Background Stamping Color Trends Challenge

The photograph(s) in the challenge inspiration board are by Flying House Studios and from our very own designer, Tina Fussell!

Jackie Leventhal, founder of Hero Arts, has come a long way from the Berkeley cottage where she started her business in the mid-70′s. As an art teacher, she began making stamps in her home with an old, borrowed vulcanizer. Soon her creations were in great demand, not just by her students, but also at craft fairs (butterflies, a dancing frog, and a big sun were early favorites). Hero Arts was born.

By 1981, Hero Arts was a vital force in the growing stamp movement. Craft fairs led to gift shows; local retail trade grew into national and even international distribution. The company evolved into an industry leader. Hero Arts innovated the color label top. The Hero Arts catalog has won gold and silver medals numerous times over the past decade. And, Hero Arts was even awarded a US Patent for original paper designs. Every product we make today has the simple elegance of Jackie’s original vision.

Today, despite tough economic times, Hero Arts is a thriving company that has not compromised its quality or original founding goals. Hero Arts is an industry leader, and considered the innovator in the stamp, cardmaking and scrapbooking markets. Plus, as the company turns 35 years old in 2009, Hero Arts remains committed to its original founding family ethic: company founder Jackie Leventhal is the Design Director, her son Aaron Leventhal is the CEO, and Aaron’s cousin Todd Mullins is the Vice President of Sales.

We remain passionate about stamping, obsessed with quality, and dedicated to our customers. Since our founding we’ve relied on our customers to inspire and sustain us. Thank you for your ideas, comments, and creativity.

Don’t forget to visit the Hero Club Blog for creative inspiration every day!

This challenge requires you to create a card, scrapbook layout, or altered item using the color challenge and stamp a background. Background stamping is a great technique for paper crafters because it allows designers to create their own custom patterned paper. You may use background patterned stamps or single image stamps to customize your own patterns. We want to see the great patterns and designs you can create!

The main colors are featured in the challenge inspiration board above. Keep the colors of your project as close to the colors in the challenge image. Remember, colors can be incorporated into your project in more ways than cardstock. The neutral tones for this challenge have been highlighted in the color challenge (white and black).

Upload a photo of your project to your blog or online gallery, such as Flickr, then copy the direct link to your project/post to the embedded link widget below or on one of the design team’s blogs. If you do not have a direct link to your blog/gallery posting that features the challenge, your link may be deleted. If it is deleted, no biggie, just come back and re-link the correct link! Only links left in the link widget will be considered for challenge submissions.

NOTE: **If you are having difficulties with our link widget, please click the question mark link to get help from their blog. They offer useful step-by-step instructions.

IE v6 Browser Users: The link widget is not compatible with IE version 6. Please feel free to download Firefox for free here. You can also update your IE browser here. Sorry for any inconvenience in the cross-browser issues, but we hope you give Firefox a try!

We also have a Flickr Group available to share your projects. Please add your projects to Embellish Magazine Flickr group.

If you want to use the graphic above, feel free to, but make sure you right-click and choose the “Save Image As” choice to save it to your computer, then upload to your blog!

After the challenge ends, the design team will select top designers who created hot projects to highlight. The designers will be highlighted in a blog posting. You can find all blog postings related to challenge winners in the category menu in the footer below, called “Embellish What’s Hot.”

Additionally, there will be a designer who will be featured and will win Hero Arts stamps (Flower Text and Thank You Definition). The winner must contact Embellish within 48 hours of the announcement. We reserve the right to select a new winner if the designer makes no contact.

Hero Arts manufactures great background patterned stamps. Crafters have a choice of using wood block stamps or cling stamps. Additionally, Hero Arts offers single image stamps that allows designers to customize stamped patterns to their desire. The design team has inked up their Hero Arts stamps and created their own patterns. Take a peek below, then click on over to their blog to view the project in more detail.

Ashley created a clean and simple thank you card using Diagonal Dictionary Type, Designer Woodgrain, and Essential Messages stamps. She created her own background on the card front and also the framed embellishment.

Charlene made a cute card embellished with tags. She used Diagonal Dictionary Type and Thank You Definition stamps to design this card.

Cristina create a text themed hello card. She used Dictionary Greeting and Flower Text stamps to make this cheery card.

Mariana designed a sweet thank you card, full of flowers and text. She stamped the Dictionary Greeting stamp to create her own book text patterned paper.

Sarah designed a shabby chick thinking of you card. She compiled a few Hero Arts stamps, including Word Pops, Manuscript Background, and Essential Messages.

Tina designed a cute thank you card, perfect for a hostess using Word Pops stamps to create a background. She also used Row of Houses as a feature on this card.

Click the image above for additional rules. There are new rules, so please visit the link. Your entry may be deleted if your submission is also a part of a lot of other challenges.

Challenge ends Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST