Hero Arts Blog

Birthday Leaves

2016 Catalog

Birthday Leaves

Hello. Today I am sharing a simple ombre card, created with the gorgeous Foliage Bold Prints stamp. To create my card, I first stamped the Foliage Bold Prints on white cardstock with Ombre Lime to Forever Green Ink. Next, I splattered the panel with green watercolor paint to create a more messy and natural look. Once dry, I stamped the Happy Birthday Script on top with Black Ink. I made sure to stamp the sentiment on...

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A Trio of Lia Griffith Watercolored Cards

2016 Catalog

A Trio of Lia Griffith Watercolored Cards

Hello. Today I have a trio of cards to share with you, each one combining 3x3" clear sets from our Lia Griffith collection with simple watercoloring. My first card features the Enjoy Fruit by Lia set, along with a sentiment from Spring Hello by Lia. For this card, I stamped the fruits on some watercolor paper with Versamark, added White Embossing Powder and heat set. Then I painted the fruits and background. Next, I stamped and...

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Spinner Card with Town Essentials

2016 Catalog

Spinner Card with Town Essentials

Interactive cards are something new to me, but very appealing. By adding a little movable mechanism to a project one can really take it to a whole new level and create that WOW effect for the recipient. Today I'm sharing an interactive spinner We Moved card using fun [hero_product_link sku="CL951" text="Town Essentials stamp set"]. [hero_product_link sku="CL951" text="Town Essentials stamp set"] is a great set filled with lots of...

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Video: Butterfly Birthday Card using Colored Stamping (+Ink Pad Organization Tips)

2016 Catalog

Video: Butterfly Birthday Card using Colored Stamping (+Ink Pad Organization Tips)

Are you a fan of butterfly? To be honest, I'm not. But I really wanted to play with Butterfly Pair Stamp & Cut as it includes very interesting dies in the set. I started by stamping the butterfly images from Butterfly Pair Stamp & Cut and Mason Jar Bugs  to create my own background. Here are the Bold Ink pads I used for my colored stamping: Tangerine, Mulled Wine, Strawberry, Dandelion and Summer Sky. Then I colored the images...

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Video: Succulent Pots Card

2016 Catalog

Video: Succulent Pots Card

I love when I have stamps that can be colored using any of your favorite coloring techniques. Today's card features a pair of pretty stamps called [hero_product_link sku="G6130" text="Potted Succulent"] and [hero_product_link sku="E6140" text="Small Potted Succulent"], as well as their matching [hero_product_link sku="DI174" text="Frame Cuts"]. Please watch my video below where I shared how I made this card from start to finish. [fve]https://youtu.be/pMS4F1AueRw[/fve] If you are having problems viewing this video, please try...

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You’re Freaking Awesome!

2016 Catalog

You’re Freaking Awesome!

I'm always pretty pleased when I can complete a card that has texture and is still postal friendly. Have you tried out any of the Paper Layering Dies? Check out the oh-so-fun [hero_product_link sku="DI160" text="Paper Layering Pineapple"]: One of the many beauties of these dies...the awesome texture. It literally makes the card for you. The watercoloring on the top layer took no time at all. I...

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Customizing Sentiments

2016 Catalog

Customizing Sentiments

The [hero_product_link sku="CL952" text="Hipster Animals"] can be used for so many different occasions - I used them to create a spring card here, and customized a sentiment to go with it. When creating this card, it's best to build the wreath first, and then stamp the bunny. That way it's perfectly centered. Stamping the bunny first, and then the wreath? A bit harder to center...

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Merci Mon Amie

2016 Catalog

Merci Mon Amie

Hello, or rather, Bonjour! Ernest Hemingway famously said, "There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home and in Paris." Although I've never been to Paris, I imagine myself traveling there every time that I use the beautiful [hero_product_link sku="H5984" text="Eiffel Tower"] stamp. Today, I'm sharing a French inspired thank-you card that I made featuring this iconic Paris monument....

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Spring Has Sprung!

2016 Catalog

Spring Has Sprung!

I love working with tiny stamps, so today I am showing you two ways to use our [hero_product_link sku="LP398" text="Flower Garden Mini Tub"], which is full of small blooms perfect for spring! Just find a bunch of inks and white paper, and start playing. I randomly stamped the flowers in a pleasing flower collage. I decided I wanted to make this an Easter card, so I stamped the bunny...

