Wednesday, January 26, 2011

SDC 23: Orange & Turquoise


It’s time for another Stampotique Designers Challenge. This week Willy is challenging you to use the colour combination of orange and turquoise in your creation. Please remember, this week is a Stampotique Originals stamps only challenge so take out your Stampotique stamps and create a project in these wonderful colours.

Come join us for a chance to win a $30 gift certificate to shop at Stampotique Originals. Link up your creation below and don’t forget: only one entry per person please!


Also, don't forget, it's your opportunity to be our March Guest Designer, details on how to play for your chance to win are here...time is running out though, our contest closes on 1/31/11. 

We are bidding three of our team members farewell with this last challenge and we are going to miss them.  Make sure to leave them some love on their blogs-Milo Lilja, Hella Sjolund and Kim Prince .

And before you feast your eyes on our DT's Gorgeous Creations, Vicki will share her three favourite creations from the last challenge!


I love the muted blues in this pretty journal creation by Sarah and the depth she achieved in her creation with the use of masking.


The composition of Femmy's card was the first feature that drew me in. I love the background as well and the ornate watch in the foreground.


Lastly, as I"ve mentioned before, I love works of art that evoke a "grin" I love Gini's creative and humorous interpretation of the theme as well as the bright colours, the "ruler" table and the colourful flasks! Thanks so much for sharing your imagination~



Be sure to contact Kim H. For a Blog Badge~!

And now, the moment you've been waiting for..................(drumroll PUHLEASE.......)
This week's random winner of the Gift Certificate is..........

Sue
Please contact Carol at Stampotique and she'll make sure to get your Rubbery Goodness to you!


Now check out these Beauties~

Milo Lilja












Sue Roddis





Monique Verbeek

Valerie Wilson



Hella Sjolund


Join us by linking up below. We can't wait to see what you create with these fabulous colors!




This linky list is now closed.

*we apologize, Mr. Linkytools changed their policy so we had to close the other list and open a new one; we will be using a new one with our next challenge. We have saved all the entries but will not be using a thumbnail for these next few days. Thank you for bearing with us.*





Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Announcing Our New Design Team & YOUR chance to be our Guest Designer!

Today at Stampotique Designer’s Challenge we are thrilled to announce our new design team for the next term.  We thank the 150+ fans of Stampotique for submitting to the design team call, this was our biggest calling and it was very difficult to narrow it down.  There are so many wonderful designers out there and we enjoy seeing you all participating in the challenges each week.  Make sure you read all the way through for your chance to be our next guest designer.

With the choosing of the new team, we will be bidding farewell to three of our fabulous designers.  Milo Lilja, Hella Sjolund and Kim Prince have shared with us a great array of designs throughout the last year and they will be greatly missed.

Please welcome our new design team. We look forward to seeing their creations as they join us beginning February 1rst.  We hope you will be as excited as we are to have them designing for Stampotique:



Welcoming the new additions:
************************************************
Jane Wetzel  
  I am mom to 2 wonderful sons, 2 fabulous girls, a pug and a rottweiller. I am wife of 33 yrs to a very funny man and sister to 7 sibs.  I LOVE most every kind of art and in recent years was blessed to go back to art school. Stampotique artists are totally awesome and original!  Given this chance to be on the design team is just incredible for me!
************************************************
 Jenn Shurkus
Jenn lives on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, with her kitty Mister Harley. She's been papercrafting for over 10 years, and has played multiple roles in the paper craft industry as an independent store manager, designer and teacher. With a degree in graphic design she is also Copic and Ranger certified. She has recently become part of the Creative Imaginations team. Jenn loves to show people new and clever ideas to design their cards and projects. She has a flair for the "artsy-fartsy" without going over the top. She designs her projects in the way to inspire, but not intimidate. Jenn is eager to share her creative passions with others and encourage their artistic growth. You can read more about her, and her handsome kitty Mister Harley on her blog {creative chick}
************************************************
 Maria Sabina Raita (Lollyrot)
Everyone know me as Lollyrot, but my real name is Raita Maria Sabina . I am a young student from Romania and I have studied art (graphics and painting).I love to create! I started scrapbooking in November 2009 and is my little happy world.I find inspiration in music, people, dreams or even nightmares .I doubt there is one word that describes me and my type of art. Mostly my art is divided into categories (like my feelings).   If you like challenges then you are always welcome to my crafty-spooky-sweet world.

