I hope everyone had a great first week of Spring! If you were a giveaway winner, please watch for your prizes, as all have been mailed out.

Oh my goodness! Each blog week is getting harder and harder for us to judge.  There are so many great entries. This is becoming a “challenge” for me!!!

Our Fresh Face winner this week is llaurenb. Her delightfully cheery card just said “SPRING” to me! I loved the color combo and the cut out window showing the greetings from the All Occasion Messages set. Great job!

Paper Girl wins the Scrapbooking category with her beautiful Springtime layout.  Just look at all of those delicate handcut butterflies fluttering about… gorgeous!

The first place winner this week is LysaQ. I LOVED the blossoming tree with lanterns and the little Asian doll. So cute!

Coming in second place is tomoh08. I loved how she made the chick coming out of the patterned egg.

And “card”rageous is our third place winner, making a cheery, pastel Easter card with some of our past Easter stamps. Lots of great details on this one!

We’ve also picked a few honorable mentions since there were so many great cards.

Here’s a pretty card from becs attwood featuring a realistic looking monarch butterfly.  Would you believe those flower centers are snowflake gems?  She colored them yellow with a permanent marker, turning them into embellishments fit for Spring!

Next is an adorable card by judkajudi.  Such a cute scene she created with the white picket fence and bunny friends!

And I couldn’t decide between these two wonderful cards by krolski so I’m showing them BOTH.  Great Springtime cards!  Click here for the flower card and here for the bunny card.

Winners and honorable mentions, please email the blog with your addresses and we will get your prizes out to you.  Thanks to everyone who played along last week.  And until next time, keep on stamping!

This first week of Spring really went fast! I hope you enjoyed all the cards and ideas, as I certainly had fun making them. Stamping makes all your cares go away!!! All the Spring colors are very uplifting.

The week in review:

• Monday: Four spring card designs including some handcut tulips.
• Tuesday: A heart shamrock for luck plus four Easter card ideas.
• Wednesday: More bunnies and eggs, and a video all the way from Paris!
• Friday: Creative ways with spring stamps as well as a peek at a cute chick (lower left corner of the grid above!)

The weekly challenge closes Sunday night, so get bunny hopping to it!!

Happy weekend,

It’s official!!! At least the calendar says it is. HAPPY SPRING!!

Fun Friday is here and it will be FUN indeed when you get to see that sneak peek of something from one of our new clear stamps sets!

First I want to show you another way to use the Pattern Bunny. You KNOW I love simple cards (and my scissors), so look how these little bunnies are jumping out to say Happy Easter!

Supplies:

• Pattern Bunny
• Clear Design: Happy Day Animals
• Sparkle Clear: Happy Greetings
• Memories Black Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• White Notecards

Next, let’s bring back that egg one more time. Make a cute little corrugated basket and fill it with colorful eggs.

Supplies:

• Pattern Egg
• Sparkle Clear: Happy Greetings
• Memories Black Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Memories Mango Ink
• Soft Pool Shadow Ink
• White Notecards
• Other: pastel cardstock scraps, ribbon

These little scraps were talking to me, so I turned them into a funny bunny. A funky heart punch out and a few ears make a mighty cute Easter greeting. Make a checkered background with 1 inch ink cubes.

Supplies:

• Dots
• Sparkle Clear: Happy Greetings
• Memories Black Ink
• White Notecards
• Heart Gem
• Other: ink cubes, black pen, Fiskars heart punch

I almost forgot about our new little whimsical Spring woodblock set, so here is a card using those four stamps!  I used  a large sheet of white cardstock and made a “vertical” opening card, rather than side opening.

Supplies:

• Design Accents: Silly Spring
• Clear Design: Happy Day Animals
• Memories Black Ink
• Spring Mix Notecards
• Yellow Gemstones
• Sparkle Gem Blossoms 
• Other: safety pin, ribbon, Paper Source scallop punch, colored pencils

Are you ready? Here’s a sneak peek of our cute little chick which will be released in a few weeks.

