Friday 24 July 2009

I {HEART} Hero Arts Blog Hop!

WARNING LONG POST BUT IT"S WORTH IT!!! SWEETNESS AT THE END ;)

Today is the day for the I {HEART} Hero Arts Blog Hop that Ashley over at Cherry Hill Designs has wonderfully organized for everyone who {HEARTS} Hero Arts to join in and give a BIG THANK YOU to ALL at Hero Arts for what they do & to show them how much we enjoy and appreciate everything that they have done & continue to do every week on their BLOG.

You can join in with the fun & check over HERE for all the Blog Hop sites to visit. The first thing was to make a Thank You Card for Hero Arts using our favorite stamps. I made this card using two of my favorite stamps in this weeks Hero Arts Challenge theme - Monochromatic! I'm really loving ALL color at the minute so I found it quite card choosing a color! I had not made a card using Brown hues this week for the challenge so that was my starting point!


Sparkly close up!

{Ingredients}
Card Stock: SU! Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel. PTI Kraft
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip & Close to Cocoa. PTI Vintage Cream
Stamps: Hero Arts Heart Winged Butterfly F5158 & Black & White Flowers F5132
Accessories: Corner Rounder SU! Gems Papermania, Stickles Ranger, Foam Pads

I first found out about Hero Arts because of My Mothers passion for all things craft. I think it was in 1997 or there about my Mother started rubber stamping & card making and got me hooked on it too! While gathering rubber stamps from craft shops I came across a company called Hero Arts and on the stamp it had a website address. The internet was quite new to me then! But I went on & found their AMAZING website full of their stamps, ideas & tips! WOW! Was one of the first things that came to me & instantly I fell in LOVE with their stamps! Being in the UK it was often hard to come across them but NOW I can buy them in all sorts of places!! Thats how I came to KNOW and LOVE Hero Arts!! I have so many of their stamps that I can't pin point which was my first! LOL!

I am THANKFUL to Hero Arts for their generosity, fun & friendliness! When the Hero Arts Blog started last year it was a VERY hard time for me as I lost my Mother very suddenly. I started to join in on the weekly challenges as a way of coping & removing myself from all the stress. Through the HERO ARTS BLOG I found FRIENDSHIP and SUPPORT and most of all KINDNESS not only from the Hero Arts Team but also from many of the Flickr Members & I will NEVER forget how MUCH they helped me through such a HARD time. THAT is WHY I AM THANKFUL!

To show my THANKFULNESS to EVERYONE :) I AM CELEBRATING by HAVING A BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY! It is open to EVERYONE & ANYONE who leaves a comment on this post telling me what your favorite HERO ARTS stamp is! To be in for an extra chance of winning, LINK this post to your BLOG (don't for get to say you have linked me otherwise I won't know!) The Candy will be open until 9th August! I will announce the winner HERE and on FLICKR too! I will be adding a few more bits to the candy once I find where I have put them! LOL!


Thanks for HOPPING BY today! I really do appreciate it!

71 comments:

Julie Batta said...

Hi!! What a great monochromatic card. I love the butterfly and the flowers. My favorite stamp is the heart winged butterfly and you did such a great job with it. Here is my blog so you can check out my butterfly as well. :)
http://pocketfulofpaper.blogspot.com

Laura said...

Love the monochromatic scheme. Gorgeous! I would have to say my favorite HA stamp is the bold pop flower- has since been discontinued though :(

Kelly Booth said...

Wow..Beverly Love your Card and your Story...
You are so Generous with the blog Candy too!!!
Wold have to say my favotite Hero Arts stamp would be the houndstooth Bkg....I have SOOOO Many it is hard to choose!!

Kath Stewart said...

wow what a beautiful card Beverley...loved reading your story and hey I am just thinking are we supposed to be hopping already or is it too soon....my favourite hero arts stamp is the heart winged butterfly and I have linked your candy on my blog....hugs kath xxxx

Lin said...

Please don't include me in this generous giveaway, Beverley, but I wanted to comment to say how much I enjoyed your story. Thanks so much for sharing it. LOVE your card too! Wonder how many of us there will be who use this butterfly stamp this weekend? :)

Cathy A said...

