Welcome to the Hero Arts stop on the Operation Write Home bloghop! I’m Sandy Allnock, the Executive Director of the organization - and I’m thrilled to be able to sneak in over here with a guest post at the most inspiring blog on the interwebs to share a little with you!

Hero Arts is one of our best supporters! There are now nine - count em NINE! - fundraising stamp sets…the portion of the sales that are donated really help the organization fulfill our mission to help our deployed service members keep in touch with home! If you’re one who loves clear stamps - you’ll need to check out these six sets…I have to say, I keep the Year Round Sentiments set out on my desk at all times, and I bet you’ll find the same!

And now for those who are traditionalists and need red rubber on wood mounts…you are in luck! Just released are these three sets…You’re Always In My Heart LP279, You’re My World LP277, and Blessings To You LP278.

And one of the coooolest things that’s happened for OWH recently:  two of these sets were released at Hobby Lobby! Be sure to take the numbers with you to your local store so you can request them…our crafters were on a mad shopping spree and cleared the stores in a week, so you’ll probably want to ask them to order in some!

Alrighty. Enough of all that excitement, you came along on this hop to see a card! We’re all making thank-you cards using OWH sketches - and I used #41. I used my Copic airbrush system* to create the background papers, and stamped the stars from the You’re My World set, and the sentiment from the Blessings To You set. I wrote a note inside that’ll be sent to a hero far from home - which is a great way that you, too, can honor those who have made sacrifices for us all. This Memorial Day holiday remembers those who gave their all - and we honor them by serving those who are still in harm’s way today.

And I’ve been told that if you leave a comment on this blog post…you’re going to qualify to win one of the two sets used on my card! You’re My World and Blessings To You are up for grabs for two lucky chatty folks!

So tell me….what are YOU doing to honor the real reason for this holiday weekend? Leave your comment by Monday, May 27th at 11:59pm Pacific time and you’ll be entered to win!

*Feel free to pop over to my blog today, too, I Can’t Stop Embellishing - especially if you’ve never seen the Copic airbrush system - I have a little video for ya with it today!

Hi there! We’re happy to see you here on the fifth (and sadly, final) day of our 2013 Catalog Blog Hop with the Hero Hostesses. We hope you’ve enjoyed this fun week!

The Hostesses have another heaping helping of 2013 Catalog inspiration ready and waiting for you today, but first how about a round of inky applause for these 28 wonderful stampers! Thank you, ladies, for sharing your time and talents with all of us. You’ve absolutely filled this week to the brim with creative goodness and given our stamps star-treatment! We’d also like to extend a very special thank you to Deborah Nolan, whose behind-the-scenes organization has yet again been exceptional and ensured a smooth hop. Your help is much appreciated, Deborah!

Now for a glimpse of some of the fabulous projects the Hostesses have up their sleeves today. Feast your eyes!

Late to the party? Fear not. The extended format of this blog hop will allow you plenty of time to catch up and enjoy the projects bit by gorgeous bit. In case you’re just joining in:

• Every comment you leave along the hop (including this post) gives you a chance to win new 2013 Hero Arts stamps! Comments must be received by 11:59pm PST on Monday, January 21 to be entered. Three giveaway winners will be randomly selected and announced here on the blog next week.
• If you’ve missed any days, you can go back to view and comment at the following links:  DAY 1 • DAY 2 • DAY 3 • DAY 4
• All of the new 2013 Catalog stamps you’ve seen showcased this week are now available in the Hero Arts Online Store. The newest designs can be found HERE in the “Shop by Catalog” category.

Now it’s time to HOP to it! Start by clicking over to Lisa Carroll’s blog and then follow the trail of links to the Hostesses’ blogs.

Thanks so much for hopping along with us this week, friends! Wishing you a wonderful weekend…

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: Lisa Carroll • Heather Doran • Tracey Kuzniak • Kelly Booth • Virginia Lu • Vera Rhuhay

Were you hoping to see more amazing Hero Hostess creations today? You’ve come to the right place. It’s day 4 of the 2013 Catalog Blog Hop with the Hero Hostesses and five mega-talented stampers have some wonderful inspiration in store for you! But don’t take our word for it. Have a peek…!

Oh yes, projects like these (and many more) will make your stampy heart go pitter-patter!

Start by hopping over to Emily Leiphart’s blog to get inspired and then follow the links to the other blogs. Remember to leave a little comment love for each blogger as you’re hopping around to increase your chance of winning our blog hop prizes — three lucky winners will receive a prize pack that includes new wood, clear, and cling stamps from the 2013 Catalog!

Enjoy the hop and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for the grand finale!

P.S. - If you happen to come across any broken links, you can always come back to this post and find links to all 5 of today’s participating bloggers: Emily Leiphart • Suzanne Czosek • Sharon Dunn • Sarah Moerman • Anita Recksiedler

Welcome back to the blog hop, stampers! We’re ready for another day of fantastic Hero Hostess inspiration, how about you? Today six Hostesses are all set to delight you with a fresh batch of projects using new stamps from the 2013 Catalog!

Here’s a juicy peek at just a few of the projects you’ll be seeing along today’s leg of the hop…

Delicious!

In case you’re joining us for the first time this week, you can click over to the Monday and Tuesday posts to catch up. And remember, 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 2013 Hero Arts stamps!

Now it’s time to turn you loose! Kicking things off today is Lin Brandyberry — click here to see what she’s created, then follow the links to each blog.

Have a great day and we’ll see you tomorrow for more inspiration from our wonderful Hosti with the Mosti!

