Hi Everyone,

As I was making cards for a future class and some for my OWN needs, I decided to let you peek in on a real week of a Hero card artist.

So, first off, I made a little journal that is totally ME! If you’ve been on my blog week before, you know I have many loves…pink and orange, ribbons, hearts, flowers and BLING!

I incorporated all my loves into a mini journal. It is a white note card and several pages of lighter weight peach colored paper stapled together. I am always wishing I had a place to write things down that I want to remember, so I made this:

Supplies:

• Clear Design Favorite Journal
• Clear Design Travel Journal
• Clear Design Share Laughter
• Quotes Background
• Card Buttons
• Orange Gemstones
• Pink Gemstones

Here’s a closeup so you can see all those GEMS

So, for this week’s challenge, I would like you to make a mini journal or scrapbook page that tells us about YOU.  Use at least one Hero Arts stamp and submit it to the Hero Arts Flickr Group Photo Pool by Sunday, September 14th at 11:59 PM PST.  Tag it with the code word “about-me” — that’s “about” plus a dash “-” plus “me” — all squished together with no spaces.

Here are the prizes:

• 1st place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 2nd place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 3rd place: $10 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog

Here’s a tip: blank journals make GREAT little gifts for the holidays!

See you tomorrow,

It’s Monday — time for our Card of the Week.  This week, we have THREE fabulous cards by the super talented Tami Hartley, all featuring the Clear Design Happy Halloween set!  I love them ALL, don’t you?  To learn more about the cards, just click on over to Cardmaking.

Enabler alert!  The Happy Halloween set is available HERE in the Hero Arts Online Store.

We have the winners of the Stars and Stripes stamp sets!

• Nathalie who posted at 10:10am on September 6.
• Josiek who posted at 10:04 PM on September 5.
• Trudi who posted at 6:14 PMon September 5.

We will email you to get your address.

Have a good weekend!  Come back tomorrow for a great new week here at Hero Arts.

Welcome to the weekend!

I thought I would wrap up the week a bit and share another card.

We have several contests still open…

• Enter our weekly challenge for creating holiday cards.  Just post in our Flickr group by tomorrow (Sunday) night at 11:59pmPST.  For more information, click HERE.
• Please participate in our Cards for Heroes Card Drive HERE.  All you have to do is send any holiday cards in to us by September 30th.  These cards will then be sent to our troops overseas for the holidays.  What a great cause and such a fun and easy way to help.  From all the cards we get, we will pick three winners of stamp sets!
• Just leave a comment on THIS post telling us your new favorite Hero Arts stamp for a chance to win a Stars and Stripes stamp set.

We also had several videos this week, including Creating Photo Cards, Folded Tree Cards and Glittered Cards.  Since my favorite cards are photo cards, I thought I would share one more example.

 Supplies:

• Three Tall Trees
• Clear Design Holiday Gift Tags
  
• Green, Art Print Brown and Black Memories Ink
• Hero Arts Notecards
• Felt Snowflakes
• Red Gemstones
• Mixed Gemstones
• A photo of a cute boy with a silly hat

Thanks for stopping by this week.  I am off to spend some time today making Cards for Heroes!  Have a fabulous weekend…

Hello again, stampers!

Can you believe it is Friday?  Time flies when you are stamping, eh?  Today I have a video, a set of stamped cards, some ideas from TWO incredible guests, and a giveaway.  Whew!  Let’s get started.

First, here is a video with tips on making your playful stamped images sparkle…

For a closer look at each, click on the images below.

Supplies:

• Clear Design Jolly Christmas
• Memories Inks
• Hero Arts Notecards
  
• Prisma Glitter
• Various Hero Arts Gemstones
• Diamond Stickles and white Inkessentials pen from Ranger, Bo Bunny patterned paper, Diamond Glaze (or any other liquid glue), google eyes, punches, colored pencils,

Now, I have two special guests for you.  Both have ties to the military, so it seemed the perfect way to share the importance of our Cards For Heroes Card Drive.

First, allow me to introduce the adorable Stephanie Howell.  Stephanie is an incredible scrapbooker/mom whose husband, CPT James Howell is currently deployed to Afghanistan for a 15 month rotation.  Stephanie said, “My two little girls (Harper - 2 years and Sadie - 7 months) keep me so busy it is not even funny.  I miss Jimmy most at night, when the little ones are asleep and the house is quiet.  It is only then when I allow my heart to ache.  I am so grateful to have scrapbooking as my therapy.”

Stephanie also mentioned that her husband knows many young men serving who are single and not close to their families. It is men and women like this who need the most love. Stephanie is so very grateful for this card drive and the support it will bring to the men and women of our military.

