Holiday Papercrafting Challenge Winner

Before we reveal the winner, we’d like to thank all the ladies who participated in our first challenge. Your creations are all wonderful and creative!

Shai, our guest judge, had this to say about picking the winner of STAMPlorations™’s first papercrafting challenge: “It was tough to choose ‘the best’. At the end of the day, I guess I asked myself which card I’d buy if I could OR which one I’d love to receive.”

So which entry did she pick? Here’s the winner of 7 new holiday clear stamp sets:

Sandie’s Autumn-Inspired Christmas Card

Congratulations, Sandie! Staying true to your CAS-loving heart paid off! Please send me an email with your postal address so we can send your prize ASAP. And do grab your winner badge below and display it proudly on your blog!

Shai liked the sheer simplicity of Sandie’s card, but she was also taken with another card, so we’ve got a runner-up:

Monika’s Autumn-Themed “Thinking of You” Card

Congratulations, Monika! You win a pack of 24 double-sided 6×6 designer papers from Pink Paislee. Grab your top pick badge below and display it proudly on your blog!

Thanks again to everyone who joined us in our first papercrafting challenge. I hope you’ll be be back again to participate in upcoming challenges. Our bi-weekly challenge starts on October 4, and the next bi-monthly challenge is on November 1.

Happy crafting!

~Shery

Meet Our Guest Judge: SHAI COGGINS - Artist, Pro Blogger, Social Media Expert

We’ve concluded our first challenge here on the STAMPlorations™ blog. Thanks so much to the wonderful and creative ladies who entered! Now it’s time to introduce our guest judge: Shai Coggins.

She’s an artist, professional blogger, and social media expert. And she’s graciously agreed to be our guest judge and take on the task of picking the winning entry for the STAMPlorations™ Holiday Papercrafting Challenge.

I’ve known Shai since the late 1990s when we both published ezines for writers. I’ve followed her since then and I’ve been a fan not just of her writing but also of her art…and well, basically anything creative she’s done and continues to do!

As an artist, her paintings have sold worldwide and are in private collections. As a professional blogger, she was co-founder and Community VP for b5media, a Canada/US-based company that received over $10M of VC funding. As a social media expert, Shai has successfully used social media in her work with various not-for-profit organizations, start-up companies, and small businesses in and outside Australia. In 2009, Fast Company named her as one of the “Most Influential Women in Technology” and her name has appeared in many other Top lists in blogging and social media.

Backed by more than a decade of experience in print, online content, web communities, and social media, Shai founded Vervely in May 2012. Through Vervely, she offers her expertise in digital media and community engagement.

Since August 2000, Shai has been blogging about social media, creativity, food, travel, fashion, books, gadgets, and anything and everything else on her personal site,ShaiCoggins.com. If you want an up-close view on her life as a creative, check out her personal blog regularly. If you’ve an interest in social media and want to learn from someone who’s regarded as an expert in the field, head on over to Vervely.

On September 25, we’ll announce the winning entry picked by Shai so stop by again. Then on October 4, we’ll have our first bi-weekly challenge.

Holiday Papercrafting Challenge

Welcome to the STAMPlorations™ Holiday Papercrafting Challenge! So glad you stopped by. We’re kicking off this blog with our first bi-monthly challenge. There’ll also be bi-weekly challenges posted here beginning October 4. For our first challenge, the top pick will win a prize package (worth $49) consisting of 7 holiday clear stamp sets (60+ stamps) from STAMPlorations™. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

The challenge guidelines are simple and as long as your submission follows these guidelines, you’re good to go 

Here’s the sketch for this challenge. It’s open to interpretation. Feel free to change the orientation of the sketch (you can do landscape), use different shapes (you don’t have to use flowers or have the curly bracket in your submission), add other elements to suit the type of papercraft you’re making, and so on — just make sure the sketch is recognizable in your submission(s).

Below are a couple of examples.

Ready? Here are the details:

• Create a card, tag, mini album/scrapbook cover, or home decor item with a holiday theme (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fall, Winter, etc.) using the sketch as your guide and post it on your blog by 11:55 p.m. PST on Sunday, September 22. (Don’t have a blog? You can post a photo of your project on your Pinterest page, Flickr, or any public online gallery. You can also upload it to our Facebook page here and I’ll add your entry manually to the link collection within 24 hours — but use this only as a LAST resort, please.)

• Use at least one stamp and one kind of paper (cardstock, designer paper, die cuts, washi, vellum, etc.) in your project.

• As for style, go with your preferred style, whether it’s CAS, shabby chic, vintage, grunge, and so on. Do one layer or multi-layers; use few embellishments or lots of it; stick to one medium or combine different ones (inks, sprays, gel medium, molding paste, markers, alcohol inks, watercolors, acrylics). Go with the style that makes you happy! 

• Copy the link of your blog entry where you have your project posted and submit it to our linky at the end of this post. Remember to link directly to your blog post, not just your blog URL. (This will make it easy for me to find your submission and leave a comment.)

• Include a text link back to the STAMPlorations Holiday Papercrafting Challenge in your blog post. It would be great if you can include the sketch in your post as well. The text link is required if you have a blog; displaying the sketch on your blog post is optional.

• You can submit up to 3 entries for this challenge. If you submit more than 3, only your first 3 submissions are eligible.

• And lastly, have a great time creating your holiday papercrafting project! 

I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, September 25, here on the STAMPlorations™ blog and on the All About Scrapping page on Facebook.  Follow the blog or like us on Facebook — it isn’t a requirement for this challenge…do either one (or both) only if you’d like to be notified and be updated as soon as a winner is announced. Thanks in advance, and may the best papercrafter win!

~ Shery

Holiday Stamp Sets Now Shipping

Our holiday stamp sets are now available! Click on the image below and you’ll be taken to our shop.

Preview: HOLIDAY HEXAGONS

Coming to the shop in September: HOLIDAY HEXAGONS. There are 12 individual clear stamps in this set for creating holiday cards, gift tags, and other papercrafting projects.

Want a chance to win this clear stamp set? Bookmark this blog and come back on Friday, September 6, when we announce a holiday papercrafting challenge. One papercrafter will win all 7 holiday clear stamp sets (60+ individual stamps) from STAMPlorations™ 

Preview: OH, CHRISTMAS TREE!

Coming to the shop in September: OH, CHRISTMAS TREE! There are 7 individual clear stamps in this set for creating holiday cards, gift tags, and other papercrafting projects.

Want a chance to win this clear stamp set? Bookmark this blog and come back on Friday, September 6, when we announce a holiday papercrafting challenge. One papercrafter will win all 7 holiday clear stamp sets (60+ individual stamps) from STAMPlorations™ 

Preview: THANKFUL, GRATEFUL

Coming to the shop in September: THANKFUL, GRATEFUL. There are 11 individual clear stamps in this set for creating autumn- and Thanksgiving-themed cards, gift tags, and other papercrafting projects.

Want a chance to win this clear stamp set? Bookmark this blog and come back on Friday, September 6, when we announce a holiday papercrafting challenge. One papercrafter will win all 7 holiday clear stamp sets (60+ individual stamps) from STAMPlorations™