An ATC!

Hello stampers!

Not long now until the deadline for this month's challenge! I'm pretty sure we've had no Aussie newbies yet this month, so if you've never entered before, or you know someone who hasn't entered here before, get them to have a go ASAP, because they'll have an excellent chance of winning a prize! ;)

Today's entry is an ATC that was sent in by Karen Dimmock:

Karen says:

"I have used black cardstock as my background, then white cardstock on top which I have distressed slightly with Tim Holtz Walnut distress ink. I think that in the photo it may look as if I have used brown and cream cardstock due to the distressing, but it is black and white. I have splattered the white card with some Matisse Deep Red ink, then stamped with some new hero art stamps I bought recently at a craft fair. I stitched the white card to the black and added a grungeboard heart that I coloured with red ink also".

Great work Karen! Very Dexter-iffic! *snicker*!

Looking forward to some last minute newbie entries!

~Sarah~

*** PRIZES FOR APRIL 2010! ***

Hello stampers!

Sorry for the delay in announcing the prizes!

We have some fabulous goodies up for grabs for the winners of this month's Black, White, and Red challenge!

Major Prize:

This month's major prize winner will receive a $50.00 Gift Voucher from The Stamping Queen!

Inkurable Newbie Prize:

This month an Inkurable Newbie will will a set of Viva La Flora Vol 1 stamps from Darkroom Door!

Inkurable International Prize:

This month, an international entry will win this set of Heidi Grace Tags and Words stamps, courtesy of Me! (The sponsor I had lined up had to pull out, so I'm covering the prize this month!).

Thanks again to Darkroom Door and The Stamping Queen who have been supporters of Inkurable Stampers from the very beginning! You guys ROCK!

Happy Stamping!

~Sarah~

Lots of new entries!

Hello stampers!

I have quite a few new entries to share, so let's get straight into it!

First we have this card that was sent in by Lynne Quinn:

Lynne says:

"First I embossed the rose, and the top note die, from Stampin' Up, then blended it with Real Red Ink. The Mother's day stamp is from Kaszazz".

Nice one Lynne!

Next we have an art journal that was sent in by Laurence Schmitz from Belgium! Here are a couple of my fave pages:

Laurence says:

"I used a lot of bits and pieces laying around to build my journal. I combined stitching and paper, stamping, acrylic paint".

Materials: stamps (prima, purple onion, collection, infinimentscrap "dots" & "limited edition", T. Holtz, T. Collins), collage sheet artchix "flirt".

"It looks a bit grungy, I had fun playing and combining all the elements".

You can see the whole journal in this slideshow:

How cool is that??! Awesome work Laury!

Next we have this tag that was sent in by Ros Crichton:

Ros says:

"Firstly the MDF wooded tag was gessoed in white. A Tattered Angels mask was then laid down on the tag and I used texture paste to spread over the entire tag. When this was dry I repainted with the gesso. I treated the Darkroom Door photo chips with a coating of Derivan Matisse Polymer Gloss Varnish on the print side. Let this dry and pull off excess paper from the back leaving a thin layer of the photo chip. I find a little water on your finger tip and rubbing from the middle out helps but BE GENTLE! Adhere the photo chips with the same varnish and in some places allow the corners to curl up and let dry".

"Lay the mask back on and using a blending tool or a cloth, ink in the red and black, hopefully leaving the area where the mask is white. I gave it a blast with the heat gun until it blistered. The wings are Tim Holtz grunge board wiped over with Versamark and heat embossed with red embossing powder. The heart was a terracotta piece I found somewhere which I painted white and wound with some wire and beads. Attach with glue or in this case I popped it out with dimensional tape. Lastly add a Darkroom Door word CREATE".

Gorgeous Ros!

Well that's it for today! You still have until midnight Friday night (Sydney time) to send in your entry if you haven't already done so! I'll be back very shortly to reveal the prizes that are up for grabs this month (I know, it's late, but it's not my fault! LOL!) so stay tuned!

~Sarah~

Gothic Arch Challenges #6, #7, and #8!

