Hero Hostess Alumni Blog Hop

Welcome to Day 2 of the Hero Hostess Alumni Blog Hop featuring fabulous stamps from the new Hero Arts 2016 release and winter catalog. If you've come from the oh-so-talented Lin Brandyberry's blog Sending Hugs, you're in the right place!!

PRIZES*PRIZES*PRIZES!! 
Hero Arts will be awarding a $25.00 Hero Arts shopping spree to the winner randomly 
chosen from all of the comments left on the blogs included on today's hop.   
A second bonus prize of Hero Arts product will go to one lucky winner 
who comments on today's Hero Arts post.  
Deadline for comments is Sunday, October 30, 2016 at 11:59 pm Pacific time.
See the Hero Arts Blog posts on 10/24 & 10/25/16 for complete prize details.

I was honored to be a Hero Hostess (facilitator on their Flickr Group) back in 2011. Thanks to Hero Arts for including me in their Hostess family and on this fun hop!! I'm delighted to showcase some new goodies from their 2016 winter catalog. I found so many great products I couldn't resist. One such item - Kelly's Winter Planner; I just love the little winter icons in this set. I started with the bitty Christmas tree and Merry Christmas sentiment, adding them to the new Infinity tag dies (they are amazing!). The Infinity Rectangles dies made layering a breeze! And I just had to use a PEACE die cut (my new favorite word die). I must mention how much I love Hero Arts Layering Paper - I have every color but especially adore the Pool used here.

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps - CL990 Kelly's Winter Planner
Hero Arts Dies - DI198 Rectangle Infinity Dies, DI197 Tag Infinity Dies, DC187 Peace Stamp & Cut

Paper - Hero Arts PS640 Pool Mixed Layering Paper, BoBunny Altitude 6x6 pad, American Crafts glitter

Ink - Tim Holtz Dusty Concord Distress Ink, Ranger Archival Watering Can by Wendy Vecchi

Next up - a card with CG697 Blizzard Bold Prints - my new favorite background! I just love the 6x6 size and it's so perfect stamped on the card base behind the gold embossed ornaments from DC186 Ornaments Stamp & Cut (layered on a piece of bokeh paper). The Let's Be Merry sentiment came from CM100 Christmas Messages - I just love this set for its variety. More layering paper - I used Pine for this card base.

And finally, here's a shaker card using the darling mittens from CL999 Holiday Mittens. The sentiment comes from DC193 Kelly's S'mitten Stamp & Cut. The Rectangle Infinity dies helped immensely when creating my shaker!! The shaker elements are a mix of sequins and chunky glitter I bought at Michael's. The vellum covering the shaker window came from a Hero Arts monthly card kit; it's not available in their store.

Your next stop is the delightful Sally Sherfield's blog Created by Sally. And here's the list of all the stops on today's hop for maximum inspiration:

Donna Mikasa

Cheiron Brandon

Kathy Wade

Anita Recksiedler

Barb Engler

Kathy Racoosin

Lin Brandyberry

Linda Wetterlin - you are here!

Sally Sherfield

Deborah Nolan

Cathy Andronicou

Hero Arts

You can find yesterday's Day 1 here. Remember to leave comments on the Hop posts by 11:59pm Pacific Time on October 30th 2016 for the chance to win Hero Arts prizes!!

Thanks for stopping and thanks for the kind comments! Thanks to Hero Arts for the goodies they sent and for the great customer service & inspiration they always provide! And special thanks to Virginia Lu who coordinated us this time and to all my hostess sisters for their friendship!!

Hero Hostess Alumni Blog Hop Day One

Hi all - many of the former Hero Hostesses will participate in a two day Blog Hop showcasing new products from Hero Arts!!

I'm delighted to be a part of this Hop tomorrow. Here is today's line-up of incredibly talented women:

Virginia Lu

Emily Leiphart

Sue McRae

Sarah Moerman

Nancy Krueger

Tiffany Ervin

Arlene McClung

Joy Taylor

Suzanne Czosek

Heather Doran

Be sure to stop at today's Hero Arts Blog post for details on prizes they will offer as part of this Hop!! To celebrate today's hoppers, I created this card using the oh-so-fun Christmas Trimmings Stamp & Cut set DC195:

I die cut one of Hero Arts Rectangle Infinity Dies DI198 and adhered this glitter panel to a Mocha folded card (from Hero Arts' Earth Mix PS572). Then I die cut elements from Christmas Trimmings and a Spellbinders Oval. All glitter paper was from the Paper Studio. Talk about crisp die cuts with this set - the Merry Christmas cuts so easily despite the delicacy of the script!!  I could've cut an oval out of the center of my rectangle but instead cut a oval from a separate scrap. I wanted the contrast of the darker oval, rather than a window to the mocha.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you tomorrow too for my day on the Hop!

