Bi-Weekly Sketch Challenge #3

Welcome to our third bi-weekly sketch challenge! We're re-starting this challenge this year after being on hiatus for a couple of months as we formed the design team. Our bi-weekly sketch challenges are fortnightly — posted on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month — and are open for 11 days (ending on a Friday).

Here’s the sketch for this challenge. It’s open to interpretation. Feel free to change the orientation of the sketch, use different shapes, add other elements to suit the type of paper craft you’re making, and so on — just make sure the sketch is recognizable in your submission(s). And 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!

PRIZE

The sketch challenges are sponsored by our sister shop, All About Scrapping. The winner gets to pick 3 DIGITAL products from the shop — any combination of printable sheets, Photoshop templates, and digital paper packs. The winner will also be invited to be a Guest Designer in next month's sketch challenge.

A TWIST IN OUR CHALLENGES

Each month, we host 3 challenges: 1 monthly challenge that starts on the 1st Friday, and 2 bi-weekly sketch challenges that start on the 1st and 3rd Monday. Those who participate in all 3 challenges for the month will be in the running to win a prize package from our sister shop, All About Scrapping. We'll randomly pick one winner and announce who that is the following month before the next monthly challenge starts. Remember, you must participate in all 3 challenge for a shot at the prize.

INSPIRATION PROJECTS

Here are the projects that the STAMPlorations design team created based on the sketch. We hope they’ll inspire you and we’re excited to see your intrepretations!

Kylie

using VIGNETTE Trendy Feathers

Vicki

Using VIGNETTE Trendy Feathers

Nonni

using sentiment from VIGNETTE: Chevron and Arrows and swirls from Distressed Floral Swirls

Shery

using VIGNETTE: Chevron and Arrows and Holiday Artsy

Debra

using Holiday Artsy and VIGNETTE Artful Flutters

Shirley

using VIGNETTE Retro Mod Shapes, VIGNETTE Chevrons and Arrows, and PATCHWORK FRENZY Graphic Pentagons

Monika

using Vignette VIGNETTE Ever After and PATCHWORK FRENZY Graphic Squares

READY TO PLAY?

• Create a card, tag, mini album/scrapbook cover, layout, home decor item or any paper craft on ANY THEME using the sketch as your guide. 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. PST on Friday, January 17. Don’t have a blog? You can post a photo of your project on your Pinterest page, Flickr, or any public online gallery.

• 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 the challenge post (http://stamplorations.blogspot.com/2014/01/bi-weekly-sketch-challenge-3.html) in your blog post, as well as display the sketch, to 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 Sunday, January 19 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™ design team

PREVIEW: January STAMPlorations Stamps

We're excited to share the news about the 4 new stamp sets we're releasing this month!

We're introducing the PATCHWORK FRENZY series and kicking it off with the Graphic Pentagons and Graphic Squares sets. We also have 2 new VIGNETTE sets: Eclectic Florals and Retro Mod Shapes. These sets will be available in the shop starting January 10, but check out this Facebook page post for an early bird deal!

You'll start seeing projects where the ladies in the STAMPlorations design team have used these sets in their paper crafts -- starting with tomorrow's bi-weekly sketch challenge, so we hope you'll come check back in!

January Challenge: STAMPS & FEATHERS

Welcome to the January challenge! We’d love it if you’ll join us for the entire month of January! Each month we have a theme, and for January, we’d love to see any and all kinds of paper crafts using STAMPS & FEATHERS. And 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 you include an element that you associate with "feathers" -- feather stamps, designer paper with bird or feather designs, feather or bird stickers, die-cuts, or embellishments -- we'd love to see them! 

December Challenge Winner and Top Picks

Thanks to everyone who entered their projects to the December Challenge. We enjoyed looking at your creations. The design team voted on the winner and top picks, and here they are!

The Design Team's Top Picks are:

#1 Sandie

#18 Cornelia

Congratulations, ladies!

Please grab the top pick badge below to display on your blogs.

