A Little Poll

Tell us why you buy Craft Stamper magazine. Fill out the little poll on our sidebar and let us know!

Vacancy - Freelance Photographer

Traplet Publications is seeking a freelance photographer to work flexible hours on Scrap365 and Craft Stamper magazines. We envisage we will require a minimum of 15 hours per week of work, during office hours (Mon-Thurs 9am-5.30pm, Friday 9am-4pm) on a flexible basis.
Experience in photographing craft items and an interest in arts and crafts are essential - please do not send your CV unless you meet these two criteria. The photographer must also live within easy commuting distance of Traplet Publications offices, located in Malvern, Worcestershire.
If you are interested please send a CV and covering letter stating your experience and suitability for the job to scrap365@traplet.com. Potentially suitable candidates will be asked to come into the offices for interview and to complete a practical test.

What would you like to see in Craft Stamper?

It won't be long now until the New Year and with that in mind I've been thinking about what new features we could think about adding to Craft Stamper in 2012.

So with that in mind, I am asking you, good readers, for your ideas and suggestions. What would you like to see? Is there a new regular feature that would make the magazine complete? Are there any older features you are bored of now? Should we change anything at all or are you happy with the mix?

I await your words of wisdom :).

Bye for now,
Katy x

Stamper of the Year Comp!

Hi all
Just a little reminder that there is still time to enter our fantastic Stamper of the Year competition! We are looking for entries from stampers in all styles, whether you make cute cards, mini albums, or weird and wonderful altered creations.

Details can be found on our website :). Remember you can enter via email as well as by post.

Closing date is 21st October and we have an amazing prize fund worth £2000 up for grabs!

Can't wait to see your entry!

Your nominations please...

...for BLOG OF THE MONTH!

I've not had a single nomination this month, so get those emails coming (please use the subject line 'Over to you - blog').

The email address is cs@traplet.com.

International reader blogs also welcome!

Bye for now,
Katy

August Subs Gift

I know, I know - the mag came out weeks ago... I am WAY behind this month. But in case you are thinking of subbing and wondering whether this month's sub gift is for you, I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Mists. The offer is for all six colours of mist - gorgeous bright shades they are too. I demo'ed these at the Newbury Artstamps show and learned that there is just so much you can do with them!

First of all if you are thinking this is just another kind of glimmer mist, you'd be wrong. The effect of these sprays is much different. They are quite opaque in finish (most of the glimmery sprays are transparent) and have a matt chalk-like finish which is quite tactile.

The colours are strong and vibrant but they can be blotted or spritzed whilst wet to give a much softer and more subtle effect - giving you lots of colour variations in the one bottle.

They are also fab on surfaces like wood - as they are less 'wet' than a lot of sprays you get fantastic colour coverage even without priming.

You can of course just spray them onto cardstock using a single colour or mix of colours to create either solid colour backgrounds or a lightly spritzed effect. As long as the original colour is dry and you are not too heavy-handed, you can spray another colour over the top because, once dry, the ink is fairly permanent.

Here are some of the samples I did for the show, showing some of the things you can do with these lovely sprays:

1 Fantastic spritzed through masks to create a pretty background. The colours will mix if not dried between sprays producing lovely effects. This is the same colours as example 4 but I blotted the colour off to give a more subtle effect.

2 Spritzed onto a mat and dipped repeatedly (think Wrinkle Free Distress) you can create a much more 'grungy' looking background.
3 You can heat emboss them! Tip over the powder while the ink is still wet and just heat to set! Awesome! (Discovered this purely by accident when messing about in my little room of craft).

4 Watercolour with them - spritz onto a mat, mix with water to dilute, and pick up the colour with a paintbrush (apologies for the rubbish colouring, not my forte!). On this card you can again see a stencilled background. This time the colour is not blotted.

5 Finally the background on this card was also created with the sprays but this time they are very watered down to make a soft wash. I spritzed already wet card and then mixed with a paintbrush before drying. Again colour is added by watercolouring with the mists. I coloured the flower heads with a white gel pen.

If you read all that then you must really want the sprays so get subscribing LOL!

You can sub via http://www.craftstamper.com/ or by calling 01684 588599.

Dying to try art journaling?...

But don't know where to start? Then you might like this new DVD by the fabulously talented Kate Crane!

