Hi! Jennifer McGuire here. I am so very honored and excited to announce my pick for the Win-a-Day on the Blog contest - Jill Foster!

Jill has incredible talent. Not only does she create mini-masterpieces with her cards, but she is encouraging to others. Her blog shares a card that she has seen in the stamping community and a card she created inspired by it. Whenever I am stumped creatively, I just check out her blog. Within minutes, I feel inspired. She is one of the best stampers out there.

I am in love with the softness of this card. The little touches like the inked edges, machine stitching and embellished punches make it stand out. It’s elegance is amazing…

Jill can rock any style of card. Proof of that is this card… so bold and full of color. The ribbon detail is just so unique. Stunning!

The layering of stamps is so eye-catching on this card…WOW!  I love the colorful background that she created and how it coordinates with the color on the foliage.

I can’t wait to share a blog day with Jill - what an honor it will be.

Until then, happy stamping…

P.S. We wanted to remind you that workshop sign-ups for ScrapFest begin online this morning at 7 a.m. Central time! Go here to learn more about ScrapFest and to register. Read all about the fabulous classes here, including two from Hero Arts — Color Your World and Winter Wonderland. Shari and I will be teaching again this year. It’s always a great time…hope to see you there!

Welcome back to the blog!  This is the week we’re announcing our Win-a-Day on the Blog contest winners.  I have chosen the talented Pia Overgaard.  You can also check out her blog for more inspiration.

I have admired Pia’s work for a while. Her style seems to catch my eye with the somewhat simple style that is really a fantastic mix of techniques and layers but not overdone. Soothing muted and earthy tones are usually the base for her creations.

This card jumped out at me when I was looking through the Flickr gallery. The dramatic hit of color she added to this embossed resist Grape Flourish looks just amazing! Subtle stamping in the background and the simply stamped tag finish the card perfectly.

You all know that I love stamping techniques and this card is a beautiful example of the stamp kissing technique. Mixing the Designer Woodgrain background with the Floral Brocade is brilliant!

On this card Pia embossed the Starburt Lace image with white powder on patterned paper. The subtle softness of the patterned paper proves to be a perfect accent for the embossed images.

I’m looking forward to sharing a day with Pia!

Enjoy!

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world today.

Why?  Because I get to share today with Kathy Racoosin (crzy4stamps-Kathy).

Kathy’s cards always make my jaw drop.  You know - the cards you see online and can’t stop staring in disbelief at how gorgeous they are.  Kathy has such as  great eye for color and detail, making her cards always stand out.  Whenever I feel a need for a kick-start for my creativity, I just head on over to her blog and it does the trick.  And, it turns out Kathy isn’t only talented, but she has a heart of gold.  Since getting to know her, she has reached out to help me when I needed it most - what a dear she is.

And, with great honor, I introduce to you the wonderful Kathy…

Q1: What is your favorite stamping technique?
Simple stamping is my favorite technique and I enjoy finding different ways to use one stamp.

Q2: What is your “go-to” color combination?
The colors that I’m favoring right now are melon, coral, blue and green.

Q3: What are your favorite Hero Arts embellishments?
If I had to pick my favorite I guess pearls. The problem is I love gems, the new papers and the new inks too.

Q4: What inspires you?
To be honest the Hero Arts stamps really inspire me, the amazing artists at Hero Arts and lastly the cards in the HA Flickr pool.

Q5: What is your favorite dessert?
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are what I would love to eat after every meal.

Remember how I mentioned Kathy is good at color and detail?  Here is proof.  My oh my, isn’t it gorgeous?  I just love how she created small flowers by cutting them from the center of large flowers.  Kathy is great at using stamps in creative ways.

Card by Kathy Racoosin. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Kathy’s use of bold color inspired me to create some vibrant flowers of my own.  And since Mother’s Day is coming up, I decided to make a set of daisy cards for my mother-in-law.  She loves daisies and enjoys giving my cards to friends.

Cards by Jennifer McGuire. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

This next card shows how creative Kathy is - she took a little house stamp and enlarged it with a projector!  Brilliant.  (You can also scan in a stamped image and enlarge it to print.)  This card also shows how Kathy’s style can go from bright to vintage-y.  Wow.