And the winner of the December 2013 Challenge is:

#22 maria f.

Congratulations, Maria!

Please grab the winner badge to display on your blog.

We'll also be in touch with you regarding information on claiming your prize :-)

NEW DT MEMBERS
We'd like to thank the ladies who responded to our second round of DT call. It was tough and I (Shery) had my eye on at least 6 ladies -- including those who applied in November -- but there really are only 3 spots open at this time...

...and those 3 spots go to this month's winner and top picks -- Maria, Cornelia, and Sandie. Congrats again, ladies! I (Shery) will be contacting you in the next few days. We're  excited to have you on the team! :o)

There's more good news, though! We're forming a second design team that's scheduled to start in May/June. Anyone who has applied in November and December will be considered for this second DT. I'll be shortlisting the applications and sending out invitations by the end of January. We'll have another DT call in case some of those invited don't accept. So if you applied and didn't make it in the first and second rounds of DT call, you're being considered for one more round :o)

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the December Challenge. The January Challenge starts tomorrow, Friday, at 6 AM PST so come back to find out what this month's theme is!

Meet Our New Design Team Members

We are ringing in the New Year in a big way! On Friday, when our January Challenge starts, Nonni and I will be joined by 5 incredibly creative ladies in the design team. We thought we'd introduce them and give them a warm welcome.

DEBRA

"I work part-time at a primary school and when I'm not spending time with my family, you will find me playing, colouring, and creating in my craft room. This wonderful hobby has given me the opportunity to meet so many wonderful crafty and talented people all around the world."

KYLIE

"I started making cards about 2 years ago when I attended a card making class thanks to my mum. The rest is history. I created a blog and started meeting the most amazing people from all over the world. Some of my best friends I haven't even met (YET!!). I love learning new techniques and love the inspiration that comes from following other blogs."

MONIKA

"Whilst at heart I am a stamper, I also love to explore different products and techniques to make cards, boxes, mini books and projects for home décor. I like to share my skills with others through running crafting classes, sending projects I made to magazines (some of which have been published), entering competitions and blogging."

SHIRLEY

"I love the versatility and flexibility of using stamps to create a project that can be as simple or elaborate as I like. I’m especially happy when I’m adding Distress Inks into the mix. I do CAS, I do messy, and sometimes I do messy CAS!"

VICKI

"Hi my name is Vicki Dutcher and I have been stamping for about 20 years. I started [as most] by going to a SU party and was hooked from there! I played in stamping until I found SCS about 6 years ago. Once I had that resource, my stamping took off! Hence the blog name All I Do Is Stamp."

We are so excited to have Debra, Kylie, Monika, Shirley, and Vicki on the team and we can't wait to show you their projects for this month! Tomorrow, we'll announce the December Challenge winner and top picks and then on Friday, the January Challenge starts at 6 AM PST! Until then, happy crafting!

A Happy Inky 2014!

From all of us in the design team, we hope you all have a happy, wildly creative, fantabulous, and inky 2014!

We leave you with a couple of creations from the design team: 

What an awesome New Year card by Shirley!

...and who's ready to partaaayyy with the adorable dog in this super cute card by Nonni?

PS: There's a little over a day left to enter our December challenge here.

Inspiration Project + December Challenge Reminder, Final DT Call & January Stamps Preview

Hello, fellow crafters! Our current challenge ends in 4 days and so does our design team call. We'd love to see a few more projects added so how about it? Run and have fun with our theme this month: Stamps & Silhouettes.

For your inspiration, here's an awesome project from DT member Nonni where she used stamps in the VIGNETTE: Tree Silhouettes set. We've linked the photo to her personal blog where you can let her know what you think!

Oh, and here's a preview of the 4 new stamp sets we're releasing in January. We're introducing the PATCHWORK FRENZY series and kicking it off with the Graphic Pentagons and Graphic Squares sets. We also have 2 new VIGNETTE sets: Eclectic Florals and Retro Mod Shapes. These sets will be available in the shop by January 10, but check out our Facebook page post for an early bird deal!