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Happy Birthday Balloons

2016 Catalog

Happy Birthday Balloons

Hello and happy Monday! Most of the time I make birthday cards with a specific recipient in mind. I like to personalize the card with certain colors or images that I think they might like. But sometimes those birthdays sneak up on me and I just don't have the time. In that case I like to have a stash of generic birthday cards on hand...

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Absolutely Awesome

2016 Catalog

Absolutely Awesome

Today's card features two stamps I think are absolutely awesome - the gorgeous new [hero_product_link sku="K6135" text="Antique Rose"] stamp from the 2016 Catalog, and one of my all-time favorite sentiments, the aptly-named [hero_product_link sku="G6071" text="Absolutely Awesome"]! I stamped the [hero_product_link sku="K6135" text="rose"] with [hero_product_link sku="AF345" text="Intense Black"] ink. It's perfect for using with my Copic markers, as it's alcohol ink-friendly. The [hero_product_link sku="CG689" text="leafy background"]...

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Video: Easy Watercolor Card using Peerless Watercolors

2016 Catalog

Video: Easy Watercolor Card using Peerless Watercolors

Hello! Where do you draw your inspiration from? It's not usual for me, but this time I got inspired by the colors from the [hero_product_link sku="AF329" text="Neon Chartreuse to Blue ombre ink pad"] for today's card. I wanted to create a soft and lovely look with watercolors, featuring the [hero_product_link sku="CG687" text="alphabet background"] and [hero_product_link sku="CL940" text="Balloon Animal Birthday"] stamps. And here is what I came up with:...

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Hello Love Bug

2016 Catalog

Hello Love Bug

Hello. Today I am sharing a fun card that I created with the cute Lunch Box Notes stamps and dies and a selection of Shadow Inks. To make this card, I first stamped the happy little bugs randomly on white card with Lime Green, Green Hills, Tide Pool, Mint Julep and Mint to Green Ombre inks. Next, I stamped the sentiments onto another piece of white card. I combined stamps from Spring Hello by Lia and Love...

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Video: Fixing Heat Embossing Mistakes

2016 Catalog

Video: Fixing Heat Embossing Mistakes

Heat embossing can be tricky at times and making one wrong "move" can ruin your entire project. I'd like to share 2 simple ways I like to use to fix heat embossing mistakes (and the actual mistakes I made when making a card) in this blog post and video. I often struggle with getting a perfect heat embossed image. I like to do heat embossing over...

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Hello Card

2016 Catalog

Hello Card

Yesterday someone was asking me about my favorite color. I stopped what I was doing at that moment to think about it. Well, I came to the conclusion that I don't have a favorite one, just because I love many colors, specially the ones that make me feel happy. Yellow is one of those. Today I am featuring a pretty stamp set called [hero_product_link sku="CL953" text="Mason Jar Bugs"]...

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Spring Cards with the Bold Daisy Stencil

2016 Catalog

Spring Cards with the Bold Daisy Stencil

Hello! Today I'm sharing a pair of cards that I made with two of my favorite things - spring colors and a beautiful floral stencil. Have you seen the new [hero_product_link sku="SA068" text="Bold Daisy Stencil"] yet? I've used it with two, beautiful trios of ink colors, to create bold and colorful backgrounds for each of my springtime designs. I hope that you love this tried-and-true...

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We Are Explorers

2016 Catalog

We Are Explorers

Have you checked out the background stamps? Today I'm featuring the [hero_product_link sku="S6144" text="Wave Pattern"]. I only used a portion of the image rather than the entire design: I inked up the [hero_product_link sku="S6144" text="Wave Pattern"] with [hero_product_link sku="AF310" text="Mint Julep to Emerald Green Ombre Ink"] and while it was sitting face up, I placed my Snow card stock panel directly onto the inked stamp. I generally grab a large...

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Lasting Hearts Blog Hop + Giveaway!

2016 Catalog

Lasting Hearts Blog Hop + Giveaway!