Welcome to the Hero Arts Hostess Hop, featuring fabulous stamps from the new 2015 release!  

Today is Day 2 of our Hop - if you've been following along, you've just arrived from the blog "Happy Heart Studio" of the sweet and super talented, Nancy.  If you want to start at the beginning or you've found a broken link, please find the master list of links for today at the Hero Arts Club Blog here.  

To hop with Day 1, go here.  

Please report broken links to blog@heroarts.com.

With so much stamping and die cutting goodness in this new release, where do you start??!  For the first card, I immediately went for this yummy new cling background stamp called Lines Background - a graphic look but so versatile!  

Here's my card:

Supply list:  Hero Arts:  Stamp - Lines Background; Dies - Thanks Stamp & Cut, 
Triangle Background; Card base - Pool Mixed folded cards.
Other: Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Markers, embossing ink and powder;
Doodlebug Frosty Friends paper (for purple mat); Wink of Stella

The first thing I did was create the panel behind the sentiment.  I smooshed Distress Inks (Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserves) on my craft sheet, swirled them around and inked the Lines Background cling stamp.  I pressed a sheet of Neenah Bright White card stock on the inked stamp and then misted the inked paper for a watercolor look.  Dried it with a heat tool (even clear embossed a few spots on it) and then sponged on more Cracked Pistachio to cover some of the white.  Anyway, I love how it turned out.  

Then I grabbed the lightest shade of the Pool Mixed Folded Cards set from Hero Arts - this is a favorite set of mine; I looooove Hero's pool color, paper and inks!!  I used Cracked Pistachio (adore this new Tim Holtz Distress Ink color!) to stamp the Lines Background on the card.  That in itself looked nice to me but I whipped out my Distress Markers and randomly colored some of the triangles and squares using Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, and Seedless Preserves. Then I added clear Wink of Stella to each colored shape.  Really love this look!

The thanks sentiment is a die cut from Hero Arts' new Thanks stamp & cut set.  I just love these new word Stamp & Cut sets and want every single one!!!!  Besides the word stamp, plus matching die, you get all these little sentiment stamps to add to the main word.  I didn't add any of them here, but this set includes phrases like:  "for everything", "a bunch", "you are amazing", etc.  I make a lot of thank you cards so this was the perfect set for me!  The little triangles were cut from the popular Triangle Background die. When you cut it, all these little triangles pop out - so fun for making your own embellies (these were clear embossed for the shine, as was the die cut sentiment) or using in shaker cards or for confetti.

My next card features the new Amor stamp.  Think of the many occasions this stamp covers - Valentine's Day, anniversary, wedding, engagement, I love you, etc.  When I saw it, the first thing that popped into my brain was that amor is Spanish for love and this looks like a Mexican tile.  Here's the card:

Supply List:  Hero Arts stamps:  Amor, Heart Background; gems; Sea Mixed Folded Card
Tim Holtz Distress Inks; BoBunny dotted paper, Copic Markers, Ranger clear embossing powder

I clear embossed the image with Festive Berries Distress Ink on a piece of Neenah Solar White card, then colored the white areas with Copic markers.  Because I bobbled the stamp while stamping, I had to trim it out to remove an extra scallop - hate when that happens!  So I traced the trimmed image on a white card and then cut a white mat for it.  There's a layer of foam tape between the image and the mat for some dimension.  The card base is the darkest shade from Hero Arts' Sea Mixed Folded Cards set, stamped with Salty Ocean Distress Ink on the Hero Arts/Basic Grey Heart Background (love the heart clusters on this!).  Dotted paper is from BoBunny.  Added some gems - done!  There's a lot of pink and red here but, hey, I made it as a Valentine for my parents.  They loved it, of course.

I'm the last stop for today!  

But don't fret - please visit the Hero Club Blog starting at 6 a.m. US Central Time tomorrow for Day 3 of our Hop.  Seven more awesome Hero Hostesses will offer crafty inspiration with quality and on trend 2015 Hero Arts products!

IMPORTANT - Chance to win prizes!!!

Hero Arts will award prizes from randomly drawn comments.  For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day - including each day's starting post at the Hero Club Blog.  The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning.  Check back at the Club Blog for the deadline for entry and for the announcement of winners.

Thanks for visiting today and leaving your kind comments.  Many thanks to Hero Arts for such great products and the amazing opportunity to share them with you today on this Hop.  In case you don't know me, I was a Hero Hostess in 2011.  Not only was this a wonderful experience but I gained some life-long friends from it.  I really enjoy this annual hop with brand new products.  Thanks again Hero Arts!!

