Hero Arts Blog

Hi! Do you like to personalize your card designs for special occasions? Today I'm sharing a card that I made with the new [hero_product_link sku="DI301" text="Classic Numbers Fancy Dies"] set. This set of number dies, zero through nine, is perfect for creating custom cards to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and graduations. These dies will also be perfect for decorating scrapbooks and journals. To create a personalized...

Have you seen the new set, [hero_product_link sku="CM106" text="Shakespearean Poetry"], which is an Add-On to the (sold out) August My Monthly Hero kit? Don't you love that quote: "We know what we are, but not what we may be." I watercolored my paper panels with Ken Oliver Color Bursts. The blue panel was die cut with the [hero_product_link sku="DC178" text="Thank You Tag Stamp & Cut...

Today I am so excited to introduce one of my favorite new products from the 2016 Winter Catalog -- Infinity Dies! These are a line of nesting dies currently available in three shapes -- circles, rectangles and tags. Today I'm going to feature the [hero_product_link sku="DI197" text="Tag Dies"]. The Tag Dies feature five sizes of of shaped tags along with three hole reinforcers. I used...

Hello and Happy Thursday! Today we're sharing another Crafty Chat interview with our CEO, Aaron Leventhal, that he did with the wonderful team over at Online Card Classes. We think you'll enjoy hearing more about the "craftquakes" that have shaped the stamp industry. It's fascinating to learn more about the history of our favorite craft! Big thanks to Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner and Lydia Fiedler...

I’m usually not a fan of critters but I immediately fell in love these adorable images when I saw Winter Bunny, Winter Bear and Winter Fox. I created a circle window panel using the new Circle Infinity Dies to show them off. We'll be featuring Infinity Dies the rest of the week on the blog so stay tuned for more! I just love the critters...

Hello and welcome! The day we've been anxiously awaiting is finally here! You may have already found them at your favorite retailers. Today we are thrilled to be launching our new 2016 Winter Catalog products right here in the Hero Arts store! (Update: Check out our post highlighting the new additions to our Clearly Kelly line HERE, too!) We have projects to share today from...

We hope you enjoyed our look back at the history of Hero Arts yesterday! Today we thought we'd share a few memories from our team - some of their first stamps, and how they "discovered" stamping and Hero Arts. We'll start with one of our longtime friends, Sally Traidman! About 30 years ago (really???) I started working for HERO ARTS. I befriended some of the...

This summer marks 42 years since Hero Arts began in the bathroom of a Berkeley apartment. We thought you might enjoy learning a little Hero Arts history. It's the story of a truly inspiring woman - Jacqueline Leventhal - a single mom and determined entrepreneur. Read about it below, or even better, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the interview with our CEO Aaron...

Hello stampers! Today we're mixing it up with a mixed media art journal page created by a very talented guest artist. Please join us in welcoming Isha Gupta to the blog! Hello everyone! Isha here today. I'm so excited to share my project here on the Hero Arts blog as a guest designer. Thank you Hero Arts for this awesome opportunity. As soon as I...

When I was a kid, the summertime meant my family would go on "Sunday drives". After a while, my mom learned to pack an overnight bag when my dad gathered us in the car for one of his drives. We never knew where we'd end up! The [hero_product_link sku="CL973" text="Road Trip"] stamps from the Summer release brought back many happy memories of these family adventures!...

Heat embossing is a fun basic technique that can make your projects literally shine. The [hero_product_link sku="PW118" text="White Satin Pearl Embossing Powder"] is quite unique, and it makes the stamped images look professional and outstanding. So today I am sharing how this product can be used easily to create beautiful backgrounds and to enhance die cut shapes to achieve fabulous results. Like any other embossing...

Today I'm featuring the [hero_product_link sku="LP403" text="Nature Mini Tub by Lia"] stamps. I picked out a couple different designs and had fun creating a background using [hero_product_link sku="AF236" text="Hero Arts Shadow Ink - Charcoal"]. TIP: I get the best results when I hold the stamps in one hand, rubber side up. I hold the ink pad in my other hand and pat the ink onto...