Regular readers will be familar with Kate's stunning journals and on this DVD she teaches you how she creates her pages from start to finish. Including a guide to materials, details on how she builds backgrounds and layers, and prompts for getting started with your writing, there really is everything you need to know to get started with journaling. Tons of inky messy fun - what could be better!

The double DVD costs £19.95. Copies are available from http://www.craftstamper.com/ or by calling 01684 588599.

Job Vacancy - Re-advertisement

Traplet Publications is seeking an assistant editor to work on Craft Stamper magazine and any of our other papercraft-related publications.

Applicants must be passionate about papercrafting and demonstrate sound knowledge of a range of papercraft disciplines. You should also have an excellent command of the English language, good attention to detail and be able to work under pressure and to deadlines.

A reasonable level of IT literacy is essential as the post will involve using Microsoft Office and the Internet. Experience of copy writing and/or proof reading are desirable. It is not essential that the candidate has publishing experience, rather that they have suitable transferable skills.

The appointed candidate will work full time (37 hours per week), based in the Traplet Publications offices in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Please apply by email, enclosing a CV and a covering letter stating your suitability for the post, to katy.fox@traplet.com.

Please do not delay in sending your application should you be interested - as this is a re-advertisement we are looking to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible.

Some piccies for you from the Newbury Artstamps Show (I know, I know, but better late than never heh?). Newbury is always a nice show and we met lots of lovely readers of the mag. I demo'ed the Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Inks that are this month's subs gift and rather nice they are too. I got quite messy, hence the lovely Craft Stamper branded pinny. We were very busy and the time flew by :).

See you at Newbury?

Hope so! I'll be at the Artstamps Show Newbury Racecourse all weekend behind the Craft Stamper stand, doing some demos of our subs gift for you (and serving when we are busy - I'm a show staff virgin so be nice to me if I am stupidly slow and forget how the till works!!!).

The gift I'll be demoing is a set of 6 Cosmic Shimmer Chalk Mists - I have been surprised how much you can do with them whilst prepping my samples! Plus as a special show exclusive you'll get an extra bonus gift worth £6.99 when you subscribe on the day. We'll have stock with us so you can take your gift away with you.

And (because we are so nice) there is an alternative gift too in case you don't like getting inky (but be warned, I may still try to convert you to the mucky side!).

Don't go just yet, because I also need to let you know we have a FREE GOODY BAG worth £20 for our first 10 customers each day spending £10 or more. So make CS stand your first port of call ;).

Hope to see you there.

Katy x

Assistant Editor wanted - come and work for us!

Job Vacancy - Assistant Editor

Traplet Publications is seeking an assistant editor to work on Craft Stamper magazine and any of our other papercraft-related publications.

Applicants must be passionate about papercrafting and demonstrate sound knowledge of rubber stamping, as well as other papercraft disciplines such as cardmaking, scrapbooking and altered art. You should also have an excellent command of the English language, good attention to detail and be able to work under pressure and to deadlines.

Ideally the appointed candidate will work full time (37 hours per week), based in our offices in Malvern, Worcestershire. However, for the right candidate we may consider a job-share (18.5 hours) appointment and/or some limited home-working provision.

Salary negotiable depending on skills and experience.

Please apply in writing, enclosing a CV and a covering letter stating your suitability for the post, to katy.fox@traplet.com or Craft Stamper Magazine, Traplet Publications, Traplet House, Pendragon Close, Malvern WR14 1GA.

We are looking to appoint relatively quickly so please don't delay in sending your application to us!

CLOSING DATE: 3RD JULY 2011

The awful truth...

OK, it's confession time...

The room you saw in the Meet & Greet may not have been an accurate representation of the actual craft space. Helen Chilton was on to me when she said 'all you've done is piled the mess up just outside the photo' and she was right.

So here is a view of the attic as it normally looks after a crafty session (spent all day yesterday prepping my Newbury demo and doing a two page project for the mag). I am very, very bad at tidying up after I finish something... hence the piles of debris to the left and right of the actual workspace...

Anyone else as messy as me??? Go on, fess up. We'd love to see!

Gallery call!

Hello all,
Just putting out a call for our Sept themed gallery feature as I have two spots remaining!

If you'd like to see your work in Craft Stamper then here is your chance!

THEME: OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO (cityscapes - think Paris, London, NY, Venice etc).
COLOURS: Warm cream with black and white.

The call closes 13th June so get your skates on!