Happy stamping! :o)

Spotlighting: Inspiration Projects + December Challenge Reminder

Our December challenge and DT call end in 11 days! 

Clicking on the graphic will take you to the December challenge post but before you do, check out the inspiration projects from 3 ladies in the design team that we're spotlighting in today's post. The photos are linked to their personal blogs where you can read more about their projects and leave some comment love. We hope these inspire you to create a project and share it with us by entering it to our challenge :-) 

Nonni

(using one of the swirls stamps in the Distressed Floral Swirls set)

Shery

(using trees and sentiment in the VIGNETTE: Tree Silhouettes set and stitch stamp from Patchwork Frenzy: Graphic Pentagons)

Vicki

(using trees and sentiment in the VIGNETTE: Tree Silhouettes set)

All of us at STAMPlorations wish you a very merry Christmas and a most prosperous 2014! We'll be back after the holidays to share more inspiration and previews of 4 new stamp sets we're releasing mid-January!

STAMPlorations Reminder: December Challenge + DT Call

A couple of quickie reminders, friends!

First, our current challenge ends on December 31 at 11:55 pm PST so there's still plenty of time to enter. We'd love to have you playing along with us! Just click on the graphic above.

Second, we're still looking for a couple more creative paper crafters to join our design team. Details are here.

Here's an inspiration project for the current challenge. Click on the photo to visit Shery's blog for the card details:

December Challenge: STAMPS & SILHOUETTES

Welcome to the December challenge. We’d love it if you’ll join us for the entire month of December! Each month we have a theme, and for December, we’d love to see any and all kinds of paper crafts using STAMPS & SILHOUETTES.

November Challenge Winner and Top Picks

Thank you to everyone who entered their projects to the November challenge. Nonni and I had a wonderful time looking at all 33 entries. We were amazed at the awesome creativity in each one! So without further ado, here are our top picks and the winner.

Nonni's Top Pick: #29 Debra James

Congratulations, Debra!

Please grab your top pick badge above to display on your blog!

Shery's Top Pick: #7 Lorraine's Loft

Congratulations, Lorraine!

Please grab your top pick badge above to display on your blog!

And we saved the best for last! The winner of our first monthly challenge is: 

#17 Vicki Dutcher

Congratulations, Vicki!

Please grab your winner badge above to display on your blog!

We'll also be in touch with you regarding information on claiming your prize :-)

NEW DT MEMBERS

We also want to thank everyone who expressed interest in becoming part of the STAMPlorations Design Team. Congratulations to the following ladies:

#1 Kylie

#14 shirley-bee

#17 vicki dutcher

#25 Monika

#29 Debra James

I (Shery) will be contacting each one of you in the next few days with the details. Nonni and I are excited to have you on the team! :-)

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the November Challenge. The December Challenge starts tomorrow, Friday, so do come back to find out what this month's theme is!

~ Shery

November challenge reminder post

Hello to all the crafty folks out there! There’s still time to enter our November challenge! You have until November 30, 11:55 p.m. PST to enter your creation(s). Our theme this month is STAMPS & SEQUINS and we’d love to see your take on it. Winner gets 2 Vignette stamp sets of her choice from STAMPlorations 

We are also having a DT call so if you’d like to be considered, create any paper craft project and enter it to our challenge.

Here are cards that Nonni and I whipped up for your inspiration. (Click on our names to be taken to our personal blogs and read more about our creations.)

NONNI
(using stamps in the VIGNETTE: Chevron & Arrows set)

SHERY
(using stamps in the Holiday Artsy [paint/brush stroke, ink blots], VIGNETTE: Artful Flutters [butterflies], and VIGNETTE: Tree Silhouettes [sentiment] sets)

Are you game? Try creating any paper craft for  any occasion that features stamps and sequins and enter it to our challenge. Link to the challenge is here or simply click on the graphic below.

We can’t wait to see your creations!

~Shery