Thanks for all the wonderful entries into our Die Cut Challenge with QuicKutz!  It was such a fun week, and you all created some masterpieces.  It was hard to pick the winners, but here they are…

First up is the Fresh Face winner, ktfsj. Check out this unique card, with a die cut window showcasing a special treasure.  So cool.

Our Scrapbooking winner is [asm] for this striking page of die cutting and stamping. We loved the monochromatic look and the combination of patterns.

Next up is the First Place winner, jaemom.  What an amazing job she did with this shaped butterfly card. Wow! Be sure to check out the dimension and acetate window HERE.

The Second Place prize goes to TRace44. This gorgeous scalloped card caught our attention right away. Such fabulous details…

Now we have mommatwitch coming in Third Place for her sweet, die cut shaped card. The button flowers with stitched stems are adorable.

An Honorable Mention goes to shannavineyard, who created this fresh and colorful card. Very inspiring!

Our final prize goes to fenway wrigley gibby for this marvelous anniversary card.  Since it uses QuicKutz products, she wins the Quickutz bonus prize – a QuicKutz Flourish Border Die, QuicKutz Thank You Embossing Folders and a Quickutz Nesting Labels Die set!

We also wanted to show you a great project by Susanne Nilsson, one of our Win-a-Day blog winners from this week.  (See her featured HERE!)  I asked if we could share this great project - a perfect combination of die cutting and stamping.  It is a poster for a little boy’s room.  Love it!

Congratulations! Please contact us through the email link in the blog sidebar and we’ll send your prizes.

Now, the Hero Hostesses have some wonderful die cut projects of their own to share. You can click on any of the thumbnails for more details. Thanks, Hostesses!

Projects by Donna Mikasa, Judy Jung, Deborah Nolan, Jenn Biederman, Kelly Booth, Karen Piskor and Lisa Carroll.

That’s a wrap for today…thanks again to everyone for playing along with the die cut challenge!

If you are a regular Hero Arts blog reader, you know that Saturday has become our customary “wrap up” day, reserved for bundling the week’s creations up into one neat and tidy package of inspiration.  Well, we are about to spice up the Saturday wrap up in a BIG way!  We are excited today to bring you a very special post that includes:

• An awesome bonus scrapbooking project
• The ever popular “grid of inspiration”
• Friday’s QuicKutz giveaway winner
• And finally…the Grand Prize giveaway winner!

Let’s get started!  We thought a fun and fitting end to our week would be to have the amazing Kerri Bradford of QuicKutz work her magic with some Hero Arts stamps and Silhouette die cut designs.  Here is the fantastic scrapbook page she came up with.  We adore the clean, simple, fresh look of this so much! (Click on image for a larger view.)

Kerri says, “Because I never have time to scrapbook, I’m all about simplicity these days. Right now, I like clean lines, grouped photos and white backgrounds…and right justification. I like how the white backgrounds make my photos and accents pop — kind of a magazine-esque look. On this page I used two of the flourishes from Fantastic Flourishes to make one big one to add to the title area and to the side on the opposite page. Embossing them in a pale yellow added just the right touch with a little bit of dimension. Using the Silhouette to cut my title, border, and word montage image, completed the look.”

Layout by Kerri Bradford.
Supplies:

• Clear Design: Fantastic Flourishes
• QuicKutz Silhouette Title, Dot border (comes from lace_1444) and Here-There phrase (phrase_amazingplace_1734)
• Other: cardstock, embossing powder (American Crafts Zing)

Thanks Kerri!  For more of Kerri’s wonderful work, check out her blog HERE.  You’ll want to bookmark it too — she shares loads of awesome Silhouette tips and projects that will make your jaw drop!

Now, check out the creativity from the rest of the designers this week…gotta love it! Stamps and die cuts are a match made in heaven.

• Monday - Two die cut cards to kick off the week
• Tuesday - Butterflies galore
• Wednesday - Using background stamps with die cuts
• Friday - Canvas, felt, and more

Let’s see…what else do we have on the agenda for today?  Oh yes!  Giveaway winners!!!

We’ll start with the winner of yesterday’s fantastic prize bundle from QuicKutz…

These goodies will be going out to AnitaRex, with comment #181! (June 12th, 2009 at 7:00 am) Hooray! We will be emailing you for your address.

