Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Twilight Blog Hop!


Welcome to our Customer and Design Team Twilight blog hop!

To celebrate the release of ECLIPSE today, we're highlighting the Twilight inspired sets: Into the Moonlight, Fictionally Inspired and Epic Tales. We also has a set of Vampire Romance Themed Charms available!

Here are some amazing creations from Kristin's daughter:




Make sure to leave a comment on each blog along the way for your chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Artful INKables! Please leave your comments by Midnight, July 4th to be eligible to win!

The next stop on the hop is LAURA

In case you get lost along the way, here’s the order of the hop:

Kristin Soboloski http://artfulinkables.blogspot.com/
Laura Boyd http://craftylittlewoman.blogspot.com/

Michelle Barnett http://justpaintingaround.blogspot.com/

Alison Heikkile http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com

Sammi Betbeder http://www.stuffbysammi.blogspot.com/
Michele Lourenco http://enchantedstamper.blogspot.com

Kim Nath http://paperrocksscissors.blogspot.com/

Erica Johnson-Wanzer http://www.inkedupandreadytoplay.com/

Patti Nelson http://stampersize.blogspot.com/

Chelsea Van Wyk http:// www.scraptasticvoyage.blogspot.com

Tanya Johnson http://www.little-scrapper.blogspot.com/

Dawn Knight http://www.dawnsrubberroom.blogspot.com

Joy Stagg http://daiseyfreak.blogspot.com/
Jackie Rakoski http://stampingsister.blogspot.com

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Coloring with pencils and OMS

Today, DT member, Patti Nelson, is bringing you this tutorial on Coloring with pencils and OMS!


Supplies you will need:

Prisma color pencils
Odorless Mineral Spirits
Blending stumps (solid)
Black Memento ink
Stamps- I used Aquatic Fantasy

Stamp your image with memento.



Outline with your colors of choice


I color my entire image before I blend the color



I then blend starting with the lightest color using my Blending stumps dipped in OMS. I work from the outside in blending in circles.



I then added glitter and finished my project.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Think INK winner....

Random.org has picked 1 29 1

Gloria M as our Think INK winner for challenge #22! Gloria, an email has been sent to you for instructions on how to claim your prize. Thank you for playing with us!

Don't forget, our new Think INK challenge is now up! You still have time to sign up for our DT and Customer Twilight Blog hop also!

Who's ready for a new release? Then stay tuned for July 5th! And you never know, the July 4th weekend just might bring you some savings as well......

Always so much fun going on at Artful INKables!

Twilight Challenge #4


Today starts off Week 4 of our Twilight Challenge Month! What can you win? How about a $25 Gift Certificate to the store, as well as being our featured Customer on the Blog ALL MONTH LONG!!

WEEK 4 CHALLENGE: Make anything but a card gift set with the Twilight Theme

Here's some fabulous inspiration from our DT:

Michelle using Fictionally Inspired and Into the Moonlight



Patti using Into the Moonlight and Fictionally Inspired


Joy using Into the Moonlight and Fictionally Inspired




DEETS: This is week 4. We will have 4 challenges, one per week, each will be posted on a Thursday. You will have one week to complete your challenge piece. You will be required to participated in each challenge, each week, to be eligible to win. An overall winner will be chosen on July 1st. You have until Wednesday, June 30, midnight EST to enter this week's challenge.

To participate, you can use any of our fantastic Twilight Themed Stamp sets....


Epic Tales
Fictionally Inspired
Into the Moonlight
Vampire/Romance Themed Charms


or you can use ANY Artful INKables stamp set to create a Twilight themed card/project. You MUST use AI stamps as the main focus of your cards/projects.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Think INK Challenge #23


This week your challenge is brought to you by our DT member Patti Nelson! She wants you to: MAKE ANYTHING BUT A CARD USING RED, WHITE, and BLUE inspired by the 4th of July coming up!


For Inspiration she use, Pick a Pocket Piece and came up with this box:


* You are not required to use AI stamps, but if you have them, we'd love to see you use them! **IF YOU USE AI STAMPS, YOU GET 2 ENTRIES FOR YOUR CREATION! JUST ENTER YOUR NAME/LINK TWICE ON MR. LINKY!!!

* You have until Monday, July 5 , 2010, midnight Pacific Standard Time to link your creation to this post. A winner will be chosen Tuesday, July 6, 2010 to win a GRAB BAG of AI STAMPS!

* When posting your link, please post the link directly to your creation- so if it's on your blog, please link it directly to the specific post with your creation.

