Design Team Call – Become an INKgirl

ARTFUL INKABLES is looking for new design team members! We need your help and enthusiasm promoting our products through your personal blog and online galleries. We are looking for team members who are excited about stamping, and would love being a part of a fun and friendly design environment. No prior design team experience is necessary. If you’ve never been published… Don't worry! We want to encourage you to show us your best, even if you have not been widely recognized as a designer. This call is open to everyone - even if you aren't in the US or Canada you are more than welcome to apply!!**


Application Process

All submissions must be received by 11:59pm MST, July 27, 2009. New design team members will be contacted by July 31, 2009.

Please send an email containing the following information to: artfullyinking@comcast.net

1. Name:

2. Address:

3. Email:

4. Phone number:

5. Blog or website address:

6. Links to any online galleries you may have:

7. Related forums/message boards that you like to visit and participate (we do NOT need your forum nickname):

8. Three (3) items, cards, or layouts using stamps as the main focus. Your submissions don't need to be brand new and do not need to have Artful INKables Stamps used, but should not have been published or submitted for publication for a printed or online magazine. Don’t forget we will be looking at both your work and your photographing abilities here.

9. Please note if you are a current or past design team member for any other companies. (We do not expect you to work solely for us).

10. Please tell us a few words about what you like about stamping, and what would be the most exciting part for you to become a design team member.

11. Want to really impress us? Mail us 1 or 2 pieces you are especially proud of to: 11582 Summerfield Cir. Sandy, UT 84092. Seeing art in person if often much more effective and awe inspiring. ;) This is not required, however.


General Requirements

• Participate for a term of 6 months and sign a contract with Artful Inkables. This Design Team’s Term will run from August 15, 2009 to January 15, 2010.

• You will need the ability to photograph or scan your art for submission to Artful INKables Rubber Stamps.

• You will need to have a blog or website with regular updates, and enjoy participating in online challenges in the stamping community. You should be willing to post card samples, contest announcements, challenges and new releases on your blog as well as display the Artful INKables logo on your blog.

• You'll also need to be ready to have some FUN, and enjoy your stamps!!!


Monthly Responsibilities

• You will receive two stamps sets per month and your design team commitment will require you to send back two cards per stamp set and one 3D item. I will require your photos ASAP, but you can snail mail the items at your leisure up until the end of your term.

• Contribute one (1) tutorial during your six month term to be posted on the company blog. This is a step by step guide to creating your favorite card or project. This can also be techniques, and include stamping tips and trends.

• Give feedback and suggestions to AI for new stamps, the blog and marketing ideas.

• Leave occasional comments on DT Member blogs and the company blog.

• Promote Artful INKables Rubber Stamps through your blog, and whenever you see an opportunity.

• Participate in AI challenges, Blog Hops and sponsorship challenges as they are presented.

What You'll Get From Us

• A great opportunity to work with a fun design team, learning fun, new things.

• Encouragement and monetary compensation for getting published in leading magazines.

• 2 New Artful INKables stamp sets every month and other goodies as they become available.

• 25% off on all store items, during your term!

• Your bio, artwork and gallery will be spotlighted on Artful INKables web site.

** Please note that, we pay shipping but cannot be responsible for customs or duty fees to Canada or if shipped internationally.

Monday Featured Stamper - Dina Kowal

When Dina emailed me a picture of this fabulous motorcycle card, I about fell out of my chair! I mean, it is beyond gorgeous...and the coloring is superb! So after gazing in wonder for a bit, I emailed back and asked if she would like to be featured on our weekly blog spot. So today I am proud to share her card made with our Road Rider stamp set and a little bit about the artist herself:

I'm Dina Kowal, but you may know me as dini on online forums, or from my blog, Mama Dini's Stamperia. I live with my family (DH and 4 kiddos) in Indonesia, where we serve as missionaries. I’ve been stamping since about 1993. My style has evolved over the years, but I enjoy coloring, and love colors! I couldn’t live without my Prismacolor pencils, but I also enjoy watercoloring. Some of my stamp ‘collections’ and favorite things include lighthouses, butterflies, teacups, beach scenes, Winnie the Pooh, and birds. I've had my own stamp designs 'rubberized' by several different companies...my stamped work has been published, and can also be found in several design team galleries. I stamp mainly for my own personal sanity and to stretch my creative limits, but also with the hope that I will be able to encourage others with the work and time that I put into a card just for them.



