Take It, Make it challenge Two- a reminder!

Hello stampers!
I'm sure you are all aware of our blog challenge....but are you all aware that there is still time to play?!
Our current ripping/tearing challenge still has a week or so to go, so why not join in?
You can find all the details about how to play HERE
The winner gets their work published in Craft Stamper magazine, not to mention winning this gorgeous stamp from our sponsors Indigo Blu:

Have I tempted you yet? no? well how about some eye candy to inspire you!
Here are a few more examples of the ripping/tearing technique from our design team:

Carol Fox

Chris Dark

Gail Milburn

Trish Latimer

We can't wait to see your creations!

Love Trish x

Tutorial for Rub-on Resist Technique By Carol Fox

Hello, Carol here with my blog post for this month.

I have been having a little play with the new Remnant rub-ons available as part of the Idea-ology range. I have always love rub-ons, but I must admit I have in the past sometimes had problems getting some of them to work properly so I had always stuck to the 7Gypsies range. But I have to say the new Idea-ology rub-ons are easy to use and the images come out really well.

I have a sample to share that is based upon the resist technique that Tim Holtz has used on his blog recently. I have gone with a Steampunk theme for my tag.

Step 1

I applied my rub-ons to a size 8 tag, bear in mind that these will resist the ink you apply in the next stage so I tried to think where I would stamp my images before I applied my rub-ons as I wanted to my tag to look quite structured. I found the best way to do this was to lay it out on one tag and then apply the rub-ons to another tag as I removed them.

Step 2

I applied Distress Stain to my craft mat and swooshed my tag through it until I was happy with the coverage. I also coloured a short length of crinkle ribbon with the remains of the colour on the mat to use on my tag.

Step 3

I dried my tag and ribbon with my heat gun and as you can see the colours are a lot more muted now they are dry. You can also see how the rub-ons have resisted the distress stain background.

Step 4

I added some Vintage Photo Distress Stain to the tag by picking the colour up of my craft mat and flicking it onto my tag. I then spritzed with a mini mister, blotted it and heat set. I edged my tag with a black paint dabber and hand drew lines round the edges using a pen and ink.

Step 5

I did all my stamping using black archival ink. I removed the ink from the rub-ons after stamping, by using a very small spot of alcohol blending solution on a piece of kitchen roll and very gently rubbing over the rub-on image. Then I added the various embellishments as shown in the main photo.

I do really like this technique and I can see myself using it a lot, adding in extra elements like stencilling and gesso.

I used the following items on my tag, If you want to see stockists for these please see the post on my own blog where I have a full list.

Rubber Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Time Travelers
Distress Stains: Wild Honey, Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Picked Raspberry, Vintage Photo
Remnant Rubs: Elements, Numbers
Crinkle Ribbon
Alcohol Blending Solution
Film Strip Ribbon
Staples
Metal Number 6
Brads

Thank you for visiting the Craft Stamper blog and enjoy the rest of your day, Carol x

New issue out now!

New issue out now! You are always asking us for more men's cards anad projects, so in time for Father's Day it's a Makes for Men special this month. Hope you enjoy it.

A full list of contents is available on the Craft Stamper website.

VACANCY Editorial/Creative Assistant – Craft Stamper magazine

Please spread the word about this exciting opportunity to work on Craft Stamper magazine!

Traplet Publications is seeking to appoint a part time (16 hours per week) Editorial and Creative Assistant for Craft Stamper (and when the need arises, Scrap365). The post is based in-house at our offices in Malvern, Worcestershire. Hours of work are flexible within the needs of the post.

The core duties of the post include:

- Assisting the Editor with administrative tasks including logging projects received, sourcing products, competition prizes and giveaways, liaising with sales and marketing, supporting the magazine contributors and dealing with reader enquiries.

- Working with the photographer to provide creative input into the presentation of projects for the magazine.

- Contributing to the content and production of the magazine, including collation of text and copy writing.

- Acting as support staff to the editorial team.