Hello stamping arch fans!

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted another theme for our 2010 Gothic Arch challenge! Today is catch up day, so I'm posting THREE new challenges in a row for you so we're all up to date!

Let's get cracking!

Gothic Arch Challenge #6 - MEN!

Your task is to create a Gothic Arch using "Men" or a man as your subject / theme.

Here is my arch:

My arch features a printed image of the composer "Verdi" that you can download for free from Stampington & Co here.

My background was created by stamping a Darkroom Door music stamp with black ink onto a handmade paper background. I stamped a green pepper press buildings stamp across the middle of the background with black ink.

I adhered a strip of silver German Scrap Border across the bottom of the buildings, and then adhered the photo of Verdi to the arch.

I tore some old music paper and adhered it across the bottom of the arch. I then stamped the name "Verdi" across the arch using the Darkroom Door Alphabet Medley stamps, and heat embossed with Silver Embossing powder. I then coloured the sheet music with distress inks and Glimmermist.

The silver around the edges of the arch is a combination of silver embossing powder, and silver Krylon pen.

**********

Gothic Arch Challenge #7 - WOMEN!

Your task is to create a Gothic Arch using "Women" or a woman as your subject / theme.

Here is my arch:

I have used a vintage nude image as the focal point of my arch. (Please let me know if the nudity offends you, and I will censor her).

I created the background using a mixture of Glimmermist and Radiant Rain dabber paint over which I sprinkled "Verdegris" and "Copper" embossing powders and heat set.

I then stamped a Tim Holtz flourish a couple of times on the background and heat embossed with copper embossing powder. I inked around the edges with dark brown ink.

I adhered lace across the bottom of the arch using Gel medium, then I adhered the lady to the arch over the lace. I then attached some bronze coloured German Scrap Border to the bottom.

The letters are wooden (ScrapFX) and I coloured them using Glimmermist.

**********

Gothic Arch Challenge #8 - CHILDREN!

Your task is to create a Gothic Arch using "Children" or a child as your subject / theme.

Here is my arch:

My background was created using distress inks and the Wrinkle free distress technique.

I stamped a Heidi Swapp Damask stamp in the middle and embossed it with gold embossing powder. I then inked over it with a sponge dauber using Walnut Stain distress ink to make it stand out more from the background.

I tore a piece of gothic script book paper, inked around the edges, and attached it to my arch.

The Fairy image was printed, cut out, and attached to the centre of the arch. To finish, I added some orange Kaisercraft Rhinestones to the Damask image. I also added a gold corner sticker to the top of the arch, and a line of gold Krylon pen at the bottom of the arch.

**********

Phew! Now we're all up to date!

Once you've finished your arches, pop over to the Flickr Group and upload them into the gallery!

That should be enough to keep you busy until Sunday 2 weeks from now when Challenge #9 will be revealed!

The gallery over at our dedicated Flickr Group is looking fabulous! If you haven't checked it out lately, then pop on over and feast your eyes!

Don't forget - it's never to late to join! So if you haven't started yet, or know someone who would like to join in, then you're more than welcome! The only deadline for all arches to be completed is 31st December 2010, so you have plenty of time to get them done! :)

Happy stamping!

~Sarah~

What's black, white, and red all over?

Today's entries of course! LOL!

First up we have this card by Liz Baker from the UK:

Liz says:

"I stamped some flourishes from the Tim Holtz "Artful Flight" set in both Barn door distress ink and Versacolor over the background. I then added the Hero Arts branches. The bird is also from "Artful Flight" and what I did was ink around the edges of the stamp and then stamp it on the back of some text I'd typed in Word. The other words I typed in Word also, but in different fonts".

Gorgeous Liz!

Next we have this ATC that was sent in by Giovanna from Italy:

Gio says:

"Inspired by the beautiful artwork of the Prima DT, I took a square of sticky canvas by Claudine Hellmut, folded it in half, and stamped some flowers using black Stazon with Prima stamp and a text stamp from my stash".

"I painted the flowers and lace with black ink and red acrylic paint. I glued the flower along with a metallic charm and a piece of white veil,  and put the lace among two eyelets".

