Hero Arts Blog

Hi friends! Lydia here with one of my favorite coloring techniques – it's a selective focus technique with colored pencils.  By selective focus, I mean a technique that is similar to a spotlighting technique, but it's more like portrait mode on an iPhone – it creates a sharp, focused foreground, with a soft, fuzzier background. If you are a photography buff, it's a similar effect...

Welcome to our March Awesome Add-ons feature! This month our Classic and Premium kits are complemented with a wonderful array of add-on stamps and dies. If you haven't had a chance to check them out yet, you can see them all right here! They capture the essence of nature's bounty and celebrate the earth's delicious abundance. YUM! Take a peek at the harvest... Shop for the March MMH add-ons...

Hello Crafters! It's Kelly Taylor here to share a fast and easy Spring background with you. Anyone else ready for warm weather and pretty blooms?  The Flowers and Bees Bold Prints was originally released as part of the April 2022 My Monthly Hero Kit along with the Color Layering Rose Stencil, the Amazing Fancy Die, and the Thank You for Everything stamp set. It won our favorite...

Hey everybody! It's Maria here and I am popping in to share a little bit of mixed media love with you today. I started out by grabbing a background from my stash. I made it a while back using a fun technique with Hero Arts Inkers and rubbing alcohol. I squirted both Ultra Pink and Summer Sky Inkers onto my glass work surface. Then, using...

Hello everyone. Dana and Pam with you today. We are kicking off the CommUNITY feature post for this year. The CommUNITY feature is about embracing and honoring the creativity of individuals who are often underrepresented. By sharing art from a diverse group of creators, we hope to not only bring inspiration to this papercrafting community we all love so much, but also support and empower...

Hello Crafters! It's Kelly Taylor here and today I have a a little something different for you! You guys know I love stretching my supplies to get the most out of them. So today instead of using the 3D Matchbox Fancy Die as a matchbox I used it to create a Valentine's Day countdown calendar for my kids!  The video below shows you have to...

Hola everyone, Pocono Pam here! With Valentine's Day only a few weeks away, love is definitely in the air. I love LOVE and like to create cards and projects to express it year round! Today I am sharing a card showcasing the new Loving Sentiment Strips clear stamp set paired with the Sentiment Strips Fancy Die. To begin, I stamped Mini Hearts Bold Prints onto a 4" x 5.25" Dove...

Hi friends! Today I have an oldie but a goodie for you – "ghost" stamping. I learned this almost ten years ago – eek – and I realized I haven't used it in a while. It uses the magic of Unicorn Pigment Ink with dye inks. The white images create "ghost" images that show up even when dye ink is blended or stamped on top of them. The...

Hello friends! This is Mindy and welcome back! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are able to sit back, relax and get some crafting time in.  My card today features the Looking Glass Girl With Balloon die set but I'm only going to use one of the dies. I thought these heart trees were just adorable and wanted to make them the center of attention! ...

Hey Hero fans! This is Mindy with you today and I want to share how to get more from our backgrounds. I will be using the new Twinkling Stars Hot Foil Plate for this example today. I'll be the first to admit that when I get a background stamp or background hot foil plate, I try to use the entire card front. What I often forget...

Hello Crafters! It's Kelly Taylor here today and I have the fastest easiest watercolor background to share with you. It came out so pretty it completely changed my original idea for the card!  I started with our Luxe White Watercolor Paper and cut it in half to get an A2 sized card front. Next I inked up the new Celestial Bold Prints stamp with Unicorn Pigment Ink and...

Hello and welcome! Seeka here and today I'm sharing a card featuring a sentiment made using the Kraft Holiday Tags Printable. This printable file includes ten versatile tag images that can be resized and printed over and over. Of course it's perfect for creating quick and easy gift tags, but it also works beautifully for cardmaking. You'll never run out of tags or holiday sentiments again! I...