Now, please pull out your drums. We need the biggest drumroll EVER because this is our biggest giveaway EVER! Here’s one more look at the creative candy from QuicKutz and Hero Arts that will be going to one very lucky winner…

The prize, worth over $400, includes:

• A Silhouette SD Digital Die Cutting Machine ($299.99 SRP)
  
• A roll of Black Vinyl (for the Silhouette) ($7.99 SRP)
• A roll of White Vinyl (for the Silhouette) ($7.99 SRP)
• A roll of Transfer Paper (for the Silhouette) ($7.99 SRP)
• TWO $25 Digital Download Cards (for the Silhouette)
• Hero Arts Wallpaper Flowers Stamp ($10 SRP)
  
• Hero Arts Scroll Frame and Messages Stamp Set ($15 SRP)
• Hero Arts Large Artsy Circles Stamp ($10 SRP)

To pick the winner, we first turned to random.org to select which day the winning comment would be pulled from. (1 = Monday, 2 = Tuesday, 3 = Wednesday, 4 = Thursday, 5 = Friday). Make a wish! Ready?

Random.org picked #2, Tuesday as our day! So if you left a comment on Tuesday’s post you’re one step closer the big prize. Too exciting!

There were 1,018 comments left on Tuesday’s post at the time of the drawing, which means 1,018 names went into the next hat. Or rather…back into the random.org number generator.  Here we go. BIG drumroll please!

The random comment number is…

#409, which means the Grand Prize winner is…

Woohoo, congratulations Anthonette! We’ll be in touch via email to coordinate your prize. Have a blast with your new goodies!

We wish this week never had to end…it’s been so much fun!  Special thanks to QuicKutz for teaming up with us this week.  We cannot thank them enough for their generous contributions.  Such a wonderful company with fantastic products AND good people — what could be better?

Just a reminder: You have until tomorrow night (Sunday, June 14) at 11:59pm PST to submit your stamped and die cut projects for the challenge. No problem if you don’t have a die cut machine — just check Monday’s post HERE for some templates you can cut yourself!

Have a wonderful weekend and we’ll see you Monday morning, when we kick off our week featuring the five Win-a-Day on the Blog contest winners!

Hi stampers!  Can you believe it’s Friday already? Our week with QuicKutz has absolutely flown by. We have plenty more fun in store today, with three new projects and more chances to win prizes!

First, Shari Carroll whipped up an amazing canvas using layers of die cuts, some stamped and some not.  Shari said: “I’m hooked on these mini canvases, they are so fun and versatile! I love using my Silhouette to cut out my shapes to stamp and add as layers onto miniature artworks and I’m amazed with the smallest of details that it can achieve.”

“Here’s a close up of some of the details. To hold up to the wet medium, most of the stamping is white embossed.  Cut the shapes first, stamp with VersaMark and use white embossing powder, then heat set.”

Canvas by Shari Carroll.
Supplies:

• DesignBlock Old Letter Writing
• DesignBlock Wavy Leaf Pattern
• DesignBlock Flourish
  
• VersaMark Ink
• White Embossing Powder
  
• Other: 6″x6″ canvas, QuicKutz Silhouette dies (branches, wording, diamonds, flower, and adornment), Claudine Hellmuth’s Multi Matte Medium, white tissue paper, book text, 7Gypsies Crystal Knob, vellum, Basic Grey paper, cream and black cardstock, ribbon
  

Next, we have a super fun and original card from Lisa Spangler that uses die cuts and goes beyond paper!  Lisa says: “I needed a card for Father’s Day and this QuicKutz Tree die is perfect — not too girly or cutesy!  AND, I love how you can use dies to cut materials other than paper, such as fabric, thin foam and my favorite — FELT! Here’s the front:”

“And here’s a side view so that you can better see the clouds. These are stamped with White StazOn ink on an Acetate Notecard, and then I put the Acetate Notecard over a Lagoon Notecard and adhered it in place by hiding the adhesive under the hill.  I created the hill by stamping the Designer Woodgrain with VersaMark ink on a Red Pepper notecard and embossing it with white powder.”

“Last but not least, here’s the inside!  The QuicKutz tree die also comes with this cute bird — love how there are two layers to give the bird dimension.”

