Take It Make It Challenge: September Winners!

Hello everyone!

We are thrilled to announce the winners of our September challenge!

As you all know, we have two winners to annouce today, so without further ado let me introduce you to our Design Winner:

Entry Number 50: Jane

We loved the whole feel of this card by Jane, the atmospheric inked background, with the stamped images and sentiment fitting in perfectly. Just Gorgeous! Jane will win a Guest Designer slot here on the blog, her very own Winner's Profile, and of course her amazing art will be featured in a two page spread in Craft Stamper magazine! Congratulations Jane!

We also have the remaining top slots to announce!

The rest of the top three Design Winners are:

Entry number 2: Paula

Entry number 69: Autmun

Congratulations, it was such a hard choice this month!

We now need to share the random winner of our challenge. This winner will receive the amazing prize on offer....

A set of 10 Ecoline Brush Pens

Congratulations to....

Entry number 75: Seemaa

I'm sure you've love the prize Seemaa :)

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

Take It Make It Challenge: Winners Profile

Hello!

Welcome to our Winners Profile, showcasing the Design Winner of last month's Take It Make It challenge!

The very talented winner of the August 2018 challenge is:

Amanda Pink

find her here: https://ink-a-pink.blogspot.com/

Amanda won the challenge with this truly amazing canvas. We loved the colour combo, the textures, the details, well everything really!

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

Q: If money were no object, what would be on your craft stash wish list? Or do you have everything you need already?

A: Top of my ‘money no object’ craft stash wishlist wouldn’t be craft stash as such, it would be an art studio,
fully kitted out with work stations for the various machines I use, plenty of well designed storage space for my 
ever expanding craft stash and a big workbench to create from. Oh it would have great lighting too. A place you 
can just walk into and create. Wishful thinking hey?!

Q: Are you a silent crafter or do you need music to work to? If so, what is your crafting playlist?

A: Either/or for me. A lot depends on how I’m feeling and what I’m creating.  As for my playlist, well being a
lover of all kinds of music genres my playlist is wide and varied but you can be sure U2 always make the cut .

Q: Thinking about colours…. Do you have a particular colour ’block’? One that you struggle to use, or just plain hate?

A: On the whole I'm happy to give most colours a go although I have to admit I do have my faves and there 
are some I do feel I tend to veer away from – Peach and Pinky colour tones are a couple that spring to 
mind though I’m ok with the funkier ‘hot pinks’.

Q: If someone were to design a stamp just for you, what would it look like? Or does that stamp already exist? If it does, what is it?!

A: Mmmm now there’s food for thought  ..... I guess it would be a stamp designed around some of the 
imagery that I love, for example eyes, faces, silhouettes – something on those lines but with a real ‘artsy’ 
or ‘grungy’ edge. That said I love meaningful words and font styles too and then there’s always my love of
texture and mark making ....... Would it be greedy to ask for one of each?  ;)

Q: Are you super speedy, or more of a take your time crafter? Quick projects or week long extravaganzas?

A: I guess I would be classed as more of a ‘take your timer’ although it is somewhat ‘freeing' to step over to 
the speedy side every now and then- I know I need to do more of it to challenge the perfectionist, harsh 
self critic in me.

We also asked Amanda to share some of her favourite stamped creations with us, and tell us why she likes them so much. Here is what she has chosen:

"This is one of my favourite pieces of art to date. It is made from a book I made back in my 6th form 
school day. I love everything about it including the memories."- Amanda

"This tag was recovered from ‘messing up’ a stenciled image over a ‘tie dyed’ background all thanks to some
 white gesso, a brayer and an ‘I’ve got nothing to lose attitude’.  It holds a touch of colour, some grunge 
appeal and is stamped and embellished with Seth Apter products- everything I love" - Amanda

Congraulations on being our August Design Winner Amanda, 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!

Take It Make It September Challenge: Inspiration

Hello!

Our September challenge is well under way, we love all the entries we've seen so far, and can't wait to see more!

As it's the second Friday of the month, we're back with some more amazing eye candy from our DT, hopefully something will inspire you to enter the challenge!

So... just a little reminder before we show you the projects!

 ALL of our challenges this year are '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 :)

The amazing prize on offer this month for the randomly chosen winner is..... (drum roll please..........) 
 

A set of 10 Ecoline Brush Pens

Our Design team have created some more stunning stamped art for you to look at, we hope it inspires you to enter the challenge!

Guest Designer, Winner of the July challenge:

stempelfrida

Cheremane Smith

Donna Gray

Elina Stromberg

Ellie Knol

 

Jennalee Anderson

  

Mandi Mance  

Melina Dahl

 

Nikki Acton

 

Shirley Bampton

Wow!

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

Art Call: Ready Set Stamp

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 January 2019 issue of Craft Stamper. If you've always wanted to see YOUR card in print, now is your chance!

