Hi everyone! It’s Thursday, and you know what that means, right? Time to announce the winners of last week’s Go Green Challenge, where we asked you to work your stamping magic on some recycled/repurposed materials.  There were so many amazing trash-to-treasure entries that we asked the Web Artists to help choose this week’s winners. They selected some of their favorite projects and we drew the winners from that pool of favorites.  Now, here we go!

The envelope please…

This week’s Fresh Face winner is mommatwitch, who created two projects that our judges just loved! First, these adorable and clever little notebooks made from paint samples…

…and also this creative cookie package. YUM! (For a closer look at how she stamped on the apples, look here.)

The Scrapbooking prize goes to TRace44 for her oh so pretty in pink (and green!) page. She used lots of recycled goodies on this — a gum wrapper and perfume packaging, to name a couple!

Now for First Place…congratulations to Alice W! Alice designed a sweet home for two lovebirds with a variety of repurposed materials, including a box from a Hero Arts order! We love all of the wonderful little details she included. The back wall is even stamped with clouds!

Coming in Second Place is wteresa15 for this beautiful mini envelope gift bag that she embellished with a stamped tissue paper flower. What a great color combo…I can’t wait to try that one!

And in Third Place we have a fabulous card from Pocketful of Paper! She used the clear packaging from a stamp set to create the base of her card. Check out the way she cleverly curved the scalloped border stamp to go around the circle — great idea!

It would be impossible to stop there, so here are some Honorable Mentions!

First, ishouldbesleepingbut repurposed some packaging and a bit of green tulle to create a tutu for the Big Owl. Charming and just “tutu” cute!!

Next, Olivia Martin came up with another great use for cardboard. She made a fantastic mini album to document her family’s summer explorations and finds. Great idea, Olivia!

And finally, we have a wonderful anniversary card by nancyljk showing a creative use for postage stamp labels. And check out the beautiful stamping she did on the repurposed wood veneer! Her husband is a cabinet maker so it has extra special meaning.  Love that!

Winners and honorable mentions, please email us your addresses and we’ll send your prizes out soon. Thanks and enjoy!

Ready for even more inspiration? The Hero Hostesses have been posting some glorious green creations of their own over in the Flickr group — have a look!  (Click on each circle for a larger view.)

Projects by Donna Mikasa, Karen Piskor, Kelly Booth, Lisa Carroll, Jenn Biederman & Judy Jung.  Thank you!

We invite you to check out ALL of the Go Green Challenge entries by clicking HERE.  Thanks so much to everyone who played along last week. Here’s to being green!

Thanks for stamping green with us these past few days! Here’s a look back at the wonderful recycled projects from our team of Web Artists…

• Monday - Sheri’s tissue box card & Barbara’s dryer sheet card
  
• Tuesday - Tami’s tissue paper flower package topper & Jacki’s security envelope cards
  
• Wednesday - Laura’s polymer clay altered tin (plus video!)
• Friday - Kandis’s treat package, Kelly’s catalog/cardboard card & Robyn’s stamped tissue layout

Special thanks to Sheri, Barbara, Jacki, Laura, Kandis, Kelly & Robyn for the inspiration, and to CEO Aaron Leventhal for stopping by to share information on Hero Arts’ environmentally friendly business practices and philosophy.

Don’t forget…the green challenge will be open until tomorrow (Sunday, May 24) at 11:59pm PST, so take a look around and see what items you can repurpose! All of the challenge details are HERE on Monday’s post. Can’t wait to see all of your creative recycled works of art!

Make every day a green day!