Bev love this monochromatic card, and I think it is so generous of you to offer the giveaway, my favorite hero stamp has to be the heart winged butterfly...it works for so many projects. I have also linked your blog into mine.

Kryssi said...

u are so generous! and that mono card is wonderful! my fave hero stamp is... gee i dunno, maybe the thougthful messages set?

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful and serene card you created!
My fave stamp is probably the raindrop background one for it's versatility. I ordered it a month ago but still hasn't arrived, brrrr...

Debbie said...

That is such a beautiful card. I was touched reading your story as I lost my mother quite suddenly also and I know what is a tough thing to go through and it does take a lot of support. Hugs!
dedernc3

Stephanie said...

Your card is gorgeous! Love the soft neutral colours!
My favourite HA stamp - probably the Heart Winged Butterfly.

Unknown said...

This is Beautiful, Beverly!

krolski (kathy) said...

Love your card! I have several favs, but I love the patterned hearts, the big owl and the heart winged butterfly.

Heather Maria said...

Wonderful card. I love the colours and the sparkly butterfly. You are so generous with the blog candy. My favourite HA stamp set that I have is Precious Baby Boy. My favourite one that I haven't got yet is the Heart Winged Butterfly. It's on the long,long shopping list!!

Mabel said...

Fantastic color scheme!!! that butterfly is one of my favorite HA stamps!

Sue McRae said...

Pretty card Beverley! It's so hard to pick a favourite stamp! Hmmm, I love all the Poetic Prints leaf stamps (they are old) and the Dots and Flowers, it makes any card so elegant.

Nancy L. said...

Very cute card! I love my "share laughter" clear stamp set. HA was my first stamp purchase (I only started making cards last year)! Love them! Thanks!

Chris Millar said...

Oh Bev, I had no idea about your Mum. I'm so glad you've found us and we've found you! What fantastic card you've created for the hop!
My favourite HA stamp is the 'old french writing' background stamp, it was my first HA stamp and is still a fave!!
I've linked you to my blog too!!
Have a happy day!

DustyPenny (Joy Ott) said...

Just lovely, Beverly. You are so kind to offer blog candy, too.

I think my favorite stamp is the Manuscript Background because it is so versatile, but I truly love all of them!

I have linked this post on my blog! http://www.dustypenny.blogspot.com/

Marla said...

What a pretty card! Thank you for sharing your story about crafts. I think my favorite HA stamp is probably the tree from the Birds and Branches set. Thanks for the chance to win blog candy!

Chark said...

My favorite has to be the little tub of sweets...or is the the tub of animals? Or is it the tree? Hmmm...or the frogs? Let's just go with many of them are faves!

Unknown said...

Your card is gorgeous, Beverly!! And how sweet of you to offer a giveaway. Right now I'm loving the Outline Flowers DesignBlock stamp.

Unknown said...

Your card is gorgeous, Beverly!! And how sweet of you to offer a giveaway. Right now I'm loving the Outline Flowers DesignBlock stamp.

Alice said...

Wonderful monochromatic card! So beautiful. My favorite stamp is the Raindrop background! Even though I didn't use it for this blog hop, I think I reach for it the most when I need a background! I just linked you post to mine!!

Stamping Cafe said...

Simply gorgeous card, Beverly! Love your story too! So sweet of you to offer the blog candy too!

Jennifer said...

i love those two stamps together - the butterfly and flower. greta!

Unknown said...

that card is gorgeous. makes my lust for the heart winged butterfly grow more.

my favorite hero arts stamp is probably the patterned 4 hearts. at least at this moment it is.

cassie said...

Beautiful card!
It's difficult to choose my favorite Hero Arts stamp because I love so many of them. Right now I've been really into the DesignBlock called Dots and Flowers.

Tomo H. said...

Oh wow! Gorgeous card!!! There're so many great details!

CalleLillyCafe said...

I love all the owls & china girls!!

Amy M. said...

what a touching story. :)
i'm only starting to get into stamping. so i recently discovered hero arts, which is kind of weird because i've been in and out of scrapbooking for years. lol. anyways, my favorite stamps from hero arts are the background stamps.
thanks!

Pajalu said...