Lovely Gio!

That's it from me for today!

Happy Stamping!

~Sarah~

More Black, White, and Red entries!

Hello stampers!

Today I have 3 new Black, Red, and White entries to share with you!

First up we have this card that was sent in by Danielle Sheehan:

Danielle says:

"I used the Stylised Flowers Cuttlebug embossing folder, lace, swiss dots bazzil and a butterfly stamp from Darkroom Door. I colured in part of the wings with a marvey marker".

Here is a look at the dimension on the butterflies:

Great work Danielle!

Next we have this card that was sent in by Jenene Evans:

Jenene says:

"I have made a small card, using red card, papers from 'Paper Loft' and 'Sandylion', then stamps from 'Darkroom Door', 'Paper Craft', & 'Stampin up', stamped with 'Tim Holt' Distress Ink, finished with black ribbon".

Very nice Jenene!

And last but not least for today we have this card by Joy Rumble from New Zealand:

Joy says:

"I stamped the red card with a Grant Archival stamp, using fluid chalk lipstick Red, plus some more to make the daisies Spellbinders Daisy Heads. I then put them through an embossing folder, before being cut out".

"The vine is Spellbinders 'On The Vine' Border. The 'Just for You' stamp is from Stampin' Up. Black seed beads for the centre & black diamantes in the top corner. I slit the centre edge of the card to thread ribbon to the inside".

Lovely work Joy!

Keep those entries coming stampers! And don't forget to tell your friends to have a go!

~Sarah~

SALE AT THE STAMPING QUEEN!

SALE TIME STARTS ON FRIDAY 23RD APRIL AT 6PM AND WILL RUN UNTIL 8PM SUNDAY 25TH APRIL!

ALL STOCK WILL BE 20% OFF REGULAR PRICES

So pop on over to The Stamping Queen during the sale and grab yourself a bargain!

Fine Print:
Please be aware that "percentage off" vouchers will not be valid during the sale.

Back to the monthly challenge!

Hi everyone!

Now that the Birthday Party festivities are officially over, we can get right back into the entries for the Black, White, and Red challenge! There's only 11 more days to send in your entry, so don't forget!

Today's entry is an ATC that was sent in by Gina Baldazzi of Italy:

Gina says:

"I stamped a flourish from a Toga stamp. I created the background by printing some sentences in red with my pc, then I stamped twice, in red and black, the flourish. I covered one with glossy accents. I added a metallic charm coloured with alcohol-ink".

Lovely work Gina!

Come on everyone - don't you have something you want to send me? ;)

~Sarah~

PS: I will reveal the prizes for this month very soon. Sorry for the delay. :)

Birthday Party Winners!!

Hello stampers!

It's time to announce the winners from the Birthday Party challenges and games nights!

Thanks once again to everyone who participated - it was great fun!

Our friends at Crafty Individuals generously supplied the prizes for our Birthday Weekend festivities, so a great big thank you goes out to them for providing such great incentives to complete the challenges!

So now what you've all been waiting for - THE WINNERS!!! Boy oh boy it was hard picking the challenge winners! The ladies all did a fabulous job! Congratulations goes to the following lucky ladies:

Challenge #1 - Sketch Challenge.

VICKY FERNANDO! So much stamping and work went into this piece! Just gorgeous!

Challenge #2 - 2x4" Stamped Art.

JENENE EVANS! Such a nice tag with lots of stamps and great techniques!

Challenge #3 - Spotlighting Technique.

SHIRLEY HENRY! Such a lovely card and a perfect example of the Spotlighting Technique!

Participation Prize:

There were 11 ladies who completed all 3 challenges! I put all of their names into a list randomiser at Random.org and the lucky winner is.......

ELS BRIGE from Belgium!

Here are the winners of the Games Night / Chat Room Shenanigans:

* Friday Night Bingo - TAMMY RUDDY!

* Saturday Night Trivia - FIONA SHULTZ!

* Sunday Night Bingo - MICHELLE LOFFLER!

