This just gets harder and harder to pick the challenge winners as each week passes.  You all ROCKED the Sketches!!!

Here we go…

Our Fresh Face winner is…Laurelseabrook with her adorable Apple card. I like how she stepped out of the “Shape” box but you can still see the sketch in her creation.

Next up in the Digital Catagory, the winning entry goes to…Ettevyke with her Friendly Flower card. I like the spot lighting effect she created with the scallop circle. She really showed how to do a hybrid card with layers.

Next up is the Scrapbook category with Agata dag and her cuter than cute layout. Everything works on this page, the heart flourish details bring out the pattern in the baby’s scarf. Love it!

This next card by Shemainesmith is winning FIRST Place! I love the texture, the layers, the balance and how easy the Sketch works with the stamps she chose.

Second Place goes to SarahLP1 with her elegant anniversary card.  Her use of colors, contrast and texture makes this card so pleasing to the eye!

Coming in with Third place is Happy Scrapper 1 with her delightful children of the world. I love the concept of using the dolls to encompass the earth. Wonderful!

Now for the Honorable Mentions….

WendyP81 made this exquisite hybrid card using some great shading and color choices.

The next Honorable Mention goes to churchlady32003 with her ornate designed circle card.

And finally last but not least is Linda aka OZ with her beautifully detailed card and metal embellishments!

Congratulations!!! Please email us so we can get your prizes out to you right away.  Thanks everyone for entering the Sketches2 challenge.  I truly had such a hard time picking winners as there were so many fantastic creations!

I couldn’t leave you with out showing off some of our wonderful Hostess cards from the challenge this week.  Just click on the circle to see their photostream.

Thanks Everyone!

This is it, the finale to our sneaks….and it’s an awesome Winter message set Holiday Cheer CL359.  Just look at that cute Colin Face!

Here’s a look at the entire set. We just love the frames around the messages!

Remember you can start your pre-orders in our online store starting Monday!

Welcome back!  I hope you enjoyed the week of Sneaks and Sketches!  I’ve had a blast introducing these fabulous stamps from our New Releases.  Remember, you can start pre-ordering them in our online store on Monday!  Here’s a re-cap of how the week played out.

• Monday:We started the week off with more Sneak Peeks and introduced the “Sketches2″ challenge. I made a stamped card using the Sneak peek stamps plus a hybrid digital card both by using the sketch for the day. See below to download all the sketches for the week.
• Tuesday: Another Sneak Peek and Sketch where I made two cards, one stamped and one digital.
• Wednesday: Using another sketch and stamps from a new Sneak Peek, I made a stamped card, a digital card and showed a video of how to use markers and inks as watercolors.
• Friday: Our final Sneak Peek and one last sketch. I made a stamped card, a digital card, plus created a digital video on Colorizing Accessories.

You still have time to enter the “Sketches2″ challenge. Just use one of the sketches with at least one Hero Arts stamp or Hero Arts digital kit, upload it to the Hero Flickr Pool by 11:59PST on Sunday, August 16th. To see all four sketches for the week, just click HERE to download the PDF.

Thanks Everyone, I’ll see you soon!

Welcome back to FUN Friday!  Today I’m showing you the last Sneak Peek from our new releases. It’s sad to see the sneaks come to a close, but the good news is…This coming Monday you can start your pre-orders! Whoo Hoo!

Also I have my final sketch for the week.  This is a really versatile one, which I’ve had fun playing with.

In the spirit of the Winter holidays by using the Sneak Peek messages and my sketch, I’ve come up with this card.  I picked up some new Basic Grey Paper at CHA and just had to give it a spin.

Here’s a close up of the greeting, I’ve stamped it twice and stack the pieces using foam tape.

Supplies

• Sneak Peek Clear Design CL359 Holiday Cheer
• Sneaky Peek Poinsettia Flowers
  
• Walnut Stain Distress Ink
• Accent Pearls Small and Medium
• Pumpkin Patch Chalk Queue
• Other: Basic Grey Paper Eskimo Kisses, Pink notecard, Foam Squares Thermo-Web, ribbon

I also played with some Vintage digi images to come up with another sample for you. These papers and images allow you to just plunk them down on your background and away you go!