Beverley your card is so very pretty. I am also glad that you found such wonderful friends during such a stressful time in your life. Thank you for such a generous blog candy opertunity. I think at the moment I have two fav stamps the Heartwing Butterfly & the Dot & Flower stamp. They are perfect for just about any card.

jaemom said...

Oh, Beverly... what a beautiful card!! And I love your warm and touching story, it makes my heart glad! Thanks for sharing! One of my fav HA stamps is the DB Flourish.

Anonymous said...

Hi Bev! Well I KNEW a "part" of your story and YOU and your story STILL TOUCH MY HEART! YOU ARE SO SPECIAL, Bev!! I KNOW your MOM is STILL "stamping" with you and HAPPY that you've found LOTS of stamping friends to fill in for her right now.........well I know we can't ever fill her shoes, but WE CAN STAMP WITH YOU! You don't have to put me in the "drawing", I just wanted to talk to you and tell you how SPECIAL YOU ARE. I'm LOVING YOUR WORK and I'm SO INSPIRED BY YOU! I love YOU BIG, Bev. Love, Karen xo

laura vegas said...

i have a hard time with monochromatic schemes ... but i love what you came up with for this card. love your story .. very touching.

Jeanette said...

Such a beautiful card. I'm sorry for your loss, but glad you had something to turn to. My favorite Hero Arts stamp is the flourish background stamp. Thanks for the very generous giveaway!

Christine said...

That is such a beautiful card! I love how you did the butterfly.

I have lots of Hero Arts favorites, it's so difficult to pick just one!! Ok, i'll just go for a sentiment set: the pen and ink greetings :) although lately, i notice that i always reach for the tiny alphabet sets especially for scrapbooking

Megan R said...

Wow, what a generous giveaway!! My favourite stamp at the moment is the big cloud background. I don't have it yet, but really want it!! And of course I love ALL the owls! :o)

ivy said...

great story! TFS!

my fave stamp is big owl of course!!

didn't get to play in blog hop w/ family staying here but am hopping!

LaurieS said...

Love your monochromatic card (I used browns on one of mine too...though I think you did it better! LOL)

My favorite Hero Arts stamp is a sock monkey. I bought it awhile back when I was obsessing over sock monkeys and was looking for all things scrapbook related that were. My kids were even sock monkeys for Halloween! When I recently joined this group I was looking to see what HA stamps I had and was pleasantly surprised to see the sock monkey was. Yipee!

LaurieS said...

Oh, and I just linked you to my blog...here. http://laurieschwartz.blogspot.com/

donna mikasa said...

such a beautiful card...love the warm colors!
my favorite stamp is the raindrop background--so versatile!

Suzanne C said...

Lovely card and the story was wonderful! Thanks for sharing blog candy too!

Lucy Abrams said...

WHat a wonderful card - isn't it great that HA is now fairly easy to come by in the UK. Very generous blog candy Bev, how kind of you. Please don't enter me, I've won enough in the past year, but thank you for the opportunity :) X

Cathy A said...

Bev I love your blog and so I have nominated you as one of my circle of friends blog award details here
http://candronicoucardcraft.blogspot.com/

Rosemary said...

What a beautiful card! Your butterfly is so gorgeous! Sweet of you to have a giveaway, too!

Shanna said...

Your card is fantastic Beverly! Love the little popped leaves too! So cute! Thanks for sharing!

Gretchen said...

I really love the shades of brown, gorgeous card!

misstwinkletoe said...

Beverly - we have a lot in common. I used to live in Greatham when I was 11 so I know right where Hartlepool is. I work at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, and I got my mother into stamping many many years ago. She lives in Watford now.
I used to be a Hero dealer many years ago so they are my favorite stamps. I have hundreds of theirs from the old days when they first started. Love your blog and I will be back!!

Anne said...

Hi, Beverley! My favorite Hero Arts stamp is the Leaf Flourish. I have it in an Archiver's Exclusive set, AR135-Flourish Branch, but it also comes as a wood mount F5042-Leaf Flourish. Your butterfly card is beautiful! Love the Stickles! Happy Blog Hopping! :-)

Tracey said...

Beverly....really happy you showed the close-up of your butterfly...it is gorgeous!!! I would have to say this little stamp is my favorite too!...well at the moment anyway :)Loved reading your story..thanks for sharing. Sorry no blog to link to. Hugs, TRace

gocanucksgo said...