* Sunday Night Crazy Captions - ROS CRICHTON!

Congratulations again to all the ladies! 


If you haven't already done so, please email me your address details so I can get your prizes sent out to you!

Stay inky!

~Sarah~

Birthday Party Challenge #3 - THE ENTRIES!

Hello stampers!

It's time to reveal the entries to the 3rd and final Birthday challenge - using the Spotlighting Technique.

Let's jump right in!

#1 - Tammy Ruddy:

Tammy says:

"I cut out the cardstock for the card, and some pink polka dot paper for a mat, then stamped a Kaisercraft (Pina Colada) corner stamp on white paper in stazon brown and versacolour magenta. I coloured the flamingo in pink watercolours and cut it out. I inked the brown stamped one with caramel ink and burnt the paper after crumpling it. I attached the brown to the card and the pink flamingo to that then added a rubon, ribbon, flowers, bling and a feather".

#2 - Giovanna from Italy:

Gio says:

"First I stamped an image on white  cardstock with black Stazon from a Darkroom Door stamp. I repeated three times in blue, pink and green. I cut out several details and glued to the black one. I stamped the background with a text stamp with Perfect medium and Perfect Pearls. I added the    sentiment with my Dymo".

#3 - Els Brigé from Belgium:

Els used the following supplies for her card:

Stamps: Doodle Flowers – Inkadinkado; Inks: Stazon Black, Old Paper, Walnut Stain – Distress Ink; Patterned Paper: Funky Flowers digital kit – WPlus9; Tools: colored pencils, Misc.: ribbon, cardstock.

#4 - Fiona Shultz:

Fiona says:

"I featured Darkroom Door ‘Essentials 4’ stamps on this project – a maxi tag to be attached (at another time) to a Layout as an embellishment. I chose to ‘spotlight’ the centre portion of the tag – which was coloured in pencils, and mounted on black for effect. The journaling all came from the same set of DD stamps".

#5 - Shirley Henry:

Shirley says:

"I used a Hero Arts background cling stamp inked with Crushed Olive and Wild Honey onto white card".

"I stamped Upsy Daisy (Stampin Up) inked with Versafine black onto small white rectangle scrap of card. I inked again with Wild Honey and stamped onto another scrap of white card. A portion was punched out with small circle punch. I sponged edges of circle with Pumice Stone and Wild Honey. I attached the circle over the matching black image. Attached the whole image to slightly larger black card, then onto the background panel then to folded white card".

"Sentiment 'BLOOM' (memories in the making collection) stamped with Versafine black ink onto scrap of white card and punched out with word window punch from Stampin Up. Sponged with distress inks, and attached with foam tape to card".

#6 - Ros Crichton:

Ros says:

"The base cardstock is soft suede from Stampin' up. The next layer is 7 Gypsies, and lastly, Very Vanilla.  I stamped the bird in soft suede twice, and used the 7 gypsies paper to back the oval. I used the stamp resist method and stamped the scroll in versamark and clear embossed it.  I used the blending tool to blend  the Tumbled Glass and Antique Linen Distress inks over the very vanilla cardstock.  Finally I added a ribbon and a sentiment from Darkroom Door".

#7 - Vicky Fernando:

Vicky says:

"I stamped the door image (from Darkroom Door) onto some kraft cardstock using brown Versafine ink. The puzzle piece was cut using a Cuttlebug die, & I then used black Versafine ink & stamped the door portion of the image onto the puzzle piece. I tore & inked the edges of the kraft cs, & stuck it to a folded black card, inking the edges with Encore copper ink". 

"I stuck the puzzle piece down with foam tape for dimension. The sentiment is from a word strip (also by Darkroom Door) stuck to some black cardstock, with some fibres added for good measure".

#8 - Michelle Loffler:

Michelle has used the gorgeous bear from the Darkroom Door "Hello Baby Vol 1"stamp set for her ATC.

#9 - Inkurable Youngster, Emily Shultz:

Emily says:

"The stamp is just a mounted stamp, I don't know the brand. The "love you" stamp was from Kaisercraft’s "Love" clear stamp collection, and the PP is from the "Kaiser Prairie Lane" collection".

