor paper, I stamped the greeting with Punch Chalk Ink, and then wrapped the gutter crease with some metallic cord. The watercolor paper already has a beautiful texture, and the torn edge gives a hand-made paper look to the whole design!

Card by Julie Ebersole.  Find complete supplies and instructions here.

Thanks for stopping by! I’ll see you tomorrow with some more lovey-dovey goodness to go with this month’s theme of Love & Hugs & Kisses.

Julie Ebersole

P. S. - We’ll be back later today with the announcement of our blog hop winners!

Hello, friends! We’re thrilled today to welcome you to the 2012 Catalog Blog Hop with the Hero Hostesses!!

That’s right, 24 wonderful Hero Hostesses are back to kick off the new year with some creative fireworks by way of a week-long blog hop! For the next five days, these fabulously talented stampers will be sharing projects featuring some of the hottest new stamps from the Hero Arts 2012 Catalog.

The hop will begin right here (on the Hero Club Blog) each day this week, Monday through Friday. Consider this “home base”. From here, you’ll be able to journey to the blogs of 4-5 different Hostesses per day. It is our hope that this extended format will allow you to enjoy the inspiration at a more relaxed pace.

Here’s a delectable peek at just a few of the projects you’ll be seeing along the way today!

Wow, what a way to start a Monday, right?! And there’s much more where that came from.

But wait! Before you hop along, let’s take a moment to discuss PRIZES…

• Will there be prizes? Absolutely!
• What are the prizes? We’re giving away 3 fabulous assortments of wood, cling, and clear stamps from the new 2012 Catalog!
• How can I win? Simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post here on the Hero Club Blog. (This post is your first chance!) The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning.
• How will the winners be picked? At random, using random.org.
• When and where will the winners be announced? On Monday, January 16, right here on the blog.

So are you ready for some eye candy? Let the fun begin! First, click on over to Deborah Nolan’s blog and then follow the links to the other blogs, being sure to leave lots of “love” for our Hostesses along the way.

Happy hopping, everyone!! Enjoy and we’ll see you again tomorrow!

P.S. - If you happen to come across any broken links, you can always come back to this post and find links to all of today’s participating bloggers: Deborah Nolan • Suzanne Czosek • Donna Mikasa • Barb Engler • Kelly Booth

Hi there! It’s Lisa, and I’m so excited to kick off a whole new year of stamping here on the Hero Arts blog!

To get things started, I’d like to introduce the January Contest: Love & Hugs & Kisses plus a Color Challenge! Check out all the details to find out how you can win prizes!

For those of you who’ve never entered a contest before, I’d like to challenge you to enter! We have a special category for those who have never won before, plus you’ll get to meet the wonderful community of stampers in the Hero Arts Flickr group! So, what are you waiting for? This is your year!

And for those of you who have already won before, keep those entries coming! We love seeing your entries, and you can win again. After all, who couldn’t use a shopping spree for all the NEW stamps in the Hero Arts 2012 Catalog?

Now on to my card for the day! It uses some of the new Hero Arts-BasicGrey stamps and papers from the BasicGrey Kissing Booth line! I added a hint of lilac to make it perfect for the monthly theme:

Card by Lisa Spangler. Click for materials and instructions.

Aren’t those birds just darling? I can just imagine them giving each other hugs & kisses, can’t you? And I love how the Newspaper Heart goes so well with the BasicGrey Kissing Booth line, and how the Painted People Background really gives it that vintage feeling.

Sally will be here tomorrow, and then don’t forget that this Thursday, January 5th is the big day when the 2012 Catalog goes live in the Hero Arts Online Store! Woo!

Happy New Year hugs! Wishing all of you a year of stamping fun,