The Summer 2016 Products are HERE! + Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Hello and welcome! For the past several weeks we've been sharing projects made with our new Summer 2016 products, and you may have already found them at your favorite retailers. Today we are thrilled to be launching our new products right here in the Hero Arts store!

We have a trio of fabulous cards from our creative team member Jayne Nelson to share with you. And at the end of the post, we've coordinated an amazing blog hop to inspire you, featuring some of our favorite artists! And of course, a chance to enter our giveaway!

First up is Jayne...

I'm excited to be sharing a trio of cards that I made using two of my favorite new stamps from the summer catalog. The sentiments on the [hero_product_link sku="H6165" text="Adventure Banner"], Every Year is a New Adventure, and the [hero_product_link sku="H6166" text="Explore Banner"], Create Dream Explore, are so versatile, I'll be using them to create birthday, anniversary, graduation and encouragement cards, just to name a few. I also love that both banners work beautifully for feminine and masculine designs.

For my first card, I randomly stamped both the [hero_product_link sku="H6165" text="Adventure Banner"] and the [hero_product_link sku="H6166" text="Explore Banner"] across a panel of [hero_product_link sku="PS610" text="white layering paper"] with [hero_product_link sku="AF345" text="Intense Black ink"]. I also stamped a few small stars from the [hero_product_link sku="CL959" text="Park Essentials"] set in the spaces between the banners. I simply colored each banner with some inexpensive colored pencils and then added a [hero_product_link sku="PW110" text="white"] embossed birthday sentiment from the new [hero_product_link sku="CL975" text="Party Themes"] set. As is, this card could be given to anyone, but I decided to add some feminine details, finishing the card with a few pearls and a seam binding bow.

I was having so much fun with these banner stamps that I decided to create another simple design, that could be easily replicated, using a hint of watercolor. I started by cutting a panel of [hero_product_link sku="PW110" text="white"] layering paper and then I painted a small section along each of the left and right sides with a bit of green and blue watercolors. When the paint dried, I stamped the [hero_product_link sku="H6166" text="Explore Banner"] in the white space that I left between the two watercolored areas. Once again, I shaded the banner with colored pencils, added an embossed [hero_product_link sku="CL975" text="graduation"] sentiment on a strip of black cardstock, and then finished the card with a few black pearls and a bow.

I created a similar card with shades of red and pink watercolors, but this time I used the [hero_product_link sku="H6165" text="Adventure Banner"] stamp and an [hero_product_link sku="CL975" text="anniversary"] sentiment. If you look closely, you'll notice that when I wrapped the ribbon around the card, the ribbon is behind the banner pole ... I used a craft knife to cut slits along each edge of the image, and then threaded the ribbon through the slits. It was so easy! I also extended the length of the poles on these two cards by stamping the original image one time, and then, after covering the image with masking paper, inking and stamping the bottom of the pole a second time.

I hope that you love these two, wooden banner stamps as much as I do! Not only are they wonderful for cards, but I think that they would be equally awesome images for scrapbooks, journals and travel notebooks!

And now it's time to hop!! Be sure to visit each blog on the list and leave a little love - we will be giving away three $25 shopping sprees to the Hero Arts Online Store, drawn from comments left across all blogs in the hop. Please comment by Sunday, May 15 at 11:59pm PT and we'll announce the winner the following week.

The Hero Arts Blog
Amy Tsuruta
Clare Prezzia
Debby Hughes
Jennifer McGuire
Jenn Shurkus
Joan Bardee
Julie Ebersole
Kathleen Graumuller
Kathy Racoosin
Kelly Rasmussen
Kimberly Crawford
Laura Bassen
Libby Hickson
Lori Craig
Lucy Abrams
Lydia Fiedler
Mariana Grigsby
May Sukyong Park
Nichol Magouirk
Sandy Allnock
Teri Anderson
Wanda Guess
Yana Smakula

Visit the Hero Arts store to find all of the products featured in today's hop. Happy hopping and happy shopping!!