#10 - Lyn Smith:

Lyn Says:

"I started with Stampin' Up 'Old Olive' cardstock for my card base. My red background piece was created using Tim Holtz Fired Brick Distress Ink and Tattered Angels Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist, and I also added some Tattered Angels Bronze Glimmer Mist. I used a stamp from the Stampin' Up 'Oh so Lovely' set for my main image and used Prismacolour Pencils and Gamsol Tech for the spotlighted circle. I used a Kelly Panacci border stamp on the top and bottom of the background piece and added some black and white organza polka dot ribbon and a black button tied with olive embroidery thread. The red background is adhered to black cardstock and then adhered to the 'Old Olive' card".

#11 - Fiona Whitehead from the UK:

Fiona says:

"I've used a Cherry Pie stamp for my Three Muses and made a 4x4".

#12 - Karen Dimmock:

Karen says:

"I didn't stamp in black, instead I have used one of the new Stampin' Up inks, 'Melon Mambo' with versamark then clear embossing powder. I have used a Stampin' Up stamp set, 'Upsy Daisy' as well as their whisper white, melon mambo and rich razzleberry cardstock. I also added some fine glitter to the spotlighted flower".

#13 - Jenene Evans:

Jenene says:

"I have used 'Paper loft' and 'Bazzill papers' a pear stamp (unknown). 'Perfect Pear' stamped with 'Darkroom Door' Alphabet stamps in 'Archival Brilliance Graphite Black. The spotlight circles punched with 1 1/2" 'Paper Shaper' and coloured with Marvy Le plume pens, finished with ribbon and a little brad".

Once again, an amazing amount of inspiration from everyone who gave the challenge a go! WELL DONE ladies!!

That officially brings us to the end of all the Birthday Party Challenge entries! A huge thank you goes out to everyone who took part in the Birthday celebrations! The entries have been amazing, and we had such a fabulous time in the chat room!

Thank so much to all of you who have emailed me to tell me how much you enjoyed the weekend and to thank me for all the work involved in organising the event. Each one of those emails was so special to me, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

I have a tough job on my hands picking the winners of these challenges! Come back tomorrow for the announcement of the lucky ladies, who have won prizes thanks to our friends at Crafty Individuals!

While you're waiting, you may want to get started on your Black, White, and Red challenge entry, don't you think??! Oh, and if you have a stamping friend that hasn't entered at Inkurable before, make sure you tell them to have a go! We have an Inkurable Newbie prize every month (for Australian residents), so there's never been a better excuse to enter! :)

Stay inky!

~Sarah~

Birthday Party Challenge #2 - THE ENTRIES!

Hello stampers!

I'm back to day as promised to share with you the entries for Birthday Party Challenge #2 which was to create a 2x4" piece of stamped art!

Again, there's lots to look at today, so let's get cracking! Here are the entries in no particular order:

#1 - Tammy Ruddy:

Tammy says:

"I firstly used a number of stamps, (memory box, kaisercraft, tim holtz, grant archival) to create the background collage with staz on ink, then I mixed water, caramel alcohol ink, pearl glimmermist and sprayed it over it, drying with heat gun between goes, then letting the heat gun burn it a bit. I printed the words and the window, then inked them with versacolour bark and pinecone. I attached words and picture, ribbon, charms, and flowers. Also the bling for the flower was one that I'd used the caramel ink on earlier!".

#2 - Giovanna from Italy:

Gio says:

"I stamped on a piece of white cardstock a beautiful vintage image from La Blanche stamp. I coloured the edge with Mustard seed distress ink. The hand writing text is from a old rubber stamp. I attached with a brad the little clock and a metal earring".

