Friday 29 December 2017

Take It Make It Challenge: December Winners!

Hello everyone!
We are so pleased to announce the winners of our December Challenge!

As you all know, we have two winners to announce today, so without further ado, let me introduce you to the Design Winner.....

Entry Number 69: Cornelia






We loved the quirky birds with their wonderfuuly vibrant blast of colour!  Cornelia will win a Guest Designer slot here on the blog, her very own Winners Profile, and of course her amazing art will be featured in it's own 2 page spread in Craft Stamper magazine! Congrats !

We also have the remaining top slots to announce!

The remaining Top Three are:

Entry number 10: Jane
Entry Number 75: WuWu


Wonderful projects ladies!

We now need to share the randomly chosen winner with you all!
This winner will receive the prize offered by our sponsor this month:


Stampin' Unicorn



Stampin' Unicorn is a wonderful new stamp brand, made in the UK and distributed by Polkadoodles! You may have seen their launch show on Hochanda, such a runaway success that many of the products sold out :) We have a wonderful prize of THREE stunning stamp plates and two paper packs for our randomly drawn winner!







Congratulations to our winner:




Entry Number  83: Delphine

      Congrats Delphine, I think you'll have a wonderful time  playing with your new goodies!

Winners, you need to need to get in touch with me in order to claim your prize!  Please email me at: editor.cs@mytimemedia.com , and put TIMI Winner in the subject line, then I'll be sure to spot it! 
Top Three Design Winners, also please contact me if you wish to receive a button to display on your blog.


Our January challenge will be launched next Friday, January 5th.
We can't wait to see all the wonderful art you will all be sharing!

Friday 22 December 2017

Wishing You A Merry Christmas!

All the team at Craft Stamper would like to wish all our much valued readers a very Merry Christmas!
May your Holidays be happy, relaxing and above all creative!
We can't wait to see all the amazing creations that will be a result of all those crafty Chrismas presents :)

We would like to share a Christmas card created by talented reader Denise van Deventer today, we love it!




 We Wish You A Merry Christmas
 by Denise van Deventer



MATERIALS LIST

STAMPS: BoBunny – Santa & Friends; BoBunny – Snowflakes; BoBunny – Feeling Festive; Jennifer Ellory – Festive Flourishes
INKS: Ranger - Distress Oxides Iced Spruce; Ranger - Distress Oxides Peacock Feathers; Ranger - Distress Ink Candied Apple; Versafine – Onyx Black
OTHER: Sizzix – Thinlits Green Garden Die; Ultimate Crafts – Liquid Drops Rouge;
Pentart – Structure Paste; BoBunny – Pearlescent Sugar



I created the background with the Iced Spruce Distress Oxide and some water, for a snowy, hazy effect. I then layered white cardstock, edged again with Iced Spruce to create the hills. I then added the trees and also stamped the snowflakes. I added pearlescent drops to create the sparkles on the trees and the centres of the snowflakes.  Lastly, I stamped the reindeer and stamped and fussy-cut the Santa. I used the Pentart Structure paste on the Santa’s beard to give it some fluffy texture.



Saturday 16 December 2017

Blog Exclusive: Elizabeth Robinson

Good Morning!
We're very lucky today.... the amazing Elizabeth Robinson is sharing a gorgeous Christmas Journal with us!
It's just stunning....




Elizabeth has shared a tutorial for this gorgeous Journal, so I'll hand you over to her right now :)

I love to have beautiful little journals to keep all my notes and lists safely in one place. And as the signatures are interchangeable in the Passport Book, you can swap them out as they fill up for new ones.
A great way of building up a background layer on a project is by adding collaged elements of scrap papers. I've used pieces of a vintage music score, book pages and some tissue paper that was wrapped around a gift.

Once the collage medium is dry I always go over the whole thing with a layer of white gesso, to knock back the colour, make it more uniform and add tooth to the surface. That way if I do want to add colour over the top, it has a surface to grab hold on.

It also gives me a great neutral surface to add stamping. For an extra layer of depth, I add stamping in two different shades, for contrast and also balance. 


MATERIALS LIST

Stamps Elizabeth used...
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Holiday Drawings CMS284

Other materials...

Sizzix Eileen Hull Die: Passport Book.
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink: Iced Spruce.
Tsukineko StazOn Ink: Cloudy Sky
Tsukineko Versafine Ink: Onyx Black.
IndigoBlu: White GeeSsoGood; Black GeeSsoGood; Matt Slap It On.
Vintage Doily.
Sequins.
Groves: Waxed Linen Thread.
Self Adhesive Gems.
Seam Binding.
Book Paper.
Vintage Music Score.
Tissue Paper.
Chipboard.
Grey Paper.
Mini Bulldog Clips.