Card by Kathy Racoosin. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Kathy really impressed me with her large project.  It inspired me to use a larger image of my own.  To save time, I actually used the digital tulip image from our Digital CD HERE.  They were so quick to do - I just opened them in word and printed!  (You can see a video on how to do this HERE.)  I glued my colored tulips to the front of a folded acetate piece - creating a bookmark that simply slides over a page to keep your spot.  This set of bookmarks will be for my mom for Mother’s Day as she always has lots of books going.

Bookmarks by Jennifer McGuire. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Wow wow WOW!  Check out this last fabulous card from Kathy.  She decorated the cups with stamped images!

Card by Kathy Racoosin. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

When Kathy sent me her cards, I immediately showed them to several of my fellow Hero Arts artists.  Tracy Kyle was especially amazed, so I thought I would let her play along today, too! Here is her card, inspired by Kathy’s colors.

Card by Tracy Kyle . Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

A note from Kathy:

I really want to thank Jennifer for choosing me to share this day with her. Since I became a part of the Hero Arts Flickr group and a regular follower of Hero Arts blog I fell in love with Jennifer’s stamping style. I like to say she has the midas touch…anything she stamps is so incredibly colorful, beautiful and creative and beyond! I think Jennifer changed how we all view color and stamping with her “Thinking Inking” classes and to put it mildly….I am so honored to be here right now! A dream come true for sure! I also have to say I love Hero Arts and all that they are made in the U.S.A and that’s it’s a family owned business that recognizes it’s fan base. Everything Hero Arts does is a class act…the blog..website and the fantastic artists that inspire us on a day to day basis. I also have to say a big thanks to the Flickr group/family for their support and inspiration since my first upload a little over a year ago. Because of Hero Arts, the Flickr group, Hero artists and MY Rock star Jennifer…my life has changed. I am finally fulfilled in a creative way everyday. So a big thanks to you all and to you Jennifer. I have to add one more thing….please don’t forget about the Cards for Kids (Jennifer’s card drives).  Happy Easter and Passover or what every your holiday may be. With hugs,Kathy

Thank you, Kathy, for sharing your gorgeous creations with us.  You never cease to amaze me.  Smooch!

And I have some more exciting news!  Today we’re kicking off another Win a Day on the Hero Arts Blog Contest, where six lucky winners will each win their very own day on the blog!

Here are the details:

- Now through June 30, post your best work to the Hero Arts Flickr Group using at least one stamp found in any 2010 Hero Arts catalog or supplement. This includes the following catalogs, as well as any supplements released between now and June 30.

• The Art of the Stamp 2010 catalog - view HERE

• Designs in Wood - view HERE
• New for Spring - view HERE
• Hero Arts Digital design elements can also be used. Those can be viewed and purchased  HERE.

- You should post the stamped project or projects you are most proud of and that show off your strengths. Post as many times as you like!

- Tag each of your entries with the code word winaday2010.

- After the deadline, the Hero Artists will pick their favorite entries based on creativity, color selection, composition, and use of stamps. The six winners, with their Hero Artist sponsors, will each get their very own day on the Hero Arts blog…plus lots of new stamps, embellishments and more!

We hope you’ll join in the fun and enter! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Hello & Happy Friday! It’s my privilege today to share the work of our next Win-A-Day winner, the incredible Alice Wertz! She’s known in the Hero Arts Flickr group as AliceW.(Aliceh83)…and she’s one amazingly talented stamper! Alice lives not all that far from Hero Arts headquarters in Northern California, and she’s been stamping for less than two years — but you won’t believe it when you see her work!

Alice has such a gift for design. I love studying her cards for composition, color combinations, techniques, and more. It’s spot on every single time, and her personal style shines through in each creation. Have you seen her Copic marker coloring? Yep, mad skills in that department too! I’ve been lucky enough to receive a card from Alice and her craftsmanship is flawless — perfection in every detail!

Now on with the show…”meet” Alice!

Q1: What is your favorite stamping technique?
My favorite stamping technique lately is emboss-resist. It’s so much fun to do and it adds so much interest and texture to the cards/projects.

Q2: What is your “go-to” color combination?
Pink + brown + cream or kraft.

Q3: What are your favorite Hero Arts embellishments?
Gems and pearls!