 

Suitable applicants must:

-Have a keen interest in crafts, preferably rubber stamping.

- Demonstrate awareness of trends in the craft industry.

- Be able to work proactively and bring creative ideas to the table.

- Be highly organised, able to manage their own workload and able to work with minimal supervision.

- Have a good standard of written English and generally strong communication skills.

- Be able to cope with working to tight deadlines and as part of a busy team where demands and priorities can change on a daily basis.

- Have working knowledge of: MS Word, Excel (basic level) and email. Understanding of social media and blogging would be advantageous.

To apply please send a CV and covering letter stating your suitability to: katy.leitch@traplet.com. For enquiries relating to the post please call Katy on 01684 588557.

Salary negotiable depending on skills and experience.

Closing date: 24^th May 2013

ENDS

Melt Pot Canvas Tutorial By Carol Fox

Hello, Carol here with my first post on  the Craft Stamper Blog.

I am going to be using the melt pot with a rubber stamp to make a partial image that I will be layering over the same stamped image to add interest and depth to a small canvas. I have personally found that a collage type image works best for this and I try to avoid using one that has to many solid black areas.

This is a great way to introduce yourself to the melt pot if you have not used one before. It only involves a small amount of UTEE and because you work on a small piece of craft sheet as opposed to pouring your UTEE out, it gives you greater control while you get to grips with a new medium.

UTEE gets incredibly hot when it is melted so always be careful when using a your melt pot, if pouring melted UTEE always pick it up by the two handles on the sides and pour keeping the pot well away from yourself on a desk top that you have protected with a heat resistant craft mat. Even when melting your UTEE directly in the pot you do not need to melt a great deal in one go, as it is surprising how far melted UTEE goes. I always use the clear as my base for what ever colour I am going to be using, as this seems to be slightly thinner when melted, and therefore makes the medium more fluid to pour, also the clear is less expensive than the coloured and it makes it all go further.

So without further ado on with my project and I hope it inspires you to use your melt pot in some interesting way. If you do it would be lovely if you shared your makes on the Craft Stamper Facebook Page.

Step 1

Lay an insert into your melt pot. You can buy these, but I have cut my own from an old craft mat that had seen better days. Sprinkle some embossing powder onto the insert; I used clear and platinum. Let this melt.

Step 2

I removed my insert, quickly spread the melted UTEE over an area approximately the size of my stamp and stamped into it. I left my Stamp in place until the UTEE was cold.

Step 3 

When it was completely cold I carefully removed the stamp and then pealed the UTEE image from my insert; do this very carefully as it will be quite fragile. You can see from mine that I have lost part of my image where the butterflies are, I was about to put this back to remelt and do it again, but I decided this will probably work quite well and will hopefully add a bit more interest to my finished item. I also trimmed it carefully around the sides to remove any UTEE that had gone outside of the stamped area, but this is again is a personal choice and depends upon the size of your finished item.

Step 4

As you can see from the main image at the start of this post I am making an ATC sized canvas. It is only a cheap canvas and not very firm to stamp directly onto, so I stamped my image onto tissue paper using black versafine ink and coloured it in on the back using Distress inks. I tore this to size and stuck it onto my canvas using Mod Podge. I added a layer of Mod Podge over the  top of the tissue image and let this dry.

Step 5

I then edged my Canvas with a Black Dabber to tidy up the edges. I then positioned my UTEE piece over the stamped image carefully placing it so that it lined up, glueing it into place with Glossy Accents.

Step 6

I  highlighted the UTEE image with some Treasure Gold and added some around the edge of the canvas to draw it all together. Finishing it as shown in the main photo using ribbon and charms.

I used

Melt Pot
Utee: Clear, Platinum
Crafty Individuals Stamp: CI-337
Versafine Ink: Black
Distress Inks:  Peacock Feathers, Spiced Marmalade and Festive Berries
Treasure Gold: Rose quartz, Renaissance and Sapphire
Small canvas
Tissue paper
Ribbon Scrap
Small Charm

A full list of suppliers can be found on the post on my own blog.

