Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Lately, my obsession has been stamping with huge, detailed rubber stamps, embossing with block powder, and then painting with the brand new watercolors I got for Christmas. (I'll post a picture of a card I made later today, if I can find it...)
Right now I am obsessing over the Medallion stamps by Holly Berry. The images are like mandalas- and would be perfect to stamp and paint. I was just interested in the details, but apparently the idea of the stamp is to cut them apart and layer them, each "zone" becoming another layer.An example is here. It all sounds beautiful.
They have a zillion different designs, and they are HUGE stamps, anywhere from 3.75 inches square to 6 inches square, which is big for a stamp. They are also expensive- about $15 each.
Maybe after we finish dealing paying off the Christmas bills.
Monday, December 3, 2007
We received a catalogue from The Museum of Modern Art in NYC, and I am just in AWE of the things they carry in their museum shop. So amazing and beautiful and fun and unique! And the prices are incredibly fair, especially for museum/handmade gifts.
A few of my favorites:
- A snowglobe ring (for only $6!!) If I lived near the museum, I would buy one for every single girl I know. I love this kind of stuff. Glitter. Snowglobes. Sparkles.
- An amazing modern dollhouse with cool furniture.
- Beautiful colorful ornaments...
- Intricate pop-up cards I wish *I* had sent out. I am definitely getting my cards from MoMa next year.
- Beautiful note paper with 3-d butterflies that fold out when you open each sheet.
- Super cool finger-tip crayons in really great colors. All kids stuff is always in the primary colors- I love to see secondary and tertiary blends, too. (These are meant for kids, but I want them for *me*!)
- And finally, a really pretty lamp/lampshade that I can't really figure out, but it looks cool.
Seriously, go buy someone something. I can guarantee even if it's not what they *thought* they wanted, they will find it incredibly unique, thoughtful, and won't forget it.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
I gotta admit, I was tempted to buy these stamps. $30 for the kit. Well designed. Clear backs. HUGE.
But the downside is they are foam, and I NEVER use my foam stamps, much less my REAL (red rubber and clear acrylic) stamps. I am trying to use stamps more and more, but I know for a fact these guys won't get used on my scrapbook pages or my cards. They are *too* big and I have too much patterned paper- I need to be using what I have, not making my own.
I just like the tidiness and detail of regular rubber stamps better. Plus, I love the wood blocks- after going nuts on clear stamps I am back to obsessing over the ones with the wood backings. The fact that JoAnn now carries the almost complete line of Inkadinkado is dangerous... *lust* I haven't bought any stamps in a while, but the last one I got was an awesome stamp of a coffee ring (see below- by Inkadinkado- great background sort of stamp...)
One thing that these foam stamps would be good for is painting/mixed media collage. So that's what tempted me again. But I have beautiful sets of foam stamps from Making Memories and they are more appropriate for what I use them for.
But if you are a fan of stamps, and don't care about the foam aspect, this is great deal. A great gift, too.
BTW, if you haven't sent me your address for a card, SEND IT- I have a big batch ready to go and a bunch more cards, so let's swap!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
This is a week for rubber stamps. Unmounted stamps in all shapes and sizes. I feel like a kid in a candy shop.
I started doing more Mokume Gane in clay (that's a technique where you pile thin thin layers of clay on top of one another, and then press a stamp into it, and then slice off the layers to reveal a pattern in many colors), and so that's how I am justifying all my recent stamp purchases. I am now on the constant lookout for clear, deep designs in stamps that I can use with the clay. I have SO many ideas for color combinations and designs. Now I just need to find the time to work on them.
There was nothing fun in the mail today... I'm waiting for several vintage images from Above the Mark, and I just received a sheet of clear, unmounted stamps from Fancy Pants (the one above left) that I pre-ordered months ago. They are lovely, HUGE stamps with lots of detail. It's a 12x12 sheet full of stamps.
I need to stop buying stamps. But I'm becoming somewhat obsessive. So many stamps, so little time (and budget!)
Tom built me a machine that makes clear stamps. I need to start making them instead of buying them. It's a somewhat time consuming process, but once you get the hang of it, it goes by pretty quick.
Another thing to add to the "to do" pile.
