Happy late new year and stuff!

Woah, where did the last month go?! The holidays went by like a blur, so much happening makes time speed right by. I hope everyone had a nice holiday season. We had some unusually heavy snow here (Portland, OR) so I had a few quiet days off.

For the past few years I've relied on google searches and word of mouth for my website traffic. Starting this year I'm going to be a bit more active in getting the word out, especially for my growing rubber stamp catalog. Starting in the Jan/Feb 09 issue of Somerset Studio you'll see my ad:



I will be advertising with them all year, and am eager to see if this provides a boost in my sales. If any of you frequently browse or purchase a certain craft magazine, particularly for stamping, I'd love to hear which magazines you like best. I've had my eye on Stampers Sampler and Take Ten, but I'm really hoping to submit actual cards/art projects to them instead of just advertisements. Just in case anyone who uses my stamps didn't know, I reward you for sending your projects in to craft magazines. (More about that here.)




I've started designing two new stamp sheets which I should be sharing with you all in the next week or so. For now here's a little something I did that went along with a present for a friend who appreciates all-natural soaps/cosmetics and recycled goodies. ( Stamps from here )



New stuff coming soon!

:)
Kimberly

New flexible push molds for polymer clay, paperclay, etc.

Hi all, here's a few molds that have been added today:






They can be found at:
Nature Spirit Molds
and
Face Molds


ps. A few months ago I got some kittens to keep me company. I have to admit I've always been more of a dog person, but health wise I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with one. These kittens are cute, love to cuddle (for short periods of time before going to amuse themselves elsewhere) and are generally pretty low maintenance :)
Oh no! Kitten pictures!

News, cling cushion mounting foam, polymer clay push molds tutorial

Hi all, I'm happy to announce that my latest CTscan was all clear - My cancer has been in total remission and remains so! I've had some side effects from treatments, but they are entirely manageable. Everything pales in comparison to cancer, so I'm feeling very positive about it all :)

I've made some improvements to my website this week, including adding new buttons to the main store index along with a new product - cling cushion foam for mounting your unmounted rubber stamps. I put up step by step images on the mounting page.



Updates have been made to the flexible push mold instructions. I can't believe I have forgotten to add this string of images that shows just how easy it is to use polymer clay or paperclay with the molds. There is also a few extra pictures about painting your clay. I'm almost done with the example art for a few new molds, I'll make another post this week with the new designs.



ps. To address a question I received about coloring on Stampbord last week:
I have a random assortment of color pencils including Prismacolor, Crayola, Rose Art, Prang etc. They all seem to work comparably on the Stampbord surface. However, the color intensity is at its best when used on the plain white surface. I also make sure my pencils are well sharpened.



Once you add inks or paints to the Stampbord the color pencils will react differently. For instance, alcohol ink, depending on the color and thickness of application tends to dominate the surface. Any color pencil you use over it will be a few shades away from the base color. In other words, you'll still be able to color over it, but it will be more of a transparent tint. Here are some I did with alcohol ink, stazon then color pencil:





For instance, if the alcohol ink is yellow and your pencil is green, the color you might end up with is a light yellow-green. This is usually enough color for me, but you will never get full color intensity when using them over a colored surface. You may also try using different inks, like dye inks or watercolors to stain the surface, which have less of an impact on the saturation of color pencils.

ATC Stampbord rubber stamped wall art project

I recently discovered Stampbord which is a sturdy board (like compressed wood) with a white clay coating. What's super neat about it is you can stamp on it, use all sorts of ink, paint, pencils, markers etc. on it... Then you can take an etching/engraving/scratch tool and carve away the top layer to expose the white clay underneath. I love how easy it is to make highlights, like the light is shining on your artwork.

Anyway, I ordered some ATC size (2.5" x 3.5") Stampbord pieces online (they also come in domino 1"x2" size.) I covered the surface with alcohol inks, stamped with stazon, colored with color pencils and (optionally) put a thin coat of mod podge to protect the surface.



This board is very sturdy, so a regular hole punch won't work - but I used my Cropidile punch tool. That Cropidile is amazingly strong (can punch through tin, wood, chipboard etc.) The board is too thick to set eyelets in, but I glued them into the holes and added beads for hanging on my wall or door. A couple more images on this project on this rubber stamp sheets page.

I've got so much more to do, I'm a million years behind schedule on making example art for my rubber stamp pages.


--
Medical update:
On a personal note, I had a CT scan on friday and have another test on wednesday to screen for cancer. I should know within the next week or so if I'm still doing ok with the Hodgkins Lymphoma. I found out that the radiation treatment damaged my thyroid worse than I thought, so I've been pretty tired lately while my blood levels got all wonky. My new doctor is really nice though, I think I'm in good hands.

Need a gift in a hurry? Domino pendants in 3 minutes or less! + Cleaning tip for StazOn ink

I don't waste money on fancy cleaners. I don't like to waste a lot of time cleaning my stamps either. Instead I just keep a bottle of alcohol (regular medical rubbing alcohol, isopropyl) and a paper towel on my craft desk. Just dump a little alcohol on your paper towel and gently wipe off the StazOn ink from your stamps.



Two rubber stamp sheets (recycling and last domino pendant preview) are now available on the rubber stampspage. I've also added this super quick coloring method using StazOn ink pads on the domino jewelry instructions page.



Pick out a light ink pad color and stamp your background pattern. Optionally, before or instead of background stamping, you can colorize the domino surface by randomly dabbing on the StazOn ink. Use a q-tip dipped in alcohol to lighten the ink and rub it into the surface. This ink is usually dry enough to move onto the next step within a minute.



Stamp your main image with a darker ink over your colored background.



Optionally you can keep going and add additional accents like stamped patterned edges (used brilliance gold pigment ink here) or use a sharpie marker to color the edges, add glitter etc. Then glue on a pendant bail or dill your hole.

Something a little different.

I had an unexpected creative spurt last night after browsing some new vector tutorials and Adobe Photoshop digital artist sites. While I usually stick to a traditional Art Nouveau style, these new images mix in a more fashionably modern twist. I'm not sure if this style will appeal to my base, but they will be available as rubber stamps in a couple weeks.



I was also browsing for quotes yesterday hoping to find nice sayings for the future cards/example art. A few that I thought were pretty:
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen nor touched... but are felt in the heart." (Helen Keller)

"Don't be afraid to take one large step because you can't cross a chasm in two small leaps." (Davil Lloyd George)

"Happiness is the best makeup." (unknown)