Details on this card:
I've had this set for a while - since the A.I. logo contest! How long ago was that? I recently got a set of Neopiko-2 markers, which are an alcohol-based marker, so I've been playing with those lately. I love being able to get an even base color on my image. I love my Prismacolor pencils, though, and really like the detail and texture I get by shading and highlighting with pencil over the areas colored with marker. On this card, I blended shades of dark grey in the background, then colored the motorcycle with a medium red and grey. Afterwards, I went back in and shaded with deeper shades of those colors, and added highlights with a white pencil. I chopped up the sentiment and popped each word up with foam tape. The ribbon and rhinestones were purchased locally, and the papers were from my stash.



As metioned above, Dina designed our logo over a year ago and we are still super thrilled with it. Thanks again for that, Dina, and for sharing your card today! Now everyone show her some love!!

Do You Have a Twihard Teen?

I certainly do! My oldest Daughter is obsessed with the popular Vampire series and was an active participant in the creation of our latest sets, Into The Moonlight and Fictionally Inspired. In fact she has created some lovely cards of her own using these sets so I thought I'd share some of her hard work with you all.



For this card she colored the images with sharpie markers (my copics are off limits to my kids, lol) and used versamark and heat and stick powder to make her background sparkle with glitter.



This creation was made to follow a challenge over at www.Twilighttuesday.com that asked crafters to show the relationships between certain characters in the books. She used copper embossing powder to create the paw prints along the edge of her unusually cut card.



Here she used colored pencils for the image and a strip of redline tape to add glitter to the main card. She also made her own background paper by using some card stock with red ink dripped onto it to look like blood drops.





These last 2 cards use a little creativity and the previously released set, Think Big. She added the book titles to the stack of books and the book the girl is reading to incorporate her obsession into her creations.

Now anyone with teens knows they can be really stubborn and independent so don't think for a minute I had anything to do with how these came out...they were all my daughters ideas and she executed them beautifully. If you have a teen or a tween who loves this series, maybe she would enjoy a chance to create some cards or scrapbook pages of her own with these stamps. And the charms can be used to create great twi-themed bracelets or like my daughter did, use them to hang on a chain...for a new looking necklace everyday of the week.

And finally, don't forget to check out today's Twi-themed creations over at http://www.twilighttuesday.com/

Blog Hop Candy Winners

Is it Wednesday already?? WOW, time seems to move a bit faster in the Summer. I had to pick 2 winners for the blog hop candy today, didn't I? Well it is a good thing the day isn't over yet! *grin* I collected all of the names of every person who commented on all 10 blogs last Friday, wrote them down and tossed them all in a hat...then my daughter drew 2 names. The winner of the tin of Twi-cards that I made goes to Terriavidreader and the stamp set, A Friendly Light was won by Stampin' Cathy. Congratulations Ladies! Please email me your full names and addresses so I can get these out to you ASAP.

I would also like to mention that the girls over at Twilight Tuesday are STILL on a roll with their new stamp sets we sent them. Be sure to visit http://www.twilighttuesday.com/ everyday until Monday to see all the GREAT projects they are sharing!

Inspirations from Twilight Tuesday & AI

We have a Special Surprise for you today! We teamed up with the gals over at Twilight Tuesday this week to bring you a Twilight Inspired Challenge featuring 2 of our new stamp sets and the new charms. Click on the banner below for more details. Hint: there will be prizes!!

Today's Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge is:“ What Says Twilight To You? "

So many things say "Twilight" to the multitudes of Twilight fans. What images do you think of when you think about the Twilight books and movies? For some, Twilight means an apple, for some, the chess piece on the cover of Breaking Dawn, and for others, Bella's truck conjures it up. Many fans love to express their Twilight love by choosing a "team" to root for, and others have favorite quotes from the book that are near and dear to them. Please create a piece that expresses what comes to mind when YOU think of the Twilight saga.

