QR codes are everywhere these days! And now you can stamp your own for a fun interactive card. Just watch the video to see how it works!

Here’s a better look at the front of the card with the handstamped QR code:

Find out how to make this card plus complete materials and instructions.

And here’s the QR code on the back! I tried scanning this photo right here on the screen and it actually worked if you’d like to see for yourself

And, you can even make your own QR codes! Makes it perfect when you’re giving a gift card, like this pocket card with a gift certificate to one of my favorite cupcake shops, Cupprimo! (It’s dangerously close by, ha ha!)

Find out how to make this card plus complete materials and instructions.

Having a QR code on here makes it super easy for the recipient to look up Cupprimo’s menu, hours and location. Here’s some other ideas for QR codes: link to a family video in your Project Life pages (I heard about this one from Libby!), link to your facebook page or instagram feed to connect with friends and stay in touch, or link to an online photo album — the sky’s the limit!

I use this QR code generator and this reader on my iPhone. Both are free! (You can search on google for other generators and readers.)

Hope this gives you some fun ideas for an interactive card for this month’s challenge! And! I have it on good authority that pocket cards are interactive too, so this post actually has two ideas in one.

Do you have any fun ideas for QR codes? Have you seen any clever uses for them? I’d love to hear!

Hello, everybody! Julie here today with a fun, “outta’ the box” way to use your stamps! This card features two of my (many) favorite stamp sets, used in a very unconventional way to create a birthday design.

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

How ’bout them candles, eh?!

I love when I can re-purpose some of my favorite stamps, and hope this sparks some new ideas for you!

Thanks for sharing part of your day with me!

Hello, all! I’ve got a great card and video to share with you today!

You can never have too many ideas for birthdays and this is a fun one for the young un’s — and, well, mebbe for the young-at-heart, too!

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

A fun shaped card such as this looks almost good enough to eat, doesn’t it?!

Thanks for joining me here at the Hero Arts blog, and I hope you have a DELICIOUS day!

Hi everyone… welcome back to the blog. It’s Shari here and I have something really fun and new to share with you today.  As you may have read yesterday, we have started a new My Monthly Hero program where we will be rolling out new stamp images each month.  Pretty fantabulous don’t you think?  Today I get to give you a sneak peek at CL610, Perfect Day which is one of our new sets for May.

I created a clean and simple birthday card using three of the May Challenge colors.

Orange, Yellow and Green.

I love these colors together. Very Cheery for Spring.  Here’s a closer look.

Supplies and instructions can be found HERE.

Another part of our May Monthly Challenge is to create Interactive cards.  Try making a card that has a piece that moves, spins, shakes, wiggles, sings.  Ok… maybe not sing, but you get the idea.  heehee. For the May Technique I put together a card that has 3 moving elements.  Here’s how I did it.

Thanks for joining me today, be sure to check back tomorrow for our second round of April winners. whaooo!

Enjoy!

April Showers bring May Flowers… Soooo….What do May flowers bring? This was a riddle I told forever as a kid… The answer is Pilgrims! Haha. With the challenge this month being sunshine and showers… I wanted to do a rainbow but also wanted to play with one of our sketches. So I devised my plan… I’d make a rainbow out of the strips of paper on my card. Here’s what I came up with.

You can find all the instructions and supplies HERE.

Thanks everyone for stopping by today and putting up with my silly sense of humor.  Wishing you all a fabulous Wednesday!!!

Hello, friends! Here we are on the third day of our week of Hero Hostess introductions and it’s time to find out who will next be donning an apron alongside Cheiron and Kathy! Let’s get right to it…

Today we’re thrilled to welcome Emily Leiphart (eleiphart) as our newest Hero Hostess! You’re in for a treat, because Emily created both a card AND video to share here on the blog! When we saw how she used the stamped and die-cut flower as a sun, we thought it was (pardon the pun) pure brilliance! And we adore the happy pops of color against the kraft background.

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

You can watch her Hero Hostess video debut below. Take it away, Emily!

And now for a little chat with our new Hostess…

How long have you been stamping and how did you get started? I started stamping about 15 years ago. On a lunch break, a friend and I ventured into a stamp store at the lakefront during our lunch hour. It was right there and then that I was hooked. I stamped to make cards for family and friends but it didn’t become a serious hobby until three years ago, after the birth of my son.

When did you discover the Hero Arts blog and did you leap into the Flickr group right away too? I discovered the Hero Arts Blog in December 2010 and ended up building a huge collection of Hero Arts stamps since they’d just had a release and there were so many end-of-the-year holiday sales! I jumped into the Flickr group right away after being inspired by the Hero Artists as well as all the warm and talented Hero Arts fans.

