Welcome back to the blog everyone! Today is Tuesday and that means we have our Stamp of the Week. I was soooo excited when I realized that THIS is the stamp for the week!!! Whooo Hooo!

For my card, I created a grungy-ish look for my flowers by inking the flowers with Rusty Hinge ink, then I added more color by dabbing my fingers in Vintage Photo and Barn Door Distress ink, tapped onto the inked stamp. With a spritz or two of water… stamp onto watercolor paper and Voila!

I love how the text in the flower is distorted… FUN imperfection!

Card by Shari Carroll. Instructions and supplies can be found HERE.

As I said, the Newspaper Tulip stamp that I used is our Stamp of the Week! You can get this stamp for 25% off this week only in the Hero Arts Online Store. Regularly priced at $10.00, this woodblock stamp is just $7.50 through Sunday, March 11th — no promo code needed.

I consider this stamp to be one of those essentials for your stamp toolbox. There are so many technique possibilities… like… stamping with white on Kraft, white embossing on a colorful background or as a resist. FAB-U-Licious!!!  I’ll be back tomorrow with more wonderful flowers! Enjoy!

Hi! Today I’m back to share a fabulous card made by Designer Team member, Sheri Reguly.

She used one of the images from the Enchanté stamp set to give this soft and pretty card a bit of spunk and style. All three images in this set coordinate with our Frame Cuts, which makes them a breeze to cut out.  Shari gave this stylish woman a few extra accessories by adding the flower in her hair and a belt to match her purse…so clever!

Card by Sheri Reguly. Find complete supplies and instructions here.

The Art of the Card stamp set that Sheri used is also our Stamp of the Week! You can get Enchanté for 25% off this week only in the Hero Arts Online Store. Regularly priced at $12.00, this three-piece Cling set is just $9.00 through Sunday, March 4th — no promo code needed.

And one more thing before I go…

It’s time to announce the second $50 Wish List Shopping Spree of the month!! Congratulations to Trudi Wilbur, whose January 10 blog comment was randomly selected from all of the January comments! Trudi, please email us at the winner’s address located over in the sidebar and we’ll get you all set up to shop.

For a chance to win one of next month’s two $50 Wish List Shopping Sprees, simply join the Hero Club (it’s free!), then comment here on the blog throughout the month. Each comment you leave gives you a chance at the prize!

See you back here tomorrow for Watch It Wednesday!

Hello! Welcome back for some more “his and her ideas” - a masculine and feminine card using the same supplies.

And today I really challenged myself! I used the Hero Arts + Sizzix Garden Flowers for both of the cards. It is sometimes hard to use flower images on masculine cards, but I found a creative way to do it.

So here are my two cards - his and hers…

For the “his” card, I just stamped and die cut the stems only. And for a bit of interest, I added a few simple buttons.

And for the “her” card, I used the whole flower and kept the rest simple with a greeting.

Cards by Jennifer McGuire.  Complete supplies and instructions here.

I hope this inspires you to think of creative ways to get more out of the stamps (and dies!) that you have. And if you like this Hero Arts + Sizzix Garden Flowers as much as I do, it is your lucky day! It is the Stamp of the Week - Hero Arts + Sizzix Garden Flowers. Enjoy 25% off of this great, floral set, this week only in the Hero Arts Online Store!

Thanks for stopping by. I will see you tomorrow with a fun video. Take care!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I have a BIG smile on my face because today is HEART day!!! I’m not sure why I have this passion for hearts of all colors and sizes, but I do!!  So I thought I would share a bright Palm Springs version of a friendship/Valentine card.

For my card, I used the True Friends background (which I love!) for the base.  Next, I found some heart Washi tape in my drawer I didn’t even know I had (!), and put it on the bottom. Then I stamped out a bunch of hearts from our Art of the Card Untitled Hearts set and scattered them about until I liked the arrangement. Of course, it wasn’t complete until I added bling, ribbons and buttons.

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

I added my sentiment to the inside of the card, and it’s from our Stamp of the Week - Thank You For Being My Friend.  Enjoy 25% off of this great, all-occasion set, this week only in the Hero Arts online store!

When I was rummaging through my old stamps, I pulled out a bunch of vintage Hero Arts hearts for a fun picture! I found I had a duplicate-brand-new message set from 2006. If you write a comment about why you like Valentine’s Day, that set could be yours. You have until 8pm EST Thursday to leave your comment, and the winner will be announced on Friday!

Come back tomorrow for a video and a friendship card idea. Heartfelt wishes… and have a super, fun-filled Valentine’s Day…dark chocolate is a MUST!!

Hi everyone! It’s day two of my blog week and I’m back with another NEW catalog! Today’s is from Hero Arts-Studio Calico! Check it out!

It’s full of so many awesome designs and papers, I couldn’t wait to play! And play I did, with the new cling Plano (ST518), clear Calico Borders (331074), and 6×6 Take Note paper pad!

And here’s what I came up with — a shaped card! Shaped cards are so much fun to make with die cuts — perfect for the monthly challenge!

Card by Lisa Spangler. Click here for full materials and instructions.

