Welcome to my stop on the Hero Arts 45th Anniversary Celebration Bloghop! There aren’t many things that last for 45 years – in crafting especially! Some of my earliest stamps were Hero Arts ones – oh the memories….and they’re still in business all this long time later! See more details about the hop at the end of this post, as well as the link to see who’s next; it’s a 3 day hop so you might want to have a cup of coffee handy for hopping along!

They sent me one stamp set and its dies from their “from the vault” collection of older designs – and do you think maybe they know me a little, by choosing Cute Animals for me to color?? Whee! I combined them with some Acetate cards that have been collecting dust on my shelf….they’re always a fun way to add something super special to a card.

Today’s cards answer a question that comes up about coloring: do I color up to the edge of an image, and how do I do it without the marker blobbing at the edge where I stop? Well here’s a different way for scene-makers to color without that blobby line – just add the stamped image later on. I decided to spend *all*day*long* coloring for this post, though only had the camera on for one of the backgrounds. See pics of the rest of them all below the video!
Compensated affiliate links may be used – that means if you make a purchase using my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support of my work on this blog! Read more.
View my affiliate partners HERE.
Watch the video below or click HERE to see it in HD on YouTube.
Wasn’t that fun? Hopefully it gives another idea for a way to add a scene without having to “stop” your marker stroke when you reach an image – just keep going, and add the image on the front of the acetate! You can certainly add a diecut directly onto the image, too – but the acetate gives it more of a “reason” to be glued on top. And you can also change up the colors from one fall class to make a year’s worth of tree scenes!

Coupon code for classes
If you’re new to me on this hop, HI! I’m Sandy and I love to color SO much that I started a teaching site – Copic classes are of course available as I talked about in the video; but you can learn about colored pencil and watercolor – or drawing classes, Bible Journaling and some inexpensive and super fun art classes for kids. Poke around and you might find something that’ll make your heART happy! And just for fun – I added a coupon code just for blog hoppers…yep it’s our little secret: use code hero to get 10% off adult classes throughout Memorial Day weekend!
The rest of the cards
See the captions below each card with a little more about each one and which class you can learn that background technique.







Bloghop!
As always, bloghop celebrations have not only massive creativity to inspire you, but also a huge list of prizes – so you’re going to want to join in on this one! Winners will be drawn from people who leave comments along the blog hop over the three days – comment all three days for more chances to win! Comment by Sunday, June 2 at 11:59pm PST, and they will announce the winners on the Hero Arts blog the following week.
PS: Don’t forget: on my teaching site, you can use coupon code hero for 10% off through Memorial Day weekend on all adult classes!
The next stop on the bloghop is Simon Says!

Such a great idea for all those cute animals! I have never seen something like that before. Thanks for sharing your cards.
Wow, you are an amazing artist! I’ve never seen anything like your beautiful backgrounds. Terrific cards and love your use of acetate also. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing more creative ways to use acetate. Your cards came out so well! Super fun ideas.
Adorable cards! The idea for creating the pretty background scenes and then using acetate to add the focal point on top is wonderful! Thanks for the inspiration!
Happy Anniversary. Thanks for the chance to win.
These cards are so creative! I love all the different scenes for these adorable animals. Thank you for sharing your amazing talent!
These are just adorable. The acetate is quite a lovely touch and unexpected.
Such adorable cards! I love your background scenes!
OMG I love these critter (especially pandas) cards! And I love acetate cards. I have to make these!
Hi Sandy 🙂 I love these acetate cards!!! It really places the emphasis on the critter…and cute they are! I’ve worked a little with vellum but never with acetate…something new to put on my “to try” list! You always inspire me! Thanks 🙂
Thanks for sharing your creativity!
All of your cards are beautiful! I love the cute critters and backgrounds. Thanks for sharing your creativity.
Sandy, your coloring is awesome. I don’t know how you do it, I’m going to commit to more video time with you. Thank you for the awesome lesson
Love all your cards cute panda card. Nice blog hop.
These critter cards are adorable and super-cool looking with the acetate!
Oh wow! Awesome set of cards! Layouts, details and colors are amazing!!!
I think you had lots of fun with these cards! They sure look like fun! I love that you used an acetate front panel. These are all so cute I can’t seem to pick a favorite!
What a wonderful set of cards – so bright and fun. You’ve inspired me with the acetate cards … I must get my stash out and use it! You have made an amazing showcase of Hero Arts stamps and products.
Wow! Love the acetate cards. Almost looks like the critters are floating! Great color!
Oh my gosh, you are always so creative and I love these sweet little critter scenes!
hello Sandy, love, love your cards. Beautiful. By the way I would be honor to receive one of your cards even the hipo one with the crooked sentiment.
I like the use of the acetate on your cards-so cute. And your coloring is great-so talented.
Cute critters on the lovely cards!
Lots of cute critters on these acetate cards. Love the coloring.
Your cards are so beautiful ! They remind me of some books I had when I was a kid, with transparent pages layering over the other ones.
And I admire your copic marker drawing skills as well as the huge amount of work you put in there !!
You’re such an artist !
Awesome cards Sandy, I love how you made them with the acetate cards and put the critters on top of them. Gorgeous backgrounds as always.
Thank you so much for showing your great inspiration.
Dear Sandy
Oh my God your cards and coloring are really out of this world. I was just wondering what acetate cards are. Thank you for teaching all the things i learnt today. I am going to bk mark your blog and come back again. Love and hugs
You are a master at coloring! Love the panda card! Pinned your video and will give it a try!
Such gorgeous cards, I’m gonna have to make some acetate cards now, or even order the card bases from Hero Arts! Very nice .
I love all of these cute cards! Thanks for the video showing how to color one of the scenes and explaining the rest.
Thank you for the tips! I really appreciate your instruction and can’t wait to try this, your backgrounds are amazing
These cards are all so cute! And what a great technique and clever idea. Thanks for the inspiration. Your work is amazing, as always.
What a fun and brilliant design! Your scenes are the best.
Such fabulous cards. The backgrounds are just gorgeous and the critters are so cute. This idea is so clever, I will have to try it.
I love these little critters as well, they just so adorable. Your backgrounds are amazing.
Cute little critter cards – so fun!
Your cards are so clever an so much fun, Sandy! Love to watch your videos and catch up with your helpful hints and ideas! Thanks for sharing your wonderful inspiration!