What is your favorite kind of card to stamp? My favorite kind of card to stamp is a general hello or thinking of you card. I like to surprise friends with these.

If you could have one “stamping wish” what would it be? My one stamping wish would be to have the opportunity to design my own line of stamps. I hope to make that dream a reality someday!

You can find more of Emily’s creations here at Flickr and on her blog. We’re so happy to have you as a Hero Hostess, Emily…thank you!!

Before we go, we have some more good news - our winners from the Operation Write Home blog hop! We asked you to leave us a comment on that post and tell us which of our three OWH sets is your favorite for a chance to win that set. The winners are:

• Beverly Sizemore who said “Julie’s card is a hoot….so funny. Hard to pick a favorite from the three sets but ‘All The Time’ has wonderful sentiments for the OWH cause. ;)”
• Cynthia Chapman who said “I love all your products. I also LOVE that they are made in the USA! My favorite stamp set is ‘Right At Home’. It’s one that I don’t have. Thanks for supporting our heroes!”

Ladies, please send an email with your address to winner@heroarts.com to claim your prize.

Thanks for stopping by today. We’ll be back tomorrow with our first round of April contest winners and then another Hostess announcement on Friday. So much happy news this week!

Hello, hello! Julie here today with a video! Do you love and collect pretty patterned papers as much as I do?! It’s time to break ‘em out!

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

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope this project inspires you to run over to your stash of papers and stamps and piece together somethin’ cute!

Hi there! Who’s ready for some more sunshine? For today’s episode of Watch It Wednesday we’re highlighting Shari’s fabulous technique video on shaped cards — one of the April contest options. I’ll offer my own take afterwards, but first, here’s Shari with some sunny shaped card inspiration!

For a variation on the shaped card technique, I decided to create a different kind of sunshine — sunshine in the form of an encouraging message and a bouquet in a bag. My inspiration was this beautiful centerpiece idea from Better Homes and Gardens.

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

It all started with a small kraft colored bag from the craft store that I stamped with the Envelope Pattern and a sentiment from Remember. Spilling out the top are stamped and die cut flowers from Antique Flowers and Butterflies. The bag itself is adhered to a notecard custom cut to size. It’s cut the same width as the bag, but just a bit taller so that the flowers are supported. You can see in the photo below how the inside of the card compares to the outside in size.

TIP: Stuff a bit of tissue paper into the bag before sealing it shut to add just a touch of dimension.

I hope these shaped cards have sparked an idea or two for the monthly contest. We can’t wait to see what you create!

Wishing you a bright, sunshiny week…

Hi all! Kristina here. Today I not only have another card idea for you, but a video as well.

First, I started out with the basic card from the Add Your Message - A Litte Note Kit.

Then I decided to step it up a bit by adding some Punch Layering Paper and repeatedly stamped  a sentiment. The purple bird in the top corner of the card provided a perfect opportunity to punch a circle window. A bit of ribbon finished it off.

Cards by Kristina Werner. Find complete supplies and instructions here.

Hope you enjoyed! I’ll be back Friday with another card idea! See you then!

Kristina

Hi everyone! This morning I’m thrilled to be sharing a video from the one and only Julie Ebersole! Julie has such a knack for teaching — she educates, makes you say “aha!”, and makes you smile…all at the same time! Today she’s showing us how to get more from our supplies by using water-based markers to ink and stamp our images.

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

Isn’t the shading and dimension on that flower fabulous? Love it!

Here’s a little recap of Julie’s tips for successful stamping with markers:

• Always start with lightest colors, then add darker colors, to avoid cross-contamination and keep your markers clean. If you happen to get a bit of darker ink on your lighter markers, brush against scratch paper until clean again.
• Hold the marker with the brush nib parallel to the stamp surface to achieve broader strokes of color.
• Don’t worry if the ink dries by the time you are finished coloring; re-moisten the ink by “huffing” (blow warm breath of air) onto the stamp just before impressing to paper.
• Try “thumping” darker marker colors over the top of a base coat of lighter colored marker for a fun and different effect

Now before we go, the cute bunny up there says we have a random $50 Wish List Shopping Spree announcement to make! Every month we give away two shopping sprees, with winners pulled from comments here on the blog. To be in the running, just join the Hero Arts Club and start commenting. The next winner could be YOU! And today’s lucky winner… is… drumroll… Chunyuan Wu, who commented on February 28th! Congratulations, Chunyuan! Please send an email to winner@heroarts.com and we’ll get you set up to shop.

I hope you have a great day. Thank you for making us a part of it!