Q4: What inspires you?
About half of the time my inspiration comes from the stamps themselves. Sometimes ideas form when I see certain stamps. Half of the time my inspiration comes from the Hero Arts Flickr group and the numerous craft blogs out there. It’s amazing how many talented ladies I met after joining the Hero Arts Flickr group and they are the best sources of inspiration and support. Thanks to Hero Arts for hosting such a warm and supportive crafty “family!”

Q5: What is your favorite dessert?
Ice cream! Vanilla and chocolate are my favorites! =) Not very interesting, but tried and true!!!

Speaking of treats, Alice has an irresistible treat in store for you with this first project! The cute factor here is off the charts, don’t say I didn’t warn you. ;)  Are you ready? Okay…look now!

Project by Alice Wertz. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

It’s a felt cupcake key chain, and she’s used our Large Cupcake stamp as a pattern! Such fabulous details here, from the colorful and intricate stitching, to the bead “sprinkles”, to the pinked edges. I’m pretty sure keys everywhere wish they could be attached to this cutie!

Totally inspired by Alice’s project, I grabbed some pink felt and the same stamp. Because Alice loves ice cream, I decided to create a card in the shape of an ice cream cone. I used just the top portion of the cupcake and cut a cone by hand, with the card fold on the left side of the cone. The sweet ice cream topper is a hand crocheted flower from the generous and multi-talented Alice! I am hoarding cherishing the other ones she sent. Thanks Alice!

Card by Tami Hartley. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Next, Alice turned to her go-to technique — emboss resist — and created the completely fabulous little number below. She used the emboss resist technique on the ENTIRE card…how cool is that? The whole thing just pops! Her color selections here make my heart sing. Happy, happy! Love everything about it…

Card by Alice Wertz. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I was inspired not only by the colors, but also by the technique Alice used. Each heart was clear embossed and then sponged with a different color. My favorite embossing powder for this is the wonderful Hero Arts Ultra Fine Clear Embossing Powder. This stuff works really well for detailed stamps, such as the text on the green heart.

Card by Tami Hartley. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

As I mentioned earlier, Alice is a Copic marker master — and it shows on this next card! Her design has a lovely balance, perfect in it’s simplicity. I adore the ribbon treatment — it adds to the exotic flair and provides a strong horizontal element for the elephant, birds, and sentiment to rest upon. Alice has a knack for executing simple, solid designs such as these, and makes it look easy somehow!

Card by Alice Wertz. Click HERE for complete supplies, instructions, and a close-up.

Here is my take on Alice’s gorgeous card. I loved the way she stamped the background, so I started with that element and built the card up from there. My coloring doesn’t begin to compare to hers, so I simply used Distress Inks on an ink blending tool to apply color to the flowers — a quick and easy coloring method.

Card by Tami Hartley. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I wish I could show you even more of Alice’s projects. She sent me so many fantastic creations to choose from. You can see more HERE in her Flickr photostream!

A note from Alice: “I still can’t believe that I am among these talented ladies to be featured this week. Huge thank you to Tami for choosing me. She is such a doll to work with! =) I have been a fan of Tami’s ever since she joined the Hero Arts Web Team in July 2008. It is such an honor to work with her and I even got a chance to see how creative her daughters are! You made this experience so memorable, Tami and I can’t thank you enough for that! Also, my big thank you to Hero Arts for this opportunity. And I am truly grateful for all the inspirations and support coming from the Hero Arts Flickr group. You ladies ROCK!” =)

Alice, thank you so much for sharing your creativity with all of us! Your talent is out of this world, and you have a sweet personality to match your sweet style. Getting to know you and working with you on this day together has been an honor and SO much fun!

Thanks for joining us today. Tomorrow Jennifer will be here with our sixth and final Win-A-Day stamper, Kathy Racoosin, so be sure to stop back for more eye candy!

Wishing you all a lovely Easter weekend,

Happy April Fools Day! It is April 1st and that means a brand new contest theme here on the Hero Arts blog — click HERE or on the image below for all the information you’ll need to enter!

Today I’d like to welcome Jenn Biederman (scrapperjjb) to the blog.  Jenn has always been one of my favorite stampers because of her attention to detail, color choices and professional style. Jenn told me that a lot of her inspiration comes from the HA Flickr group & Hero Artists!!! So sweet!