************************************************
Hello... My name is Geraldine (Gez) in Blogland! I live in the North West of England in the Pennine hills with my husband & 3 children. I have enjoyed drawing & all sorts of crafts ever since I was old enough to hold a pen. I love rubber stamping & making cards & gifts for friends. Crafting is an important part of everyday life for me even if it's just painting a background in my art journal. I love challenges & the great feeling when something comes together that I like.  I am so excited to be joining Stampotique's talented Design Team.
************************************************
Joanne Wardle
Hi, I'm Joanne and I live in Leeds in the UK. I've been stamping for about 8 years and love it.  I'm thrilled to be on the Stampotique design team. I love the diverse range of quirky, fun and beautiful stamps. I like to work in a clean and simple style and find that Stampotique stamps work really well with this.
************************************************
Hi, my name is Lisa Somerville, as long as I can remember I’ve been crafting one thing or another. My style is pretty classic with a bit of shabby chic. I live in Illinois with my husband Jim, and 2 boys (17 & 15). You can find my work published in Crafts N' Things, Take Ten, Stamper’s Sampler, Just Cards, Just Holidays, Stamp & Scrap, Vamp Stamp News, Rubber Stamp Madness, Paper Crafts, and The Rubber Stamper. I'm excited to be part of the Stampotique Design Team. I'm also currently designing for The Technique Junkie Newsletter, Artistic Outpost, Kitchen Sink Stamps, Heartfelt Creations and the CR84FN Challenge Blog.
************************************************
Kathryn (Kate) Crane 
I live in the north of England with my husband, two children and several small animals. In real life I am a teacher, but in my free time I love to play with paint, inks and especially rubber stamps. I write regularly for Craft Stamper magazine, and have also had articles published in Somerset Art Journaling and Somerset Apprentice (USA). My style is arty, quirky and a little off the wall!
************************************************
My name is Nellie van Leeuwen. I’m 48 years old and live in the Netherlands. I have a couple of passions in life. Stamping and mixed media is by far my greatest passion. Not only because it gives me a creative outlet after finishing my demanding management job, but also because I made so many new friends and contacts, close by but also all over the world through the internet. I spend a lot of my spare time in my stamping room. I like a very wide range of stamps, styles, colours and techniques and like to try new things. I have been stamping for about 6 years now. Started off by buying some Penny Black stamps during a Canadian vacation and followed a couple of workshops. If you could have a peek in my stamping room you would see that it took a real flight from there and you can speak of a serious addiction now. But I still treasure my first Penny Black’s.  Some of my other passions are my three dogs, 2 Irish wolfhounds and a border terrier, nature and travelling, cooking and of course eating.  Needless to say that I’m over the moon for being chosen for the Stampotique design team.
************************************************
My name is Hels Sheridan and I have always loved to make things starting way back when I was little, making Christmas cards with my Grandma, using cotton wool and glitter.  The crafting bug really kicked in 8 years ago when I started making cards.  I quickly moved onto Scrapbooking and then discovered stamping and I haven’t looked back since.  I love the way one single stamp has so many possibilities; embossing, inking, painting, colouring, layering etc.  My favourite products to work with are Distress Inks and acrylic paints.  I have been creating altered art for about four years now and I seem to be drawn to making wall art.  A trip to a flea market or car boot sale is a perfect day for me when I find little bits and bobs; broken jewelry, vintage findings and knick-knacks which I can then incorporate into my latest project.  I do have an ever expanding “box” full of old stuff all waiting to be altered... one day I will get around to it! 
************************************************
Tasha 
Hi there I’m Tasha, SAHM to Millie who is 4 and a budding little crafter too. I love stamping and have a very (un)healthy paper addiction. I like all things fun and funky and try and add that twist into my crafting. I am so excited to be part of this team.
************************************************
Hello, My name is Albert,I live in Italy and I'm 15 years old... yes, you read good, I’m a young boy who loves scrapbooking and card making. I think that my favourite part of the card is the flowers... I'm in love with every type of flower ornament and you can see it in every piece of my work.  I love working with stamps too and am looking forward to creating with Stampotique!

************************************************ 

And to help us join in on the fun we are looking for our next guest designer!  Would that be you?  Well, we would love to have you play along for your chance to win.  How do you win?

Create a “welcome” card with Stampotique stamps (or if you don’t have any, we encourage you to play along anyway) to welcome the new design team on board.  Link your creation below and we will choose a winner to join Stampotique as the Guest Designer for March.  There’s only going to be a short time to play, so scoot on over to your studio and get creating as this contest will close on January 31, 2011.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

SDC22: Put on your best Mask!

