February Challenge - Love Is In The Air

Good morning and Happy February to you all! Today sees the launch of our brand new challenge... and the theme, in keeping with the Saints day this month is LOVE. To join in, all you need to do is make a piece of art, include the theme and some stamping and pop back to leave us a link to the place you are showing your entry, oh and please do leave us a comment too! As ever there is a lovely candy prize up for grabs; £15 worth of your choice of Artistic Stamper designs rubberstamps plus the Kling-On to mount them onto. The challenge will remain open until February 28th. The winner of last months challenge will be announced here on Feb 3rd.

We have some exciting things going on this month; our new Guest Designer is Sue Roddis who has some amazing art to show you. The free cover stamp on March Issue Craft Stamper is designed by Jennie and there are several pieces of art in the magazine by Jennie and Hels. Also, there is a cool reader offer too! To see the details, please click here. As well as the magazine excitement, The Artistic Stamper will also be at Stamperama, Stevenage on Sunday February 6th 2011 so if you are going along, do pop by to see Jennie and her magic Melt Pot demo-ing UTEE and Hels with her marvellous Melt Pot demo-ing Beeswax.

We would just like to take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to our Guest Designer for January, Tracy Evans, for the gorgeous projects she has made for us. To see more of Tracy's work, click on her name and you will be whizzed off to her blog :O))

On with the challenge for this month: Here are the entries from the Team!

Hels altered a mini canvas using Tim Holtz papers, stamped with a Music Score background and then added a heap of Idea-ology and a UTEE heart to it.




Tina got hot with her Melt Pot and made this beautiful necklace using Memory Frames placed onto a background stamp then filled with UTEE for the pendants. The wings are made from Grungepaper overstamped with script.

Minxy altered a Papier Mache frame and turned it into a gorgeous "configuration" using Ten Seconds Studios metals, Fragments and Tim's Seasonal Paper Stash and Idea-ology. Check out the teensy details by clicking on the pic.

Alison made this lovely colourful card using Ten Seconds Studios metal, embossed in a Texture Fade and then altered with Alcohol Inks. The main embellishment is Duralar cut using the Heart Alterations Die, stamped and then heated gently to give it some dimension.




Sioux made this glamourous postcard using a mixture of Distress and Archival inks along with one of the girlies from the Nudes Plate and a collage of background stamps behind. Check out the sentiment... how cool!

Jennie got bright and spritzy making this little altered cloth bag using Ranger Colourwashes and Claudine Hellmuth Studio Range stash. This little bag is also part of a charity auction to help the Children of Haiti on eBay... to see the deets, please click HERE.

As ever, all of the stashy bit used by the team on their entries are all available from THE ARTISTIC STAMPER. All that is left for me to say is... can't wait to see your entries!!! Thanks for looking...

Hels and the Team x

An offer!

It's the boss here again! I was going to show you a piece of artwork I had done, but I haven't done one, so I can't!! Instead, I thought I would point you in the right direction for our wonderful offer in Craft Stamper for the March issue! As we designed the free stamp for the cover, we felt that a set of stamps that co-ordinated with it, at a very special price would be appropriate! Craft Stamper is always due out on the first Friday of each month, so you should be able to get ti in your local newsagent from Friday 4th February. The subscriptions always arrive a bit early :))

So for your information this is what you will get, if you fancy a set of stamps to go with your free stamp when you get your magazine :)

The link to the offer is here. You will get all 3 stamps plus an A4 sheet of Kling-On Repositionable Cushioning for £18.50 saving yourself £5.00!

Have a creative day!

Jennie

Getting To Know... Sioux Jenneys

Morning! Time for another "Getting To Know" the team interview, this time with Sioux... I have added a few pics of Sioux's work for you to drool over!



AS Introduce yourself, please tell us about yourself, your interests, likes/dislikes etc.

Hi! My given name is Susan Jenneys but I’m better known as my blog title Artyjen or just plain Sioux! I work in PA/accounts for a major fishing vessel owner in the beautiful port of Brixham in Devon. Making things of any sort has been a lifelong pleasure and I’ve dabbled in dressmaking, x-stitch, quilting, jewellery making, Fimo art and glass engraving before paper crafting took hold and then I discovered stamping and I had the thrill of a lifetime when I was chosen as Craft Stamper Magazine “Stamper of the Year” in November 2009. I love (in no particular order) classical music, travel, architecture, Van Gogh, cats, messing about on the computer, gardening (when my back lets me) and....erm....Richard Arimitage! LOL If I’m not creating something, I’m thinking about creating something and I hope my art journey will continue forever I hate pretentiousness especially in art and I dislike blue/rare steak!!I’ve recently been widowed.......but that’s a whole different ongoing journey.

AS What or who inspires you?

It seems that anything and everyone in life is inspiring but T!m Holtz really lit the flame when I bought his first DVD and started reading his blog back in 2007. His designs are just the sort of thing I would wish to draw myself if I could. Amongst other things that inspire me are books, films, music, the great outdoors, magazines and fashion design.

AS How do you make a piece of art..what is the process?

My brain gives me a vision (pity it never conjures up the winning lottery numbers HOL) and somehow I have to get close to it using the stamps I have....sometimes I just don’t have the stamps, so a bit of digital work will creep in to the mix. I seem do spend hours just pondering a piece but once I start I keep going with the flow....this sometimes means that I end up with something completely different to my starting point....nothing is ever dumped in the bin though..well, very rarely...I’ll just keep at it and end up with something I like in the end!