Please email submissions to cs@traplet.com (NB: actual artwork will be required if you are selected). You can send images of existing creations which have been blogged (we'll ask you to temporarily take them down for publication) but please not anything you have done for a DT position.

Look forward to seeing your creations!

See your work in Craft Stamper!

We know that many of your enjoy seeing your work in print in (hopefully!) your favourite magazine, and to that end we are introducing more opportunities for readers to be published from now on.

We felt that after many years it was time to say goodbye to our Trade It swap feature and replace it with a feature which we hope will appeal to a larger number of our readers. We are opening up a brand new gallery feature to readers also.

There will now be three different ways in which readers can feature in Craft Stamper:
1 Trade It will be replaced by a new reader-focussed feature which will include:
a) Makes inspired by Craft Stamper.
b) Makes using our free stamps.
c) Reader interviews and blog reviews.
More details are in the June issue at the end of 'Trade It'. To submit work for this feature (inspired by CS or using our cover stamps) email pictures to cs@traplet.com (NB: actual artwork will be required if you are selected). Blog nominations can be sent to the same address.

2 Inspiration Gallery (still to be named!)
This will be an inspiration gallery on a given theme and readers will be invited to partcipate each month. The beauty of this for readers is that very little writing is required, meaning we can also open it up to overseas readers for whom English is not a first language.

First two themes are:
-ANIMAL MAGIC. COLOURS: brown, cream and blue. Closes 13th May.
-OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO (cityscapes - think Paris, London, NY, Venice etc). COLOURS: Warm cream with black and white. Closes 13th June.

Email submissions to cs@traplet.com (NB: actual artwork will be required if you are selected).

3 Reader Submissions
We will continue to accept articles from readers to be featured in the magazine in the current format.

We know that some of you will miss the Trade It feature, but magazines have to change and develop else we risk becoming stale and boring. We think the new features will give more readers more opportunity to engage with the magazine and see their work in print. I can't wait to see what you send me!

Until next time,
Katy

New issue out today!

Yep it's offcial on-sale date for the June issue today, so you should be able to find it in the shops now.

Lots of lovely things this issue - a faux sampler, an quirky altered bird, some very classy indoor scene cards, a fabby hair colouring tutorial, a clever faux leather technique, Steampunk ATCs, Silkies, faux ivory, salt backgrounds, and ideas for Nesties! Plus more too of course.

Enjoy!

Candy Winner!

And the winner is (drumroll please!)....

PsyPenguin

who said...
I just started reading craft stamper and I think the ezine is a great idea! Thanks for the freebie. I've added the link on my blog.

PsyPenguin please email your postal address to me at cs@traplet.com and we'll get your candy in the post!

A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to link up the e-zine on their blog.

Just seven days to get candy!

Only 7 days left to get your hands on the candy (see post below)!

I know I said I'd draw on 30th April but I am a numpty because that's a Saturday and I won't be here in the office! So candy will be drawn on 3rd May after the bank holiday.

Good luck!

FREE e-zine download and blog candy!

I am very excited to announce that today our FREE Best of 2010 e-zine launches on the Craft Stamper website! The e-zine contains twelve of the best projects from 2010, as chosen by our readers. You'll find loads of fabulous stamping techniques in a wide range of styles inside. Learn some fabulous tricks for colouring your images, get more from your Distress Inks, learn to stamp with bleach, and see some innovative ways to use up your scraps - plus much more besides. Each project includes easy to follow step-by-step instructions. Also inside you’ll find special offers and a competition to win a bundle of fabulous stamping goodies! It’s totally FREE so pop along to www.craftstamper.com/ezine to get your copy today! Enjoy!

Ok now onto the all important BLOG CANDY! We want to spread the word about Craft Stamper magazine and our hope is that as many people as possible will see the free e-zine. So to this end we are offering a fabulous goody bag of stamps and stamping goodies worth £100+ to one person who puts a link back to the e-zine on their blog (includes all kind of fab stuff from PaperArtsy stamps to Pro Markers)! For your chance to win simply grab the logo below and pop it onto your blog with a link to www.craftstamper.com/ezine, then leave a comment here to say that you have done so. Simples!

I’ll draw the candy on 30th April 2011. Good luck!

Three days to go!!

Until the launch of our FREE Best of 2010 e-zine! Watch this space!

Come and see us at Hobbycrafts

If you are popping along to the Hobbycrafts/Sewing for Pleasure show at the NEC this week (Thursday-Sunday), then do stop and say hello to the peeps from Traplet Publications (who publish Craft Stamper).