Jenn lives in a little town in northeast Iowa and works part-time at the local college in the Student Development office.  She has been married to Jon (eight years) and has two daughters, Haley (11) & Emma (4 ½). She plans to take classes for a graphic design degree later this year.  Hopefully she’ll be able to fit in stamping time!!!

She has only been stamping for two years & scrapbooking for 11.  I about fell over when I realized Jenn had not yet been picked for this special day.  So here she is folks, Jenn Biederman!

Here’s some questions I asked Jenn to get to know her a little better.

Q1: What is your favorite stamping technique?
I love to emboss, but my go-to technique would be simple stamping. I love to color images and utilize paper piecing. I also love to alter original stamp images to create a whole new look!

Q2: What is your “go-to” color combination?
I love to use chocolate brown and brick red together. When I get tired of brown, I like to go with bright colors, such as lime green, pool blue & orange (with a touch of brown…hee).

Q3: What are your favorite Hero Arts embellishments?
Definitely gems…can’t get enough of them and the impact they have on any card.

Q4: What inspires you?
I am inspired by magazines, such as Creating Keepsakes, CARDS & Pottery Barn. Artwork also inspires me. My most recent inspiration came from a costume worn in “Bright Star,” a film about the poet, John Keats. The wedding card I made for today was inspired by the dress-coat worn by the film’s main female character, Fanny Brawne.

Q5: What is your favorite dessert?
Chocolate Cheese Cupcakes…the recipe for these yummy treats is on my blog HERE.

It was love at first site, so cute, the retro colors, layout design, everything about this card appealed to me.  One of the stamp sets that Jenn chose to work with is What’s Perking.  Check out the details Jenn added like: stitching, distressed edges and glossy accents on the toaster.  Her work is perfect!

Card by Jenn Biederman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

And she even included a message when the toast pops up!  Adorable!

I love coffee, plain and simple so it felt very natural for me to play with this set.  I  just had to have a go with making a message come out of the coffee pot.  I used “friend” from the panel in the same stamp set since it was good and small.

Card by Shari Carroll. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Jenn’s next card uses Mi Casa and Life is Not Perfect. She made this house her own by cutting out a dog house door.  If you look close you can see that she faded out the friend definition in the center, she thinks of everything!  The colors and card shape are brilliant for this cute little puppy! 

Card by Jenn Biederman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I hadn’t yet used the house stamp yet and had a blast coming up with something fun.  Okay, so I was still stuck on the hidden message thing, but it works with the roof.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the clouds, just inked them a bit with distress inks.

Card by Shari Carroll. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Jenn’s next card uses the Wonderful Birthday set.  I absolutely love how she stacked the cake, and her coloring is jaw dropping!  Notice the little bag, Jenn used the image from the Sweet Wonderful You set, just a fabulous use of stamps.  Everything goes together perfectly down to each tiny pearl!!

Card by Jenn Biederman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I combined inspiration from Jenn’s card above and the Pixar movie “UP”.  I thought it would be fun to have my balloons taking flight with my cupcake.

Card by Shari Carroll. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Jenn said:
“I feel so blessed to be a part of the Hero Arts Flickr group. No one could ask for a warmer & loving group…the stampers make it a home away from home. Thanks to Shari for picking me to share a day with her. She has been a pleasure to work with!”  J

Remember that our month long theme is Home & Mother’ Day and the first round of projects are due into the Flickr group pool Thursday evening, April 15th, by 11:59pm PST. Remember to tag your projects with April2010A. And to keep things simple, we have a handy calendar that explains all the important dates throughout the month - check it out HERE. The second round of March contest winners will be announced NEXT Thursday (April 8).

Thanks everyone for joining us today, and thanks Jenn for being such an inspiration to us all, you’re such a sweetheart! We’ll be back tomorrow with another Win A Day Blogger. Enjoy!

Hi everyone, it’s Lisa here, along with my pick to Win a Day here on the blog: the super fun, super amazing Maria “Fika” Evelina (juicyflavor)! Let’s get to know Fika a little better, shall we?

Q1: What is your favorite stamping technique?