It’s Fun Friday and we have three creative projects for you today — a stamp craft, a card, AND a layout!  First, we’d like to share an email we received last month.  Hero Arts customer Anita Recksiedler wrote in with a fantastic eco-friendly idea…

Dear Hero Arts Blog,

I am really excited to share something with you! At the end of March, you had lots of ideas for making window cards and shaker cards. Yesterday I finally sat down and made my first shaker card. It was so much fun. I thought of all the shaker cards I wanted to make and how I only bought one piece of acetate at the craft store, and how it was $2! Then later as I was snacking on my daughter’s Easter bunny I noticed that the window to the box was made of acetate! All her bunnies boxes was made of acetate! I thought of course of you guys (and how you love to recycle!) and all the other Hero Arts followers of the blog who would benefit from this! A lot of people will have leftover boxes from the bunnies from the weekend and we can ‘harvest’ acetate from them! Recycle and save money! And make a lot more shaker and window cards! Well I better go and make more cards using my recycled acetate!

Anita Recksiedler

Such a great idea — thanks to Anita for sharing it with us!

Speaking of packaging, Kandis Smith has a super cute and clever way to reuse an empty plastic package from some scrapbook embellishments. Kandis says, “I’m constantly trying to find cute ways to say ‘thanks’ to my friends. And who doesn’t love a little treat?? Using old embellishment packaging is a fun way to make your gift. It was super easy to trace the paper lining and then stamp, decorate, and fill! Once I found one I started digging through my baskets to find more!”

Here’s the (would-be) trash…

And here’s the finished product — so sweet!

Supplies:

• Young Deer
• Clear Design: Friends
• Dots and Flowers
• Memories Artprint Brown Ink
• Pumpkin Patch Chalk Ink Queue
• Orange Gemstones
• Versamark
• White Embossing Powder
• Ranger Diamond Stickles
• Other: cardstock (Bazzill), patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket), ribbon (Micheal’s), button (Basic Grey), jute (Darice), packaging (Heidi Swapp)

So far this week the Web Artists have discovered some great recycled patterned paper alternatives like tissue boxes and security envelopes.  Kelly Rasmussen came up with yet another creative paper source — old catalogs!

Kelly shares, “I get a lot of inspiration from home decorating catalogs, so as I was flipping through the pages of an old Pottery Barn catalog, I came across this awesome page of  fabric swatches that I just had to use. I punched 1/2″ circles from several different patterns to create the flower on my card. I also used part of a cardboard box to create the brown frame. I cut out the circle using my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities and then embossed the woodgrain pattern with clear embossing powder…I just love how this almost looks like real wood! It felt so good to create a card using items that I would have otherwise just thrown away.”

Trash…

…transformed! Love that cute little flower Kelly created!

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Everyday Sayings
• Designer Woodgrain
• Baby Blue & Green Apple Notecards
• Light Blue Gemstones
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Versamark
• Chocolates & Blueberries Chalk Ink Queue
• Other: scallop square and circle dies (Nestabilities), ½” circle punch, ribbon (Michael’s), white cardstock, pop dots, cardboard box, Pottery Barn Kids catalog

Kelly’s Tips:

• Using cardboard gives your cards dimension without even using pop dots. And you can easily change the color, just by sponging on your favorite ink color.
• Before throwing away old catalogs or magazines, flip through the pages and punch out shapes (such as circles and butterflies) of different patterns to use on future projects.

And finally, today we leave you with an absolutely beautiful layout from Robyn Werlich featuring reused tissue paper. Here’s Robyn with more: “I received a package of some things that I bought on ETSY and they were wrapped in this kraft colored tissue paper. It was all folded up and as I went to throw it in the garbage, I realized that it would be so cute to stamp on. It is a bit transparent, so I cut two pieces and layered them on top of each other.”

“I stamped the background stamps with brown ink on the tissue paper and sewed the sheets onto the page. I also tore a small circle and layered it on top of the flower (which was stamped with the Raindrop Background stamp and embossed with green embossing powder).”

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Captions Messages
• Dots and Flowers
• Old Letter Writing
• Raindrop Background
• White Embossing Powder
• Versamark
  
• Card Buttons Neutral
• Smooth Clear Gemstones
• Other: cardstock, sewing machine, pink flower, green embossing powder, kraft tissue paper

Thanks so much for the great green ideas Robyn, Kelly and Kandis!