Thank you for visiting the Craft Stamper Blog today, if you do have any questions at all, either leave a comment below or you can contact me via my blog, a link is also in the right hand column.
Carol x

Take It, Make It - Challenge Two!

Hello everyone!
It was great to see all your entries for our first challenge, we can't wait to see what you all come up with for this one!

What Can You Win?  
We are delighted to again be sponsored by Indigo Blu

Creators of fabulous deep etched rubber stamps, Indigo Blu have provided one of the prizes for the challenge.... this beautiful image:

PLUS:The Design Team will have a look at all your gorgeous work, and choose their Top Three..... and the overall Winner will get published in Craft Stamper magazine! Yep, the winning entry will appear in the UK's number one stamping magazine! 

Now for the Challenge details!
We want to see how you lovely lot tackle a technique showcased in Craft Stamper magazine, and this challenge will concentrate on the Ripping And Tearing technique, demonstrated so beautifully by Helen Chilton on pages 78 - 81 of the May 2013 issue. Don't panic if you haven't got hold of this issue yet, the challenge lasts for nearly TWO whole months, so you have plenty of time to grab a copy, get inspired and enter!

We would love to see your creations using this technique......your project can be anything at all, card, layout, 3D item etc, any theme or colour, AS LONG AS THERE IS RIPPING AND TEARING ON THERE SOMEWHERE! Oh, and stamping too, this is a Craft Stamper challenge after all!

To give you a little inspiration, some of the Craft Stamper Design Team have come up with some rather fabulous projects to share... (if you click on the artists name, it will take you to their blogs, where there may well be loads more pics of these gorgeous creations!)

Carol Fox 

Chris Dark

Helen Chilton

Jaine Drake

Jo Allison

Kate Bentley

Sara Naumann

Trish Latimer

Have we inspired you to have a play and enter? Yay!!!
All you need to do now is have a read through the boring (but essential!) rules and guidelines, then upload your entry using the Mr Linky tool at the end of the post! Can't wait to see what you create!

Love Trish xx

Do you love our challenges as much as we do? Feel free to grab the button and display it with pride!

Guidelines for Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge

• Entry dates: Friday April 12th 2013 -  midnight Friday June 7th 2013
• Winner to be announced in a blog post here: 10am Monday June 10th 2013 
• All entries must feature the Ripping/Tearing technique AND stamping. No digi stamps please, unless combined with actual stamping.
• The winning entry MUST be posted to the magazine for photography before it can be published. Please keep hold of your entry, we cannot publish in the magazine images sent via computer.
• Entry is via the linking tool at the end of the post. We are very sorry that we can't accept email entries to this challenge. Please provide deep links to your actual project post, not just a link to your blog (to do this, click on the title of the relevant blog entry and copy/paste the URL).
• No backlinking, new work only please.
• Entry is welcome from anywhere in the world.
• Multiple entry is fine, as long as each piece is original and fulfills all the entry requirements.
• Entries can be combined with other blog challenges, as long as a link back to the Craft Stamper challenge is included in your blog post.
• The third challenge will be announced here on Friday June 14th 2013.

PLEASE consider turning off word verification on your blog. It is very difficult for the DT to comment on as many blogs as we would like to when word verification slows us down!

Competition rules: Competitions/giveaways are open to all (including overseas readers) except employees of Traplet Publications Ltd and their families; regular contributors to any of Traplet Publications’ magazines; employees of our printers; or anyone connected with the prizes offered. By entering the competition you accept that your project may be printed in the magazine. All entries must be received by midnight on the specified closing date. There are no cash alternatives and prizes are non-transferable. We reserve the right to use the winners’ name/work in any Traplet-produced literature including, but not exclusive to, our website and marketing materials. Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

With apologies to Pink Tulip Creations

Last month we featured some great products from Pink Tulip Creations in our First Impressions section.

Unfortunately there was an error in the web address printed, which should have been www.pinktulipcreations.co.uk.

Our sincere apologies to Pink Tulip for this error.