Q&A and the first Card Drive prize…

Hi!  I am behind on answering questions around here.  I am so sorry.  From now on, I will try to answer your questions in the comments.  So, be sure to check there from now on. 🙂

Oh, and fun thing… this is my 100th post!  Wow.  Time flies.

Q: Hi Jennifer! If an item is not for sale on the Hero Arts website, do you have any suggestions on where I can find them?

A: There are many stores that have Hero Arts.  I highly recommend checking with your local stores – Hero is a big supporter of local stores. You can actually search for a store near you on the Hero Blog… it is on the bottom of the sidebar on the right.  Hero has a minimum order of 1 stamp, so stores can special order for you with no trouble.  As for chains, Archivers carries some Hero… some that are even exclusive to them.  But the other chains (Michaels, HL, etc.) only sell discontinued or older Hero stamps.  (That is one way Hero supports the local stores.)  For online, I know that 2Peas carries a lot and is starting to carry more and more.  Stampin’ Treasures is another online store that I have heard fabulous things about and they carry all the Hero line!  Be sure to look THERE.  It is heaven. 🙂 (And, if you are local, Stamp Your Art Out can order anything for you and carries a ton of it.  She is really good about getting whatever you need and places orders with Hero a lot! In fact, if you are out of town, I bet you can call her to get you stuff and she will ship it. Connie and her crew are the best.  Another store is Stampers Corner. It is in CA and the owner rocks.  I bet she could help you find product, too.)

Q: Another question from me-how do you photograph your cards? They always look great!

A: Thanks!  Well, I have this fancy light-box-photo-thing.  But currently it is on the shelf in the basement. 🙂 Instead, i just take pictures on my table in my scraproom.  I put a piece of cardstock on the table and prop one up against the drawers behind it.  Then I put my card on it and shoot away.  I shoot in RAW and therefore can fix the white balance.  But the thing that makes the biggest difference is that I adjust the levels in PS. (You can do in Elements, too, I think.)  I go into Levels and click the little white eyedropper.  Then I click something white on my project and it magically adjusts it.  Love that trick.  🙂  I am working on my PS video and will show this feature there.

Q: What kind of pencil sharpener do you use?

A: Well… it is a cheapo electric one from Staples.  It is Staples brand and bright blue and my son loves it.  (That is the reason many of my pencils are sharpened on both ends. 🙂  It happens to work well with my Prismacolors.

Q: How do store your stamps?

A: Ahh… I get this question a lot.  I just finished up my new clear stamp storage, which is in binders.  And I LOVE it.  Finally I found something that works for me.  I will share pictures soon.  And my wood-mounted stamps are all in cabinets on spice racks – love that system, too.  My scraproom was almost done and ready to share but then the girls summer started and KABOOM… a bomb went off. 🙂  They are with me a TON during the day down there.  In fact, Kay was down there form 8am until 5pm today.  Sewing, making cards, helping me organize.  Ahhh… I love it.  So, once we clean up again, I will get a video and pictures to share.

Q: Where did you get your jars? I love the size of yours & wouldn’t mind getting some like that…just curious.

A: The jars that I use for buttons and flowers are from Hobby Lobby.  They are super inexpensive.  I used to have ribbon in it but decided it was too much of a mess, so I switched to THIS system for ribbons.

By the way, thanks for all the rainy day ideas.  I am bookmarking them for the future! 🙂

Now… check this out!

Wow!!!  This is our first prize for the Card Drive!  The super sweet Heather Ruwe from Scrapbook Bakery is donating this box of goodies.  How can you win this?  Just read the details HERE.  Basically, you get an “entry” into winning a prize for each card you send in.  There will be more prizes like this, so be sure to send in some cards for those cute kids. 🙂  And be sure to visit Scrapbook Bakery.  This girl is so sweet and her kits are marvelous.  Go take a lookie as a thank you for her generosity!

Off to work on my Hero blog entry for tomorrow.  Night!