Hey crafty friends! This is Mindy with you today to share inspiration using the Poinsettia Flowers Bold Prints background stamp. I also have a video tutorial that you can view down below or HERE on the Hero Arts YouTube channel. While this background is beautiful for coloring or ink blending, I'm going to show you a quick and easy way to use it on your holiday...

Hello friends! Along with this month's new kit, we have some wonderful November My Monthly Hero add-ons to share with you. Whether you're making holiday cards, tags, decorations, or other festive projects, there's something here for everyone! Presenting all things merry & bright... Shop for the November MMH add-ons here Today we're delighted to have Creative Team member Jayne Nelson here to share some fabulous "beyond the kit" ideas...

Hey everyone. It's Dana here with you today. Using sentiment strips on your card is an easy way to make a statement. However using a tree full of sentiments is a sure WOW factor. Let me show you how to create a beautiful holiday card using the new Holiday Sentiment Strips and the Sentiment Strips Fancy Die.    You can watch the full tutorial below or HERE on...

Calling all cardmakers! Today we're excited to invite you to join us in an effort to spread some holiday cheer. Who's up for a good old-fashioned mail-in card drive? Grab your crafty stamps AND your postage stamps, have fun creating, and join the cause. * Please feel free to share the image above on social media and blogs – the more participation, the merrier! * Our...

Hola everyone! Pocono Pam here sharing a card featuring the new Little Buddy clear stamp set along with the Acorn Branch Fancy Die. These newly released products can be found in the Hero Arts Handmade For the Holidays 2022 Catalog. The catalog is filled with uplifting new ideas, techniques and designs that will inspire you to create projects for your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and loved ones. ...

Hi friends! Today we are here with an installment of our monthly series, CommUNITY, where we share artwork from artists who we'd love for you to get to know. CommUNITY is about embracing and honoring the creativity of individuals who are often underrepresented. By sharing art from a diverse group of creators, we hope to not only bring inspiration to this papercrafting community we all love...

Hello there, Michelle here and today I am sharing a card and video using Cactus Bold Prints. Although, as the name suggests, Bold Prints can be bold in nature, I wanted to show you that they can also be subtle too!  Watch the video below to see how I made the card: (If you are having trouble viewing this video, please watch HERE on YouTube.)...

Hi everyone! Ilina here! I hope you are loving the new August add-on products as much as I do. I have a fun card with pop of color to share with you today using the new Road Signs Bold Prints and Roadside Messages clear stamp set. To make the card, start by stamping the Road Signs Bold Prints on Deluxe Smooth White cardstock using Granite ink....

Hello friends! It's Mindy with you today to share inspiration using the new Winding Road HeroScape and also share one of my favorite ways to ink up a large background and that is by using a rubber brayer.  I have a video tutorial that you can view down below or HERE on the Hero Arts YouTube channel. I fell in love with the Winding Road...

Hola everyone! Pocono Pam here! I am sharing a card featuring the Color Layering Cherries clear stamp set. I love how stamping just two layers for the cherries and leaves produce such great detail and dimension.  To create my Thank You card, I stamped Buffalo Check Pattern Bold Prints onto a 3.75" x 5" Peony cardstock panel in Peony ink. I matted the panel with Cherry cardstock...

Hello there, Michelle here and today I have two birthday cards to share with you for the current "Another Year Older" Stay Crafty Challenge. For my cards I am using Clear Embossing Powder for the background, but changing up how it looks depending on which stage I add the embossing.  I started off my first card (the green/blue one) by taking a panel of Deluxe...

Hello Hero friends! This is Mindy with you today to share inspiration using the new Monstera stamp set. Let's start with some ink blending, shall we?  Using Deluxe White cardstock, I ink blended Taffy and Lemon Drop Reactive inks using blending brushes to get tropical vibe. By overlapping the two colors, I get a fabulous shade of orange.  To add subtle interest without overpowering the card, I stamped the Abstract Linocut...

