Craft Stamper Magazine

Friday, 11 October 2019

Take It Make It October Challenge: Inspiration

Hello!

Our October 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..........)

This week we have TWO amazing guest designers for you, sadly Maria wasn't able to share last month, so we're so happy to share today instead!

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

Guest Designer: Maria Fischer

Guest Designer: Ann Chuang

Donna Gray

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!

Saturday, 5 October 2019

Blog Exclusive: Lotte Kristensen

Good morning!

In the November issue of Craft Stamper magazine, the uber talented Lotte Kristensen shared a stunning Little Beaded Gelli Journal with us. The magazine showed us how to get that Gelli printed look for the covers of the journal, today we're sharing how to create the journal itself!

Gab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy!

Little Beaded Gelli Journal by Lotte Kristensen

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS FOR MAKING UP THE JOURNAL:

PaperArtsy Eclectica Mini 39 rubber stamp

Tsukineko VersaFine Ink Pad: Onyx Black

Bone folder

Narrow double sided sticky tape

Light green-blue embroidery thread and beads; sewing needle

Glue stick

Scrap pieces of white, Kraft and light blue card

STEP ONE

Take the pages which have been stamped around the edges, fold in half, and score the edge with a bone folder.

STEP TWO

Stick double sided tape all around the edges, and diagonally across the page.

STEP THREE

Attach another piece of folded paper on top, and repeat as above until you have as many pages as you wish

– I had about 25.

STEP FOUR

Make a piercing template as detailed in photograph, and use to make holes on the first and last page fold at

the spine. I used a Posca pen to colour the spine, or you could just use some acrylic paint. Dry.

STEP FIVE

Cut a piece of embroidery thread around 75 cm long, tie a double knot at around 10 cm, and from the inside

stick the needle through to the front. Add as many beads as it takes to span the spine, then stick needle

through opposite hole to the inside of the back.

STEP SIX

Go through the next hole, add beads and repeat with each set of holes until you have done the entire spine.

Work back through the holes and beads until you return to the top, strengthening the beadwork, and returning

to the beginning.

STEP SEVEN

Add beads as you like to both ends of the embroidery thread, secure the ends by going back through beads

already done, tie a knot, go through a few more beads and cut thread.

STEP EIGHT

Take the piece of A5 paper which has been stamped over its entire surface, and cut in half. Attach a piece

front and back, using double sided sticky tape.

STEP NINE

Stamp the Eclectica mini stamp onto white paper and trim. Layer onto Kraft, then blue paper and glue onto

the front of the journal. And we're done!

*********

Thanks so much Lotte! We just adore the colour scheme, the layers and the fact that you've made the whole

thing from scratch!

The whole article, including a step by step guide on how to Gelli print the pages, can be found in the

November 2019 issue of Craft Stamper Magazine.

Friday, 4 October 2019

Take it Make It Challenge: October

Welcome to the October Take It Make It stamping challenge!

Take a stamp and make something amazing!

All our challenges have an

Anything Goes theme.

That means you can create whatever your imagination dreams up, as long as you have used a hand stamped image on your creation somewhere!

We would love to see cards, art journal pages, ATC's, ATCoins, canvas, 3D projects, layouts, jewellery, planner pages etc etc. The list is endless, create something you love and then share it with us!

Any themes, any styles, any colours. You may use whatever brands and products you wish.

We have TWO winners each month. Firstly, we have our Design Winner. This winner is chosen by our design team, who vote for their top three favourites from all eliglible entries. Whichever design gets the most votes is declared the winner!

The Design Winner of the challenge will be featured across a double page spread in Craft Stamper magazine, will recieve a winner's profile post here on the blog, and will have a Guest Designer slot in an upcoming challenge. Such a nice way to get you and your art noticed!

The second winner is our randomly chosen winner. This winner is selected at random from all eligible entries, and wins the Blog Challenge prize. This month, the prize is.....

In order to be eligible to win EITHER prize, the project submitted must abide by our challenge guidelines. The guidelines can be found by clicking the tab at the top of the page, or to the right in our sidebar. PLEASE take a look and make sure all guidelines are followed before you submit your entry. The most common reason we have to exclude an entry is because the blog post linked to has more than one project in it. Please remember we want to see one project per blog post, not a set or a group, no matter how similar!