* If uploading to SCS or PCP, please add the keyword AIC23

Can't wait to see what you come up with! Tell your friends!



Thursday, June 17, 2010

Twilight Challenge #3


Today starts off Week 3 of our Twilight Challenge Month! What can you win? How about a $25 Gift Certificate to the store, as well as being our featured Customer on the Blog ALL MONTH LONG!!

WEEK 3 CHALLENGE: What team are you on? Edward, Jacob, Alice, Jasper, Switzerland, etc....


Here's some fabulous inspiration from our DT:

Michelle using Fictionally Inspired and Into the Moonlight


Patti using Into the Moonlight and Fictionally Inspired


Joy using Into the Moonlight and Fictionally Inspired and Steampunk Sarah

Sammi using Fictionally Inspired



DEETS: This is week 3. We will have 4 challenges, one per week, each will be posted on a Thursday. You will have one week to complete your challenge piece. You will be required to participated in each challenge, each week, to be eligible to win. An overall winner will be chosen on July 1st. You have until Wednesday, June 23, midnight EST to enter this week's challenge.

To participate, you can use any of our fantastic Twilight Themed Stamp sets....


Epic Tales
Fictionally Inspired
Into the Moonlight
Vampire/Romance Themed Charms


or you can use ANY Artful INKables stamp set to create a Twilight themed card/project. You MUST use AI stamps as the main focus of your cards/projects.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Think INK and Twilight Blog Hop....


How cute is this from our DT member Kim! She used a new set, Pick a Pocket Piece.

You still have time to enter the current Think INK challenge, see details and link your creation HERE.



You also still have time to sign up for our Twilight Blog Hop! See details HERE.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Featured Stamper Friday!

Well here we are again, it's another Friday and today we are bringing you our second Customer Featured Stamper, Lesa Soja! As you know I have been on the look out for some great Artful INKables talent out there, and this week I have a wonderful one to share! Lesa uses some great color schemes and always adds her own flair to what she does, I hope you enjoy getting to know Lesa Soja in today's post, so here we go!
Q- Married, Kids, Pets?
I am married. I just hit the 10 year mark in September. What a fabulous ride. Up and Down.... Now on the UP! Weeee! My husband and I have a great time together. We also have a daughter Emily who just turned 10 who and is also an avid stamper. I Have 3 cats -One barn cat & 2 indoor cats Shhhhh! One thinks he's a dog. He is part mainecoon and he's huge weighing in at almost 23 pounds and not fat either. They all have such different personalities. We also have 11 chickens and one Rooster Oscar (7). Besides lots of eggs, It can get noisy at time but very cool to listen to.

Q- Do you have a job outside of stamping? If so, What do you do?
Yes, Well I am many things. Besides a Mom and Wife, I am a dementia nurse in a long-term care facility a few days a week. Well I get my 40+ hours in 3 days. I don't know what it means to relax. (Someone ripped that page out of the dictionary!) I work also for my local town Park & Rec department teaching...Tada! rubber stamping a few classes a month. I also teach Copic markers at a local rubber stamp Store - The Papercraft clubhouse in Westbrook, CT. In the Fall My Husband is going into business for himself and I will be his part time Office Manager. I am also a Stampin Up! Demonstrator and I do have to say that I am my best customer. Whew!! That's a lot of things.

Q- What got you into stamping?

I was at a local fair about 15 years ago and I saw a man demo a sheep stamp with puff applique and heated it up and when it puffed I was hooked and I can remember telling my husband all about it and said I can do that and show all my friends....The rest is History.

Q- What is your favorite embellishment and why?

Hum, That is a tricky one because I really don't have a fav. I just love Pop dots and my big kick with all of my Nesties and cuttlebug folders and not to mention Bling! I love it all.

Q- What drew you towards Artful Inkables?

I just love their stamps. I was looking for a particular girl to color in and so happened it was from the Think Big set. She reminded me of my daughter and I was starting out with Copic markers and wanted to color in faces. I like a lot of things about AI stamps. I think the packaging is great, easy to store & easy to use.

Q Do you have a favorite stamp set from Artful Inkables?

Well I am crazy about the Twilight series. So, I am hooked on Into the moonlight and fictionally inspired sets.

Q How would you describe your stamping style?

Another good one. I like to have balance, that clean look & with some sort of symmetry. I really like to stamp and color in people stamps. I am trying to think outside the box with other mediums and distressing but I seem to always come back to the people. Its a work in progress.

Q What is your favorite part of stamping?