Today is a very special day. We are launching three new products in support of Lasting Hearts, a non-profit organization founded by Kimberly Saldaña, our wonderful Director of Sales at Hero Arts. Lasting Hearts helps comfort parents, mothers in particular, who have lost a piece of their heart. Losing a child, whether in pregnancy or older, can be one of the hardest pains a parent can endure....

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Scrapbooking with Hero Arts: Get the Most out of your Stamps and Dies

2016 Catalog

Scrapbooking with Hero Arts: Get the Most out of your Stamps and Dies

Stampers, do we have a treat for you today! Please join us in welcoming guest artist Kathleen Graumüller to the blog. She'll be sharing some amazing scrapbooking inspiration, using new stamps and dies from our 2016 Catalog. Here's Kathleen now to tell you about her projects... Hey there, I am absolutely excited to be here on the Hero Arts blog as a guest designer! I have been...

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Pop-Up House Card Tutorial

2016 Catalog

Pop-Up House Card Tutorial

Hello and happy Leap Day! An extra day this year also means an extra day of inspiration, and today we are thrilled to have Ilina Crouse joining us on the blog with a super clever and fun pop-up project. Take it away, Ilina...! It's a privilege and honor to be a guest on the Hero Arts blog today. When I first saw the little 3-D house die...

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Party Time Piñata

2016 Catalog

Party Time Piñata

I'm always in need of more birthday cards and I love to send fun, interactive cards to family and friends. So today I have created a colourful birthday shaker card featuring the sweet Piñata stamp.   To make my card, I first stamped the Piñata on some watercolor paper, then painted it in rainbow watercolors. Once dry, I hand cut it out, and "hung" it on a white tag stamped with sentiments from the Party...

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So Happy For You

2016 Catalog

So Happy For You

Hello! There are so many great ways to create dimension on your cards and today I'm excited to show off the fabulous new  [hero_product_link sku="DI159" text="Paper Layering Mum Flower Die"] that brings dimension to a whole new level! To create the card, I die cut the Paper Layering Mum from a circle piece of watercolor paper just slightly larger than my flower. Next, I used...

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Birthday Cake Layering

2016 Catalog

Birthday Cake Layering

A birthday is the perfect opportunity to break out the confetti and surprise someone with a vibrant celebration card. But, what's a celebration without a colorful cake and some candles? I used the new [hero_product_link sku="CL950" text="Birthday Cake Layering set"] to create a pair of bright birthday cards. I started by stamping cake pedestals, cake layers with assorted decorations, and star-shaped cake picks on [hero_product_link...

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Video: Stretching Color Layering Stamps

2016 Catalog

Video: Stretching Color Layering Stamps

Who said color layering stamp sets only have to be used for color layering, for creating one multi-colored image? Yes, they work beautifully for that (and always produce stunning results), but can also be stretched in a way. Today I am inviting you to try to use each color layering stamp individually. To be able to better explain what I have in mind I've filmed a...

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It’s the Little Things

2016 Catalog

It’s the Little Things

Birds are so pretty and one of the things that I like about them, is their vibrant colors which have always amazed me. Certainly, I can never have enough stamps of little birds, and coloring this type of image with markers can be a lot of fun. Today I am featuring a pretty set of woodblock stamps called [hero_product_link sku="LP409" text="A Little Birdie"]. This set includes five stamp...

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Handwritten Thank You

2016 Catalog

Handwritten Thank You

Thank you cards, I don't think we can ever have too many in our stash. Have you seen the beautiful new [hero_product_link sku="G6132" text="Handwritten Thank You"]? I stamped it with the new [hero_product_link sku="AF345" text="Intense Black ink"]. I've teamed it up with the [hero_product_link sku="CL944" text="Color Layering For You Flowers"]. I used the following Shadow Inks: [hero_product_link sku="AF145" text="Soft Apricot"] ● [hero_product_link sku="AF242" text="Soft Cantaloupe"] ● [hero_product_link sku="AF260" text="Dark Quartz"]...

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Farewell, Friends!

2016 Catalog

Farewell, Friends!

I am eternally grateful to be writing this post today - the chance to work with all of the amazing people at Hero Arts has been one of the best experiences for me, since this company has always had a special place in my heart when it comes to crafting. It is bittersweet that I have decided to step down, as some exciting professional opportunities...

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