Hero Arts 45th Anniversary Blog Hop - Day 2

Hello and welcome to Day 2 of our 3-day anniversary event! We hope you enjoyed Day 1! We are celebrating 45 years in this amazing, creative industry with the release of our 2019 Summer Catalog. This release is extra special to us, as we've brought back some of our very favorite, and best selling, stamps from across the decades for a special "From the Vault" release. Not only that, we've introduced a fabulous new line of Reactive Inks! Here's a fun side note - did you know during the first decade of our existence, ink was limited to only a handful of colors - black, brown, red, blue, green. In the 1980s, "exciting and new" colors like hot pink and purple hit the industry by storm! Look at us now - the ink possibilities are truly endless!

Keep reading this post for information about Day 2 of our blog hop, and the incredible, generous friends who have sponsored our celebration with prizes for you! But before we get to that, our longtime friend and artist Sally Traidman is here with a card idea. Sally is a cornerstone of this company, she has shared so many fun, simple, inspiring ideas over the years! We are so happy to have her sharing with you today. Take it away, Sally!

How time flies… It seems only a few years ago that I used the original woodblock versions of the stamps I'm using today to make catalog cards. But it was actually 1994!! So I decided to recreate the tulip card for those of you that have never seen it. Pop-up cards were big then (and coming back again now!), so I made this smaller version. We never had die cuts then, so everything was hand cut.

I used From the Vault Flowers and the matching dies to create the card. Oh! And OF COURSE, a shadow stamp (From the Vault Aged Shadow Stamp) for the background. Do you know that I was the Queen of Shadow Stamps at Hero Arts? I inked the shadow with Soft Vanilla on a white card for the top and bottom. Next, I made slits for the tulips that will be in the foreground. The tulips were stamped five times, colored (I used markers here, but you could also paint) and then die cut. To finish: Pull tabs forward and mount with foam tape. Mount tulips in background. Add message in black. Adhere to yellow card. Voila!

Here's a photo of my original project from long ago! The original card was embossed in gold, but the tiny lines in today's version of the tulip look better stamped.

Another stamp in the From the Vault Flowers set is familiar! Check out my business card from long ago! I just had to mimic it in a card, using the stamp in this new set! I also love this 45th Anniversary Seal Enamel Pin - what a great memento!

So many stamps, so little time...! Thanks for being a leader in this industry for all of these years. Happy Anniversary, Hero Arts!

Thanks so much Sally! You are the Queen of Hearts, Queen of Flowers, and now a reminder that you were the Queen of Shadow Stamps! 

Now let's get to the hopping! First, another look at the amazing sponsors we've pulled together for this event! So many great prizes are up for grabs. Make sure and comment at every stop along the hop for a chance to win!

• Hero Arts: 3 $145 Gift Certificates, 3 $45 Gift Certificates
• Altenew: $50 Gift Certificate
• Art Impressions: $25 Gift Certificate
• Ellen Hutson LLC: $50 Gift Certificate
• Gina K: $100 Gift Certificate
• Jennifer McGuire Ink: $100 Hero Arts Gift Certificate, 5 Share Handmade Kindness goodie bags
• Laurie Willison: 2 Card Hanger Dies
• Lawn Fawn: $50 Gift Certificate
• My Sweet Petunia: 1 Prize Bundle (Original MISTI, a set of Creative Corners, a Cut-Align, and a bar magnet)
• Online Card Classes: 5 spots in the Stamp Happy In Good Company: Hero Arts class
• Pink Fresh Studio: $45 Gift Certificate
• Scrapbook & Cards Today: 3 copies of Scrapbook & Cards Today Summer 2019 Issue
• Scrapbook.com: $50 Gift Certificate
• Simon Says Stamp: $50 Gift Certificate

And now today's artists, sharing their inspiration and stories with us! We are so thankful that these incredible designers love and use Hero Arts products - we are honored when anyone purchases our products and creates art from the heart!

Commenting on all of the blogs within the hop will give you more chances to win! Comment by Sunday, June 2 at 11:59pm Pacific, and we will announce the winners on the Hero Arts blog the following week.

One more day left in the celebration - we'll see you tomorrow for Day 3!