I would have say that my favorite is when I finally get it right. All the pieces of the card come together and work out the way I want. Back to that Colors, balance, symmetry and when I am done I feel great that I accomplished something. I call it stamping Therapy!

Q- What is your favorite non- card type project?

I like to scrapbook and making 3D scrapbooking pages.

Q- Have you been published?

Yes, I have been published many years ago in a magazine called The Rubber Stamper. I really haven't submitted anything in a great long while. I have put it on the internet. My blog and Facebook & Splitcoaststampers...Keep me busy.

Q- What is your favorite coloring medium? Why?

My favorite coloring medium is by far Copic Markers. I just love them. It is a very professional look. I find that they are perfect to blend and match to any paper or embellie. My second would have to be Pan Pastels.

Q- Tell us about your blog?

My blog is Ponsettcreekdesign.blogspot.com. My craft room is named after a stream that runs along the property. Our house is over 100 years old and was part of only 7 houses in a section of town Ponsett. Our house was the main homestead of all the houses in the area. My blog is mostly about stamping and a few tidbits of life and family. There is usually something going on in my life that is geared for a card. It is always changing so, keep checking back.

Q- Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I am honored and very thankful for you giving me the opportunity to share my story and show you a couple of cards that I have made. I find real joy in sharing my creations and teaching and hope that I have encouraged you to create! Go for it!


I hope you all had as much fun as I did getting know know Lesa! I simply love her cards and her style! When we were discussing this post, she mentioned to me that she loved this wedding card she made using our stamps, she didn't need to say much more to me because I knew exactly which card she was talking about!I love all the details that she added to really make this card pop, the contrasting colors added with the pearls and the corner of blooms, this card is what caught my eye!

I also wanted to share with you one of her more recent Artful INKables creation, this adorable card features our Think Big stamp set, look at her coloring on this one, just lovely!

Lesa, thank you once again for sharing yourself with us all here at AI, I do hope you had as much fun with this as I did! I can't wait to see what you create next!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Twilight Challenge #2


Today starts off Week 2 of our Twilight Challenge Month! What can you win? How about a $25 Gift Certificate to the store, as well as being our featured Customer on the Blog ALL MONTH LONG!!

WEEK 2 CHALLENGE: Make a Twilight Card/Project using Twilight Themed Colors, Black - White- Red


Here's some fabulous inspiration from our DT:

Michelle using Fanciful Flowers


Patti using Into the Moonlight


Joy using Bug and Blossom Mandalas


Sammi also using Bug and Blossom Mandalas

Alea's - Kristin's Daughter- using Sexy and Sweet



DEETS: This is week 2. We will have 4 challenges, one per week, each will be posted on a Thursday. You will have one week to complete your challenge piece. You will be required to participated in each challenge, each week, to be eligible to win. An overall winner will be chosen on July 1st. You have until Wednesday, June 16, midnight EST to enter this week's challenge.

To participate, you can use any of our fantastic Twilight Themed Stamp sets....


Epic Tales
Fictionally Inspired
Into the Moonlight
Vampire/Romance Themed Charms


or you can use ANY Artful INKables stamp set to create a Twilight themed card/project. You MUST use AI stamps as the main focus of your cards/projects.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

We Have A Winner!

It's that time again, a new Think INK Challenge has been posted and now all that is left to do is announce the winner of our 21st Challenge, and our 20th Challenge. Thank you to everyone who played along, you are all fabulous at our challenge! So, Random.org picked #10 for Think INK #21.

Congrats to Gini!

and #4 for Think INK #20...

Congrats to Linda!

Ladies, if you could please e-mail me at babtioons@gmail.com I will get all your information so your goodies can be sent!

If you didn't win this time, no worries, there are plenty more opportunities to come! Be sure to play along with our new challenge, I can’t wait to see what you create! Have a fabulous day all!

Think INK Challenge #22


This week your challenge is brought to you by Ann Vento and she wants you to:

CHALLENGE YOURSELF: Use a new technique, go out of your comfort zone, make something completely different than you normally would make

For inspiration she came up with:


She says: I challenged myself by using a new technique: the split negative technique. I used a mandala image from the AI Bug and Blossom Mandala AI set. You can find the tutorial at SCS here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/split_negative/

* You are not required to use AI stamps, but if you have them, we'd love to see you use them!
**IF YOU USE AI STAMPS, YOU GET 2 ENTRIES FOR YOUR CREATION! JUST ENTER YOUR NAME/LINK TWICE ON MR. LINKY!!!


* You have until Monday, June 21 , 2010, midnight Pacific Standard Time to link your creation to this post. A winner will be chosen Tuesday, June 22, 2010 to win a GRAB BAG of AI STAMPS!