#3 - Vicky Fernando:

Vicky says:

"I cut a piece of cardstock to the 2x4 size, & stamped the Tim Holtz image using Versafine black ink. I then masked the image & stamped some Autumn Leaves flourishes on the corners with red StaZon. I used a texture cube (Judikins) & stamped with Rust & Forest green Stazon ink, & overstamped around the edges with a script stamp (Delish Designs). I stamped the sentiment (Darkroom Door) onto a piece of vellum using brown Stazon ink & stuck the vellum down using double sided tape on the back of the 2x4 cardstock. I stamped 2 butterflies (Darkroom Door) with rust & red Stazon ink onto a scrap of vellum, cut out, shaped & stuck them into place with double sided tape. I then added the tiny rhinestones".

#4 - Gina Bladazzi from Italy:

Gina says:

"It's a very simple card, the background has come out by chance, playing with glue and ink. I stamped a swirl from a Toga stamp then I glued some hand- made crochet flowers, a gift from a friend".

#5 - Els Brigé from Belgium:

Els used the following supplies:

Stamps: Documentary – Prima Marketing, Speckled Ornaments (CL401) – Hero Arts; Inks: Old Paper, Walnut Stain – Distress Ink, Scarlet Jewel – Papertrey Ink; Misc.: number stamps, string, button.

#6 - Fiona Shultz:

Fiona says:

"My 2x4 inch art was inspired by a shopping tag brought home on Saturday. I have kept it grungey, sandpapering the background paper which has been collage stamped with Kaiser “All About Me” stamps. The arrow is from Kaiser “Rewind” and was stamped in black, and embossed with clear embossing powder, then some bronze was sprinkled in the centre and heated as well for a two-tone effect. The journaling lines was a See D’s stamp and makes my 2x4 art into a tag for journaling on at a later date when it either becomes attached to a layout or attached to a gift".

#7 - Shirley Henry:

Shirley says:

"Stamped house (Darkroom Door Home Sweet Home) in Rusty Hinge and Barn Door. Flowers (same DD set) inked in Dusty Concord and Spiced Marmalade. Trees inked in Forest Moss distress ink (DD Trees set). Quote (DD Home Sweet Home) inked Aged Mahogany and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Background sponged with Tumbled Glass distress ink".

#8 - Ros Crichton:

Ros says:

"The 2x4 inch cardstock is a pale brown colour. I added a darker piece of cardstock and then another piece of cardstock in a tan colour. The tan piece was stamped with a scroll stamp and smudged around the edges with Distress Walnut Stain. I added the picture with was from Studio 45 and attached it with sanded back orange brads. I added a scrap piece of handmade paper and stamped over it with a scroll stamp and walnut ink. The star is grunge board painted with moonglow and heated".

#9 - Jenene Evans:

Jenene says:

"I used the resist technique with Darkroom Door lamp post, and brick stamp from My Stamps, then used Tim Holtz distress inks for backgroud colour. Next, a Darkroom Door stamp for trees, some rub-ons, and words (Live Laugh Love) from Darkroom Door. I finished with a spray of Moon Glows Moon Shadow (Burnished Brass)".

#10 - Lyn Smith:

Lyn says:

"I started with a piece of white cardstock and sponged it with Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink, then I stamped the art doll image using black Versafine ink. I trimmed the image to 2 x 4 inches then sponged the edges with TH Tea Dye Distress Ink and TH Black Soot Distress Ink. I highlighted parts of the wings with a white Signo gel pen and also used it for the striped socks. I added 2 black eyelets at the top and threaded some red fibre through to hang it".

#11 - Karen Dimmock:

Karen says:

"I used a technique that I saw on a Youtube video a little while ago that I wanted to try out. I cut out a picture from a magazine, stuck that onto my 2"x4" piece of cardstock, painted over it with gesso, then went over the figure in paint. I stamped a scroll vintage from one of my Tim Holtz sets and the word dream from an Inkadinkadoo set. I antiqued the edge of the piece with some Tim Holtz walnut distress ink".

#12 - Michelle Loffler:

Michelle stamped her background, and created her art doll out of different pieces of collage images.

WELL DONE once again ladies!! Such a great selection of miniature art!

Stay tuned to the blog for tomorrow's reveal of the entries for Birthday Challenge #3 - The Spotlighting Technique!

Happy stamping!

~Sarah~