Card by Lisa Spangler.
Supplies:

• Designer Woodgrain
• I Heart My Dad (for the “Dad” on the front)
  
• Special Gifts
  
• Sky’s the Limit
• White StazOn Ink, ArtPrint Brown Memories Ink
  
• White Embossing Powder
• Summer Notecards, Acetate Notecards, Kraft Notecards
• Card Buttons Neutral
• QuicKutz Tree Die
• Other:  red ric-rac ribbon (fabric store), patterned paper (Making Memories), twine, brown marker to make the bird’s eye (Sakura), lime and green felt (craft store)

And finally, Nichol Magouirk created this beauty of a card, full of wonderful little details and of course die cuts and stamped images.  We just love her combination of stamps and dies — they work together perfectly!

Card by Nichol Magouirk.
Supplies:

• Designer Woodgrain
• Be Yourself
  
• Friends
  
• Memories Black Ink
  
• VersaMark Dazzle Frost
• Embossing Powder Clear
• Small Accent Pearl
• Midnight Black Accent Pearl
• QuicKutz Nesting Label Die, QuicKutz Silhouette Butterfly Die Cut
  
• Other: patterned paper (October Afternoon), cardstock (American Crafts), circle punches, border punch, colored pencils, string

Shari, Lisa & Nichol — thanks so much for the fabulous eye candy!

We couldn’t say goodbye today without a giveaway! Get a load of this awesome assortment of products QuicKutz has generously offered up…

(QuicKutz Nesting Hearts, Labels 2×2 Embossing Folders, Heart Border Die)

Love those! If you do too, just leave a comment on this post and one lucky comment will be randomly picked to win all of the above.  Thanks QuicKutz! We’ll announce the winner tomorrow morning, along with the GRAND PRIZE winner of Monday’s enormous giveaway. The excitement in the air is palpable! (Oh and remember…if you comment on today’s post you’re also entered one more time for Monday’s prize!)

And…make sure you visit the QuicKutz blog today. Really. You won’t believe what they’re giving away — you have to see it to believe it! WOW!!

Hope you all have a great day! We’ll see you tomorrow for the BIG prize announcement and more…

Happy Wednesday everyone! Our fun week with QuicKutz continues today with more die cut inspiration, including a video and two cards.  Did someone mention “giveaway” too?  Sure did…stay tuned!

First, Nichol Magouirk is here with a great video tutorial on altering die cuts with stamping. Take it away, Nichol…

How much fun is that?!  We love how she used all of the yummy Hero background stamps on the leaves.  Here’s a closer look at her fabulous card…

Card by Nichol Magouirk.
Supplies:

• Clouds
  
• Houndstooth
  
• Four Leaf Grid
  
• Grid Pattern
  
• Designer Woodgrain
  
• Clear Design: All Occasion Messages
  
• Clear Design: Hello Circles
  
• Soft Pool, Soft Apricot & Soft Leaf Shadow Inks
  
• Memories Black Ink
  
• Green Apple Notecards
  
• QuicKutz Nesting Label Die Shape, Leaves 2×2 Die Cut Shape, Branches 4×4 Die Shape,
  
• Other: Cardstock (American Crafts), pen (American Crafts), corner rounder, string

Robyn Werlich also used a variety of Hero Arts background stamps to enhance the die cut shapes on her cheerful thank you card.  Love it!  It’s such a versatile design — by changing out the shapes, colors, and sentiment you could have a card for any occasion.

Card by Robyn Werlich.
Supplies:

• Clear Design: Thank You Sayings
• Woodgrain Circle
• Four Leaf Grid
• Houndstooth
• Colorbox Chalk Queues - Misty Meadow, Rose Petals, Sand Dune
  
• Assorted Clear Circles
• Quickutz Nesting Squares Cookie Cutters, Flowers Cookie Cutter Shapes
• Other: Kraft, yellow, pink, green, blue, white cardstock, 3/8″ circle punch, staples, sewing machine

Thanks, Robyn and Nichol!

So do you have an idea for this week’s challenge brewing?  We’ve noticed lots of wonderful die cut stamped creations popping up over in the Flickr group already.  Remember, you have until this Sunday (June 14) at 11:59pm PST to submit your projects for the challenge. Click HERE on Monday’s post for more details.  And while you’re there, be sure to leave a comment if you haven’t already, because we’re giving away our BIGGEST prize ever!