That wraps up our Fun Friday, but be sure to stop by the blog tomorrow! In addition to our regular weekly wrap-up, we’ll have an extra special post devoted to a wonderful cause — the Cards for Heroes Blog Hop.  (I hear there will be a giveaway, too, so hop on by!)

See you tomorrow!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to our green week!

Today Aaron is here to share some more information on Hero Arts’ green business practices, including the company’s commitment to solar energy and recycling.  Take it away, Aaron!

“In 2004, Hero Arts installed a solar panel array on its woodblock cutting facility to generate clean power for its operations. The 68 kW array, large enough to power 70 homes, was at the time the largest privately-owned array in the western United States.

If you walk through the Hero Arts plant, you will notice lights turning off behind you, if they are on at all. There are recycling bins for bottles, cans and paper, as well as for rubber, matting and packaging materials. Plus, most of the packaging materials used are already made of recycled material.

Hero Arts also asks its suppliers to sign a “Green Pledge,” encouraging them to run their own businesses as green as possible.

In some cases it just costs less and makes a better product. In that case, why not use recycled materials and materials with fewer chemicals? It makes good sense for the customer, for the environment, and for business.”

Now onto today’s green project (plus video!), brought to you courtesy of Web Artist Laura Griffin. Just wait until you see the magic she works with polymer clay, stamps, and a candy tin — it’s incredible!

Laura says, “During green week, I was thinking of some of the ways we can turn our trash into treasure. How about an old Altoid tin getting a new life as an embellishment holder? This tin was altered using two of my favorite things: Hero Arts rubber stamps and polymer clay. They work great together! Check out today’s video for some tips and techniques on working with both mediums. And don’t stop with just circle Altoid tins…what about the heart and rectangle shaped ones? They could see new lives as gift card holders, Valentine’s Day boxes, and the list goes on…”

Supplies:

• Young Deer
• Clouds
• Anytime Messages
• Other: pasta machine, clay blade, acrylic roller, Premo! polymer clay in white, gold, pearl blue, & pearl green, brown acrylic paint, damp paper towel, empty Altoid tin

Laura’s Tips:

• Mist your stamps with water before pressing them into clay to act as a release agent.
• Add acrylic paint to your baked clay to make the images pop.
• If you have trouble getting clay into all the crevices, try using a thin permanent marker instead.

Thank you Laura! Your tin is amazing and it’s so neat to see stamps and polymer clay used together!

Enabling Alert: All of the stamps Laura used on her project today are available HERE in the Hero Arts Online Store.

I hope you are having fun coming up with some green projects of your own for the challenge!  I’ve seen some awesome submissions over at Flickr so far! Remember, you have until this Sunday, May 24 to submit your entries.  (Check Monday’s post HERE for complete challenge details.)

Thanks for chiming in on Monday’s post with so many great green lifestyle ideas! Small changes will have a lasting impact on the environment — it all adds up!

I used random.org to pick a winner for the green giveaway and the lucky stamper is…

#399 - Christine (May 18th, 2009 at 6:05 pm):

“We are using cloth napkins over paper napkins. Less in the landfill.”

Woohoo! Christine, please email the blog with your mailing address and we’ll send your green goodies on their way to you!

The greening of the company and its products has been CEO Aaron Leventhal’s goal since he came on board in 1999. Here’s Aaron with some information on Hero Arts wood and clear stamps:

“Hero Arts woodblock stamps use wood from sustainably-farmed forest supplied by FSC-Certified wood suppliers. This means more trees are planted every year than are cut down, and the ones that are cut are done in order to make the whole forest more health. Plus, all saw dust generated is collected and provided to local dumps to help rejuvenate the soil.

Hero Arts also uses the highest quality material for its clear stamps, which are made in the USA. The photopolymer used is non-toxic, biodegradable, and classified as an organic, unlike some of the clear stamps that are made in China or Taiwan, which are composed of silicon, stamp poorly, and must carry a carcinogenic label if sold in California

It can cost more to manufacture responsibly, but we feel it is important, and it is the type of product we want for ourselves, so why not do it right.