* When posting your link, please post the link directly to your creation- so if it's on your blog, please link it directly to the specific post with your creation.

* If uploading to SCS or PCP, please add the keyword AIC22

Can't wait to see what you come up with! Tell your friends!



Friday, June 4, 2010

Featured Stamper Friday!

It is that time again! We have another fabulous Featured Stamper to share with you today, in fact you got to see this Design Team members tutorial earlier this week! Are you ready for her?! Today we are Featuring Michelle Bartnett, if you follow our Design Team, then you will know that Michelle graced us with her presence toward the end of our last term, and we just couldn't let her go with only having a bit of time on the team! Michelle Bartnett has a way with painting and creating some amazing 3D items, I know that you will love to get to know her better, so here we go!Q ~ Married? Kids? Pets?
I've been married for nearly 14 great years. We have a daughter who is 11 and a son who is 7. Both kids have many talents and interests that keep us hopping! We have a spoiled rotten Boston Terrier named Fiona (after the movie Shrek).

Q ~ Do you have a job outside of stamping? If so, what do you do?
Yes, I work for an international company in the Information Technology department and I have been there 19 years. I am responsible for the computer security of the financial and payroll systems for the US. This is where I met my husband and we often work on the same projects!

Q ~ What got you into stamping?
Like most people, I was asked to go to a party. I was heavy into painting at the time and wasn't the slightest bit interested in stamping. Just look at me now!

Q ~ What is your favorite embellishment and why?
Wow, I don't use a lot of embellishments but I would guess I'd have to say ribbon.

Q ~ What drew you towards Artful Inkables?
My friend Joy Stagg and the beautiful Plant Prints set.

Q ~ Do you have a favorite stamp set from Artful Inkables?
Definitely Plant Prints!

Q ~ How would you describe your stamping style?
I am a scene stamper and I love to make the scene more interesting by incorporating the elements of the scene into a sketch.

Q ~ What’s you favorite part of stamping?
Probably that last couple of minutes of working on a project when you know you've "got it" and its going to turn out fabulous!

Q ~ What is your favorite non-card type project?
Prior to joining Artful INKables, I only made cards. My experience here has taught me to try new things. I'm not sure I have a "favorite" yet.

Q ~ Have you been published?
Hmmm, its not currently one of my goals so I haven't even been trying.

Q ~ What is your favorite coloring medium? Why?
Copics!!!! I love the professional finish they give to an image.

Q ~ Tell us about your blog.. (ie..is it all stamping, or a mix of other things?)
My blog is pretty much all stamping. Occasionally I will throw in a painted project or personal tidbit but not often.

Q ~ What is your favorite part of being on a design team?
Oh, there are so many good things. Its fun to meet new people. Its exciting to get a peek at what's coming out next. And I love having deadlines to keep me motivated.

Did you enjoy that?! I know I did, now here is some great eye candy from Michelle! I thought I would share with you a little of her Twilight creations, as well as one of my favorite 3D items! This necklace is a great idea! I can't wait to see if she shares any more of these with us! Oh, and last but certianly not least is one of Michelle more recent scenes following our past recipe challenge! Thank you for joining us today for another Featured Stamper Friday, and if you play along with our current Twilight challenges, you too might be featured here all next month! Imagine that! So get creating, you never know when it might be your creations being displayed here for all to see!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Twilight Challenge #1


Today kicks off our Twilight Challenge Month! What can you win? How about a $25 Gift Certificate to the store, as well as being our featured Customer on the Blog ALL MONTH LONG!!

WEEK 1 CHALLENGE: Use any of the Book Covers for inspiration


Here's some fabulous inspiration from our DT:

Michelle

Patti
Joy
Sammi

Dawn

she used a new set, Bug & Blossom Mandalas- see you don't need Twilight themed sets to play along!





And finally, a card created by Kristin's 14 year old daughter:


DEETS: Challenges start today. We will have 4 challenges, one per week, each will be posted on a Thursday. You will have one week to complete your challenge piece. You will be required to participated in each challenge, each week, to be eligible to win. An overall winner will be chosen on July 1st. You have until Wednesday, June 9, midnight EST to enter this week's challenge.

To participate, you can use any of our fantastic Twilight Themed Stamp sets....


Epic Tales
Fictionally Inspired
Into the Moonlight
Vampire/Romance Themed Charms


or you can use ANY Artful INKables stamp set to create a Twilight themed card/project. You MUST use AI stamps as the main focus of your cards/projects.