Hero Arts Blog

Hello and welcome to the Hero Arts blog! It's Janette here with you today and I'm sharing a bit of simple watercoloring on the cutest lil' piglet you ever saw! Begin by stamping the County Fair Pig image on Arches Hot Press watercolor paper in watercolor friendly Intense Black ink. I like to use hot press for the smooth texture that provides crisp stamped images....

Happy Saturday! Today we are thrilled to have Lisa Stein joining us here on the blog, telling you about the latest monthly challenge over at A Blog Named Hero! She'll stop by every month to share the latest challenge info and inspiration. Take it away, Lisa! Good morning! Lisa here today to make sure that you get in on the fun over at A Blog...

One of my favorite things about card making is all the different ways you can add little details to a single project. A particular technique I love to use is dry embossing with dies, and the new Marquee Frame Fancy Die works so well for this! For my card today, I started out by stamping some foliage from Peonies in Versamark on Bristol cardstock and...

Hey there! Clare here today, with a fun card using some of the add-ons from this month's My Monthly Hero. I really loved the color blocked look of one of the cards I did for the blog hop yesterday, so I decided to repeat that look, except using some different colors and the new You're Sweet As Pie and County Fair Bold Prints. I started...

We are back for the final countdown post leading up to the release of the July My Monthly Hero kit! Release day is Monday, July 2nd at 1pm Eastern/10 am Pacific. We have been sharing ideas for using both the main kit, as well as new optional add-on products that will be available on Monday. Don't forget to leave a comment on this and every...

Hello there, Michelle here and today I have a card to share using the Tile Pattern Stencil. This is such a versatile stencil and can be used in so many ways but for today, I thought I would do some rainbow ink blending. I started off by taking a panel of watercolour paper (I often find inks blend well on to this) and placed the...

Hey there! Clare here with cute and quick card using the absolutely adorable Cactus Animals. Somehow these little cuties slipped under my radar when I first received them, but I'm so glad I took a second look, because they are so dang fun! I started out by die-cutting the Bold Graphic Confetti die out of white cardstock, and then adhering it to a kraft colored...

Good morning! Jess here with a bright and sparkly tropical card using the beautiful Beach Frame Fancy Die add-on from our June My Monthly Hero release! The die was super popular on release day and is already sold out but it WILL be restocked! I absolutely adore using Sparkle Embossing Powder over ink blended backgrounds. The sparkle really amps up the beautiful colors and gives...

Hi 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 of the add-on products that were introduced along with the June kit -- 4 clear stamp sets, 2 with coordinating Frame Cuts, 1 Stamp & Cut set, 1 Confetti Die, 1 Frame Fancy Die, 2 Bold Prints background stamps, and a beautiful Dark...

We are back for the final countdown post leading up to the release of the June My Monthly Hero kit! Release day is Monday, June 4th at 1pm Eastern/10 am Pacific. We have been sharing ideas for using both the main kit, as well as new optional add-on products that will be available on Monday. Don't forget to leave a comment on this and every...

Today I've created a fun patchwork background using the Rounded Rectangle Infinity Dies. There are 16 metal dies in the set, so you are sure to find the perfect size for any card! I started out by die cutting a bunch of different sizes of rectangles from scraps of Layering Paper. Then I began playing with the layout by positioning them on the white card...

Hello there! Thank you for joining us at Hero Arts. We are so happy you are here! Today, I am sharing how I used a subtle Sunburst Fancy Die to create a strong design path. It is not difficult and it is a great way to liven up solid cardstock. The Sunburst Fancy Dies are a set of 4 comprised of a triangle burst, 2...

I really love making cards that are little "scenes", and my favorite stamps to do that with are animal stamps. The new Fennec the Fox stamp set was practically begging for a scene, so that's what I used for today. I started out by blending a desert background, masking off a circle for the sun and then brushing Dandelion around for a bit of a...

There are two cards that I seem to always need - birthday and thank you cards. Because I'm always needing them, sometimes it's in a bit of time pinch, so I love having quick and easy designs on hand. For today's two quick cards, I used the Tree and Leaf Confetti Die as a stencil. For the first card, I die cut it simply out...

Hello there, Michelle here and today I am sharing a card using the beautiful Support Prayers Love stamp set. As the name of the set suggests, this is a wonderful set to use on cards to tell someone that you are thinking of them and want to send them encouragement. I started my card off by creating the background. I knew I wanted to keep...

Good morning! Jess here with a random assortment of cards using a really fun technique! A few months ago I shared a card here using Bold Ink pads on Yupo paper...and a few weeks ago I heard a rumor that you could use liquid watercolors on Yupo for a similar effect to alcohol inks, and you know I just HAD to give it a try!...

Hey there, and happy Monday! Today I'm sharing two quick watercolored cards using the Welcome Neighbor stamp set. The quirkiness of the houses lend themselves to quick, one layer cards and fast watercoloring! Watch how I did so in the video below... If you have trouble with the video above you can try this link HERE to watch in HD on YouTube. For the first...

Hello to you. Thank you for joining us here on the Hero Arts blog today! We are talking about creating garden scenes. Let's get to it! Combining stamps sets is a fun way to build a scene exactly the way you envision it. I'm featuring the Trellis Fancy Die along with mushrooms from Woodland Tea Party, leaves from Color Layering Rose and a sentiment from...