We believe that quality can be both a competitive advantage and eco-friendly. For that reason, we manufacture in our own Northern California facility, where admittedly the cost structure is higher than if we produced in facilities overseas. But local production allows us to do two important things: control quality and practice a just-in-time inventory system, making our products always available. We believe these things bring us closer to our customers. Plus, there are less shipping costs, less packaging materials, and less waste compared to products made abroad.

The logo above, which you will find on all of our stamps, reflects our vision: Green Business, US Made, and Original Designs, the later reflecting our commitment to design, elegance and quality.”

Thanks Aaron!  Now it’s time for some more recycled creations from the Web Artists!

I enjoy wrapping gifts, but it can be so wasteful. So I set out to wrap a package using repurposed materials.  I started out with a piece of bright pink tissue paper saved from a Mother’s Day gift and transformed it into a tissue paper flower that serves as a package topper. It’s a fun alternative to a bow, and earth friendly too!

I cut the tissue into several 6-inch squares and stamped each square repeatedly with the Dots stamp using Soft Blossom Shadow Ink.

Then I stacked up all of the squares, folded them accordion style, and twisted a length of thin gauge wire around the middle.  I rounded the ends with scissors, then spread out the petals and “poofed” them up. Voila!

A reused brown paper sack stamped with the new Large Artsy Circles stamp serves as wrapping paper.

Supplies:

• Large Artsy Circles
• Dots
• Clear Design: Birthday Sayings
• Soft Blossom Shadow Ink
• Summer Card Buttons
• Other: reused pink tissue paper, reused paper bag, green cardstock, Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, thin gauge wire, string

Tami’s Tips:

• Since the flower is on a wire, it can be removed from the package and used again and again.  A little crumpling just adds to the charm!
• Ink the edges of the tissue paper after folding and cutting, prior to poofing.
• Create smaller tissue paper flowers and use them to adorn cards. Or create a faux corsage or everlasting bouquet!

[Edited to add: I added detailed instructions for the tissue paper flower in comment #39 below this post.]

Next, Jacki Jones has given some everyday business envelopes a fabulous makeover! Here’s Jacki with more on her creative idea:  “I’ve seen many cards done with envelope linings and frankly I wasn’t inspired to try using ‘trash’ when I had a whole room full of brand new paper. All that changed one day last month. As I was opening the bills and statements and tossing the envelopes, several different patterns caught my attention.”

“One in particular spoke to me and told me that I needed to do something with them.”

Take a look at the two cards Jacki created from the envelope linings — so clever!

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Birds and Branches
• Clear Design: All Occasion Messages
• Sparkle Clear: Full of Sunshine
• Sparkle Clear: Cute Letters
• Memories Ruby Ink
• Pale Pink Gemstones
• Crystal Gemstones
• Fine Ball Point Glue Stick
• Prisma Glitter
• Other: recycled envelopes, white cardstock, Xyron adhesive, 1″ square punch (EK Success)

Jacki’s Tips:

• For best results, use the Xyron to apply adhesive to the entire front of the card.
• Because I used a 1″ punch, I trimmed the cards to even measurements. The smaller card is 4″ x 5″ and the larger card is 5″ x 6″.
• Use the “x” in a plain alphabet to replicate stitching.
• Whenever possible leave the gemstones together on the adhesive strip because it makes them easier to place. It is still possible manipulate them. Use tweezers when handling them.

Jacki, thanks for sharing! Bills and statements have never looked more appealing.

Thanks for stopping by today! We’ll be back tomorrow with a must-see video for Watch It Wednesday. Happy green stamping everyone!

Hello and welcome to a brand new week here on the Hero Club blog! This week is devoted to a topic near and dear to our Hero Arts hearts — it’s all about stamping green!

We turned to our talented team of Web Artists to create some stamped projects using recycled or repurposed materials and we’ll be sharing their work over the next several days. Hero Arts CEO Aaron Leventhal will also be joining us throughout the week, providing insight into Hero Arts’ commitment to green business practices. Here’s Aaron now to share the company’s Green Vision:

“When you stamp with a Hero Arts stamp, you are stamping green. Hero Arts is working to lead the craft industry into a more successful, sustainable, and eco-friendly future.

