March Trail Map

The March map has a lot going for it.  Create a lovely window to showcase your artwork, or put someone in jail! 
Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, sit back, relax, and enjoy the gorgeous artwork the Stamper’s Quest Artist Guides have created for you this month.
After oogling at all the inspiration, show us what your [...]

Beginning to Bloom

Have you noticed a strange tag on some of the new projects and posts? *B2B* is your clue that the project meets our 2010 goal of taking you “back to basics” frequently! Any time you see *B2B*in the title, you’ll know that the article you’re about to read contains information that may be new to you [...]

Sweet Grass Stamps – Stephanie’s View

Finished card size: 5.5″ x 4.25″ 
Supplies:
Stamps:
 Africa stamps set (Sweet Grass Stamps)
Paper:
Coordinating cardstocks-two patterns (source unknown)
Orange cardstock (unknown)
Notecard (A2)
Inks:
Palette ink: Burnt Umber (Stewart Superior)
Alcohol Base markers (Copic and Shihan Touch)
Other:
Map of Africa ephemera 
Directions:

Make a copy of the map and trim to 4.5″ x 3″.
Stamp lion and lioness with Burnt Umber ink on the map.
Color with the alcohol [...]

February Trail Maps

February 2010 Trail Map by Regena

Good things come in threes!  Rectangles, triangles and a circle (or is that an embellishment?).  Where can you go with this map?  Let’s see what trails the Artistic Guides were led down this month to inspire you to follow your own trail map!
Stamps: Another Stamp Company
Stamps: Hampton Arts
 Stamps: Stampin’ Up!
Stamps: GG Designs
Stamps: [...]

Sunny Thoughts

I’m spoiled living in Georgia. We have four seasons, but winter is blissfully short. When February rolls around I am about done with cold (to me) weather and gray skies. I miss the warm sunshine and fully leaved trees and the riot of color in Summer.
I know many readers live in colder climes (and others [...]

January 2010 Map

In keeping with our theme of quests, trails, hiking, scenic by-ways, we are changing the name of our sketches! 
To find our way during our journeys, we generally need a map to help guide us to our destination.  Sketches help guide us in our creative journey, beginning at the trailhead (a few stamps, ink, paper) and ending at our destination [...]

Basically, Thank You. *Back2Basics*

Fly-By Thanks
by Stephanie Loomis, Artistic Guide and Editor
Finished card size: 5.5″ x 4.25″ 
As promised, Stamper’s Quest will bring periodic “Back2Basics” projects to our readers so that we may all remember why we chose this art form! This particular card takes us to the very element of rubber stamp art. It requires four things: stamps, paper, [...]

Back to Basics

Y2K plus 10. Remember the madness that accompanied the dawn of the 21st century? People stocked up on bottled water and canned foods, gathered family close around, and waited for…nothing. All the talk of a cyber-meltdown and disaster proved to be all hot air speculation. However, in the ten years since, the mood and the [...]

Holiday Splendor Photo Book

Altered Photo Book
Stephanie Loomis, Editor/Artistic Guide
Everyone likes a photo album, and there are a million of them out there. However, you can make an inexpensive book into a personalized work of art that just happens to hold favorite photos. The best thing is that it can be done in an evening!
Supplies:
Stamps:
Musical Staff (Great Impressions)
Scribble Set (The [...]

December Sketch Card

 
 
 
 
Have some last minute holiday cards to make up for those special folks in your life?  Why not give our December sketch a try? What a card Regena has created for you this month. Long with many different shaped layers to show off all those gorgeous papers in your stash! The bonus…adding those stamped images that will really make them pop.
 
 
 
 
 
Check [...]

Holiday Splendor Pillar Candles

Fancy Candles
Stephanie Loomis, Editor and Guide
Candles are a great hostess gift, but the fancy ones in the stores are outrageously priced. With some creativity and inexpensive stickers, you can customize less expensive candles and create personalized gifts.
Supplies:
Inexpensive pillar candle : white or colored (Old Time Pottery is where I got mine, but wherever you can [...]