We have special show offers as always, including a fantastic subs offer. Becky from our sister magazine Beads & Beyond will be demonstrating on the stand (if you have any burning beading questions, she is a veritable fountain of knowledge).

If you do go to the show I hope you have a fantastic time. I can't make this this year unfortunately (due to the in-laws descending) but will be there in spirit!!!

Will these hands ne'er be clean?!

Here you see the aftermath of my wonderful Altered Book Journal weekend at Art from the Heart! Dyan was absolutely determined to convert me to the dark side, and while I am not sure I can do the really, really weird stuff I have to say I enjoyed the weekend immensely and have found myself tinkering with my book ever since. I really don't think I have a natural talent for this kind of thing, but I gave it a good go and I had a ball getting ridiculously messy!

If you've never been taught by Dyan then you really should put it on your 'things to do before I die' list. It's an experience you'll never forget, as fun as it is inspiring.

I hope to share some more of my journal when I have something in it completed!

Hobbycraft Winners!

Drum roll purlease............................

And the lucky winners (according to random.org, after deleting duplicate comments) are commenters 22, 26, 13, 16, 3, 7, 24, 11, 10, and 21, who are:
-Butterflies
-Nels
-Miriam
-Jaime
-mustavcoffee
-Caroline Hallett
-Sevinozwell
-Sherry Edwards
-Quiksave
-Clare

Congrats everyone. Please email me (address in side bar) with your full postal address to claim your prize!

Just a few days left...

To enter the draw for FREE Hobbycrafts tickets!

See the post below for details.

Win tickets to Hobbycrafts at the NEC!

Courtesy of ICHF we have ten pairs of tickets up for grabs for the Hobbycrafts (with Sewing for Pleasure) show at the NEC, Birmingham, 24-27th March 2011.

This is a huge craft show with loads to see, do, and buy, and you get into two shows for the price of one (the sewing show is full of interesting trinkets you can use on paper projects if you don't sew).

Traplet Publications has a stand at the show to promote Craft Stamper (along with our other craft titles) and we will have plenty of special show deals for you as usual including a great subs offer.

For more info about the show (including an exhibitor list) or to buy a ticket online, visit http://www.ichf.co.uk/

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. A draw will take place on 14th March 9am at which point I will ask you to email me your postal address for the tickets. If you could also mention the giveaway on your blog to spread the word that would be much appreciated!

Good luck!

Back from two days at Stitches!

Boy am I tired after two days solid of walking and talking at the big Stitches trade show at the NEC! I had fun though and enjoyed chatting to lots of my favourite peeps from the crafting world. The main trend I spotted was that vintage is still big, but this year the images are more quirky and masculine rather than shabby chic and feminine in flavour.

There are lots of fun new products for you to look out for (many of which are hopefully coming to a CS near you) – here’s a round-up of some of my favourites.

First stop of the day was a visit to PaperArtsy, as I’d heard from Mark that new products were afoot. As well as new Hot Picks rubber and matching dies (LOVE the oak leaf dies), there are a few new and interesting product developments from PaperArtsy this year. First off and probably most exciting are the paints – they are beautiful chalk-effect, ultra matt finish which stamps like a dream and they can be used on pretty much anything (even, according to Mark, your radiators if you are that way inclined!). To go alongside these are a crackle medium which you can DRY WITH A HEAT GUN (woop woop – I hate waiting) and a lovely shimmer glaze which you can apply over any colour paint to create a mica-like effect. They have also produced metal sheet which is pre-made into a tape sandwich, developed again with a surface that stamps beautifully. Finally (I think these are totally ace) are the Flexiblocks – ideal for those large stamps that are so hard to stamp perfectly with a solid block. Leandra can explain better than me – check her video here.
I also spent quite some time talking to Sarah at Crafty Notions who also has lots of fabulous new items on offer. Her multi-surface paints are stunning on fabric and the colours are out of this world – so vibrant yet sophisticated. Sarah has new stamp plates, featuring unique designs from her own collections of vintage ephemera – I love the ladies which are shown in the pic here. The new silicone moulds are fabulous with UTEE, gorgeous gilding flakes are available now in big flakes for gilding larger areas, and new colours of Dotties have been added to the range. My must-have however is the range of Gleams – metallic rub-on paste, again in a range of simply gorgeous colours.

