Hero Arts Blog

I am a big fan of Hero Arts ombré inks – I love using them for backgrounds, color layering stamps and more. Today I have simple monochromatic Thinking Of You cards to give you a closer look at the 4 new ombré pads – Ombré Hydrangea, Ombré Soft Sky To Indigo, Ombré Meadow and Ombré Spring […]

Recently I’m really into coloring with colored pencils. For today’s coloring project, I used the Antique Rose stamp which is a great stamp as it has large petals to color. It also includes some shading so it makes my guess work for shading easier. When you use colored pencils, it’s good to start with light […]

Howdy, I hope you are having a great week! I often give cards to guys (my hubby always appreciates them a lot) so I decided to create another masculine card to have on hand. The Wood Floor Bold Print background stamp from the Spring 2017 catalog has caught my eye and I wanted to try […]

Good morning! Jess here to share an interactive slider card using the new Paper Layering Koi, the watercolor dot palette, and the Nesting Circle Infinity dies! I made a video tutorial showing how I created this card.  If you’re having a problem viewing the video, please try watching it HERE on our YouTube channel! To […]

Today I have a very simple card combining stamped background with alphabet die-cuts. I started by stamping my images from the new CM142 Birthday Animal Silhouettes stamp set on Pool Mix Layering Paper with Mint Julep ink. Then I die cut letters using the new DI342 Luggage Tag Alphabet Frame Cuts and mounted them on the card front […]

Hello friends! New products from the 2017 Catalog are shipping to your favorite retailers as I am typing up this post (they will also be available in the Hero Arts Store on Feb 14th) and so I thought I’d share some inspiration using one of my favorite sets from the color layering section – the Color […]

Hello there, I am really excited to be sharing my first project over here on the Hero Arts blog. Today I am focussing on one layer cards. One layer cards can often seem boring but there are plenty of ways to make them more exciting! I have decided to make shaped cards today. I think […]

Good morning, Jessica here with two projects using the romantic Romeo and Juliet set from the 2017 Valentine’s Collection. I love the silhouette images of Romeo and Juliet but I wanted to focus on some of the smaller stamps in the set for my creations. I loved the roses in the Romeo and Juliet stamp […]

One of my very favorite products from the 2016 Catalog is DC182 Butterfly Pair Stamp & Cut. It is the same concept as the Paper Layering dies, but in a Stamp & Cut set. And... it's butterflies!! For today's card I used just the dies, and cut them out on a panel of vellum paper. The cut butterflies were coated with glitter - oh how I love...

As Valentine's Day approaches, love is in the air! And yet, there are so many occasions every year to make and send cards with love sentiments. I've created a set of love themed cards for anniversaries, weddings, and birthdays, or Valentine's Day, using the beautiful stamp from the 2016 Valentine's Collection. To create these cards, I started by stamping the sentiment in a floral shade...

Have you seen the new Hero Arts challenge? Its all about using those fabulous flowers on our projects! And truth be told, in anticipation of Spring all I want to do is surround myself with stunning florals and bright colors. How about you? Hero Arts [hero_product_link sku="SA067" text="Bold Floral Stencil"] from the 2016 Catalog (coming to our store on February 8!) is a perfect tool to...

Today I am sharing a quick and easy masking project using a new stamp and stamp set from the 2016 catalog: Color Layering Bouquet and Dotted Hello. As you can see, though, I 'decomposed' the color-layering aspect of the florals and randomly stamped them all over the inside of a masked circle to create a fun background pattern! To do this, I used [hero_product_link sku="AF233"]...

Hi. Today I have a simple card set to share that I created with some products from our Valentine's catalog. Many of the Valentine collection stamps and dies can be used year round for everyday cards. To make my cards, I first die cut the word Love from the Love Stamp & Cut set then adhered it to a 5 1/2 x 4" panel of white card. I stamped the...

Some of my favorite products from the new 2016 Hero Arts Catalog are the Paper Layering Dies. The die that I am featuring today is called Large Lotus. This is a pop-up die that gives the paper a 3-D effect. You die cut the paper, and then, you fold or curl the cuts to reveal the beautiful Lotus design. I made a video showing how I made...

Today I'm gonna show you how to get some more use out of your inks - by using them to create custom colored paint! To create your custom color, smoosh your ink pad against an acrylic block (or some plastic acetate), and then add a couple drops of acrylic. I used some pearlescent white acrylic paint, so that I could also get a nice shine to my...