Speaking of prizes, we have even more QuicKutz products to give away today! (Thanks QK!) Check out this great assortment of dies and imagine what you could do with them…

(QuicKutz Flower Die, Damask Die, Flourish Border Die)

Simply leave a comment here on today’s post for a chance to win these dies. The lucky winner will be announced tomorrow morning. By leaving a comment here today you are automatically entered for Monday’s big prize as well!

One more thing — be sure to check out the QuicKutz blog today for 3 more fantastic giveaways AND Kerri Bradford’s blog too! So much good stuff going on. Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

Hello and welcome back to our week with QuicKutz! Today we have even more die cut project ideas to share and more giveaway opportunities as well…so let’s get started!

First, Tami Hartley created a butterfly shaped card using one of the templates we provided yesterday and then die cut a favorite QuicKutz design — the flourish — to add interest to the wings.  A few pop dots elevate the aqua layer, giving the card an extra dose of “flutter”, while the small butterfly image from the Together set provides the perfect addition.

Card by Tami Hartley.
Supplies:

• Four Leaf Grid
• Designer Woodgrain
• Sky’s The Limit
• Together Special Edition
• Kraft Notecards
• Soft Stone Shadow Ink
• Neutral Card Buttons
• QuicKutz Flourish Die, Stripes Label Embossing Folder
• Other: Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Martha Stewart Crafts ribbon, colored pencils, pop dots, stitching

Next up is Erin Lincoln with another fabulous butterfly creation for you that features two QuicKutz Silhouette digital designs - a butterfly and a label. We love how she cleverly folded the label shape to give the card an extra special interactive touch — very cool!

Here is the card opened up…

Card by Erin Lincoln.
Supplies:

• Hello Circles
  
• Double Flourish
  
• Houndstooth Background
  
• Four Left Grid
  
• Circular Designs
  
• Buds and Stems
  
• Share Laughter
• Sparkle Clear Happy Day Floral
  
• Gemstones
• QuicKutz Silhouette and Silhouette Digital Designs (label and butterfly)
• Other: Ink (Close to My Heart), buttons, circle punches

A Tip from Erin: Cut a slightly smaller white version of the label to do all the stamp work, and then just mount it to the turquoise base.

Did you know that QuicKutz has embossing folders too? (Great designs HERE!) You just put a piece of paper in the folder and run it through your die cutting machine and you end up with a wonderful textured background, such as the one on this card by Kelly Rasmussen. She used the new QuicKutz Polka Dots folder on her sweet butterfly hello card…love it!

Card by Kelly Rasmussen.
Supplies:

• Thoughtful Messages
• Screen Shadow
• Raindrop Background
• Rose Petals Chalk Ink Queue
  
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
  
• Blossom, Garden & Long Light Kraft Notecards
• Quickutz Supplies: Instant Photo Die, Rectangle Label Die, Polka Dots Embossing Folder
• Other: Border punch (Fiskars), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), buttons (Basic Grey), embroidery floss (DMC), white cardstock, stitching

Now, we have another giveaway from the generous folks at QuicKutz! The prize includes these QK goodies…

(QuicKutz Flower Die, Vines Embossing Folder, and Label Die)

To enter, just leave a comment on this post by 11:59PM PST tonight (Tuesday, June 9) and we will announce the winner tomorrow morning.

By leaving a comment on today’s post you will also be entered to win Monday’s HUGE prize!  (If you didn’t get a chance to comment on yesterday’s post yet, be sure to do so!)

How about another chance to win?!  QuicKutz is doing a great giveaway too – hop on over to their blog HERE to check it out! And would you even believe it if we told you Kerri Bradford was offering up some prizes as well?  Believe it! She does amazing things with the QuicKutz Silhouette and her blog is right HERE.

Lots of ways to win…lots of ways to be inspired!  Enjoy and we’ll see you tomorrow…

Hello Monday and Stampers!

We are so excited about this week - it is going to be one of our best yet.  Why?  Because we have TONS of projects, LOTS of prizes and are teaming up with one of the best companies in the industry - QUICKUTZ!  And, today, we have our biggest prize ever. Keep reading…

QuicKutz is an industry leader in die cutting.  They make die cutting fast, east and fun with their many products.  (Click HERE for more information.)  We asked if they would team up with us this week because their company values and quality products seemed to be the perfect fit for Hero Arts.  And, we have to say, they have some of the nicest people we have ever worked with in the industry. Honestly.  Amazing people.