The Greatest Gift

 
December has arrived–too quickly for many of us, but there’s no arguing with the calendar. Along with the Winter Solstice and the turning of the year, December brings three festival holidays to the three major world religions.
Muslims celebrate Hajj this month. The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, and is one of the [...]

Stampscapes – November Featured Vendor

Kevin from Stampscapes has once again challenged our designers to create projects and cards using his scenic stamp line.  There always seems to be something magical that happens when working with Stampscape stamps. No matter what you do, these stamps turn out gorgeous projects!
If you have never worked with Stampscape stamps, then you owe it to [...]

November Sketch

 
 
Ovals, squares,rectangles, a ‘film-strip’ look, all make up the November sketch created by our own Artistic Guide, Regena.  Check out or Artistic Guides’ interpretations, then share yours with us!  Send us a scan or photo of your sketch card to stampersquest@yahoo.com and we’ll publish it for everyone to see!  (please keep your file to 100kb)
 
 
 
 
Stamps: [...]

Gratitude Card for the Discoverer

Gratitude Card for the Discoverer
By: Stephanie Loomis, Artistic Guide
Finished card size: A2 (5.5” x 4.25”) 
Supplies:
Stamps: 
G is for Gratitude (The Angel Company)
Paper:                       
A2 note card: 5.5” x 4.25” (Georgia Pacific cardstock)
White cardstock: 2.5” x 2.875” (Georgia Pacific)
Patterned paper A: 3.25” x 3.5” (unknown source—pulled from scrap box)
Patterned paper B: 3.25” x 5.5” (unknown source—pulled from scrap box)
Patterned [...]

Thank You Card Set for the Adventurer

 
By: Stephanie Loomis, Artistic Guide
Finished card size: 5.5” x 4”
 When making multiples of the same card, it’s easier to set up an assembly line and do each step on each card at the same time. Pull together all the supplies and do all the cutting and stamping together. Then simply assemble and go!

 
 
Supplies:
Stamps:         
Box Words: “Thank [...]

Serendipitous Moment

 
 
 
I read a quote the other day on one of my Yahoo groups that made me think. Cathy Johnson is a fine artist in the Kansas City area who said:
 
 
 

“There is an art to wandering. If I have a destination, a plan – an objective – I’ve lost the ability to find serendipity. I am [...]

Miniature Gratitude Journal for the Inventor

 
 
 
 
By: Stephanie Loomis, Artistic Guide 
Sometimes I forget to be grateful for the little things. To help me keep an attitude of gratitude, I created a mini journal that will fit into my purse. When I see something or think of something for which I am thankful, I jot it down. Then on the days when [...]

Holiday Blizzard Project – Peace Canvas with Photo Transfer

Peace Canvas
Photo Transfer Mixed Media
By: Stephanie Loomis, Artistic Guide
Finished size: 12”x4”
Supplies:
Stamps:
Peace (Ruth’s Rubber Stamps)
Paper:
Matte Photo paper (International Paper)
Acetate (unknown)   
Ink:
 Black VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Mustard Seed Distressed ink pad (Ranger)
Other:
12”x4” canvas (Dick Blick)
Gel Medium, semi-gloss or matte (Golden)
Photo editing software (I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0)
GAC 100 polymer (Golden)
Brayer
Digital Ground for Non-Porous Surfaces (Golden)
Foam brushes
Small detail paint brushes
Page from an [...]

Holiday Blizzard Project – Christmas Memories Handmade Journal

By: Stephanie Loomis, Artistic Guide
 Finished size: 6”x8”
Supplies:
Stamps:         
Joy of Christmas, Simply Christmas, Heart Sings, Joy (The Angel Company)
I Will Honor Christmas (Rubber Cottage)
Silent Night Plate #064 (I Brake for Stamps)
Fear Not, Angel Wreath (Sweet Grass Stamps)
Wonderful Counselor (Artful Illusions)
Paper:                       
Figgy Pudding patterned cardstock, 5-6 sheets of your preference (Basic Grey)
Ivory Stardust cardstock, 5-6 sheets   (Wausau)
Ink:                
Versafine: (Tsukineko)
     Onyx [...]