Here’s a closeup so that you can see it better! Just love all the papers in the Take Note line, so glad that Hero Arts will be carrying the 6×6 pad! My favorite part? The stripe border that I stamped with new Wet Cement mid-tone ink! I can see myself reaching for it again and again and again and…well, you get the idea.

Now I know what you’re wondering when you can get these stamps inky, am I right? Well, they start shipping to local stamp stores on March 15 and will arrive in the Hero Arts online store starting April 2nd!

Before I go, I just had to mention that the Stamp of the Week is actually not a stamp at all — it’s the Frame Cuts Classic Frame! Enjoy 25% off these great dies for this week only here in the Hero Arts store.

See you tomorrow when I’ll be back with the third catalog + a video,

Hi again, I’m back today to share a French-themed thank you card. The new Untitled Heart set is simply gorgeous, and I just love the way it matches up with the Newspaper Eiffel Tower background stamp. I chose the sweet hugs and kisses heart from the set for my card, and stamped it in Punch chalk ink on Carnation paper. I do love mixing and matching with Hero Hues colors.

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

And the great news is, the Newspaper Eiffel Tower is our Stamp of the Week, meaning it is 25% off in the Hero Arts Online Store this week. Yay!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a new contest, a new technique video and a new card! Lots of fun!!

Bye,

Welcome to Day 2 of our week of teaming up with May Arts!  Today we have two wonderful designers with similar names - Shari and Sheri - and would you believe they both made cards featuring ribbon flowers??  This was not planned.  It was just a delightful, beautiful, glorious coincidence!

First is Shari Carroll’s pretty treat bag.  Here’s what she has to say about her creative process:

“I knew I wanted to create a flower with ribbon, the hard part was choosing which one to use!  I went with my comfort zone and picked muted colors as in this GORGEOUS Organic stripes (385-58-11).  To add texture and a cool border, I used the 1″ velvet ric rac (396-1-01).  For a splash of color I used the Blue Suede string  (395-18-34).  All these ribbons are almost as yummy as the treats in my goody bag!”

Card by Shari Carroll. Find complete supplies and instructions here.

And next, Sheri Reguly’s gorgeous card featuring a rolled ribbon flower. Love it so much!

“Create a thank you card for a friend using wonderful earth tones combined with a splash of sunshine yellow. A homemade flower accent created using May Arts Sheer Box Pleat ribbon (392-58-01) adds a beautiful finishing touch.”

Card by Sheri Reguly. Find complete supplies and instructions here.

If you missed yesterday’s post, be sure to check it out for a chance to win some yummy ribbon!  And be sure and stop by the May Arts blog all week to see what they’re up to!

We also have a Stamp of the Week to share with you!  This week’s stamp is our K5574 Big Eyes, and it’s available this week only for 25% off in the Hero Arts Online Store.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more inspiration and a video!

Hi, everybody!

Just Julie again, with a super fun “thinking of you” card featuring the darling cloud from the Right at Home Operation Write Home set. It occurred to me that the cloud and one of the sentiments from the set together would make a fabulous “thought bubble” effect! I just love when a stamp can be used “outside the box,” so to speak, for something different than originally intended.

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

After stamping the cloud, I outlined it with a pale blue marker and trimmed it out. The soft blue makes white things seem even whiter and brighter. A little ric rac punched from some different shades of green paper were layered onto a kraft card and some tiny punched hearts were 3D mounted and given a coat of Glossy Accents for some added dimension. So cute and easy!

For the Stamp of the Week, enjoy 25% off of the Friend You’re the Best stamp set for the week of January 16th only! Just in time for making your Valentine cards!

So glad you came by today!

Julie Ebersole

It’s day 2 of our week-long blog hop with the Hero Hostesses, and we’re so glad you’re here! The next five Hostesses are on deck, ready to share their inspiring 2012 Catalog creations.

Let’s sneak a peek at a handful of today’s beautiful projects!

…Please pardon us while we drool.

In case you’re joining us for the first time this week, you can click over to yesterday’s blog hop kick-off post to start from the beginning. You have ALL week to take in the eye candy and comment for a chance to win big prizes! In fact, every comment you leave along the hop (including this post) gives you a chance to win new 2012 Hero Arts stamps. Woohoo!

Here we go now…hop along to the blog of Tiffany Ervin and then click your way to all five Hostesses’ blogs.

Have a great day and we’ll see you tomorrow for even more creative goodness!!

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: Tiffany Ervin • Judy Jung • Nancy Krueger • Robin Kubasik • Lin Brandyberry

Hey Everyone… Happy New Year! Our “Love & Hugs & Kisses” theme for January was here for real this past week at my house. I had my grand girls visiting!  And of course, they went to MY art school everyday!  On the agenda - watercolor specks!

And just look at what they created! If time ran out for you and there were some friends who never got their Christmas cards, you can make & send one of these in a jiffy!  Just stamp our new Newspaper Skyline, add some specks of watercolor paint and a few dabs of Stickles, and there you go!  Easy peasy, just ask my girls!

Cards by Sally Traidman’s grand girls!  Find complete supplies and instructions here.

Hope to see all of you in 2012 and I wish you all a GREAT, stamping new year!!