This week, we are going to focus on combining stamping and die cutting.  And don’t worry - if you don’t have a die cut machine, we have some templates you can print out to make your own.

Let’s start with a project.  Here is a card from Jennifer McGuire.  She actually used a large QuicKutz die cut to create the card itself!  And because this QuicKutz die comes in a set with other sizes of the same shape, she was able to quickly make a matching piece to go on the center of the card.

Card by Jennifer McGuire.
Supplies:

• Flower Word Pattern
  
• Scroll Frame and Messages
  
• Wallpaper Flowers
  
• Hero Arts Pearls and Gemstones
• QuicKutz Nesting Label Dies and Revolution
  
• Black Memories Ink and Old Paper Distress Ink
• Other: Creative Impressions ribbon

And here is another card, from the amazing Jen Gallacher.  Jen is a master at using die cuts.  And she also is fabulous with stamps.  So we knew she would combine the two to create a masterpiece!  We love how she die cut a circle to the perfect size for our Woodgrain Circle stamp.  And, she brought her die cut flowers to life with stamped centers.

Card by Jen Gallacher.
Supplies:

• Anytime Messages
• Circular Designs
• Borders
• Woodgrain Circle
• VersaMark
• Clear Embossing Powder
• QuicKutz Silhouette and Silhouette Digital Designs (Card 1013, Flower 1022, Flower 1021, Frame 1025)
• Other:  Patterned paper (KI Memories), yellow ribbon, orange button, twine, 3/4″ circle punch, 1/2″ circle punch, pop dots

Feeling inspired?  We hope so!  if you are looking for more ideas, be sure to check out QuicKutz.  There are tons of ideas on their website and blog. (We really like their gallery - they have great artists.)  QuicKutz also makes a great digital die cutting tool called the Silhouette - a favorite product of Jennifer, Lisa and Shari!  You can find information about it on the Silhouette website and the talented Kerri Bradford’s blog.  Lots of great stuff going on!

On to the challenge… and then the BIG giveaway!

This week’s challenge is to create a new project with stamps and die cuts. Please use at least one Hero Arts stamp and die cut on your project and tag with the code word “diecuts” when uploading to the Hero Arts Flickr Group. And if you use a QuicKutz product, you are eligible for an extra prize!  The deadline for submitting is Sunday, June 14th at 11:59 PM PST. Here are the great prizes you have a chance to win:

• Fresh Face Winner (someone who has not yet won a contest): $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• Scrapbook Page Winner: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 1st Place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 2nd Place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 3rd Place: $15 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• QUICKUTZ PRIZE: This bonus prize will go to someone who uses a QuicKutz die on their project.  Please be sure to note in the project if you did!  This winner will get: a QuicKutz Flourish Border Die, QuicKutz Thank You Embossing Folders and a Quickutz Nesting Labels Die set… a $65 value!
  

Don’t have a die cutting machine?  No worries!  You can print out these templates and cut them to make your own die cut shapes. The largest shape in each set is the perfect size to make a shaped notecard!  (Just click on the image and it will open a 8.5 x 11 PDF that you can print.)

Of course, there isn’t a better way to start the week than with a giveaway! And, it is our BIGGEST PRIZE EVER! We are going to do this a bit different than normal.  You will have 5 chances to win this big prize.  Just leave a comment on each post this week - Monday through Friday - and we will pick one random winner from a random day.  Just get those comments up (only one per person on each post, please) by 11:59pm PST on Friday. We will pick a lucky winner of all of these QuicKutz and Hero Arts goodies…

The prize, worth over $400, includes:

• A Silhouette SD Digital Die Cutting Machine ($299.99 SRP)
  
• A roll of Black Vinyl (for the Silhouette) ($7.99 SRP)
• A roll of White Vinyl (for the Silhouette) ($7.99 SRP)
• A roll of Transfer Paper (for the Silhouette) ($7.99 SRP)
• TWO $25 Digital Download Cards (for the Silhouette)
• Hero Arts Wallpaper Flowers Stamp ($10 SRP)
  
• Hero Arts Scroll Frame and Messages Stamp Set ($15 SRP)
• Hero Arts Large Artsy Circles Stamp ($10 SRP)

I told you the QuicKutz folks were great. Thank you, QK! And, of course, be sure to visit the QuicKutz blog today, too - lots of giveaways all week!!

Happy stamping and die cutting.  See you tomorrow…