Hero Arts Blog

Hero Arts is celebrating 45 years in business this year! What an incredible journey it has been. YOU are a wonderful part of our history, and now that our anniversary is here, we'd like to invite you to celebrate this milestone alongside us! In the next several weeks, join us for fun, contests, behind-the-scenes content, lots of giveaways, new products, and more. Let's get this...

Hi, Friends! I've got a quick and easy card for you today and sharing how some ink-blending on colored cardstock can add a lot of deep color and interest to your card. Hero Arts has amazing scenery dies - and this Garden Fancy Die is no exception. The scene that is created from the die speaks for itself - so it's all about filling in...

Hi there! Emily Midgett here with you today to share some punny critter inspiration. I love pulling out some of the older sets... with such a, ahem, full craft room, it's sometimes overwhelming to remember what products I have in my arsenal! I have a fun birthday project today using the Cinco de Meow stamp set that was released last year. Let's get started with...

The challenge was on… to do something for Easter using non-traditional Easter products. Challenge accepted! I reached for the Nesting Oval Infinity Dies to use for eggs, and several other dies for decorating the eggs. First I wanted to do one simple large egg and tie a bow with the word tag, but it got addicting. Just like making REAL Easter eggs, they were so...

We can't keep this quiet any longer...it's time to share the news! This year Hero Arts is celebrating 45 years of creativity, community, and crafting. We are so excited to celebrate this milestone with all of you!! Stay tuned...

Hello there, Michelle here, and today I have a card to share with you using the Color Layering Dragonfly stamp set along with creating a subtle background for it with dry embossing. I created a video on how I made the card which you can see here: If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can watch it here on YouTube. I started off...

Hello friends, You may have heard that Ellison, the parent company of Sizzix, has made claims of patent infringement against a number of companies in our industry, including Hero Arts. Just so you know, there is absolutely no reason to change any purchasing patterns with Hero Arts, as Hero Arts does not infringe, believes the lawsuit is without merit, and intends to fight this lawsuit...

Good morning! Jess here with a greenery-filled card featuring the fun Hang in There Potted Plants and liquid watercolors! Okay, confession time...mixing watercolors scares the living daylights out of me! When I do use watercolors I tend to stick to single colors and play around with the amount of water I'm adding to get different variations on that single shade. But I almost never try...

Hi everyone! Ilina here! Today I am sharing a card using the Lily Pond Fancy Dies and showing you how to bring stand alone dies to life with watercoloring. To make the card start with piece of watercolor paper measuring 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" (card front size) and die cut the frame along with the lily and koi fish. Next, use watercolors to free...

Hi there crafty friends and welcome to the Hero Arts blog! Raise your hand if you are stuck in a black stamping rut. *Insert raised hand* Hi, my name is Janette and I am too. Today, I ventured out of that comfort zone and stamped in color! To create this project stamp several Teacup Flowers in Fresh Peach, Soft Pink, Cotton Candy, and Soft Yellow...

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing an interactive Venetian Neighborhood Peek-A-Boo Doors scene card with you. The Venetian Neighborhood is the latest cling background that works with the Peek-A-Boo Doors Fancy Die. The other two stamps are the Mail Jumble Background and Presents Background. If you are having a problem viewing this video, please try watching it HERE on YouTube. I started my card by stamping...

Hello stampers! It's time to announce the winner from our April My Monthly Hero Release Day Blog Hop. Big thanks to everyone who participated, checked out the cards on the designers’ blogs, left lovely comments, and made this month's kit a success! If you haven't had a chance to grab your kit yet, we do still have a limited quantity available here. Our randomly selected...

Hey everyone! Today I'm using the Coloring Layering Birthday Cake clear stamp set to create a yummy birthday card. I started out by stamping the different layers of cake. I used Cup O' Joe ink for the chocolate cake and Cotton Candy ink for the pink frosting. Then I used Mint Julep and Tide Pool for the candle base and Tangerine and Dandelion inks for...

Hi everyone, Ilina here. Today I am sharing a card using a couple of the new add-on from the April My Monthly Hero release: Carnevale and the coordinating Carnevale Frame Cuts, along with the Venetian Fleur-de-lis Bold Prints. To make the card I started with a piece of Pitch Black cardstock measuring 3 3/4" x 5" and stamped the Venetian Fleur-de-lis Bold Prints using Versamark...

Our National Craft Month challenge has come to a close and we want to thank all who jumped in and played along! It was a wonderful celebration of creativity! Today it's time to announce our randomly selected winner from the entries that were submitted on the Link Party. Congratulations to Cat Craig (catluvspaper)!! Cat, please email info@heroarts.com to claim your prize package filled with Hero...

Hi, Friends! It's Caly and I'm here to share a quick and easy card using a background stamp with a few images from the new Italian Table set. I started by stamping and coloring my images using a variety of Copic markers. The gingham napkin is stamped using Strawberry hybrid ink. After coloring, I die-cut the images using the coordinating Italian Table Frame Cuts. To...

Hello stampers! It’s time for this month’s Awesome Add-ons feature. Before we dive into the project inspiration, here’s a look at all 12 of the add-on products that were introduced along with the April My Monthly Hero kit. So many fun options! Shop for the April MMH add-ons here Today we're delighted to have Debi Adams here to share some fabulous “beyond the kit” ideas...

Good morning! Emily Midgett here with you today to share some inspiration using one of the new, beautifully intricate dies that was released yesterday as an add-on to the April My Monthly Hero kit. I love these intricate dies, especially, because they can easily stand on their own without much extra done to them, or you can kick it up a notch by adding color...