Here are two adorable cards that Stephanie created with Hero Arts stamps to send to her husband overseas.  I love how she personalized them both!

Supplies:

• Three Owls
• Red Memories Ink
  
• Vintage ledger paper, Paper Studio patterned paper (red), Cosmo Cricket patterned paper (green), Heidi Grace letter stickers and Making Memories metal heart clip

Supplies:

• Traditional Holiday: Christmas
• Black Memories Ink 
• Vintage glass glitter, Daisy D’s paper,  Westrim sequin star, vintage ledger paper, Marvy Uchida scallop punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Making Memories tiny alphabet letters, silk ribbon.

Thank you, Stephanie.  Big hugs from all of us!  Please visit her sweet blog HERE.  (She will be having a Hero Arts giveaway!)

Next, we have Karen Russell.  Karen is a very successful scrapbooker with her own line of products:  Narratives.  And, to top that off, she is one of the kindest people around.  Karen also has ties to the military, so I asked her to contribute to our blog this week to support our card drive.  Karen said, “My husband Josh has been in the Air National Guard for 8+ years.  Just a few months ago, his boss was deployed to Afghanistan and will be spending Christmas away from his wife and four kids for the first time.  I feel so indebted to his family and to all families who are serving our country.  My hope is that our cards can make them feel just a little bit closer to home and to the people they love throughout the holidays.” Here is her fabulous holiday card…

Supplies:

• Clear Design Winter’s Butterfly
  
• Silver Embossing Powder
• Versamark
  
• White Memories Ink
• Envelope, decorative trims and ribbon

Thanks, Karen.   I recommend that everyone check out her incredible blog HERE.  (I bet she has a Hero Arts stamp to giveaway over there, too! :0)

How about another giveaway here?

Just leave a comment on this post by Saturday at 11:59pm PST telling us what your favorite stamp from the new Hero Arts “‘Tis the Season” catalog is.  (You can find the catalog HERE.)  I will randomly pick THREE winners for this hard-to-find Stars and Stripes stamp set! (EDITED TO ADD: THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.)

Remember that you still have a few days to enter the holiday challenge.  And please send in your cards to give to our troops overseas!  See you tomorrow…

Wow wow wow, there’s TONS of good stuff going on today — so much that I wrote this post to tell you about it all.  Wouldn’t want you to miss anything!

• First off, the site has been updated for September!  Read all about it HERE in the monthly newsletter. There’s a new technique article by the fabulous Shari Carroll, new Project of the Month, new Stamp Craft by Kandis Smith — and more — including the winner of the $100 August Wish List Shopping Spree!

• The winners of the Book Challenge have been announced HERE!  You’ve got to check out these truly amazing entries.  WOW.

• We’re kicking off a NEW Win A Day On the Hero Arts Blog contest for the holidays! See the newsletter for full details — or click on the link over there at the top of the blog sidebar! HOLLY JOLLY stamping!

• The very first winner of our very first Win A Day On the Hero Arts Blog contest has been announced!  Click HERE to see this deserving artist that Jennifer picked! Be sure to visit the blog on upcoming Thursdays in September when Sally, Shari, Nancy and I will announce our picks.

• Finally, the winner of the Snowman giveaway has also been announced HERE.  Love that set!

Whew!  I think that’s everything.

Enjoy,

Hi everyone!  I’m back to announce the winners of last week’s Book Challenge.  The judging was harder than ever on this contest — WOW, what amazing entries!  Click HERE to see them all!

And now for the winners…

Third place goes to kerry lynn yeary  for her super duper fun tag book made with the Big Owl — love it!

Second place goes to Melissa Phillips for her  “Boo Book” — the judges all thought it was just darling!

Here’s a peek at the inside:

And now….

Drumroll…

First place goes to [asm] for her simply amazing instant book! She created her book out of a piece of paper that she made with her daughter, and used the book to journal about the day they made the paper together.  WOW.  Truly, truly a treasure.

Inside peek — love the tab with “a day in the life”…

Congratulations, winners!  Please email us at the address over there in the sidebar so that we can get your gift certificates + catalogs right out to you so you can start shopping!  WOO HOO!

Next we’ll announce the winner of  an autographed copy of Esther K. Smith’s book, “How to Make Books“!

There were so many deserving entries that Esther had a very hard time picking the instant book to win.  She finally settled on this one by clmlcc — who cleverly turned an instant book into a sewing kit — no more lost buttons!

clmlcc, please email us at the address in the blog sidebar so that we can get your autographed book right out to you!