Hi Beverly! Thanks for doing this great giveaway! I love you card today, espeically the butterfly. My favourite stamps are the pattern butterfly set (sorry couldn't pick just one). Keep up the fantastic work =)

Arlene said...

I loved hearing your story. Thank you so much for sharing.

You're so great to offer some blog candy too. And it is so HARD to decide what my favorite stamp is... the Heart Winged Butterfly and Three Ferns are pretty much neck and neck right now... please don't make me choose... ok, the heart winged ferns..... :oP

Ashley M said...

So very pretty! Love all that brown!!! Hmm...I'm in love with cloud background right now! So fun!

Lucille K said...

Beverly,
One of my favorite Hero Arts stamps is the 3 ferns stamp. Thank you for the chance to win this wonderful blog candy. My blog is here:
http://whitepoints.blogspot.com/

Virginia L. said...

Hi Beverly! Love your creative card! You are one talented lady with a BIG heart for the blog givaway..my favorite stamp is Background Scallop Circle as I made numerous cards and had so much fun with it!

kim.mom said...

Love your card - all of them actually! I think my favorite Hero Arts stamp is my curious owl, although, I've just got started and have many on my wish list!

1scrappycat said...

wow, your card is simply stunning! I'll have to try a monochromatic card with browns!

Ann said...

What a lovely card. I would never have thought of browns for monochromatic cards, but it works beautifully!
Thank you for the chance to win your blog candy. I have put a link on my blog to your site.
Ann.

krolski kathy said...

Great card! My fav HA stamp is the heart winged butterfly, but I pretty much LOVE all HA stamps! :)

Michelle said...

What a beautiful card and lovely story. Hard to choose a favourite Hero Arts stamp. Right now it is the fanciful leaf filament stamp I have had forever.

Happy Summer :0)

Fika said...

Hello.. i love your mono card and you're so generous. Such yum candies!! I love LP146 asian dolls special edition.. Thanks for the chance to win. :)

Dawn T said...

Great card Beverley. I too used the butterfly as it is one of my favourite stamps. Loved your story and what a generous person you are.
I have made a comment on my blog
here
thanks

Kristina said...

Beautiful card Beverly - as always - and what a great story - HA will always be the first on my list - always something new - fave stamp probably the new cloud background - love making little scenes with my cards.

Anonymous said...

Your card is beautiful!!! The monochromatic scheme is soothing. I have FRAMES and MESSAGES and LOVE it. I make alot of personalized stationery so I put the frame around a computer generated name. donna
donnacalamari@msn.com

Gohn said...

I love the card! My favorite stamp is the raindrop background stamp cant seem to get enough of it!

Vanessa said...

Lovely card! And surprise surprise... the heartwinged butterfly is my favourite stamp! So generous to offer this candy!

Hugs,
Vanessa

Anita Rex said...

Wow what blog candy! My favorite stamp of HA currently is the Heartwinged Butterfly, which seems to be a favorite of well almost everyone! I love all the different things you can do with it and seeing what others do with it! Here's hoping I win your blog candy, I love the florish set!

3 Sons said...

What a great blog!

Hero has been my favorite for years. Picking a favorite stamp is harder. LOL! It would have to be something with Autumn so I'll say the Quatro set with leaves.

judy said...

I love the butterfly card that you
made for Karen. Your Hero Arts
history is very touching; glad that
your connection to HA has been a
comfort in hard times. Hero Arts is
my favorite company but choosing one
favorite stamp is nearly impossible.
I go in phases. My current favorites
are young deer, Asian dolls, dandelion and pattern butterflies.
Thanks for a chance to win.

Pippa67 said...

Beautifull card. And what a great blogcandy. My favorite stamp at the moment is the cloudbackground stamp. Can use it with so many different colors.

inge said...

actually... I don't have hero art stamps.. yet...
I have a lot of stamps, but most are from oxford impressions and mostly "vintage or realistic".

I saw some nice stamps on the website of Anne Gaal and she uses hero arts often. Maybe I should take time to hop over to the heroarts site...

It's sad to hear that you lost your mom and your companion in creating, but it's good that creating helped you to move on !

greetings from Belgium
Inge