Personally I loved the Twilight books. (You could probably guess that by the fact that they inspired two of my stamp set designs *grin*.) I've read the books 3 times (except for the last one) but for me the thing that comes to mind when I think of the stories is the excitement I feel when I talk about the saga with others. I love using certain quotes in everyday life and having others recognize their origin, sharing favorite parts of the books, favorite characters and deconstructing the motives and feelings of the characters. So with this knowledge in mind, I came up with my creation for the Twilight Tuesday Challenge.

What says Twilight to me? Announcing my love of the books and Sharing the Magic.

How can I share the magic? With badge pins!

This set of 6 pins and the package to show them off was made using the Fictionally Inspired Stamp set. Unfortunately I only had access to a small (rather cheap) button maker so I was limited in the size of stamps I could use but I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the badges it made. I'm sure if you could use a more professional button maker you could get some great variety in size and shape. The tool I used is called the 100% Cool Badge Maker by Fashion Angel Enterprises. Here are some close-ups of those buttons:

On some of these I used punched pieces of card stock, dp and even glitter on the 'Team Edward' one. For the topper, I printed the 'Share the Magic' wording on my computer and doodled the corners with a fine tip pen. The Vampire teeth were colored white with a Gelly Roll White Gel Pen.

Now, be sure to check out the blogs of Joy, Holly, Joanne and Elena to see what they did for this challenge and then cruise on over to the Twilight Tuesday Blog to see all they have to share!

Monday Featured Stamper - Michelle Kovack

The talented Michell Kovack agreed to be our Featured Stamper for the week. Michelle has been creating with our images since we first opened and she is not only very talented but a valued customer. What she says about AI: I have always loved your stamps! You really do a great job coming up with new ideas too! Thanks Michelle!

Michelle is a designer for 5 different design teams, and creates beautiful cards and scrapbook pages. Please be sure to visit her blog so you can enjoy more of her lovely creations. Now without further ado, here is her Vintage Wedding card made using our Wedding Silhouettes set.



Materials used: Versamark and black embossing powder. The paper is Graphic 45, the little bouquet of flowers is from the bridal section of Michael's.
She used her Copic airbrush system to give the main image a bit of color and left the Nestibility on after she cut it to give it a pretty white edge. The she placed a doily under the main image and did a bit of sewing.
Thanks Michelle!

Do Vampires Blog Hop?

It's New Release Day! Ready for something a bit different? My sneak peek card from last week might have been a clue for many of you what direction our creativity led us this month. A certain vampire romance series has become a pop-culture obsession for many Stampers out there over the last few years...this stamper included! So much so that 2 of this month's release sets were inspired by the saga. To those who share my love of this special series, I hope you find fun & inspiration in these sets & the co-ordinating charm package. I see many possibilities for these sets that go beyond the simple card and I hope we can share some of those ideas over the next few weeks.

For today's Blog Hop, I have a fun little creation that uses both the new sets, Into The Moonlight and Fictionally Inspired. (See the store for full views of these sets.) This decorated tin holds five 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch cards.





I don't really feel any explanation is necessary for this fun little gift but if you have any questions on how they were made, just email or leave a comment. Here are some detail pictures of each card:







This set of cards and the tin will be one of the 2 prizes we are giving away today for the New Release Blog Candy. More about that in a minute...

To those of you who don't share this vamp-book-love, I really apologize! Sometimes, an idea takes hold and wont let go. I hope the new set, A Friendly Light, will tickle your fancy until the next release. I know many of the INK Girls have some beautiful samples they have created with this set and they are dying to share them with you.

Plus this set will be the second piece of blog candy for today's give-a-way. So, how can you win either the Tin of Cards or the set A Friendly Light? Well, you must follow the hop all the way through to the end, commenting on each and every blog in the hop (11 in all). Then , next Wednesday, June 24, I will choose 2 winners from all the names that commented on all of our Blog Hop posts. So, if you are done here, H-O-P on over to Joy's blog and see her fantastic creations! And be sure to check back with us next Tuesday for more surprises and free-bees.

Edit: Due to technical difficulties, I had to post this early. The rest of the hop isnt due to be posted until 6am MDT.