My Career as a Published Stamping Artist

I haven't had much time for stamping the past few years (and any time I do have for art I'd rather spend making altered books). However, a few years ago I was a passionate art stamper. I aspired to make beautiful cards, and have them published in glossy magazines. My favourite publication was always the Stamper's Sampler. At first I thought I'd start small and submit to some less glamorous magazines, but then I thought "why not just start at the top?" And so I've only ever submitted stamping art to Stamper's Sampler. It didn't take long before they started publishing my work--what a thrill!

Here is a list of my published stamp art:


1. This was the first card I submitted, and the first published. The magazine had put out a call for tropical themed art. I got the vision for this at 4 AM one Saturday morning, and couldn't rest until I got up and made the card (sounds just a little obsessive in hindsight!). When the card appeared in the June-July 2004 issue, I was over the moon!

Stamper's Sampler June/July 2004, p 42

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stamper's Sampler Take Ten, Vol III, 2004, p 7. 

 

 2. I next submitted a card under the "Take Ten" section. These are cards that are supposed to take only ten minutes to make: Perfect for the stamper in a hurry! Ten minutes is pretty much the minimum amount of time I think anyone with standards can take to put together a card. This birthday card with the little punched out flowers was fun to make.

3. Here is another submission for the "Take Ten" category.

Stamper's Sampler, December-January 2005, "Take Ten" section, p 6

4. I got the idea for this card while in the shower (traditionally, isn't that where most good ideas are found?). I was inspired by the packaging of some fancy-shmancy soap. For some reason the magazine decided to publish this in the "Take Ten" pages, which I found puzzling as I didn't submit it as such, and it certainly took more than ten minutes to make. But I decided to take it as a compliment and chose to believe that they thought it looked elegantly simple.

Stamper's Sampler Take Ten, Vol. IV, 2005, "Take Ten" section, p 52. 

5. I submitted this one for a St. Patrick's Day and general Irish-themed challenge. It was fun to be able to create something with my Celtic stamps--although I love them, I don't find many occasions to stamp Celtic art. One day I'll pull them out again and see what comes of it.

Stamper's Sampler, February-March 2006, "Luck of the Irish" theme, p 58.

6. I think this is the best of my cards that they chose to publish. I really enjoyed making this one, and put a lot into it. That's why I was more than a little annoyed when they decided to put this in their "Take Ten" pages. Okay, maybe I'm such a fabulous artist that I make it look simple (cough, cough!), but I can't believe that. The colouring alone took over an hour. This is so obviously not a ten-minute card. It really makes me wonder how they think. Oh, well.

Stamper's Sampler, June/July 2006, "Take Ten," p 10. 

7. I had submitted this card long before it was published. Again, they decided this was a ten-minute card. Hmmmm.

Stamper's Sampler Take Ten, Winter 2006, p 93.

8. I submitted this one at the same time as card 5. They included it in the Catch Up Issue. I don't like it as much as the other St. Patrick's Day card, but I think it's interesting.

Stamper's Sampler Catch Up Issue, Vol 10, 2006

 9. & 10. Long after I'd submitted any art, another Catch Up Issue arrived in the mail. This one had two cards in it. The "Affair to Remember" card was one of the last cards I submitted, but they had held on to the "Goddess of the Vine" for years. I cringed when I saw it--not my best work. Very much a novice card compared with more recent efforts. However, I do still really love that Botticelli face.  

Stamper's Sampler
Catch Up Issue, 2007, p 119

Stamper's Sampler
Catch Up Issue, 2007, p 6

11. This is my last published piece, and I submitted it years before they decided to use it. What a pleasant shock it was to see this issue in my mailbox. Again, they deemed this a ten minute card, which I find amusing. And again, I cringed at this one . . . overall I had submitted around 30 cards, and this was one they pulled out of the pile to show? (Actually, this is one of the ones that looks better in the magazine than the scan.)

Stamper's Sampler Take Ten, Spring 2009, p 58.

Of those 30 cards I submitted, there are a few that I'm glad they didn't publish after all, and a few that I think they really missed the boat on . . . their loss! But in the end, this was a fun, fulfilling and rewarding experience.

PS: People often ask if I was paid for my work. The answer is no, however, I did get a free copy of any magazine my work appeared in, and at $12 an issue, I'm not complaining.