Christmas Issue sneak peek!

Our December issue goes on sale next Friday 7th November and is full of Christmas inspiration! Are you making Christmas cards and gifts already? Here are a few sneak peeks at a few of the beautiful projects we have for you....

Introducing...

...Morag Cutts!

Morag is another new member we are welcoming to the design team this month. I know Morag from her absolutely stunning scrapbook pages (she guested on our Stamping for Scrapbookers feature in the June issue) but she also does some beautiful stamping work too. Morag will be an occasional contributor to the magazine, and her next feature, for the Sept issue, is a stunner. That's all I am saying, you'll have to get the magazine to find out more! Aren't I mean?

I asked Morag to say a few words about herself and here's what she said:

"I discovered scrapbooking by chance around 5 years ago which has now expanded into passion for all sorts of paper crafting.

It took me a while to get the knack with stamps, but I was soon hooked. I love the versatility of stamping - the way that you can do so many things and achieve so many looks. I now have a large collection of all sorts of lovely stamps. One of the best aspects of crafting is that I have made wonderful new friends and enjoy getting together to share ideas."

Check out Morag's blog for more info and to see more of her lovely creations.

Welcome to the CS team Morag!

Katy x

Please welcome...

...another new addition to the Craft Stamper DT, Joanne Wardle.

Joanne has appeared as a guest in CS several times, and I thought it was about time I asked her to join the DT proper as she has always produced exceptional quality work and is very punctual too (more important than you might think with deadline after deadline in this business!).

Joanne amazes me with her ability to make her projects look effortless when in fact she employs a great deal of skill. She excels equally at cute, vintage, and elegant styles. I am delighted to welcome her to the team.

I asked Joanne to say a few words about herself and here is what she said:

"I am married with two sons and I live in Leeds. I started cardmaking in about 2003, just after my youngest son was born as an attempt to get into scrapbooking. The scrapbooking never really took off, but I became addicted to papercrafts. The stamping came about a year later and I soon became obsessed with that too.

I have previously done a few pieces of work for craft stamper, but I am delighted to now be an official contributor, and look forward to sharing my ideas. I have a fairly simple style, as I like to make thinks quickly, although my taste in stamps is quite diverse. I love arty, whimsical, quirky and cute! I love all sorts of other crafts, knitting, crocheting, sewing....anything as long as my hands are busy. I work as a a radiographer, a job that I love, but thankfully still gives me time to craft."

To see more of Joanne's work, pop on over to her lovely blog.

Welcome to the team!

Katy x

Please welcome...

...Liesbeth Fidder

Please give a warm welcome to our new Design Team member, Liesbeth Fidder. Liesbeth is from the Netherlands and I first came across her work as DT member for Art Journey. Her work is quite unique in style. She is a genius when it comes to inking techniques and has a great eye for composition. I think her designs are simply beautiful – I really hope you’ll enjoy the projects she is putting together for the magazine.

I asked Liesbeth to say a few words about herself; here’s what she said:
“I live in the north-east of The Netherlands, married, and we have two great children: Lotte (20) and Lars (18). I studied fashion and I have lots of hobbies, especially music, pop/rock-concerts and I love all things creative. For 4 years now I’ve been addicted to stamping and mixed media art ! I love to try lots of different techniques, but most of all I love to create backgrounds using just stamps, ink and paint. The possibilities are endless !! I spend a lot of time at Art Journey, a wonderful stamp store, assisting in the shop and teaching workshops and I am on the Art Journey design team.

I was really surprised and excited when Katy asked me to join the design team at Craft Stamper, I feel honoured to be a part of the team !!”

You can see more of Liesbeth’s lovely work on her blog.

Please welcome...

...Anneliese Bates to the Craft Stamper Design Team! You might remember a rather spectacular Grungepaper bag a few issues back? Well that was the work of the lovely Anneliese,. I have now invited her to be a member of our Design Team so you'll be seeing more of her in the coming months!

Anneliese's work is a little Tim Holtz-ish but with a decidedly feminine side and a touch of vintage charm. She has a beautiful eye for colour combinations (see her Treasure Box article this issue for a striking and unusual example), and is a whizz with Distress Inks - do stop and watch her work her magic should you come across her demoing at a show. You may not know that Anneliese is also a very talented scrapbooker - watch out for evidence in an issue coming soon! As well as all this, she is a very sweet and warm person and lovely to work with.