My favorite stamping technique is layering and paper piecing, I love adding dimension on my images.

Q2: What is your “go-to” color combination?

Anything with pink such as pink-green, pink-red but now I’m trying blue-white and blue-choco color combo.

Q3: What are your favorite Hero Arts embellishments?

Gems and pearls

Q4: What inspires you?

Hero Arts stamps, i love staring at my stamps and Hero Arts catalog for hours to get an inspiration.  Seeing all the inspirational cards through Hero Arts Blog and Flickr also inspires me in many ways.

Q5: What is your favorite dessert?

Choco berry waffle served with cookies and cream ice cream, and choco mint bubbles drink.. YUM!!

Oh that dessert sounds like it would be right up my alley, Fika — I LOVE chocolate too!

Now, when I said Fika is an amazing stamper, I really meant it — she is a-MAZE-ing! See for yourself — A-MAZE-ING, I tell ya!

Project by Maria “Fika” Evelina.  Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions, plus more views.

When I saw this my jaw literally hit the floor — WOW!  Didn’t I tell you she was amazing?  I kept staring at all of the little details, from the butterflies, to the trail of hearts, to the woodgrain, to her wonderful coloring, to the message.  Be sure to click the link for more views of this awe-inspiring creation!

I was inspired by so many things in Fika’s amazing maze that I didn’t know where to start!  But then it hit me like a lightening bolt — a maze is like a PUZZLE!  So then I decided to make a puzzle card, ha ha!

Project by Lisa Spangler.  Click HERE for more views plus complete materials and instructions and more views.

To make the puzzle even trickier for the recipient, I made it double sided — and I used the same Cloud background  stamp and color scheme on BOTH sides of the puzzle. HA!  Click on the link to see both sides before it was cut.

One of the many things that I love about Fika’s stamping style is that it is so happy and fun — it always makes me smile!  Just look at this sweet “bugs & kisses” card to see what I mean:

Card by Maria “Fika” Evelina.  Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

This card also uses one of Fika’s trademarks — using nail polish to add glitter and shine!  It also showcases her meticulous attention to detail and cutting out tiny images like the bee’s antennae.

I was inspired by the bees and bright happy colors to make a little flowerpot.  But, I didn’t even want to attempt to cut out the antennae, so I used wire instead!

Flowerpot by Lisa Spangler.  Click HERE for more views, complete supplies and instructions.

Last but not least, get ready for another jaw-dropper with this super fun aquari-YUM that Fika created using recycled packaging and found items — another one of her trademarks is to incorporate recycled items in her stamping — I LOVE to do that too, woo hoo!

Project by Maria “Fika” Evelina.  Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions, including what recycled item Fika used to create the aquari-YUM!

Cards by Lisa Spangler.  Click HERE for full details.

Here’s a little video sharing how I created the waves — with recycled printer paper!

And here’s a note from Fika:

Fika, it was so super duper FUN working with you — you are so sweet, and you truly are amazing!  Big HUGE hugs!  And, I’m a big fan of YOURS!  Enjoy your day!

See you tomorrow, and hope that Fika and I have made you smile!

Let’s welcome Tracey Kuzniak (Trace44) to our win a day on the blog. She is from what she calls “cottage country” in Ontario, Canada. She is a nurse and has recently gone from working part time to full time, leaving hardly any time for card making…which she only started a year or so ago.

Here are some facts to get to know her better!

Q1: What is your favorite stamping technique?

I am addicted to embossing…I find it really helps the image to stand out…and I like that!

Q2: What is your “go-to” color combination?

I seem to “go to” pink and aqua a lot!

Q3: What are your favorite Hero Arts embellishments?

My favorite Hero Arts embellishment would have to be their pearls.

Q4: What inspires you?

I get so much amazing inspiration from the Hero Arts Blog site and the Hero Arts Flickr group!

Q5: What is your favorite dessert?

I have many, but my favorite would have to be the thickest cheesecake I can find.

Tracey picked some great stamps to work with so let’s look at her first card.

She loves flowers as much as I do, so her first one is made with one of my favorite clear sets (Big Flowers Pattern). I think she wanted to win my heart using pinks and oranges. The bright colors really pop! The swirly background with the gold embossing really stands out. She also likes using Hero Accent Pearls. Her layering effect really adds dimension.