We are feeling a bit tropical in Texas these days, with record temperatures! We had the hottest June in recorded history where I live and July has been even worse, so this month's release theme felt just right. I actually wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a toucan fly by at this point! When I saw this beautiful new Large Toucan Bold Prints stamp, I...

Good morning! Jess here with a cheery mixed media card! Today I'm experimenting with the new Hero Wax for the first time and I'm excited to share those results with you. To start I stamped the Underwater Bold Prints stamp onto a panel of Adriatic cardstock with Navy ink. Then I laid the Water Flow Slimline Stencil over the panel and applied a thin layer of White Pearl Hero...

Hi friends! Now that summer is back with a VENGEANCE here in Central Texas, I'm back to my fiery orange vs. cool blue color schemes in my designs.  I wanted to show you a way to stretch all the beautiful Bold Prints cling backgrounds that Hero Arts has by turning them into shaped elements on your cards.  There are a number of ways you can...

Hello everyone! It's Maria here today and I hope you were as totally blown away by yesterday's Mixed Media Catalog release as I was. Today I'll be sharing a mixed media card that uses some of the new stamps along with some of Hero's fabulous mediums. I started out by making DIY Liquid Watercolor Sprays. This is so easy to do and is very inexpensive,...

Hello there, Michelle here with a friendship card to share with you using Passing Clouds Bold Prints. This stamp can be used in lots of different ways and lots of different color combinations too! I have a love for blue and purple and thought it would make a nice dramatic sky. I started off my card by stamping Passing Clouds Bold Prints on to Dove...

Happy Earth Day! One of the many popular ways to celebrate Earth Day is to plant something - a flower, a tree, or even a garden. So today, I’m sharing a card inspired by a delightful, gardening background stamp. I’ve used the Veggie Medley Bold Prints stamp, filled with turnips, beets, peas, bell peppers, and onions, to make a fun, garden themed card for a...

Hi friends! I'm here with a springy wonderland and a fun look at some of the new Hero Tools that have just arrived in the Hero Arts shop. (Read to the end of this post and watch the video to learn more!) This is a really simple project to make, but it really gives a fun new twist on emboss resist cards.  I stamped the whimsical Flowers and...

Hello crafty friends! It's Mindy with you today to share inspiration using the beautiful new Flowers and Swirls Bold Prints stamp. You know what one of my favorite ways to create backgrounds is right now? Using a rubber brayer. I like creating with my gel press and all but I found I liked the scratch paper I was cleaning my brayer on more then the background sometimes. Here's...

Hi friends! I'm here today with a fun, easy, layered mixed media card. Layering makes the details on your cards so, so interesting, so let's walk through the layers on today's card.  I started by smooshing Fog and Purple Galaxy Reactive Inks onto my glass mat and stamping the image from Artichoke Blooms in Fog as well.  I used a waterbrush and the smooshed ink to color the artichoke....

Good morning! Jess here with a fun way to add some sparkle to your cards! To start I placed the new Abstract Expressionist Bold Prints stamp on the lid of my MISTI and inked it up with Embossing & Watermark ink. Then I stamped it onto a panel of Pitch Black cardstock. I held the cardstock over a piece of scrap paper and then sprinkled the top with Silver Sparkle...

Hello everyone. It's Dana here with you. Today's card is for a new monthly feature here on the Hero Arts blog called CommUNITY: A Celebration of Diversity in Crafting. This feature is near and dear to my heart. Being inspired by so many amazing creators and artists makes me happy. Making sure everyone is included and feels represented in this crafting community is my purpose. Seeing faces that don't represent...

Hi friends! It's Mindy here with you today to share a fun and colorful card using the new Apple Slices Bold Prints background stamp. I thought this background would make a great card to give to a teacher. I started by picking out a rainbow of cardstock colors from the Hero Hues line including Peony, Azalea, Cherry, Papaya, Canary, Kiwi, Meadow, Arctic, Paradise, Adriatic, Lavender, and...