Friday 26 April 2019

Take It Make It Challenge: April Winners!

Hello everyone!
We are thrilled to announce the winners of our April 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 80: Karen





It's that stamp again :) We loved this wonderful card by Karen. Wonderful background, wonderful colours and of course, amazing image to bring it all together beautifully! Karen 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 Karen!

We also have the remaining top slots to announce!
The rest of the top three Design Winners are:

Entry number 43: Sandra
Entry number 79: Dot




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....








Congratulations to....



I'm sure you've love the prize Angela! 


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 May challenge will be launched on the first Friday of May, the third.
We can't wait to see all the wonderful art you will all be sharing!

Friday 19 April 2019

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 March 2019 challenge is:

Sharon Traynor


Sharon  won the challenge with this beautiful card. We loved how she very cleverly used a floral stamp as the basis for the dress image! The colours are just gorgeous, we think it's amazing!










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

Q: How long have you been a stamper, and how did you get started? 
A: Eleven years ago I took a 6 month sabbatical from work. Whilst searching for something different to fill my 
time 
I spotted some handmade cards on the internet. Next day, a visit to the local craft shop saw me hauling paper 
pads, glues, toppers, peel-offs and card blanks home. I remember telling my husband “think of all the money 
we will save” (Ha, ha! I bet we all said that).  Anyway, within a month I had bought my first stamps and became 
hooked on stamping from that point.


Q: What are your favourite kind of stamps, and do you have a favourite stamp company?
A: I love a stamp that can be used in several ways, and if it is also a little different or quirky that is great. Clear 
stamps are brilliant for precise placement, small sized stamps work best with my CAS style, but I do like a 
floral or character too because they are so good to colour. My taste is pretty eclectic. My favourite company is 
Visible Image, because they are quirky and cool. I have quite a few Uniko Stamps, IndigoBlu, Chocolate 
Baroque and AlteNew stamps too.


Q: Describe your style, are you a 'messy' kind of stamper or do you have more of a clean and simple style?
A: I suppose I am somewhere in between really. CAS is my safety net now but you will occasionally see an 
inky creation from me. However, if you saw my craft room when I’m in mid-craft you would swear mine is an 
inky, grungy, messy style! I always make my best cards when I stick to the CAS style though. I’m still on a 
learning curve as I have only been trying the CAS genre for a couple of years.


Q: What kind of projects do you like creating the most?
A: Brightly coloured cards and One Layer Cards with oodles of white space. Yes, I am crazy! OLCs send 
most people shrieking for the hills, but I love them because they really challenge me, especially if I have 
to leave lots of clear space. Anything that involves learning a new technique or something that stretches 
me creatively gives me the most enjoyment but I think I am a collector of techniques; I should actually 
use them more often.


Q: Apart from stamps, what is the one product you wouldn't be without when you craft?
A: Can I just say I need my whole craft room? Seriously though, without paper and inks my stamps would 
be useless so it would have to be some paper and a selection of inks (mainly Distress products)




We also asked Sharon 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 particular card has a real soft spot in my heart because when I was making it I realised for the 
first time that one layer cards are not boring! They can have lots of interest and use lots of techniques. 
Here I used masking, faux layers, colouring and glossy accents" -Sharon





"I am proud of this tag because I absolutely adore working with bright colours and this project also 
shows off my inkier side. These distress ink colours have a great vibrancy when layered. I also love the 
dimension on this tag" -Sharon
 







Congraulations on being our March Design Winner Sharon, 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!

Wednesday 17 April 2019

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

For 2019 we're giving you FIVE colour options to play with!

 Don't forget, black, white and any metallics are always welcome, no matter the colour scheme. For this month, we are also welcoming flesh tones, should you wish to include a mermaid in your work!









Colours: Cobalt Blue, Mid Blue, Turquoise, Sea Green,Seaweed Green

Deadline for submission: 21st May 2019


· 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.  
  • Any stamps used MUST be branded. Please do not use stamps sold without designer/manufacturer information on the original packaging.
  •  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 12 April 2019

Take It Make It April Challenge: Inspiration

Hello!
Our April Take It Make It challenge is well underway... some stunning entries so far, we can't wait to see what else you lovely lot can dream up!


As ever, we have another wonderful selection of inspiration eye candy from our Design Team to share today..... but first a little reminder...

 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  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..........) 




 So... brace yourself for some amazing art....






 





 




 


STUNNING work :) 
We really hope you've been inspired to enter the challenge! You can find the link up tool on our blog post from last week right HERE! 

Friday 5 April 2019

Take It Make It Challenge: April

Welcome to the April Take It Make It challenge!
TAKE a stamp and MAKE something amazing!

All our challenges are stamping challenges, with an
ANYTHING GOES theme.

That means, you can create whatever your imagination dreams up, as long as you have used a hand stamped image somewhere on your creation!
We would love to see cards, tags, layouts, 3D art, ATCs and Artist Trading coins, jewellery, planner pages.... anything you love to make. Any themes, any colours, any styles, and you may use any type of products you wish!

As ever, we have TWO winners every single month. Firstly, we have a Design Winner. This winner is chosen by our design team, who vote for their top three from on all the eligible entries. Whichever design wins the most votes is declared the Design Winner! 
The Design Winner of the challenge will be featured across a double page spread in Craft Stamper magazine, and will also receive a GDT slot and Winners Profile blog post here on the blog. This is such a nice way of getting you and your art noticed!

Our second Winner is chosen at random from ALL the eligible entries once the challenge has closed. This winner will receive our Blog Challenge prize, which this month is..............







In order to be eligible to win either prize, the project submitted must abide by our challenge guidelines. These guidelines can be found under a tab at the top of the page, or to the right on our sidebar. PLEASE read before submitting, we would hate to have to declare a wonderful project ineligible!

We hope that wonderful prize may tempt you to enter!

Our wonderful Design Team have created some truly wonderful art to inspire us, which we'll be sharing both in this post, and in our Inspiration post next week! Sit down, grab a cuppa and enjoy!






















WOW! Wonderful work from our DT :)

So.... do you fancy having a go? Have a quick check of the guidelines, then link up using the linking tool below. We can't wait to see all your wonderful creations!