Card by Tracey K. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Here is my card, using some of the same stamps. Knowing me as you do, mine is quite simple. And my newest love is tulle. I love making little bows with it. I felt the Cling Dots background really tied into the dots on the flower.

Card by Sally Traidman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Next up is the Heart Flourishes background. She chose to make hers with pinks and reds….perfect since it has tiny hearts throughout. As Tracey mentioned she loves embossing. It really does make coloring easier and gives the card texture. There are those dots again…I could put those on every card!

Card by Tracey K. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I just couldn’t let go of that Big Flower Pattern stamp, so I reused it again on FELT, my other current love. The Heart Flourishes stamp looks completely different when I used it in green.  Glitter is a great alternative to gemstones, so I used that on the felt which you can see in the close-up. I used a folded pale green note card, so one side is stamped on white and the other green on green.

Card by Sally Traidman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Lastly is the Exotic Decor stamp set. Tracey chose to work with all the flowers in the set and did some machine stitching to tie it all together. The vibrant colors really work together and look great with the embossing.

Card by Tracey K. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I chose to work with a cool palette and gold embossing powder. Most Indian papers have lots of metallic, so I tried to make my own patterned paper with hints of gold. I added some Metallic Decor on the flower instead of gemstones.

Card by Sally Traidman. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Tracey said

“I just want to say how my life has changed for the better since I began card-making just over a year ago. I found the Hero Arts Blog and Flickr site shortly afterwords, and it has provided me with a “family of sista’s” that I have always longed to have!! I have found and met the most wonderful bunch of ladies from all over the world, and they as well as Hero Arts have greatly enriched my life!!! THANKS ladies and THANKS Hero Arts!!! “

Trace xoxox

Tracey has been a pleasure to work with. I hope this win a day experience was as much fun for her as me. Sounds like it was!

Come back tomorrow to meet another Win-a-Day blogger!

I am honored to share my day with Vanessa Menhorn (vanessa.1978). Her cards and projects are sophisticated and beautiful. You can tell a lot of thought goes into each piece she creates. Her use of color and design brings grace and style to the world of stamping.

I know you will enjoy this day with Vanessa as much as I have. She is a warm and happy person with lots of artistic talent. Can you believe she has only been stamping a little over a year?

We have a few questions to learn a bit more about Vanessa…

Q1: What is your favorite stamping technique?
I love the emboss resist technique and I use distress inks most often.

Q2: What is your “go-to” color combination?
That changes all the time! I love to combine colors with brown and most of the time I don`t use more than about 3 different colors on one project.

Q3: What are your favorite Hero Arts embellishments?
I love pearls and gems! I almost finish every card with some of them.

Q4: What inspires you?
Almost everything. The wonderful Hero Arts Flickr group, the amazing Hero Arts artists, nature, a photo in a magazine, a shirt of my little girl…

Q5: What is your favorite dessert?
Sorry, I can`t decide! I have a sweet tooth - I love strawberries and whipped cream, ice-cream, everything with chocolate, cakes…

Vanessa’s card using the Starburst Lace is a perfect example of her sophisticated style and subtle use of color. You are a tough act to follow Vanessa.

Card by Vanessa Menhorn. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

I lifted Vanessa’s idea of placing the lace off the edge of the card, but added a bit of shading around the edges to mirror a real piece of lace glued on a card. Without the congratulations, I thought of Mother’s Day and how perfect this would be for your special mom.

Card by Nancy Taylor. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Vanessa’s felt flowers are so charming I wanted to add them to my favorite jacket. The use of varying sizes of pearl accents mixed with blue gemstones gives this card a beautiful balance of color and texture.

Card by Vanessa Menhorn. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Since I fell in love with Vanessa’s Starburst Lace creation I decided to duplicate her use of a limited palette using Hero Arts Art Flowers. After seeing her eye catching use of blue paper and gemstones I think I would change some of the accent flowers to blue.

Card by Nancy Taylor. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Combining the smooth texture of embossing and the rough texture of the natural cording make this card a real treasure. Mount this one in a frame with colors to match your decor and you have created a work of art.