Here's what Anneliese said about joining our little team: "I was really excited when Katy asked me to join the team at Craft Stamper, as it gives me even more opportunities to get inky fingers and experiment with all that luscious stash out there, I love trying new products and seeing what I can do with them, what a wonderful way to spend my days, I am so lucky!"

Pop along to Anneliese's blog for more of her work. Anneliese also teaches classes at Artist Trading Post.

Please welcome...

I'm delighted to be introducing you to a new member of the Craft Stamper DT today - the lovely Linda Elbourne. Linda is not only a fabulously talented artist, she is funny, hard working and such a positive upbeat person: in short a pleasure to work alongside. Her artwork has quite a unique style and she is an upcycling guru so look out for lots of projects where she uses old junk to make lovely things. Her bean tin creations adorn our front cover this month.

Here's what Linda has to say about herself: "I have been crafting since forever in one form or another. My passion for stamping took over about 5 years ago. I am a Ranger girl at heart and love nothing more than trying new things and getting inky and messy ... My style is eclectic ... if that is a style :0) and I will give anything a go at least once! I am a massive fan of Craft Stamper magazine, in fact I can honestly say I gained most of my stamping knowledge from the wonderful articles and I continue to learn and be inspired every month. I am extremely proud to have been asked to join the design team."

If you'd like to see more, check out Linda's blog. Linda also teaches at LB Crafts.

Kay's Christmas Card Contest

CS regular Kay Carley is holding a contest on her blog to win one of her new DVDs! Just enter a Christmas card for a chance to win. Check it out here.

Kay devised these DVDs with Craft Stamper and they are packed with ideas and techniques for your card making and other paper crafts. All the DVDs focus on stamping (of course!) and there are three in the series: Basics & Beyond; Colouring Techniques and Shrink Plastic. You can see more details here.

I started on my xmas cards yesterday so might finally have something to show you later in the week!

Katy x

How about this for a challenge???

I had a phone call yesterday from regular contributor Lousette Ashton - she has been selected by Stampin' Up! to take part in their blog challenge (congrats Lousette). She is one of three challengers who will receive a box of goodies from the new SU catalogue tomorrow (Wed 30th Sept) afternoon and have until just 12 midnight to design and create samples and post them on their blogs. Now that IS a challenge! Rather you than me Lousette (takes me four hours to make a card!!!).

Pop over to Lousette's Blog for more info and to see what she creates!

New contributor blog

Check out Gail Milburn's blog, recently added to our contributor blog list. Gail's fabulous altered art work appears regularly in Craft Stamper magazine and now you can see more of her creations online. Enjoy!

Thanks Helen!

Look at this beautiful Stampbord charm Helen Chilton sent to me! She knows I love birds, so it's just perfect for me (the stamp is a rather yummy new Elusive Images one). As my creativity seems to have deserted me lately, she stamped a quote on the back which reads 'Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes; art is knowing which ones to keep.'

Anyway, seems to have worked like the charm that it is as my mojo had a little bit of a comeback over the bank holiday weekend :).

Thank you for your kindness Helen. I love my team! They are such a gorgeous bunch of people.

Katy x

New Contributor blogs

Hi all,

Many of you will have seen the June issue by now, and know that we have some new contributors joining us this month.


I hope you like their work. Here are their blogs if you'd like to see more!

Kate Crane (Just add Salt)

Kim Costello (Black & White colouring tutorial)

We also welcomed Kate Bentley; sorry but I don't have her blog details (not sure if she has one).

K x

Lookey what I got!

Penny Bearcroft from the CS team sent me a lovely ATC. Isn't it gorgeous? It's really textural and dimensional in real life.

Thank you sweetie :).

Introducing....

We have three - yes three! - talented new artists appearing in the January issue of Craft Stamper magazine. Their styles are quite different but they are all very gifted designers and I am delighted to welcome them to the CS family.

Check out their blogs to see some of their lovely work and (hopefully) whet your appetite for what's to come in the next issue :).

Sharon Neill's Blog

Lana George's Blog

Cath Wilson's Blog

See you soon,
Katy