Step-by-step…

Step 1
Die-cut the passport book from chipboard and assemble. Once dry layer up pieces of music, book and tissue papers to the outer covers and give them a coat of white gesso.




Step 2
Stamp the snowflakes in a random pattern using Cloudy Sky StazOn ink, and add the sentiment in Onyx Black Versafine ink. Give them a quick blast with a heat tool, to make sure the ink is dry.




Step 3
After adding the elastics to hold the signatures in your book, add a section of a doily across the outside of the spine, allowing the shape to sit across the covers. Add splatters of white gesso to the whole book.







Step 4
Stamp the Deer's head onto gesso'd book page, add colour using Prisma Colour pencils and fussy cut around him.
Add the Deer to the front cover of the book along with sequins, gems and black splatters of gesso. Finish off by adding mini bulldog clips tied with seam binding as a fastener.






Step 6
Make the signatures up in grey paper, bind with waxed linen thread and add stamping before adding into the finished book cover.




WOW!
Thanks so much Elizabeth, the journal is wonderful, just perfect for all those Christmas thoughts.....

We adore that as elastics are used for the signatures, they can be added to, or changed if you wish..

 

The texture of the lace doily on the front is gorgeous.....


  Amazing!

 



We are running a giveaway over on our Facebook page in conjunction with this feature.... one lucky winner will have a chance to get their hands on the hard-to-find Eileen Hull Passport Book die, as used by Elizabeth in this stunning project! To enter, please hop on over to our Facebook page here:
(Giveaway is an FB only giveaway, and runs from 9am GMT 16/12/17 to 12 noon GMT 23/12/17)



Friday 15 December 2017

Take It Make It Challenge: Winner's Profile

Hello!

Welcome to our Winners Profile, showcasing the Design Winner of our last Blog Challenge!

The very talented Design Winner of our November 2017 challenge is

Preeti Datta



Preeti won the challenge with this beautiful card! We loved the fabulous mixed media layers, such a wonderful effect! All the elements tie so beautifully together.





We asked Preeti a few questions all about stamping (well, we are Craft Stamper after all!)



Q: How long have you been a stamper, and how did you get started?

A: I’ve been a stamper for about a year now and I started after watching a few inspirational crafting videos on Youtube.


Q: What are your favourite kinds of stamps, and do you have a favourite stamp company?

A: I’m addicted to stamps so it is difficult to pick my favourites. I really love stamps with unique artsy designs and meaningful quotes. There are many stamp companies I love and I like to explore ones that are new to me. STAMPlorations, Visible Image and Winnie & Walter are among my favourites. 

 

Q: Describe your style, are you a messy kind of stamper or a more ‘clean and simple’ kind of person?

A: I have an eclectic crafting style. I enjoy making layered as well as CAS projects. It all depends on my mood.



Q:What kind of projects do you like creating the most?

A: I love making mixed media layouts and tags but my first love is card making. The joy of creating a card (any style) is unparalleled for me.



Q: Apart from stamps, what is the one product you wouldn’t be without when you craft?

A: A good craft mat because it saves me a lot of time in cleaning up afterwards.



We also asked Preeti to show us  favourite stamped creations,  and share why she likes them so much. Here are the gorgeous projects she has chosen:




"I really enjoyed making this art journal page because I used a decoupage paper for the first time in my art journaling and it was fun to stamp & color it and give it my own twist"- Preeti




"I love the blue hues and the clean and simple nature of this layout. I think it conveys the sentiment “beauty in simplicity” well" - Preeti




Congratulations on being our September Design Winner Preeti, and it was lovely to learn a little more about you!



Do YOU fancy having a winners profile all about you on the CS blog? 

The profile is part of the prize package for each Design Winner of our challenges. All you need to do is enter a creation into the challenge, then if you are voted Design Winner everyone will be reading all about you before you know it!

Tuesday 12 December 2017

Art Call: Ready Set Stamp Gallery

Ready Set Stamp: Reader Submissions Wanted!

THANK YOU so much for all the fabulous cards submitted for our last art call, it was so hard to choose just a few to publish! We can now announce the next theme.....
We are looking for submissions for our Ready, Set, Stamp feature on the following theme for our April 2018 issue of Craft Stamper. If you've always wanted to see YOUR card in print, now is your chance!