Day 3 - Hero Arts 2013 Catalog Blog Hop with the Hero Hostesses

Hello everyone!  It's Day 3 of the Hero Hostess Blog Hop, featuring fabulous stamps from the new 2013 Hero Arts Catalog release!  I'm so excited to be hopping this week with 27 very talented ladies, all past Hero Hostesses.  If you're following today's hop, you should have arrived here from the amazing Marcy's blog.  If you didn't, and want to start from the beginning of Day 3, go here.   If you missed the previous days, start at the Hero Club Blog - Day 1 here and Day 2 here. 

To report any broken links along the hop, contact Tami at blog@heroarts.com.

Hero Arts will be awarding prizes - that's right - PRIZES!!! - from randomly drawn comments. For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post at the Hero Club Blog. The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!  For Hero Arts prizes, be sure to comment by 11:59pm PST on Monday, January 21, 2013.  They will announce the winner at the Hero Club Blog later that week.

For a stamping artist, there's nothing better than a new catalog of stamps!  And Hero Arts has produced another winner in their 2013 Catalog.  I was lucky enough to get a lot of products from this catalog, both locally and from Hero Arts.  I haven't even made a dent in my new stash with the 3 cards I'm sharing today!  Up first, a card for my niece's 12th birthday.  I had such fun with the clear set CL677 Fantastic Birthday!  If you count the scoops on the ice cream cone, you'll find one for each year of precious Annika's life.

Supplies:  Hero Arts - PS603 Celadon Layering Paper, CG516 Number Pattern, CL 677 Fantastic Birthday, AF221 Neon Green Ink, AF218 Neon Pink Ink, AF220 Neon Yellow Ink, AF 231 Neon Blue Ink, gems; Other - various papers, Martha Stewart punch

Because it's a long card (to fit a #10 envelope), I had to stamp the background twice.  Some people would use a stamp positioner but not me - I just put my finger where I thought I should go & it worked fine.  I always lay my clings face up on the counter, ink them up well, and put my paper to them.  Works the best for me - I can press my fingers over the paper for a crisp impression every time.  I did lots of paper piecing to make the cone. Some of the scoops were stamped onto white paper that I covered first (ink pad-to-paper) with Hero Arts Neon Ink - love this ink in every shade!!  I stamped other scoops on papers from Authentique's Lovely 6x6 paper pad.

This next card was inspired by the oh-so-creative Lisa Spangler.  She used the wonderful CG527 Map of America on her stop in the 2013 Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop back in December.  When I saw her cards, that stamp went right on my wish list!  Can you tell I was thinking of those Indiana Jones movies where they showed that old airplane flying over the maps?  X marks the spot!  I stamped the sentiment on a torn chunk of paper stamped with another new cling CG526 Large Notebook Paper.  The sentiment came from CL574 Say it All which is one of my go-to sets; I love the font on those sentiments!!  The airplane and compass are from a fabulous Art of the Card set, AC007 Past Times.  I just love this set for making masculine cards!  I used PS608 Latte Layering Paper for the card base - what a yummy color; it's one of my faves.  I stamped the map onto a piece of Basic Grey patterned paper from the Serenade 6x6 paper pad.

I'm sure to make cards galore with all my new supplies, but I have just one more card to share today.  This one's a thank you card using the new CL673 Love Jar clear set.  I love everything about this set, especially the jar.  But I've already seen several amazing cards using the jar, including by Nichol Magouirk here and Sandy Allnock here.  So what to do??  I decided to use the flower and stems to make a bunch of flowers.  The sentiment from CL663 Thanks a Bunch worked perfectly with my bouquet.  I inked the flowers with Distress Markers for a soft look (no water used) and stamped them on Hero Arts PS610 Snow Layering paper.  I left a bit of a white border so they wouldn't be so flimsy and tied them with a bit of purple raffia.  The scalloped card base is by Bazzill - I have bunches of these in many colors - love them!!

Hope you enjoyed this stop on the Hero Hostess Blog Hop!   Next, head over to the fabulous Arlene's blog where you're sure to find even more inspiration!

But before you go, remember to leave me a comment for the chance to win a fabulous prize from Hero Arts (see their deadline above)!  In addition, if you tell me in your comment which is your favorite Clear Set from the Hero Arts 2013 Catalog, you'll be entered in a separate random drawing for a chance to win that set (plus some other goodies) from me.   Deadline to enter my drawing is midnight PST Friday 1/18/13 and I'll publish the winner in a post on Saturday.  Good luck and thanks for hopping with us!