Hello! I have a trio of mini cards that features the [hero_product_link sku="CL923" text="You are My Happy"] set from the 2016 Valentine's Collection along with the new Mum Flower from the 2016 catalog. This set includes three 4x4 inch cards, same stamps - different looks. First up is the tone on tone, I used [hero_product_link sku="AF168" text="Soft Pink Shadow Ink"]: I'm a big fan of the tone on...

Two of the most beautiful stamp sets ever, Color Layering Large Orchid and Color Layering Orchid in a Pot, are being released in the new 2016 Catalog and today I am sharing two cards using them. For my first card using the Large Orchid, I stamped the stem and buds onto a white card stock base and stamped the flowers in coordinating colors on a separate sheet from...

Hi everyone! One of my favorite stamp sets from the new 2016 Catalog is the You're So Lovely clear stamp set which features two sizes of ranunculus flowers along with various leaves, stems and messages. I created two cards that appeared in the catalog using this set and today I'm going to give you a closer look at those cards. For the first card, I...

One of my favorite Valentine's Day memories is exchanging valentine cards with my grade school classmates. Once I got to junior high, I continued to exchange cards with my close friends. So when my seventh grade niece asked me to make her some special valentines for her friends, I knew that I wanted to use the [hero_product_link sku="DI162"] to create cards that could be easily...

Hello. Today I have a card to share featuring a fabulous new clear stamp set from the 2016 Catalog called Origami Animals. Although it is not yet available in our store, it will soon be arriving at your favourite retailer. Look for it in our store on February 8th! To make my card, I stitched half an Acetate Notecard to half a Blush Notecard on three sides. I...

I love to use my stamps to create unique hand stamped patterns. And today’s card features just that! Hero Arts Love Tattoos woodblock stamps are ideal for stamping some quick patterns for Valentine’s Day cards. I started by adding a pencil lines grid to my paper (I often do this to help me align and better […]

Our October My Monthly Hero Kit features some great (and timeless, too!) add-ons! Today I'm using one of them, Circle Confetti Fancy Die, to create a background for my Winter Wonderland Snowglobe card.

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...

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 detailed watercolor background with more layers for my August MMH blog hop project last...

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 flower. Doesn't...

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...

Background stamps, especially Bold Prints 6x6 Clings are always fun to use! Be it a portrait or a landscape A2 card - they work perfectly. Today I'm using [hero_product_link sku="CG695" text="Irregular Grid"] stamp and making only a partial impression to create map-like backgrounds for my cards. There's a fantastic card example in [hero_product_link sku="PS916" text="Summer 2016 catalog"] where dark brown ink is used over light...

Ever since Hero Arts added an outer frame die to the Paper Layering die collection I can't stop playing with the new designs, the [hero_product_link sku="DI187" text="Palm Tree"] die in particular. There are two main ways I like to use these dies in my cardmaking and I'd like to share both in this blog post, so keep on reading if you'd like to learn more!...

I'm a big fan of clean and simple one layer cards. It’s really fun focusing on the basics of cardstock, stamps, ink, and very little else to create cards. But CAS one layer card doesn't mean that it's easy to make sometimes but requires attention to detail, right? For today's card, I created a fun summer card with non-traditional summer colors. I tried to mimic a shape of beach ball...

I love creating with Hero Arts Color Layering stamp sets and ombre inks as the colors of ink in these have been carefully selected and always work so great together for Color Layering (among other things). However, sometimes I want to alter the colors of the ink slightly, for example make the final image a bit lighter, but I don't always have the right shade...

One of my favorite techniques is creating a stamped background using small stamps. It's a great way to get more out of your neglected stamps. And here is what I came up with for today: To make a graduation card, I started by stamping small images from the following stamp sets: [hero_product_link sku="CL941"], [hero_product_link sku="CL954"], [hero_product_link sku="CL940"] and [hero_product_link sku="CL950"]. I used [hero_product_link sku="DI158"] to create dimensional cut paper design. This die has cut and...

One can never have too many Thank You cards on hand so I think its always a good idea to make one just in case. Today I'm sharing one in a black and white color combo. I rarely create monochromatic cards, but for this project I was inspired by a stamping mistake. I was experimenting and trying various color combinations to stamp several orchids from...

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...

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...

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:...

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...