It's time for another fabulous My Monthly Hero Release! Who's ready to go on a European adventure?Let's travel to sunny Italy, enjoy handmade pasta, drink Chianti and soak up the wonderful culture. We can do it all from the comfort of our craft desks, while stamping with our April Monthly Release! This month's kit contains a set of beautiful dies for building a scene straight...

It's almost time to launch the April My Monthly Hero kit – release is coming up today at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific! We hope you’ve enjoyed all of the ideas our team has shared for using this kit. As promised, we have one kit to give away to a lucky blog reader, selected from comments left on the Countdown to Creativity posts. We’ve randomly selected a...

We are one sleep away from the release of the April My Monthly Hero Kit! The kit will be available Monday, April 1 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Now let’s join Ilina, who is sharing the final look at this fabulous kit! Hi everyone! Ilina here with another peek at the amazing Mediterranean-inspired April My Monthly Hero kit. I started by die cutting the elements from...

Hello and welcome back to the countdown to the release of the April My Monthly Hero Kit! Release day is Monday, April 1 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Good morning! Jess here with a watercolor card using the gorgeous dies from this month's kit! It seems like forever ago now but in 2012 I went on a Mediterranean cruise that ended in Venice and we had...

Hello and welcome as we continue the countdown to the release of the April My Monthly Hero Kit! Release day is Monday, April 1st at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. We will be here for the rest of the weekend, sharing inspiration before the launch. Now let's join Michelle for another look at this fabulous kit. Hello there, Michelle here. Another wonderful kit this month! There are...

Hello and welcome as we continue the countdown to the release of the April My Monthly Hero Kit! Release day is Monday, April 1 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. We will be here throughout the weekend, sharing plenty of inspiration before the launch. Now let's join Nichol for another look at this fabulous kit. Hello friends! Today I'm sharing a die cut scene card created with...

It's time for our second countdown peek! The April My Monthly Hero kit will be available on Monday, April 1 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Now let’s join Emily, who is sharing another look at this wonderful kit! Hi there! Emily Midgett here with you today to share some more inspiration using this absolutely stunning Mediterranean-inspired kit! The beautifully intricate dies are the stars of this...

Hello and welcome as we begin the countdown to the release of the April My Monthly Hero Kit! Release day is Monday, April 1 at 1pm Eastern/10 am Pacific. Our Creative Team will be here for the next three days sharing ideas for using the kit. Stay tuned for more inspiration all weekend long! Now let's join Caly for a first look at the kit......

Good morning, Jess here! Have you ever taken a ride in a hot air balloon? I've always wanted to and thought it would be so magical to take a ride at twilight and see the stars come out as you drift along. So, I decided to recreate that feeling in today's card...with a little extra sparkle, of course! ;) To start I stamped the balloon...

We are thrilled to be teaming up with Online Card Classes for their newest class, Stamp Happy! This mini class is the first in a new "In Good Company" series featuring industry favorites, and is jam-packed with techniques and tips for using wood, cling, and clear stamps. Ready to stamp happy with Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner, and special guests? Registration is now open! ***EARLY BIRD...

Hello there, Michelle here and today I am sharing a card using the Birthday Cake Stamp & Cut set. This is a wonderful set that can be used in lots of different ways and today, I thought that I would emboss the image on to vellum and pair it with a bright background. I started off by creating the background piece. I took a sheet...

Hello there, Creatives! It's Janette here today to share a little about stretching your dies by creating stencils. Dies can be pricey, so making the most of the investment makes my crafty heart smile! To begin cut the Flower Garden Fancy Die from a masking paper or large full stick postie notes. Place mask onto A2 sized (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") panel of Hero...

Hi everyone! Ilina here. Today I am sharing how to make butterfly shaped cards using the new Nesting Butterflies Infinity Dies. (If you’re having a problem viewing this embedded video, please try watching it HERE on YouTube.) To make the card start with a piece of Nautical cardstock measuring 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", score and fold in half (to create a side folding card)....

Hello crafty friends! It’s Linda from A Blog Named Hero, and I’m ridiculously excited to be here today, to introduce the new challenge on A Blog Named Hero. It’s seriously made an impression on me…*snort*This can be dry embossing or heat embossing, we don’t mind, we just want to see your creative flag fly.I wanted to get a bit crafty (crafty like a fox I...

Happy Friday! As our National Craft Month challenge continues, this week we have a new creative prompt for you: any craft goes! Truly. If you can make it, it counts. While stamping and papercrafting are always near and dear to our hearts, we also love the wide world of crafting and would love to see what you make! Share your projects HERE and you'll be...

Oh happy day! The Bicycle with Basket Fancy Die is back in stock and I couldn’t wait to use it! I gathered some of Hero's fabulous new cardstock in Peony, Azalea and Papaya as well as Pitch Black and Dove White, and a new message set - Sending Smiles - and went to town... in this case the town was Austin! I die cut the...

Hi, Friends! It's Caly and I'm here to share a simple watercolor card with you using the Flower Garden Bold Prints stamp and the Thanks Message Fancy Die. To create my card, I stamped the Flower Garden Bold Prints stamp on some Bristol Smooth cardstock using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. I simply watercolored the images using Arteza Watercolor Brush Pens (very similar to Zig Clean...

Hello friends! When I was a little girl my brother and I would stay at our grandparents house one week each summer and I was always amazed at my grandpa's beautiful flower garden. My grandpa has an incredible green thumb and one of my favorites was always his irises. My grandma would put the cut irises in a vase in the kitchen and I always...