The Hero Arts line of Bold Prints cling stamps can be used in many different ways than just background images. One way to change up the look is to create a mask, then stamp the Bold Print image to eliminate a portion of the background. Today I've used the Floral Mandala Bold Prints to demonstrate this technique. I began the card by creating a watercolor...

I'm not a brave crafter when it comes to color. I like to keep my backgrounds almost exclusively white, and layer from there. However, I was so inspired by fellow creative team member Janette Kausen's stunning black die-cut background, that I just had to give it a more dramatic background. I die cut the background from Midnight Layering paper, and then backed it with a...

We're back with our final countdown post, leading up to the release of the April My Monthly Hero kit! Release day is Monday, April 2nd at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Please note, we will be taking a break from the countdown on Easter Sunday. Don’t forget to comment on each and every post as we’ll be giving away a kit on Monday morning, before the kit...

Hello there, Michelle here and today I have a card to share using the Flower Confetti Fancy Die, along with Liquid Watercolors and the White Iridescent Shimmer Spray to create an interesting background. I started off with a piece of watercolour paper and applied a layer of clean water to this. Using Deep Ocean, Indigo and Moss Liquid Watercolors, I added colour to the panel...

Swans signify grace, beauty and often love. Today, I have paired our Color Layering Swan with watercolor, shimmer and a heart, to match the feeling they so often represent. I began by stamping the outline of the Color Layering Swan in Intense Black on Snow Layering paper. The second shading layer is stamped in Soft Granite. The beak in Crimson. I then die cut the...

Good day to you! Thank you for joining us on the Hero Arts blog. Today, I am featuring the new Bookcase wood mount stamp. Our home is filled with voracious readers, but our wall of books is no where near this remarkable. Wouldn't it be fantastic to come home to these dreamy shelves everyday? I began by stamping the Bookcase image on Radiant White cardstock...

Good day to you and thank you for joining us here at Hero Arts! We are so happy to have you! In just two more sleeps Hero Arts will be releasing new Liquid Watercolors. I've been itching to play with them so I gave them a whirl with the Paper Layering Feather die. To create this card, die cut a few feathers with Bristol (my...

Hi everyone, Ilina here! Today I am sharing two cards using the new Swirl of Starlings Bold Prints stamp and the little bit older Paper Layering Hummingbird pair. When I started making my card I was going to have only one, but then they became two and nothing really went to waste. I started with stamping my the background using Intense Black Ink onto Black...

Today I'm using the Floral Tile Bold Prints background to create a simple ombré background using four ink colors. To create the background I slightly overlapped each color to create the seamless transition from one color to the next. The four ink colors I used are (from top to bottom) Bubble Gum, Ultra Pink, Pale Tomato and Soft Cantaloupe. Next, I die-cut the A Bit...

Hello there and welcome to Monday on the Hero Arts blog! Today, I'm sharing some tips on blending ink backgrounds with Hero Arts inks, featuring the adorable Stealing My Heart thieves. Before I started blending my background, I stamped and colored the thieves using ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens. I then placed them over a cardstock panel I had trimmed down to 4x5.5, and...

We are back with another look at the January My Monthly Hero release! The kit will be available on Monday, January 8th 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 Jess, who is sharing a look at two of the add-on items, available...

Stamping with alcohol... I'm talking the isopropyl type here friends! Today, I am featuring the Loving Swans stamp that takes center stage above a Leafy Vines alcohol stamped background. To begin, I stamped Loving Swans in Intense Black Copic friendly ink. I then used a touch of grey marker to add depth to the shadowed areas of the swans. I fussy cut the swans omitting...

Hello there, Michelle here and today I am using the new Otter Family Stamp & Cut. What an adorable set! I thought it would be fun to create an alcohol ink background for my little guy to swim in. I started off with a piece of Yupo paper and applied Copic Refill ink on to the piece in three blue shades. I then applied some...

Good morning! If you've been to my blog recently you know that I'm on a bit of an alcohol ink kick these days. But I've gotten a few comments from people who aren't quite ready to make the commitment to purchase alcohol inks and were wondering if there was a way to achieve a similar look. So I did a little experimenting and discovered that...

When was the last time that you made a card with kraft paper? I love the look of kraft cards but it's not one of my usual go-to colors. So today, for a change, I'm sharing a kraft card that features images from the beautiful, new Ornate Henna Patterns stamp set. To make my card, I simply stamped several of the henna pattern stamps randomly...

We are back with another look at the December My Monthly Hero release! The kit will be available on Monday, December 4th at 1pm Eastern/10 am Pacific. We’ll be sharing ideas for using the main kit and optional add-on products all weekend long, so stay tuned for more project inspiration! Now let’s join Clare, who is sharing another look at this fabulous kit. I think...

Inspired by the fabulous Yana Smakula's work, I created a fun Christmas card with galaxy background. I started by coloring a piece watercolor paper with watercolors to create a galaxy background. After drying my watercolor background, I added some white/gold splatters to add some interest. I heat embossed the lights bold image from Christmas Lights Bold Prints with gold embossing powder. Then I adhered my...

I can't believe that Christmas is almost a month away. If you are like me, you haven't finished your Christmas cards. I always think there is time, and then I realize Christmas is month away and most of my family lives in Europe, so cards take forever to get there. Today I am exploring different looks of white on black backgrounds using the Christmas Poster...