Happy New Year! It's Vicki here and I'm very excited to share the first challenge of 2011 with you. What I'm challenging you to do, is to use any type of masking technique in your creation. This challenge you are welcome to use any stamps you like. I'll give you a few more details on the masking techniques I used on my card, but first I'd like to share my three favourite creations from last year's Die Cut and Punch Challenge.


First we have this gorgeous card by Ellie. I love the soft colours that she's chosen and how she used the Puzzle Piece Die cut to highlight the main image.....WOW!!!





I absolutely LOVE this card by Karen Daley. It's just a dreamy creation that captured my eye right from the get go. I love the tiny punched stars and the gold embossing on the line work of the main image!



Lastly, I chose this adorable card by Maryanne. Don't you love it when you go to a blog, you feast your eyes on a creation and it evokes a huge grin that just won't stop! This wee carrot card had that affect on me! from the colours to the sparkly background and the fun pennants, this creation was a huge hit in my books!



Ladies, please contact Kim Howard for a Stampotique Faves button and thanks to all of you that played along......and without further ado, this weeks winner of the $30.00 gift certificate by random drawing is....

Please e-mail carol@stampotique.com to redeem your gift certificate)


Now onto the rules of the Challenge:

Since it's the first challenge of the month, you are welcome to use stamps from any company. Of course, if you have Stampotique images, we'd love you to include them in your project! Just add your project below to be included in the draw for a fabulous $30 gift certificate to the Stampotique Store!
*only one entry per person please, additional entries will be deleted*


For my card, I started out with a plain white Card. I cut a piece of Cardstock 6"x6" to match the size of the card front. From that 6x6 sheet, I cut a circle in the middle, allowing me to use the cardstock and the circle as a mask. First I adhered the circle to the middle of my cardfront. Then I took Tim Holtz Tea Dye ink and sponged the entire front of the card. I then took the honey comb background stamp and stamped over the front of the cardstock in Tea Dye to create a tone on tone look. I then took the Button Stamp and stamped the upper half of the card in Walnut Stain ink. Then it was time to remove the circle from the middle of the card and place the 6x6 cut out mask over the borders, so that I could work on the central images on my creation.

First I stamped Leopard Queen in the circle and on a Sticky Note. I then lay the mask over her and stamped in the Mushroom Group around her. I coloured her with Copic Markers and added some stickles to her wings for some additional bling!

Make sure that you peek down to see the rest of the DT creations, you'll see various sorts of masking in all it's glory!

hope you'll play along,

Vicki




Jenn Shurkus-January Guest Designer
for a tutorial on masking, jump on over to our sister blog here












Monique Verbeek




Saturday, January 1, 2011

January Guest Designer and DT Call


Stampotique is excited to kick off the New Year with Jenn Shurkus guest designing for us. 

Jenn lives on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, with her kitty Mister Harley. She's been papercrafting for over 10 years, and has played multiple rolls in the papercraft industry as an independent store manager, designer and teacher. With a degree in graphic design she is also Copic and Ranger certified. She has recently become part of the Creative Imaginations team. Jenn loves to show people new and clever ideas to design their cards and projects. She has a flair for the "artsy-fartsy" without going over the top. She designs her projects in the way to inspire, but not intimidate. Jenn is eager to share her creative passions with others and encourage their artistic growth. You can read more about her, and her handsome kitty Mister Harley on her blog {creative chick}


*************************************************************************************************
Don't forget we are having an open call right now for the DT, details below:
As you all know, nothing lasts forever and through this year we've lost a few DT members due to life happenings.  We are once again in search of new additions to our design team family.  If you are interested, here are two bits to chomp on BEFORE sending us a yeah or nay and your blog link: 

1. You must have a blog and be familiar and comfortable with frequent entries.

2. You must be dedicated as the entire team is only as good as it's weakest link.  Everyone depends on each other and Stampotique DEPENDS ON THE DESIGN TEAM.  We would ask that you provide maybe 4 items per month using Stampotique images (we provide the rubber; you choose the images).  There might be a time when we would ask you to use a specific image. 



When you send your email to Carol@Stampotique.com there are 4 items to note 
1. your blog address, 2. your name,  3.what state or country you live in and  4. which one of the Stampotique artists is your favorite. 
PLEASE remember to list those 4 items.  Thank you.



Depending on the number of applicants received, we may or may not respond to all. 



The CALL OPENS NOW and will CLOSE ON JANUARY 10th, unless we find new members before that date.     (we'll be sure to let you all know as a group). Spread the word, tell your friends; tell any men stampers that you know!