Card by Vanessa Menhorn. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Since colored pencils are my first choice for adding color to a design I chose to accent the two largest flowers by adding richer colors to make some of the petals “pop”; and since I am from California, the California Poppy seemed like perfect colors to use.

Card by Nancy Taylor. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Thank you Vanessa, for allowing us to enjoy your elegant cards. You are an inspiration to everyone who wonders “what can I do with stamps”. I have had so much fun stamping with you. I look forward to seeing many more exciting and inspiring cards from you in the future. With such an adorable daughter, I bet she has some mighty fantastic scrapbook pages also.

Thanks for joining me today.  Tomorrow we have more Win-a-Day cards to share!

Hi everyone!  We’re back to announce the winners of last week’s challenge.  We asked you to submit projects inspired by Kelly, Sarah, Kryssi, Kiara and Deborah — the winners of our second ever Win a Day on the Hero Club Blog Contest — and you all did an amazing job.  What a tough decision!  We enjoyed seeing the different styles and the unique ways you were inspired by these five talented stampers.  Thanks so much for sharing!

Our Fresh Face prize this week goes to Vera Rhuhay, who found color and design inspiration in this card of Kryssi’s. Beautifully done!  We love how she made the red screen a circular element.

Next up is our Scrapbooking winner, prospurring (Anne)!  Her take on this scrapbook page by Sarah showcases her gorgeous photos to perfection.

First Place this week goes to LysaQ!  She was inspired by the design of this card by Kelly, as well as Kelly’s use of owls.  Too cute!  We all loved it, and Sally was especially fond of the pink and orange owls (of course!)

Our Second Place winner is tomoh08, who said Sarah and Kelly inspired this gorgeous card.  It has simple appeal but with some fabulous little details.  Check out the wonderful stitching…

And Third Place goes to debstamps with this super clever owl card.  It was adapted from this unforgettable card of Deborah’s.  The blue googly eyes are so much fun!

And we couldn’t stop there. With so many terrific entries, we’d like to award some Honorable Mention prizes too!

First is this beautiful acetate card created by Lucy, England, inspired by this beauty from Kiara.  The presentation and use of stamps is wonderful!

Next is this simply sweet “hello” card by 1scrappycat, inspired by Kryssi.  We love the springlike colors with the kraft!

And finally…how pretty is this card by elana k!  It was inspired by Kiara’s design here.  The Heart Winged Butterfly looks great stamped directly onto the patterned paper…

Fantastic work everyone!  Winners and honorable mentions, please email us at the address in the blog sidebar with “Win a Day” in the subject line and include your postal address.

Thanks again to everyone for playing along last week!  We hope you’re having fun with small stamps this week.  Nancy’s “Little Things” challenge runs until Sunday, March 8 at 11:59pm PST.  You can find all the details HERE.

Happy stamping,

Happy weekend everyone!  Before we wrap up the week, we have one more Hero Arts apron winner to announce.  The apron from Friday will be going to…

#216 - Lisa Borchers (February 27th, 2009 at 8:54 pm) :

“Wow, beautiful cards! I love the Japenese dolls … it is jaw-dropping!”

Congratulations Lisa!  Please email us at the address in the blog sidebar and we’ll get your apron mailed off to you. Enjoy!

Now, here’s a look back at the inspiration provided by the Win-a-Day contest winners this week…

• Monday: Kelly Booth & Sally
• Tuesday: Sarah Moerman & Shari
• Wednesday: Krysten Ng & Lisa
• Thursday: Kiara Lee & Nancy
• Friday: Deborah Nolan & Jennifer

All of the Hero Artists would like to say thanks once again to each of the fabulous Win-A-Day winners!  We truly loved getting to know you better, and had tons of fun, too!

Would you like to win a day (plus new stamps, embellishments and more!) on the Hero Club blog?  We have another Win-a-Day contest going on right now — check here for more information.  Can’t wait to see your submissions!

We’d like to encourage everyone to enter this week’s challenge, too!  Just create something inspired by one of this week’s featured stampers and submit it to the Hero Arts Flickr Group by Sunday, March 1 at 11:59pm PST.  Have fun!

And, one last update!  We added the featured stamps from each day HERE in the Hero Arts Store!  Happy Shopping!

Thanks for joining us this week,