Making stamps and stamping products that are inspiring, creative and eco-friendly is integral to the company’s core beliefs. For that reason, Hero Arts not only has a business vision for running the company, but also a Green Directive, making clear that in everything we do, from energy use, to wood block stamps and clear stamps, to shipping, we use the best materials and processes possible. Why? Because we believe it is the right thing for the customer, for the business, and for the environment.

Hero Arts is a certified green business. What does that mean? There is a California State and local program that looks at four aspects of a business: waste stream, energy use, water management, and product inputs. On all four aspects we passed the stringent California standards and Hero Arts was awarded a Contra Costa Country (where we are located) and California Green Business award.”

Thanks Aaron!  Tomorrow Aaron will be back to share some interesting facts about the nature of Hero Arts wood and clear stamps.

Now, let’s dive right into some recycled creations from our Web Artists!

First, Sheri Reguly created a card any father would love — and it all started with a tissue box!  Here’s Sheri with more:  “Substitutions for patterned papers can be found all around you, especially in small quantities that are perfect for your next card project. Before tossing that next magazine, tissue box, greeting card or torn up piece of gift wrap, ask yourself if there’s a way to put it to better use. To add a touch of color and pattern to my card, I recycled an empty tissue box that was in my son’s room. Although it was pretty beaten up, I managed to salvage just enough to add a unique touch to my design.”

Before…

…and after!

Supplies:

• Dots and Flowers
• I Heart My Dad
• Lime Notecards
• VersaMark
• White Embossing Powder
• Pumpkin Patch Chalk Ink Queue
• Assorted Clear Circles
• Art Flowers Neutral
• Card Buttons Summer
• Light Blue Gemstones
• Other: cardstock (Bazzill Basics), circle punch (EK Success), border punch (Martha Stewart), scalloped rectangle die cut (Spellbinders Nestabilities)

Next, Barbara Hache took a common “laundry leftover” and turned it into the focal piece for a fabulous thank you greeting. Barbara shares:  “I have always thought that used dryer sheets look very much like mulberry paper. When we were asked to make cards using green materials, this was my first choice. I found that they were easy to cut and took chalk ink very well. I will be saving these to use from now on!”

From trash…

…to treasure!

Check out the great texture on that flower!

Supplies:

• Dots and Flowers
• Designer Woodgrain
• Clouds
• Clear Design: Dolls (for “thank you”)
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Memories ArtPrint Brown Ink
• Chocolate Notecards
• Summer Notecards (Lagoon)
• Pink Notecards
• Lemon Notecards
• Other: used dryer sheet, circle die cuts (Spellbinders Nestabilities), needle and thread

Barbara’s Tips:

• To make the flower, cut four different sized circles out of dryer sheets with Nestabilities and then ink them with red ink. When dry, stitch together using a single stitch down the middle. Cut the leaves freehand.
• Oftentimes the dryer sheet will be quite wrinkled so you may need to iron it on a fairly low temperature before using.

If you haven’t already guessed, the challenge this week is to create a stamped project that features at least one repurposed/recycled material! So take a look around and see what items you can reuse on your cards and scrapbook layouts — you will be looking at trash in a whole new way!  Please include at least one Hero Arts stamp on your projects and submit them to the Flickr group with the tag “gogreen”.  The deadline for the challenge is Sunday, May 24 at 11:59 pm PST.  A panel of judges will select winners for the following prizes:

• 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

Now, we thought a green giveaway was in order today…check out this assortment of goodies!

(Garden Notecards, Soft Green Shadow Ink, Light Green Pearls, Citron Gemstones, Sparkle Clear: Hello Tree)

To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post by 11:59pm PST on Tuesday, May 19 and tell us one change you can make today to live a greener, more environmentally friendly lifestyle. We’ll announce one random winner on Wednesday morning.

See you tomorrow, when the Web Artists will share more green stamping ideas!