AS If your Mojo goes on holiday, what do you do?

Pack my bags and take off with him ‘cos no one is going on holiday without me!! LOL

AS What is your favourite technique?

Mmmm? Not sure on that one...I just love each technique I’m using at the time!! The simple answer would be stamping and layering images...I like to see images together that might not necessarily have been intended that way....I find that bit exciting (sad person that I am)!

AS If you were on a desert island and could only have 5 items of stash with you, what would you take?

OMG! Only 5!! I have oodles of stash....don’t you know I need it all?!! HOL

This is a tough question....erm...

My box of T!m Holtz stuff (It’s one box so it’s one item...right?)

Distress Ink (s)!

Scalpel

Loads of rubber!!

And erm.......Richard Armitage?!

So a very big thank you to Sioux for giving us a little insight into what makes her tick... I am seeing a recurring theme of Richard Armitage through this interview so... especially for Sioux (and you if you like Mr A... I do... a bit... ok, a lot LOL) Here is a piccie of the very man!

TTFN

Hels x

Alternative Valentines

Hi all, this is my final piece as Guest Artist for The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog so I thought with Valentine's being around the corner I would make a card that was a little different for the occasion.

1. Paint a piece of white card with Gesso, try not to cover the whole piece.
2. Sponge the Gesso with DI inks pumice stone and barn door.
3. Ink the Sequin Waste Open stamp with DI pumice stone and stamp randomly onto the coloured card.
4. Punch a large heart from glossy card, add Gesso randomly, as before.  Stamp the bird from the Airmail Bird Collage Elements sheet with VersaMark ink onto the heart, sprinkle with clear embossing powder and heat using your heat tool.
5. Sponge over the heart with DI pumice stone and barn door.
6. Hand stitch around the bird with black thread and add a button for the eye. Adhere the heart to the decorated panel and hand stitch around the heart with black thread, this lifts it a little from the background.

7. Stamp the bingo card (Stampers Anonymous Mini Muses Sheet) onto white card with DI pumice stone.  Stamp the number 14 again with DI black soot and adhere on top to give a 3D like appearance.  Matt the bingo card onto black card stock.
8. Using Tim's Odds and Ends stamp set, stamp the Happy ValentineS onto white card stock with DI black soot and sponge around the edges with DI barn door. Add the sentiment to a Memo Pin and adhere behind the bingo card and onto the decorated panel.
9. Add a Maya Road Wood Bingo Motif to the bottom right of the decorated panel.  Matt the completed piece onto black card stock and then onto a plain white card.

A final picture to try and show you the dimension on the card.

I have really enjoyed my time as a Guest Artist and would like to thank all the team for the opportunity, I have had a blast.  Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment they are much appreciated.  Tracy Evans x x

Star Journey! by Nicky Cresswell

Well ello my lovely blogging chums, so nice of you to stop by.

Today i have a humble tag to share.

A very simple distress ink background using wild honey & victorian velvet blended together.

Then lots of simple stamping using the Star Plethora set and Simple Swirls set

To make it a bit more interesting I stamped an extra star onto grungeboard and layered it up.

And i also threaded some wire intermittently along the lines for some added texture.

 I cut out a banner in grungeboard from the 'regal crest' alterations die, coloured using the same distress inks and then stamped the 'all of life' phrase in black archival ink.

I attached it to the tag using wire, all i did was to pierce some holes using a retractable craft pick and threaded the wire through like a coil.

I hope you have enjoyed my simple but fun project today.

***

Oh and don't forget

You still have time {just} to enter this months 'Things with Wings' theme challenge HERE.

Happy Creating

Mabel Lucie Attwell by Tina Barnett

Hi Crafty People!

I am back with one of my favourite stamps from The Artistic Stamper range of Mabel Lucie Attwell stamps.

I have gone all grungy again lol! This time I have stamped using Tim Holtz spiced marmalade distress ink.

I have only used this colour when shading the image and stamping the background. The grunge swirls are of course also Lord Tim of Holtz and also coloured with the same ink. Back to the background stamp, this wonderful stamp is the Baroque Background from The Artistic Stamper . It is a fabulous background! I can't stop using it!
I have aged the edges of the matts and the main card and sentiment. The matts and the sentiment have been paper pieced to give a different look.
The sentiment is brilliant! This is also from The Artistic Stamper in their sentiment range.

I have finished off with a few gems, ribbon and flowers to add and aged but bling finish! I have so much fun just using one colour! Give it a go and come back and leave me a comment so I can come and look.

Bye for now !!

Tina xxxxxxxxxx

'Time' by Alison Hall

Hi, Alison here again! This time I have a little Steampunk tag to share with you.


I started off with a manila tag, which was inked with tumbled glass, vintage photo and walnut stain distress inks. I stamped this with the cogs background, then embossed it with the Ten Seconds Studio Kabuka mould 7. I sanded off the embossing to reveal the original manila colour, and to show off the details. I inked the edges with tumbled glass distress ink.


Next, I stamped Phineas Pinchbeck onto white card, inked him with the distress inks, then cut him out. I added glossy accents to the watch, then attached a Tim Holtz charm clip to the bottom, and dangled a little handmade charm. I attached Phineas to the tag with foam pads.


I stamped the phrase from the Time & Keys plate, cut out the words separately, inked them, and added them down the right-hand side of the tag.

Finally, I sanded a Tim Holtz corner, added it to the bottom of the tag, then threaded some string through the top to finish.

Thanks for looking! xx