We hope the wonderful prize has tempted you to enter!

Our wonderful design team have created some stunning art to share with you, you can see some today, and some next Friday in our Inspiration post :)

Enjoy!

LOVE the wonderful array of projects! Thank you Design Team :)

So.... have a read of the guidelines, create something amazing and upload it so we all can see. Can't wait!

Friday, 27 September 2019

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 67: Milka

We loved this wonderful card by Milka. The sepia tones are beautiful, and the image just helps to showcase this stuning monochrome look! Milka 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 Milka!

We also have the remaining top slots to announce!

The rest of the top three Design Winners are:

Entry number 30: Janis

Entry number 46: Ingunn

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....

Entry number 4: Carol

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

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 on the first Friday of October, the 4th.

We can't wait to see all the wonderful art you will all be sharing!

Thursday, 19 September 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 August 2019 challenge is:

Ann Chuang

find her here:

www.anncard.blogspot.com

Ann won the challenge with this beautiful card. We loved the wonderful shades of green background, and the monochrome image works perfectly!

We asked Ann 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: This summer, I will have been stamping for 7 years. In 2012 I accompanied my daughter to a paper art course, and there I got to know the stamping tools and began to make cards!

Q: What are your favourite kinds of stamps, and do you have a favourite stamp company?
A: There are a lot of stamps I like, but I prefer vintage style images. My favourite stamp companies are: Stampers Anonymous, Darkroom Door, PaperArtsy, Visible Image, Carabelle Studio, IndigoBlu, Simon Says Stamp and Altenew.

Q: Describe your style, are you a messy kind of stamper or a more 'clean and simple' kind of person?
A: I have no set style, and I don't want to! I like to follow my mind. But if I have to choose one, I think I have always been 'messy'. I do like mixing things up and trying new techniques.

Q: What kind of projects do you like creating the most?
A: I think I enjoy making cards the most, I especially like the vintage, shabby, steampunk style.

Q: Apart from stamps, what is the one product you wouldn't be without when you craft?
A: I can't work without ink pads when I craft. They can be used for both stamping AND colouring!.

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

"I had some 'wrinke free' fun using Distresspaints with some added crackle! I was really happy with the outcome of this vintage tag" -Ann

"I used a lot of PaperArtsy mini stamps making this Triple Time stamping project. I love the splatters and splodges, especially the embossing enamel" -Ann

Congratulations on being our August Design Winner Ann, 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, 18 September 2019

Brand New Art Call for 2020!

Good Morning!

We're starting 2020 with a whole host of new features in Craft Stamper!

I know, it's only September at present, but we need to get started with the art call for our first issue of 2020 right now :) The land of magazine publishing always works on a weird schedule......!

We are launching a brand new reader gallery for 2020:

Stamp Your Art Out!

This will take the place of our current Ready Set Stamp feature.
We want to broaden the scope a little for 2020, so from now on readers can submit ANY type of stamped art for this art call, not just cards. We're keeping a theme, but no colour options. Create with our chosen theme in mind, but with no colour restrictions whatsoever!

So....What are you waiting for?!
Check out the updated submission guidelines below, then send us a pic of your submission. We can't wait to see and share your art with the readers of Craft Stamper magazine!

January 2020 issue theme: Winter
Deadline for submissions: 22nd October 2019

· Please email your submissions to: editor.cs@mytimemedia.com

· Please put 'Stamp Your Art Out' 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 project!

Guidelines:

Any type of project is welcomed for this gallery. Bear in mind however, that if your project is chosen, you will need to post it to our UK office! Heavy items or very delicate items that might not like our postal system would be best avoided!

If submitting Art Journal pages, we prefer loose pages NOT an entire Art Journal to be posted to us, if your submission is chosen.

Please follow the theme when creating your project!

NEW work only please, we do not accept projects that have been published elsewhere (including online) before submission.

All projects MUST feature stamped art work.

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 projects using digital imagery exclusively for this feature. Digital imagery is welcome, but MUST be used in conjunction with rubber/polymer stamping to qualify.

Projects which are selected need to be posted to the Craft Stamper offices in the UK. The projects 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 project is ready.

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!