Supplies:

• Sparkle Clear: Cute Letters
• Memories Black Ink
• Yellow Gemstones
• Sparkle Gem Blossoms
• Sunshine, Pink, White Notecards
• Other: pink and yellow dotted paper, embroidery floss, ribbons, hole punch

Thanks for participating in Wednesday’s giveaway. The two randomly selected butterfly winners are:

• #98 - elaine (March 18th, 2009 at 11:28 am) - “I think Friday will be a sneak peek of a new line of patterned papers….can’t wait to see!”
• #126 - lynda p (March 18th, 2009 at 12:20 pm): “hmmm sneak peak….. i think some new fun stamps for summer…. summer holidays… i hope 4th of july stuff”

I hope we have inspired you this week with some new ideas.  Don’t forget to enter the challenge — you have until Sunday, March 22 at 11:59pm PST to upload your Spring and Easter cards to the Flickr group.  Have fun!

Welcome to Wednesday’s Easter cards. I keep getting ideas for that Pattern Egg, so I thought I would show you a few more! Look how fast you can make this simple hanging egg card on our long notecards.

Supplies:

• Pattern Egg
• Sparkle Clear: Happy Greetings
• Long White Notecards
• Soft Pool Shadow Ink
• Memories Black Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Sparkle Gems Blossoms
• Other: ribbons, black marker

And why not make that egg into some little bunnies?

Supplies:

• Pattern Egg
• White, Lime Notecards
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Soft Pool Shadow Ink
• Gems
• Other: pastel cardstock scraps, black marker, border punch (Fiskars), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

The Pattern Bunny makes a cute spring or Easter card too! Emboss him in white on pink for a soft spring look.

Supplies:

• Pattern Bunny
• Dots
• Sparkle Clear: Happy Greetings (squiggle)
• Screen Shadow
• Soft Pool Shadow Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Pool, White, Yellow, Pink Notecards
• White Embossing Powder
• Other: scallop punches, tiny hole punch, ribbon

This parade of bunnies can be made in a few shakes of their little cottontails. Simply stamp bunnies and eggs in black between the lilac scallop borders. Cut around scallops and mount onto pink dotted paper. The light wash of blue behind the bunnies makes them stand out.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Scallop Borders
• Clear Design: Happy Day Animals
• Clear Design: Sending Happy Thoughts
• Memories Black Ink
• Memories Dahlia Ink
• Sparkle Gems Blossoms
• White Notecards
• Other: watercolor pencils

For Watch It Wednesday, we have a very special video for you straight from the SMAC show in Paris!  Steff Vin, demo artist from France, shows you how to make a darling butterfly (papillion) card using acetate.

Thanks Steff!

Today I’d like to do another spring cleaning giveaway — this time butterfly stamps! Two people will randomly be picked when you leave a comment about what you think Friday’s sneak peek will be!!  Just leave your comment on this post by 11:59pm PST on Thursday, March 19.

I’ll be back Friday with even MORE Easter ideas AND the sneak peek.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! I am showing you a little card I made for my “card” friends last week. A real quickie made of some Hero hearts. (Hearts just work for everything!)

Supplies:

• Sparkle Clear: Happy Greetings
• Screen Shadow
• Basic Heart
• Three Stitched Hearts
• Lime, White Notecards
• Memories Black Ink
• Green Inks

And then my dear friend Molly one-upped me…check out this adorable interactive postcard she sent me…bent in half it makes a tiny card! Sounds like a future blog idea!!!

Card by Molly Jennings

It looks like tulips were the clear winner in yesterday’s comments, so I had to go out to TJ’s today and get some!

And speaking of winners, here are the 3 random winners that will be receiving flower stamps from my “Spring Cleaning” Giveaway! Please email us at the address in the blog sidebar with your mailing addresses.

• #37 -Rebecca: “Such fun cards! I love the smell of the hyacinths and the pinks and purples of phlox in the spring! I can’t wait!”
• #101 - Ingrid: “Tulips are my favorite spring flower, so I LOVE today’s card examples and can’t wait to try them myself.”
• #229 - Amy: “My favorite spring flower is the Iris. I love the purples & yellows in them.”

How about a technique this Tuesday?  I thought I would show you how to make any stamp larger.  I LOVED this bunny, but he was too small for my needs. So, I stamped him in black on white, enlarged him on a photocopier (on card stock) and cut him out! Voila!

