Hi all – I’ve arrived home and am very slowly acclimating to life back in the States. So strange not to hear shouts of “Mzungu!” in the streets or hear the sounds of bush babies, howling dogs, and roosters at night. 
So much to share from the trip. I’ll get started on day-by-day entries this week (similar to my journal from my trip to China). It’s hard to really put the experience in words… but I can say that it really gave me an appreciation for what we take for granted each day, as well as an appreciation for the spirit and joy of the African people.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share a card I made before my departure that uses new Hero Arts stamp sets for 2010. For those that have requested a video tutorial of my HA blog hop cards – I’ll be putting something together for you soon!
Big hugs,
January 16th, 2010
Welcome to the Hero Arts blog hop! I’m so excited to have the opportunity to share some of the latest and greatest 2010 catalog stamps with you.
To get us started… take a look at this fab Poppy Background. I have to admit, poppies are my favorite flowers, and so I couldn’t wait to create with this one! It’s also a cling stamp which makes it really easy to stamp and super easy to store. Click on below to see a larger image.
I stamped the negative-space image using brown ink on white cardstock, and then colored it in with a variety of Copic markers (see supply list below). I added small dots of Diamond Stickles to the flower centers for extra shimmer. The sentiment comes from a new 2010 PolyClear set called “Essential Messages”. Don’t you just love the classic font?
Supplies:
* CG140 Poppy Background
* CL371 Essential Messages
* Memento Rich Cocoa Ink
* Diamond Stickles
* White and black cardstock
* Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
* Copic Markers: Y11, R22, R08, R29, YG03, G24
Next up are two birthday cards featuring a butterfly from the new Antique Engravings set. I pulled out my Copics again to color each butterfly. Next, I trimmed them out and added some thin black wire to create antennae. By adding glue dots to the center of each butterfly, you can pop up the wings for dimension. The card base was made from two Nestabilities scalloped circles (with the back one creased so the card will open easily), and the sentiment comes from the Essential Messages set again. (I know I’m going to use this one again and again!) Add some bling to your card using small 2mm gemstones for a butterfly trail…
Supplies:
* CL383 Antique Engravings
* CL371 Essential Messages
* Memento Bamboo Leaves Ink
* White & green cardstock
* Green Patterned Paper (Marcella & Basic Grey)
* Black wire (Making Memories)
* Nestabilities Scallop Circle and Classic Circle Dies
* Copic Markers: Y11, Y21, V17, V04, V15, B24, B21, W3
* CH112 2mm Gemstones
Want to see more? Well hop on over to TIFFANY ERVIN’S BLOG next for more creative inspiration! Thanks for dropping by and happy stamping!
December 18th, 2009
Here’s a happy birthday card I threw together with my Silhouette die-cut machine. I LOVE that thing (totally worth every penny I spent!). The possibilities are really endless with what you can create. In this example… the frame, dotted line, and sentiment were cut out with it and I added Prima flower accents, a rub-on, and some Hero Arts pearls to embellish. The embossed background texture is Swiss dots (Cuttlebug). TFL!
December 13th, 2009
Can’t wait to share some of the wonderful new catalog goodness with you! Hop on by Dec 18th for some sample projects. You’re going to love these images!
In the meantime, I’ll be posting some fun new cards over the coming days. (Have saved up dozens of cards to share with you from the last couple of months.)
Hugs,
Laura
December 10th, 2009
Just thought I’d share a card that is featured on the Hero Arts blog this week. I absolutely adore these new Halloween images. How cute is that Frankenstein?!?! You can get tips & tricks for making this card and several others over on the Hero Arts blog HERE.
There were also several other fabulous color schemes to inspire on the blog this week. Be sure to check them out & thanks for dropping by!
September 12th, 2009
Based on all the sneak peaks I’ve seen of the summer CHA show in Orlando, cherries are all the rage right now! Here’s a cheerful lil’ birthday card I whipped up using a small sparkle clear set from Hero Arts (CL320). The polka dot background was stamped with cotton white Stazon ink.
Helpful hint: Use a white gel pen to ink any spots that did not stamp fully on your background.
August 5th, 2009
Hero Arts recently sponsored a monochromatic week on their blog. It inspired me to play with a few different monochromatic colors including one of favs…purple!