Colours: Aloe Green, Buttercup Yellow, Sky Blue, Scarlet.

Deadline for submission: 9th January 2018


· Please email your submissions to: editor.cs@mytimemedia.com
· Please put 'Ready Set Stamp' followed by the theme in the subject line
· Please note that due to the number of submissions it's not possible to contact every entrant individually - if you have not heard from us within one week, your submission has not been successful. Please try again with a different card!


Guidelines:

  •  Please make cards only for this gallery.
  • Please follow both the theme AND the colour scheme when creating your cards!
  • NEW work only please, we do not accept cards that have been published elsewhere (including online) before submission.  
  •  Stamps used MUST be available to buy currently, either from a UK stockist or a stockist with an international shipping policy that ships to the UK.
  • We do not accept cards ONLY created with digital imagery for this feature. Digital imagery is welcome, but  MUST be used in conjunction with rubber/polymer stamping to qualify.
  •  Cards which are selected need to be posted to the Craft Stamper offices in the UK. The cards will be returned, along with a complimentary issue of the magazine.
  • This call IS open internationally.
  • Note that we do choose artwork as it arrives, so please don't wait until the last minute to submit if your cards are ready.
  •  Black, white and metallics can be added to any of the schemes. The ideas given are simply that, ideas, and do not have to be followed to the letter!
  • Text for this article is required (don't worry - it is short!) and should be entered into the document provided – this will be sent to you if you are selected.
  •  
We can't wait to see your fabulous creations!  

Friday 8 December 2017

Take It Make It Challenge: December Inspiration

Hello!
Our current Take It Make It challenge is in full swing, with some amazing entries so far!
Just in case you need a little more inspiration, the DT have come up with some more amazing projects to share today :) First though, a bit of a reminder.....


This year, we are pleased to announce that ALL of our challenges will be 'Anything Goes' stamping challenges!
So....Show us how unique you can be, create anything your imagination cares to dream up! Share your cards, journal pages, layouts, 3D assemblage or whatever else takes your fancy. As long as you have stamped somewhere on your project, then you're good to go!

We have two prizes on offer, as always. The first is the Sponsor Prize, and the winner of this will be randomly chosen from all the eligible entries of the challenge. To make sure your project is eligible to win, make sure you have followed our challenge guidelines. These can be found on our sidebar over here ---------->
and also in a tab under the banner at the top.
PLEASE REMEMBER: We only want to see ONE project in each individual blog post entry!
A set counts as more than one :)
 
Our sponsor this month is....

Stampin' Unicorn



Stampin' Unicorn is a wonderful new stamp brand, made in the UK and distributed by Polkadoodles! You may have seen their launch show on Hochanda, such a runaway success that many of the products sold out :) We have a wonderful prize of THREE stunning stamp plates and two paper packs for our randomly drawn winner!





 I hope the prize has given you all an incentive to win...... and how about some MORE amazing eye candy from the DT to give you some beautifully stamped inspiration! 




Wow!
Amazing inspiration from the DT!
The link up tool to enter the challenge can be found on last Fridays post HERE!

Monday 4 December 2017

Craft Stamper Blog Challenge Design Team 2018

Hello!
The whole Craft Stamper team would like to extend such a huge THANK YOU to all those who applied to be part of our Blog Challenge Design Team going forward into 2018.
We were very nearly overwhelmed with the sheer volume of AMAZING art we've looked at over the past couple of weeks, the task of narrowing down the entries was such a difficult one!

However,  we eventually came to a decision, and we are thrilled to announce that the Blog Challenge team for 2018 will be:

Amy Almeida
Cheetarah Cheda 
Donna Gray
Jennalee Anderson
Nikki Acton
Melina Dahl
Preeti Datta
Sarah Gray 
Suz Humphreys


 along with returning members:

Cheremane Smith
Elina Stromberg
Elizabeth Robinson
Ellie Knol
Jolande van Oosterhout
Linda Walmsley
Majo Wybranietz
Mandi Mance
Shirley Bampton

We are so pleased to have a team emcompassing a wide variety of styles, something for everyone to be inspired by!
Our team will alternate on the blog, providing a wealth of eye candy to tempt you to join in with one of the most popular challenges on the internet!

Check out our January challenge, starting on January 5th, for the debut from the team..... although our December challenge is still open for everyone to take part in right now!

Have a lovely week,
Trish and all the Craft Stamper team xxx