I think we can all agree - creating cards for guys is no easy task! However using the right colors and going with a simple flower-free design can make it much easier. Today I have a masculine Happy Birthday card to share featuring a bold stamped background and a fun watercolor cake. Do you remember [hero_product_link sku="CL982" text="Luggage Tag Alphabet"] add-on stamp set from Hero's...

Hi! Where do you find inspiration for your card designs? Sometimes when I make cards, I simply start with two things - a color palette that I love and a handful of my favorite stamps and stencils. So, today I'm sharing a pair of "hello" cards that I made with a few summery inks and some of my most loved stamps. I started by selecting...

Hello! It's time to announce the winner from our August My Monthly Hero Release Day Blog Hop. Thanks so much to everyone who participated, checked out the cards on the designers’ blogs, left lovely comments, and made this month’s kit a smashing success! Even though the kit is sold out, some of the add-on products remain available. Our randomly selected winner will receive a free...

I'm getting more comfortable using watercolors on my projects. I just love watercolors because it is unpredictable - a very friendly medium for any beginner that doesn’t require much fuss. Paper Layering Lotus Card | Fairyland Themed Card As part of my learning process, I shared a video tutorial on how to create a simple watercolor wash background last month (left). Then I created a...

Today marks the start of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games! Sparked by this event, I thought it would be fun to include gold, silver and bronze all on one card, and also represent the symbolism of the Olympic rings with the Circle Graphic Background. This stamp has three circular sections that are perfect for highlighting each of the Olympic medal colors. I started by stamping...

Today's card is a simple one, but involves something a little unique - water! Not just for the watercoloring, but as part of the card's design! Here's how I did it. I started off by taking the jar from the [hero_product_link sku="CL960" text="Let's Get Fresh"] set and stamping it onto my watercolor cardstock panel. Instead of inking the entire image and stamping on the cardstock,...

I'm a big fan of using sets in full as a background. Today's card uses the [hero_product_link sku="CL982" text="Luggage Tag Alphabet"]. I used an A2 panel that I cut from the [hero_product_link sku="PS621" text="Sunshine Mix Layering Paper"] pack. I inked up the alphabet with [hero_product_link sku="AF207" text="Butter Bar Shadow Ink"] and pressed the [hero_product_link sku="PS621" text="Sunshine Mix Layering Paper"] panel on top. I stamped the...

Release day is here! We hope you’ve enjoyed all of the peeks leading up to today’s launch of our [hero_product_link sku="MH0816" text="August 2016 My Monthly Hero"] kit! Be sure to scroll down to the end of this post – we have an amazing list of bloggers joining us today as we introduce this month’s kit. And we’re giving another kit away, too! The August kit...

The launch of My Monthly Hero is only a few short hours away! As promised, we have one kit to giveaway to a lucky blog reader, selected from comments left on our Countdown to Creativity posts. We sure have enjoyed reading your wonderful comments, and we're excited that you're loving what you've seen of the kit! We’ve randomly selected a comment from our Idea #1...

Release is almost here! We're on our final countdown post, and it's a fun and happy card from May! Be sure to come tomorrow, August 1st at 1pm eastern/10am pacific when we launch the August My Monthly Hero kit. Now let's join May... One of my favorite cardmaking techniques is stamped background. When I saw the whimsical images in the August My Monthly Hero kit...

Welcome back for our final day of sneak peeks, leading up to the release of the August My Monthly Hero kit tomorrow, Monday August 1st, at 1pm eastern/10am pacific! Yana is starting us off today with another gorgeous card. Hero Arts August My Monthly Hero kit will have you daydreaming in no time! Delicately beautiful fairies, stars and star dust, whimsical clouds, timeless quotes -...