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Happy Day Animals
• Sparkle Clear: Happy Greetings
• Dots
• Memories Black Ink
• Memories Green Ink
• Spring Mix, White Notecards
• Pink Accent Pearls
• Other: ribbon, border punch (Fiskars)

Here is that same bunny in his normal size…

Supplies:

• Happy Easter Flowers
• Clear Design: Happy Day Animals
• Clear Design: Sending Happy Thoughts
• Memories Black Ink
• Lime, White Notecards
• Spring Card Buttons
• Other: colored pencils or watercolors, ribbon, rickrack, sewing machine

AND, I was inspired by Shari last week to make an egg shaped card.

Supplies:

• Wallpaper Flowers
• Memories Lavender Ink
• Spring Mix Notecards
• Sparkle Gems Blossoms
• Sparkle Gems Small Blossoms
• Spring Art Flowers
• Other: ribbon, border punch (Fiskars)

Here’s one more egg card using our clear scallop borders facing each other for a different edge! So easy to line up! Plus my favorite alphabet stamps out a giant “Happy Easter”!

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Curly Alphabet
• Screen Shadow
• Clear Design: Scallop Borders
• Special Edition: Artistic Windows
• Memories Black Ink
• Rose Petals Chalk Ink Queue
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Wisteria, Pink, White Notecards
• Sparkle Gems Blossoms
• Gemstones
• Other: border punch (Fiskars), gingham ribbon, Marvy oval punch

Wishing you much luck and many blessings on this St. Patrick’s Day!! Don’t forget to start on your Spring or Easter contest cards! The challenge details are on yesterday’s post HERE.

Welcome to a week filled with Spring and Easter cards! Out where I am, everything is in full bloom. In fact, you can see the giant bougainvillea bushes in my yard on maps.live.com.

So let’s get started! Since Spring arrives later this week, I decided to show you Spring cards first! I have used a few different clear sets here and combined them to make these cards.  I have always loved alphabets and this one looks very whimsical and “springlike”. The scallop punch makes the shapes look like flowers. A hint of watercoloring adds the pastel color.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Curly Alphabet
• Clear Design: Happy Day Animals
• Clear Design: Whimsical Frames
• Memories Black Ink
• Sparkle Gems Blossoms
• White Notecards
• Other: watercolors or pencils, pastel cardstock scraps, EK Success scallop punch, circle punch

I LOVE tulips! And since our 2009 catalog doesn’t have any, I decided to make my own! Notice the stamens? They are the “V” from the Curly Alphabet!

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Curly Alphabet
• Clear Design: Sending Happy Thoughts
• Pattern Egg
• Screen Shadow
• Scallop Background
• Memories Black Ink
• Memories Dahlia Ink
• Scattered Straw Distress Ink
• Peeled Paint Distress Ink
• White, Lime & Spring Mixed Notecards
• Gemstones
• Other: ribbon

And then I got the brainstorm to use the calico Pattern Egg for my next tulip card!

Supplies:

• Pattern Egg
• Clear Design: Sending Happy Thoughts
• Screen Shadow
• Sparkle Gems Small Blossoms
• White, Summer Mix & Pink Notecards
• Shabby Shutters Distress Ink
• Memories Dahlia Ink
• Memories Mango Ink
• Hot Pink Ink
• Other: sewing machine

The last card is from our new ink and stamp “Spring Messages” set. You can tell I love that dotted circle too.

Supplies:

• Ink ‘n’ Stamp: Spring Messages
• Clear Design: Whimsical Frames
• Memories Black Ink
• White Notecards
• Spring Felt Flowers
• Sparkle Gems Blossoms
• Other: pastel cardstock scraps, EK Success scallop punch, circle punch, yellow brad, sewing machine

So, for this week’s challenge, I would like you to make a Spring or Easter project. Get as creative as you can!  Please include at least one Hero Arts stamp on each of your projects.  Then, upload your creations to the Hero Arts flickr group by 11:59pm PST on Sunday, March 22 and include the tag “spring”.  Here are the 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

AND, how about a spring cleaning giveaway? I found several unused spring flower stamps while cleaning my stamp area and if you leave a comment about what your favorite spring flower is, you might be randomly selected to win a stamp or two!  Just leave your comment by 11:59pm PST tonight (Monday, March 16).

Come back tomorrow for some fun Easter ideas! But before you go, we have a very special video taken by Todd Mullins, VP of Sales and resident comedian, of the Hero Arts booth from the first day of the SMAC trade show in Paris, France!  See the artists who created the beautiful cards from Friday and Saturday, plus MORE fabulous creations! Enjoy!