Stamps, ink, & felt flowers are Hero Arts.
Supply List:
PS533 Summer Notecards
CH177 Summer Felt Flowers
CH137 Medium Accent Pearls
CH136 Small Accent Pearls
S5101 Raindrop Background
AF134 Soft Lilac Shadow Ink
VS197 Boysenberry Versacolor cube
Sponge for inking base of card and edges
Doodlebug paper frill border
Tips:
Add contrast to the base of your card using a sponge and ink a shade darker than your notecard for a nice gradient finish.
Turn white pearls into lavender ones (or the color of your choice!) by coloring them with permanent markers.
August 4th, 2009
When I heard about the I {heart} Hero Arts blog hop, I had to join in the fun! Thanks goes out to Ashley M. for organizing.
The challenge was to create a thank you card in honor of Hero Arts that uses your fav HA stamps. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite to work with – so I just selected two that have been seeing a lot of ink lately… S5208 Designer Woodgrain & an owl from the LP131 Four Stylish Owls.
Other supplies: Chocolate notecards, White staz-on, & acetate notecard (all Hero Arts), ribbon (Hobby Lobby), stapler, Mega/Giga scallop punches (Marvy), Vanilla/Caramel cardstock (SU!), Corner Rounder (Fiskars), Copic Markers, google eyes, Versamark, white embossing powder
Ashley gave all the hoppers two questions to answer:
The first is to tell your Hero Arts story and how you got started using Hero Arts products.
I still remember the first time I saw the real flower line in a local stamp store when I first started stamping about 5 years ago. Wow – what gorgeous flower images! I just had to have them all.
I also fell in love with the font used in their sentiment stamps at the time…and I still love those stamps today:
The second question is to tell why we are thankful for Hero Arts. Wow! There are so many reasons.
* Hero produces a wonderful, quality product and have brilliant designs in both wood-mount & clear stamp sets
* Hero is a “green” company and have taken conscious steps to minimize their carbon footprint
* The people associated with Hero couldn’t be nicer… from the shipping department to the CEO, I’ve only had the best of interactions with everyone I’ve come into contact with.
* Their generosity…man, have you seen all the cool giveaways Hero has done in the last year?!?!
* Hero really listens to their customers and are constantly searching for ways to improve how they do business – have I said how AWESOME the new webpage is?!?!?!
* Having the opportunity to share my love of Hero with the online community as a member of the web design team. It’s been a dream come true to be a part of this talented group of ladies, and I can’t say enough good things about my experience so far!
Make sure you drop by the blog hop to see everyone else’s projects, and hope you have a great weekend!
~Laura
July 24th, 2009
My fav stamp company, Hero Arts, is launching a new look for their website & blog this week. I can’t wait to see the new surprises they have in store for us on July 15th!
To celebrate, the folks over at Hero are being ultra-generous and giving away incredible prizes! Just check out the blog and leave comments every day for your chance to win. Believe me…today’s prize package is amazing and they are giving away not one, but two!
To start off the week, Hero asked some of their web designers and hostesses to create projects inspired by the website. I made a set of five onesies inspired by a T-shirt stamp craft in the archives. It was made by the ever-so-talented Barb Hache a while back. Here’s a sneak peak of the onesies…but go check out the Hero blog for the supply list, a full image, & more info! And don’t forget to leave a comment for your chance to win the prize!
July 13th, 2009
I thought I’d share a couple of “green” projects I made recently for the Hero Arts website that combine two of my favorite things…polymer clay and rubber stamping!
First up is this lil’ tin – that turns trash into treasure! This was made from a round altoid tin and uses some darling new Hero Arts stamps. I *HEART* that deer! And the background cloud stamp is greeat too. You can click on the picture for a larger image.
Never used polymer clay & curious how? Or are you an expert that wants to make a quick gift for a friend? Check out the step-by-step video HERE.
Second up is an elegant Kanji necklace. This is SUPER easy project to make, and uses those burnt out incandescent light bulbs you haven’t gotten around to throwing out yet. Turn them into jewelry molds! I filmed another step-by-step video you can see HERE. Hope you enjoy them and happy stamping!
July 13th, 2009
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