Thank you all who are interested and BONNE CHANCE!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Design Team Call

Call for DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS now...........
 

As you all know, nothing lasts forever and through this year we've lost a few DT members due to life happenings.  We are once again in search of new additions to our design team family.  If you are interested, here are two bits to chomp on BEFORE sending us a yeah or nay and your blog link: 

1. You must have a blog and be familiar and comfortable with frequent entries.

2. You must be dedicated as the entire team is only as good as it's weakest link.  Everyone depends on each other and Stampotique DEPENDS ON THE DESIGN TEAM.  We would ask that you provide maybe 4 items per month using Stampotique images (we provide the rubber; you choose the images).  There might be a time when we would ask you to use a specific image. 


When you send your email to Carol@Stampotique.com there are 4 items to note 
1. your blog address, 2. your name,  3.what state or country you live in and  4. which one of the Stampotique artists is your favorite. 
PLEASE remember to list those 4 itemsThank you.


Depending on the number of applicants received, we may or may not respond to all. 


The CALL OPENS NOW and will CLOSE ON JANUARY 10th, unless we find new members before that date.     (we'll be sure to let you all know as a group). Spread the word, tell your friends; tell any men stampers that you know!


Thank you all who are interested and BONNE CHANCE!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

SDC21: Punches and Die Cuts

Welcome back to another Stampotique Designers Challenge!  We hope you'll escape from the seasonal weather in your craft corner and join us for our longest running challenge to date - open until 01/11/11!!!  Find all of the details below...

This week,  Valerie is asking us to dig into our crafty cupboards to pull out our favorite punches and die cut shapes and images.  She challenges us to create a project that includes at least one punched shape and one die cut shape or image! They can be any brand, any style, any size - shapes, layers, flowers, swirls, snowflakes... anything!!!!  Even hole punches count as punches and pre-cut purchased shapes and chipboard count as die cuts - right!!???  We think so!!! :)

Since it's the first challenge of the month, you are welcome to use stamps from any company.  Of course, if you have Stampotique images, we'd love you to include them in your project!  Just add your project below to be included in the draw for a fabulous $30 gift certificate to the Stampotique Store!
*only one entry per person please, additional entries will be deleted* 

The entries for the bling challenge were simply stunning!  Kim Prince had the impossible task of choosing only 3 favorites from last challenge - but she managed to do it and here they are! Congratulations ladies!
(Please e-mail khowardga@gmail.com if you would like to display the SDC Favorites Banner on your blog)








And a very big Design Team congrats goes to the winner for the $30 gift certificate from Stampotique this week...
(Please e-mail carol@stampotique.com to redeem your gift certificate)

Now, let's take a look at the beautifully inspirational eye candy created by the design team for the SDC#21!  (Click each designer's name for more details on her project!)












*only one entry per person please, additional entries will be deleted*

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Imagine the Mojo Locked in a Cage

Oh where, oh where, has my stamping mojo gone, oh where, oh where could it be?  Well, it definitely wasn't with me last night!  I had the night to stamp, and I just sat here staring at the computer (ok, I was chatting away online) but I couldn't think of a thing to do.  Even my usual inspiration of a sketch challenge wasn't sparking anything.

Finally, after more than an hour of sitting around pondering what I could do, I finally decided to just break out my mojo out of a cage and grabbed some stamps, paper, etc. and try to finish a card.  I succeeded in doing that, not sure if I'm thrilled with the outcome of the card, but I stamped and I'm happy about that.

This card uses the Card Positioning Systems Sketch #195 this week.  I've been neglecting some stamps that I've wanted to use, so I thought last night was a good night to break them out.  This uses Bird in a Cage from Stampotique which I thought fit this paper quite appropriately.  I *really* wanted some type of love sentiment but decided to go with a different on instead.
 
 
 
Is this paper too much?  I'm always loving how some of the stamper's I follow pair their papers and I've struggled with this over the years.  I want to pair patterned papers, but it seems like when I do, I'm never quite confident that the pairing works.

Hope your week is going good!  I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow in which I pray my mojo will arrive.  I'm done prepping for the holiday festival I'll be having a table at on Saturday and so nothing on my plate except stamping and maybe some gift wrapping.

Card details:
Cardstock: Hibiscus Burst, Basic Black, Bo Bunny Crush Collection, Whisper White
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Hibiscus Burst, Copics
Accessories: Dare to be a Diva Red ribbon, Amuse creative candy pearls