Supplies

• Trio Of Ladies FREE Digital Kit
• Floral Papers Digital Kit
• Floral Borders
• Digital Pearls from Real Flowers Digital Kit
• Photoshop CS3

And finally, I’ve put together a quick video showing how to colorize our Digital accessories like pearls and flowers. It’s a basic tool to know when working with digital images.

Thanks for joining me this week, I’ve had a blast as always!

…….jen harrison said: August 12th, 2009 at 9:30 am

loving all the sneak peaks. the cling stamps look cool. Love the sketch and they projects.

Congratulations Jen!  Just pop us an email and we’ll get you hooked up with your new goodies!!

It’s here…Sneak #9…..isn’t it just the CUTEST?

Here’s the full set.  There’s something for everyone!

Remember, you can start your pre-orders online starting next Monday!!!

Here’s our 9th Sneak…I bet you can see where this one is headed. It’s just too cute! Mark your list with Holiday Dolls (CL357)

That’s it for me today, I’ll be back tomorrow to reveal this sneak peek, plus entice you with the final sneak and the last sketch inspiration for the week.

Enjoy!

Hi everyone, Shari here…I’ve got more sneaks to share with you plus some fun sketches to play with.  This week I’ll be working with one sketch per day, using NEW stamps from our daily sneak previews plus introduce some digital ideas for your cardmaking.

Let’s take a quick peek at Sneak #6…yummy!

Today’s sketch is a square card with rounded corners.  The star represents a shape (any shape) and a strip for a message, ribbon or lace.  You can interpret the sketches loosely, add to them as you desire.

To see all four sketches for the week, just click HERE to download the PDF.

Here’s a couple cards I made using today’s Sketch and the sneak stamps. If you notice, I played with the sketch a bit so my cocoa mug is on the right because it just looked better to me. Use the sketches as a base for your cards and pages, refit the elements as you need to suit your stamps and accessories.

And a close-up of the window detail…

Supplies

• Sneak Peek Clear Design Cozy Moments (CL358)
• Mocha Notecards
• Acrylic Cards
• Clear Gemstones
• Cotton White StazOn ink
• Walnut Stain Distress Ink
• Stickles Frosted Lace
• Buttons Red, Brown
• Other: Basic Grey paper, Large Circle punch EK, hemp string

Next is a card I made using digital images and stamping.  I created the center piece on the computer, printed it out and used it with stamps on my card.

Here’s how the digital piece looks before it goes to the printer.

Supplies

• Sneak Peek Cling Antique Brocade (CG102)
• Clear Design Friends
• Kraft Notecards
• VersaMark Ink
• Walnut Stain Distress Ink
• Accent Pearls
• Buttons Neutral
• Four Posies Digital Kit
• Other: Circle, Scallop and Butterfly punches, ribbon, lace, Photoshop CS3, printer

Starting August 17, we are showing off all the Hero Arts new releases here on heroarts.com! You will be able to PRE-ORDER all of our new Holiday designs plus our newest release, Clings, starting on August 17. Our stylish digital catalogs will show off all 110 new designs, in addition to being available to pre-order in the online store. I can’t wait till you can see it all together!

Now for the Weekly Challenge! This week’s challenge will be to stamp something by using one of my Sketches Please include at least one Hero Arts stamp on your project and then upload it to our Flickr Group by 11:59 pm PST on Sunday, August 16. Tag each challenge submission with the word “sketches2”. Be sure to add the “2″ in your tag, as this is the second Sketches challenge week, and note that there is no space between the word “sketches” and the number “2″.  By entering you could win a shopping spree of your choice of Hero Arts products from the NEW Hero Arts Online Store! (Shipping charges apply.) Winners will also receive a 2009 Hero Arts catalog, sent separately. The prize amounts are as follows:

• NEW! Digital Winner! (create something using a Hero Arts Digital Kit): $50
• Fresh Face Winner (someone who has not yet won a contest): $50
• Scrapbook Page Winner: $50
• 1st Place: $50
• 2nd Place: $25
• 3rd Place: $15

I’ll be back tomorrow with another sketch, I’ll reveal the 6th sneak peek and entice you with the 7th.

Enjoy the day!