For 2019 we're changing things up slightly, giving you FIVE colour options to play with! Don't forget, black, white and any metallics are always welcome no matter the colour scheme. 

Colours: Burgundy, Rich Red, Light Teal, Duck Egg Blue, Silver Grey

Deadline for submission: 16th October 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!  

Blog Exclusive: Calico Crafts Designer, Kerstin Peters

Hello!

In the October issue of Craft Stamper, we featured some truly amazing altered MDF Book Box Journals. Available from Calico Craft Parts, these book boxes were transformed into works of art by the designers. 

One designer, Kerstin Peters, created a wonderful haunted house design. We very sadly only had room to share the cover in the magazine, but the inside is just as stunning! We wanted to share that with you too, so here we are!

Sit back and enjoy!

Kerstin, you did a super amazing job, we love it!

To read the sory behind the creation, and to see all the rest of the book box journals, check out the October issue of Craft Stamper magazine!

To buy a book box all of your own to alter (along with a whole host of other very cool stuff), please visit:

www.calicocraftparts.co.uk

Blog Exclusive: Uniko

Good Morning!
In the October issue of Craft Stamper, the talented designers from Uniko shared some absolutely stunning stamped art work with us. We're thrilled to be able to share another 2 projects with our blog readers today!
Without further ado, let's all grab a cuppa and take a look!

Autumn Organics

"The collection of projects in the October issue of Craft Stamper, from members of the Uniko design team, 

use clear stamps from the Originally Organics range, including Originally Organic, Originally Organic Additions, 

Organic Wishes & Happy Succulents clear stamps. This range of stamps are perfect all year round for all kinds 

of occasions, but as I designed and released them during Autumn months, they look particularly beautiful in 

Autumnal tones." - Beverley Brown, owner, Uniko

Autumn Wishes Card

By Beverley Brown

My thinking behind this card was childhood memories of late Summer / early Autumn holidaying in France. 

Standing in a field of dandelions and blowing wishes. I chose a netural ombre colour scheme to reflect the 

hazy memories.

MATERIALS LIST

Stamps Beverley used...

Uniko Organic Wishes

Uniko Large Background French Script

Other materials...

Uniko Lattice Stencil

Uniko Broken Lines Stencil

Stampin’ Up! Shimmery White Embossing Paste

Brown Re-inker

Altenew Inks: Espresso, Mocha, Rocky Shore & Sand Dunes

Seed Beads from Stash

Watercolour Card

Stampin’ Up! Kraft Card

INSTRUCTIONS:

Watercolour card provides a beautiful soft texture and makes blending inks a breeze. I’ve kept the ink blending 

light to then highlight the broken lines, inked using the darkest shade of brown Altenew Espresso.

The French script is stamped really subtly, by off stamping in Rocky Shore ink. After stamping the dandelions 

in Espresso ink and stitching seed beads randomly, I felt the design needed a little more balance. I mixed some 

brown re inker into a small amount of shimmery embossing paste and embossed partially through the Lattice 

stencil. The piece is foam mounted and layered onto card. I decided to keep the piece sentiment free, as I 

wanted people to view and conjure their own thoughts and feelings from the design.

...............................................................................................................................................

 

Wonderful Succulents

By Sarah Gray

 

 

 

Using MDF stands is a great way to create mini pieces of art that are easy to display around your home or give 
as gifts.  They are also small enough to have a play with mixed media techniques when making a start on a 
bigger canvas might feel a bit daunting.  If you don’t like what you have done it is easy to paint back over the 
mdf and start again!

Materials:

Uniko Happy Succulents Clear Stamp Set

Uniko Bee Happy Clear Stamp Set

Uniko Large Background French Script Clear Stamp

Uniko Spring Botanicals Daffodil Clear Stamp Set

Uniko Lattice Stencil

Ranger Black Archival Ink Pad

Ranger Dylusions Acrylic Paint – Dirty Martini, Fresh Lime, Lemon Zest, Cut Grass, Calypso Teal

MDF artboard stand from Funky Fossil on Folksy

Sharpie White Paint Pen

INSTRUCTIONS:

I wanted to create a painted background with layers to create a base for the succulent stamps from Uniko.  

The Dylusions paints go on to MDF really well and dry quickly. I applied the paints with a brush and my fingers 

to create a streaky effect, and lifted some of the colour through the lattice stencil before the paint had 

completely dried.  This gives a ghosting style effect. I then offset the stencil to apply the teal paint through it to 

create a distressed look. I was able to combine images and sentiments from a number of Uniko’s sets on this 

project which shows how well they mix and match together.  I particularly love the little bees which add a sweet 

detail to lots of projects. Adding highlights with the white paint pen helped the succulent mages to pop against 

the painted background. 

......................................................................................................................................

WOW! Thanks so much ladies, a wonderful extention to the fabulous project in the magazine. 

Have a great weekend everyone!