Sheena Douglass was demonstrating at the show, showing off her new Paint Fusion concept based on traditional folk art. The finished designs look amazingly professional (gutted I forgot to get a picture) but the techniques are surprisingly easy – in fact I think even a non-artist like me could tackle them. I’m not giving away too much here as I have asked Sheena to do a step-by-step for you for the magazine! Don’t like painting? Check out the stamps anyway as they are really pretty and very versatile with or without the Paint Fusion. Keep an eye on Sheena's Blog for more info.

Crafter’s Companion have become UK distributors for Core’dinations cardstock and there are a couple of fabulous new cardstock stacks to watch out for – the Tim Holtz Distress stack co-ordinates with his inkpads (how awesome is that?) and the Jenni Bowlin and Basic Grey embossed card ranges are stunning when sanded. They are also distributing the e-craft die cutter which looks like a seriously impressive bit of kit, and (so excited about this) TWINKLING H20S! I personally love these paints and have for years – so glad to see them back! Also coming soon are some alcohol-based refillable markers at a price you will not believe!

Creative Expressions have some great new substrates in the Eco Green range (coming soon to a magazine near you). Their new chalk mists in adorable sherbet colours and the paintable drawing inks with mica are interesting addition to the Cosmic Shimmer family. The big news however is the new Tatty Button stamps – these are so beautifully drawn. The Tatty Button character is so unique and whimsical, I am sure these will have wide appeal even amongst those who are not into character stamps.

Last but not least I had a good chat with the lovely Sue at Imagination Crafts (this woman’s enthusiasm is so infectious!), who has some wonderful new things on offer. The new Stencil Paints come in the most lovely colours and work beautifully; alongside Silkies are Chalkies, matt effect paint which gives a far superior image to regular paint when used to stamp with; and finally there is a new embossing fluid which can be applied through a stencil and then embossed with powder – this looks so cool!

Other things I loved:
-New Prima masks, yum (these are out already and I’ve already had a play).
-Stampendous range of really big stamps, mostly florals. These are cling mounted ones, really stunning designs.
-Artemio die cut wooden shapes, including birds, trees and leaves. Not exactly a new idea but beautifully done with elegant designs. Their rustic hanging wooden frames are rather nice too.
-7 Gypsies printed kraft tissue paper; this is just stunning and I NEED it!
-Of the new lines from Tim Holtz, the kraft resist papers are simply gorgeous and if you are an art journaler or scrapbooker the Distress Stains could be for you, as they enable you to ink a very large area very quickly.

That’s it from me – if you read this far, well done! Would love to know your highlights if you visited the show.

Katy x

Do you want to be published in Craft Stamper?

We are now seeking reader submissions for publication in the latter part of 2011. If you have something unusual, different, clever or just plain gorgeous to share with other readers then we want to hear from you!

Unlike other magazines, our reader submissions are treated with the same respect as regular articles, and given a whole page of coverage to themselves. Full details are to be found on our website here.

We prefer to receive submissions by email (cs@traplet.com). We can accept postal submissions but if you are selected you need to be able to supply text electronically.

If you do submit please give us at least two weeks to respond to your message, as we are very busy at the moment following the Christmas break and the disruption to staffing caused by all that snow!

Win Tickets to the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show, Ally Pally

We are delighted that the organisers of the very popular Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show have given us 10 pairs of tickets to give away to Craft Stamper readers! For your chance to win a pair of tickets pop over to: www.craftstamper.com/bssbs and simply fill out the form.

The next Big Stamp and Scrapbooking Show (BSSBS for short) takes place this year on 9th and 10th April, at the Alexandra Palace in London. This well-established show has loads to offer including shopping galore (over 60 retailers), free demonstrations, prize draws and competitions, and free parking and courtesy buses.

For more info about the show pop over to their website at: http://www.bssbs.co.uk/

Happy New Year and Feb Issue

Hi all
Firstly a very happy new year to all our readers - I wish you a very crafty 2011.

Secondly and unfortunately, there is some news about the February 2011 issue of the magazine. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the magazines have been a little late going out this month. Hopefully, they should be with most subscribers by the on-sale date which is this Friday and if not please don't worry they are on their way to you (please bear in mind postal services are still catching up with the snow backlog in some parts of the country). We know you are used to getting your magazine a little earlier than this - please accept our sincere apologies for the lateness of this issue.