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: Lin Brandyberry • Sally Sherfield • Marcy Kaminski • Linda Wetterlin • Arlene McClung • Barb Engler

Hello and welcome to day two of the blog hop! Today we get to visit the blogs of five more Hero Hostesses, who will be showcasing new stamps from the 2013 Catalog. Just wait until you see the beauties they’ve created! Beauties like these…

…just for starters! You’re in for a BIG treat.

Remember, every comment you leave along the hop gives you a chance to win new stamps from the 2013 Catalog! And if you didn’t have time to browse and comment yesterday, no worries! You have all week to soak up the inspiration. (Miss day one? Start here.)

Here we go! Robin Kubasik is ready to kick things off – click over to her blog to begin and then follow the links to each of the Hostesses participating today. Enjoy the journey!

P.S. - If you happen to come across any broken links, you can always come back to this post and find links to all 5 of today’s participating bloggers: Robin Kubasik • Judy Jung • Nancy Krueger • Sue McRae • Cheiron Brandon

Hello and welcome to the opening day of the 2013 Catalog Blog Hop with the Hero Hostesses! We’ve gathered 28 of our wonderful Hero Hostesses for an inky reunion and we couldn’t be more excited! For the next five days the Hostesses will be sharing projects they’ve created with stamps from our new 2013 Catalog. It’s going to be one fun and inspiration-packed week for sure!

Here’s how it works:  Monday, January 14, through Friday, January 18, the blog hop will begin right here (on the Hero Arts blog). From here, you’ll be able to journey to the blogs of 5-6 different Hostesses per day. We hope this extended format will give more readers an opportunity to follow along and enjoy the inspiration at their own pace.

Now, how about a little peek at some of the creative goodness you’ll be seeing today…

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Before you hop along, let’s talk PRIZES! Oh yes, there are prizes.

• We will be giving away three big prize packs containing an assortment of brand new wood, cling, and clear stamps from the 2013 Catalog.
• For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post here on our blog. (This post is your first chance!) The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning.
• The three winners will be selected at random and announced right here on the blog next week.

Now that the details are covered, it’s time to get this party started! Begin by clicking over to Kathy Racoosin’s blog, then follow the links to the other blogs, being sure to leave lots of “love” for our Hostesses for a chance to win those prizes!

Thanks so much for joining us. Happy hopping, everyone!

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: Kathy Racoosin • Deborah Nolan • Kryssi Ng • Jenn Biederman • Kathy Wade • Donna Mikasa

Hi there! It’s Tami here today and I’m excited to show you one of my NEW favorite products from the 2013 Hero Arts Catalog… the Snowflake Fancy Frames die! I’ve created a wintery thank you card that features layered and offset snowflake die cuts, set against our Looped Circle Pattern stamp. (Another definite favorite from the new release!)

Find out how to make this card — click for complete supplies and instructions.

I wanted to cut the snowflake from shimmery silver cardstock but didn’t have any on hand. Enter Soft Granite Shadow Ink and Perfect Pearls! I applied the ink to a piece of white cardstock, then misted it with a mixture of water and Perfect Pearls. After a quick zap with the heat gun, it was all ready to die cut with the Snowflake Fancy Frame die. You could use this technique with a variety of ink colors…lots of possibilities!

I can’t wait to play with more of these intricate die cut designs in the coming weeks! You can see the 5 new Fancy Frames on page 56 of the digital catalog.

Now we have some 2013 Catalog Preview Party photos to share from our friends at Stamp On Over in Sunnyvale, California. Stamp on Over is one of the wonderful retailers participating in the 2013 Catalog Debut. Check out the Preview Party fun from this past weekend!

Thanks to Julie for sharing these photos with us. And thanks to YOU for stopping by today!

Happy stamping!

Hi Friends!!! It’s Shari Carroll here with a really EASY Clean and Simple card.

Today is kind of special to me.  First, It’s my son Scooter’s 23rd birthday.  And if you know the story behind how/when I started with Hero Arts… Scooter’s birthday marks the years I’ve been privileged to work for Hero.

I made this card to give to Scoots today, I pulled out some manly Studio Calico papers… then did the unthinkable!!!  I cut the daylights out of my clear stamp to make the letter layers (you could mask out the other letters to get the same effect).  But, this is the beauty of the clear stamps.  I can piece it back together to be used again and again!

You can find out how to make this card HERE.

So, you’re probably wondering why I titled this post “Finding your inner WONKY”!!! I’ve decided enough of the perfect banner cuts.  I’m going to embrace the imperfections… I’m stepping out of the box and cutting my banners completely wonky! Aren’t they cute??  :o)

Enjoy your week-end!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day, stamping friends!

We’re thrilled to be teaming up with our fabulous friends at BasicGrey to celebrate this special day. How about some scrapbooking inspiration…and a chance to win some Hero Arts & BasicGrey goodies too?! (More on that in just a bit…stay tuned!)

First, we wanted to show you this cute-as-can-be layout Kandis Smith created. We just love how she combined a variety of stamps with papers from BasicGrey’s 6×6 Lauderdale Paper Pad here. The result is a page full of life, color, and fun!

Find out how to make this layout — click for complete supplies and instructions.

Now about that giveaway…! Click over HERE to the BasicGrey blog to see even more scrapbooking inspiration and read all about how you could win some Hero Arts & BasicGrey products of your choice! Entering is easy and you have almost a full week to submit. Yay!

Happy scrapbooking, happy stamping, and happy weekend! Hope yours is wonderful!

We are excited to announce that our NEW Frame Cuts & Mid-tone Inks are now fully available for ordering!

Those of you who placed pre-orders will be happy to know that your orders are now starting to ship, too!

So go ahead — start shopping — orders are fulfilled by local stamp stores!