We are back with another look at the August My Monthly Hero release! The kit will be available on Monday, August 1st at 1pm eastern/10am pacific. We’ll be sharing ideas for using the main kit and the optional add-on products all weekend long, so stay tuned for more inspiration! Now let’s join Mariana, who is sharing another look at the beautiful optional add-on border die,...

Welcome to Day 2 of our countdown, leading up to the release of the August My Monthly Hero kit on Monday, August 1st at 1pm eastern/10am pacific! If you love Shakespeare quotes as much as we do, the optional add-on stamp set that Yana is featuring this morning is going to be a must-have addition to your stamp collection! Hero Arts August 2016 My Monthly...

Hello and welcome! Today begins the countdown to the release of our August My Monthly Hero kit. We were inspired by "A Midsummer Night's Dream" when creating this kit, and we think you'll enjoy this adventure into fairyland. Stay with us throughout the weekend as our artists show off projects made with this month’s kit. And remember to comment on each and every post –...

It's been six months since I actually started enjoying watercoloring. I used to feel intimated by using watercolors on my projects for the last few years. So today I decided to share some quick and easy techniques for some of you who want to try watercoloring but don't know where to start. I used the watercolor wash technique to highlight the "clean and simple" lotus...

The Bold Prints cling stamps are such a huge help to create backgrounds for your cards and other projects. The designs are fun and their size is very convenient. Today I am sharing a fun stamped card that I made using the [hero_product_link sku="CG688" text="Pearl String Bold Prints"] stamp. For my project, I wanted to show how pretty this background is, and how fun it...

We are back with another look at the August My Monthly Hero release! The kit will be available on Monday, August 1st at 1pm eastern/10am pacific. We'll be sharing ideas for using the main kit and the optional add-on products all weekend long, so stay tuned for more inspiration! Now let's join Clare and see what she made with this beautiful kit! I've always loved...

Hello! Today I'm back to give you a look at another project using the [hero_product_link sku="AF356" text="Kelly's Flowers"] set of Color Layering Ink Cubes. With the addition of [hero_product_link sku="AF249" text="white pigment ink"] the two pink inks in this pack work great for our popular [hero_product_link sku="CL962" text="Color Layering Flamingo"] set. The bottom layer is stamped with Ultra Pink ink, the second layer with Unicorn...

I am a big fan of Hero Arts dye ombré ink pads so when I spotted two new pigment metallic pads from Hero a bunch of stamping ideas rushed through my mind and I was lucky to jot down a few. I love both dye and pigment inks; dye - for how fast they dry and how they overlap and pigment, as silly as it...

It's been a while since we devoted a post to all of the wonderful work our team is sharing on their personal blogs - welcome to our Creative Team Rewind! We'll start with this happy card from Jayne! Jayne shares on Flickr, and her work is always impeccable. Her pink camper from the [hero_product_link sku="CL973" text="Road Trip"] set certainly makes *us* happy campers! She spelled...

Hello! Today I'm sharing a card using one of my new favorite crafting color combos - orange, pink, and tan! Of course, this combo may not appeal to everyone, but I think it looks downright tasty when used with the [hero_product_link sku="CL950" text="Birthday Cake Layering stamp set."] For today's card, I started out by embossing the cake, candles and platter images in [hero_product_link sku="PW100" text="gold"]...

I'm a huge fan of the Hero Arts Bold Prints, how about you? You don't have to use them in their entirety, you can easily use just a portion of the image: Today's cards uses the [hero_product_link sku="CG691" text="Garden Bold Prints"] stamp. I stamped them out on different layering paper A2 card panels. My first trio have been teamed up with the [hero_product_link sku="CL954" text="Many...

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month, recognizing ice cream as a fun and nutritious food enjoyed by much of the nation's population. He suggested that the people of the United States observe the month with "appropriate ceremonies and activities". The best way that I can think of to observe this occasion is to send unexpected cards, perhaps with ice...