Esther is super nice — just listen to this: for those of you who already purchased her book, send her a self-addressed stamped envelope and she will send you a signed self-adhesive book plate!  Told ya — she is sweet.  The address is HERE on her website. (You can also find an autographed copy of her book for sale there, too — it comes with a free gift!  If you prefer to go the Amazon route, Esther has a link for that too.  It’s all HERE. :)  )  Thanks again Ester — it sure was fun having you as a blog guest!

Don’t go away just yet — since there were so many great entries, we picked a few Honorable Mentions to share with you!

You just have to see this  book elaine3766 created it in memory of her Dad.  She used two white notecards and rounded the corners to create it.  Love how she stamped on the journaling block:

Here’s a peek at the inside where she’ll later add journaling:

Wow. Such a beautiful way to preserve memories.

Next, check out this coloring book that hnpetry made for her 3-year old niece:

Here’s one of the inside pages:

I bet she has BUNCHES of fun coloring it in!

Finally, the judges loved this accordion book with pockets to hold tags and photos by kellsterstamps. Love the pearl “snowballs” and the wiggly eyes on the owls:

Honorable Mentions, please send us your postal address and we’ll send you this Limited Edition stamp plus some other goodies perfect for bookmaking!

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the Book Challenge — you are all winners in my book.  I just have to say it one more time: WOW.  What great entries.

Hope you are enjoying Jennifer’s blog week, and hope you enter the Holiday Challenge — next week, your name could be here!   Don’t forget the Cards for Heros card drive, too — yet another way to win!  For full details on both of these,  just click HERE.

Until next time, happy stamping,

Great news!

We are very excited to announce the first of five winners for a “Day on Hero Arts Blog.”  Each Thursday this month,  a Hero Artist will say who they pick to blog with them for the day.  And my pick is…

Donna Mikasa!

These are the entries that caught my eye…

For me, the hardest card to create is one that is simple, yet stunning and eye-catching.  And I think Donna achieved just that.  A playful yet classic, simple look.  Her designs let the stamped images grab the attention.  Fantastic work!

After checking out two cards, I looked at her other cards and knew I picked the right artist for me to work with.  Be sure to check out all her projects HERE!  These are a few of my favorites.  You can click on them to get a better look…

Be sure to come back each Thursday of this month to find out about the other four winners!

Hey, folks!

The lucky winner of this fab stamps set is…

… Gina Van Vliet!  I will email you to get your address.  And thanks to everyone who entered.  If you are still wanting to get your hands on that set, you can buy it HERE. :o)

Happy Wednesday!  Around here, Wednesday means it is time for another video.  And today we have the added bonus of a couple cards from an amazing guest.

First, here is a video showing how to make two types of folded tree cards.  For both, the stamped trees open up to reveal a personal message.

The first card holds a photo inside, too…

Supplies:

• Three Trees (stamped close together to form a big tree)
• Big Holiday Words DesignBlock
• Clear Design Jolly Christmas (greeting inside)
• Green Memories Ink
• Medium Pearls
• Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Creative Impressions silk ribbon, permanent colored pens

This card has a photo attached to the back.  The only opening is the tree itself…

Supplies:

• Flourish Christmas Tree
• Holly Flourish DesignBlock
• ClearDesign Winter Messages
• Green, Black and White Memories Ink
• Spring Mixed Gemstones (blue stars)
• Hero Arts Notecards
• Sewing machine stitching and Creative Impressions silk ribbon

How about a few more tree cards?  These two are from from an amazing guest - Sandy Allnock.  Sandy is the President of Cards For Heroes, who we are supporting this week via our challenge.  (For more information, click HERE.)  When I asked Sandy on how she ended up leading this organization, she said: “Our deployed heroes are my inspiration. In the midst of challenging circumstances, they RAVE about what it means to them to be able to simply send a card home to their wife or child! Handwritten contact with their loved ones makes a huge difference to both the troops and their families, and I love to be a little part in that connection between them. It’s a little something that we in the craft community can do to make their tours of duty just a bit easier and show our gratitude to those who serve our nation so selflessly….while doing what we love!”

Sandy used some Hero Arts holiday tree stamps, too.  Here are her fabulous creations…

Supplies:

• Clear Design Three Tree Christmas
• Clear Design Holiday Wishes
• Clear Mixed Gemstones
• Dimensional fabric paint by Polymark

I love the Happy Birthday message on this holiday card.  My mom’s birthday is Christmas Eve… this would be perfect for her…

Supplies:

• Clear Design Three Tree Christmas
• Black Memories Ink
• Ribbon, brad, wire, watercolor, Penny Black birthday greeting and Die Cuts With a View paper

Thanks so much, Sandy.  You are an amazing person.

Tomorrow I get to announce the winner of the snowman stamp set - you still have time to enter HERE!  AND, I get to say who I picked to lead a day on the blog here with me in October!  See you soon…