April Challenge: Stamps & Your Favorite Technique

Welcome to the April challenge! We’d love it if you’ll join us for the entire month! Each month we have a theme, and for April, our theme is STAMPS & YOUR FAVORITE TECHNIQUE. You can use stamps by other companies to create projects that you enter to our challenges, although if you have our stamps in your stash, we'd be tickled if you use them!

Put your own spin on this month's theme -- as long as you use stamps in your projects (as opposed to projects without stamping whatsoever) and they are inspired by your favorite technique(s), we'd love to see them!

PRIZE

The winner will receive 2 Vignette, Patchwork Frenzy, or Subway Art Builders clear stamp sets of her choice. (Visit the shop to see the available stamp sets.) The winner also gets to be a Guest Designer in our next monthly challenge.

A TWIST IN OUR CHALLENGES

Participate in all 3 challenges we host this month and you'll be in the running to win this prize package courtesy of our sister shop, All About Scrapping. 

INSPIRATION PROJECTS

Our guest designer is Sian, who was our February Challenge winner. Please visit her blog to read about the techniques she used to create her beautiful CAS card.

Guest Designer

SIAN

using stamps from VIGNETTE: Retro Mod Shapes and VIGNETTE: Chevron and Arrows

"My name is Sian Ridley and I have been crafting in some capacity for as long as I can remember! As a child I used to spend all of my time drawing, then I discovered Calligraphy which I have carried on to this day and it plays a large part in my card making. I would describe my card making style as clean and simple and I always endeavour to take the inspiration I am given and create something a little less usual with it. I love to incorporate stitching into my projects in the form of string art and in other interesting ways. Given my CAS style, I use heat embossing much of the time to add interest and dimension to my designs without adding layers. I now live in Kent, England with my ever patient partner who kindly overlooks my messy work space and allows me the luxury of getting stuck in to the challenges I love to participate in and makes all the right noises when I show him what I have made! During the day I work in the insurance industry and what now seems like a lifetime ago, I completed a degree in Architecture. Sitting at my desk and creating cards and gifts for those I love fills me with joy and I love every minute of it! :)"

And here are the projects that the STAMPlorations design team created. Clicking on our names will take you to our personal blogs where you can read more about our favorite techniques and how we created our projects. We hope they’ll inspire you and we're excited to see what you create!

MARIA

using VIGNETTE: Trendy Feathers

DEBRA

using VIGNETTE: Artful Flutters

SANDIE

using Mini Mixed Media Backgrounds

SHIRLEY

using VIGNETTE: Eclectic Florals and VIGNETTE: Artful Flutters

CORNELIA

using VIGNETTE: Retro Mod Shapes, VIGNETTE: Artful Flutters, and Holiday Artsy

MONIKA

using VIGNETTE stamps: Chevron and Arrows, Retro Mod Shapes, Eclectic Florals, and Tree Silhouettes

[Watch Monika's video tutorial for the Blackboard/Chalkboard Technique here.]

[Watch Monika's video tutorial for the Faux Aperture Tree card here.]

[Watch Monika's video tutorial for her Floral Panel card here.]

VICKI

using VIGNETTE: Retro Mod Shapes and MOM Subway Art Builders #4

NONNI

using VIGNETTE: Eclectic Florals, MOM Subway Art Builders #3, and Distressed Floral Swirls

SHERY

using MOM Subway Art Builders #4

READY TO PLAY?

• Create a card, tag, mini album/scrapbook cover, layout, home decor item, or any paper craft that features STAMPS & YOUR FAVORITE TECHNIQUE. Any style is welcome — CAS, shabby chic, vintage, grunge, and so on. Post your creation on your blog and submit it by 11:55 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, April 30. Don’t have a blog? You can post a photo of your project on your Pinterest page, Flickr, or any public online gallery. (Please note: If the theme isn't obvious in your submission, we reserve the right to remove your entry.)

• You must use stamps (rubber, cling, clear, digi — from any company) in your creation(s).

• Copy the link of your blog entry where you have your project posted and enter it to the linky found 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 us to find your submission and leave a comment. Please turn off word verification as well.)

• Include a text link back to this challenge post in your blog post and encourage other paper crafters to participate.

• You can submit up to 3 entries for this challenge.

• You can submit your creation(s) to other challenges — as many as you want.

• Be a follower of our blog to qualify for the prize.

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

We'll announce the winner and top picks on Tuesday, May 6, here on the STAMPlorations™ blog and on the All About Scrapping page on Facebook. That’s it…we look forward to seeing what you create!

~ The STAMPlorations™ girls