Handcarved Stamp for Straight (gasp!) Text

So when I was watching Traci Bunker's video making of a journal page here:

http://tracibunkers.blogspot.com/2009/05/presenting-my-new-video-traci-bunkers.html

I noticed that she used a stamp with lines in her text blocks. I often worry about my text being straight. (why? It's my journal. But let's not get into the artist insecurity issue. That's not just a whole 'nother post; that's a whole 'nother blog.)

Since I really like the look of handcarved stamps I thought it would be cool to make my own stamp for this. So I cut a 4" x 5" piece off my carving material, measured lines 3/8" apart, and then just cut a bit to each side of the line. I wasn't concerned with perfect lines just as I wasn't too overly concerned with getting every tiny bit of material from between the lines. I want to be able to tell it's handcarved; otherwise, I'd just order a commercial stamp. I think any larger than this and it would have to be mounted on a wood or acrylic block.

Here it is stamped on blank watercolor paper. You can see that my watercolor paper is quite textured. :) The lines would be much more solid on a smoother paper.

This artist not only makes amazing stamps she gives a much better tutorial than I ever could.

http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/search/label/handcarvedstampstutorial

So go forth! And carve! And stamp!

IdeaBooks4U.com

I ran across IdeaBooks4U.com yesterday and found some fantastic books at fantastic prices. Here are my favorites:


Books like these make me want to scrapbook. And I know I'll order them just for the ideas that I can apply towards journaling. There are so many different places to pull inspiration from if we just keep our minds open to possibility.

I'm also excited to announce that I'll be teaching not just journaling classes locally, but also sewing classes. We'll probably do an Amy Butler pattern for our first class project. Her instructions are well written with quality results. And my local store will have her fabric in stock. My wallet may be in serious trouble. :D

Package from Amber Dawn

Today I got my prize package in the mail from Amber Dawn. I was a winner on her blog International Charm Day. Yay! I received the coolest (laser cut wood?) charm with a Victorian lady, a small charm with an embroidered flower, rhinestone, and pailletes, and three cute little flower bows. I can't wait to use my goodies. And I would have never thought to put pailletes on a jump ring with a charm!! You know that's an idea I'll "borrow". :) And the little lady will probably be attached to the stitching of my latest journal. Now, where to use the pink bows? Oh, to have my problems, huh? ;)

Thank you, Amber!

Meet Posy and enter her drawing, too

Isn't this just the cutest bear and pincushion!? Her name is Posy and she's made by Ginger over at BearBits. She's (Ginger, that is) been making bears for 25 years (wow!) and to celebrate she is giving this little cutie away on her blog. And you could win her. Or I could win her. Or you could win her and give her to me. There must be some devious way to stack the odds in my favor, yes?

Seriously, go here and leave a comment to wish Ginger a happy anniversary and maybe she'll draw your name.

Winner and a free postcard!

And the winner of the giveaway is Lori of Vintage Palette Art! Congratulations! I'll email you for your address. Thanks, everybody, for the well-wishes. :D If you will send me your addresses I will send you each a postcard of the following collage.

*head hits desk*

Long day. Too tired to blog. Tomorrow's another day.

ETA: I'll post (and email) the giveaway winner in the morning.

oops, I fell off the wagon already!

Well well well. Look who already missed a day of blogging? Do I have an excuse from my doctor? Nope. A note from my mom? Nope. Just plum forgot. Start over again. Rinse. Repeat.

Today I took my 12 year old to get his shots. I got a letter from the school a couple days ago saying Texas has moved the vaccination dates up from the 15 year mark to all 7th graders must have them to start school this coming year. Figured we'd beat the rush and get them now. We ended up waiting from 9 am to 11:30 am. I wrote an article query, did the lettering on two journal pages, read a magazine cover to cover, and still had 30 minutes to twiddle my thumbs. But I have an enormous amount of patience when it comes to waiting rooms because every couple weeks I take my grandmother to her doctor appointments and to get her hair and nails done. So I was okay with it. I felt sorry for the five or six mothers with babies and toddlers. I had a nice quiet 12 year old while they spent 2 1/2 hours chasing, holding, wiping noses, breaking up fights, etc. Glad that's over with.

I did my pages for Aimee's journal prompt about lists in the journal group. I'll scan and post them tomorrow. Tried something different with them and I really liked it.

And for supper it was homemade pizzas! Yay!

Can't have a post without a photo so here's a little sketch I did awhile back that I'd like to turn into a painting.

Arabelle Jell-well and 100th post giveaway

I was sorting through some ephemera today and ran across this little leaflet/foldover promotional for Jell-well. They made packaged gelatins and puddings mid-century. I don't know anything about the company really. Since Jell-O was created in 1845 and named in 1897, Jell-well wasn't a predecessor of it obviously. The copyright date on the little paper doll is 1955.



And since this is my 100th post, if you'll leave a comment I'll put your name in a hat for an envelope of ephemera (including sweet little Arabelle!) and other goodies. I'll take sign ups until Wednesday 6pm central time. International welcome.

ETA: Wednesday evening - Comments are closed. Will post the winner in the morning. Thanks everybody! :)

Worth the sore needle-pricked fingers!

Some needle-felted fingerpuppet monsters I'm working on for possible inclusion in my etsy shop. The current one has his eyes on the ends of his stalks. Can't wait to finish him. Love these little guys. They kind of remind me of those little rubbery ones we would get out of the gumball machines. And there are so many different things you can do to individualize them. And it makes movietime more productive. :D

Every Day in May

French Toast Girl has made the commitment to do a painting every day in May. What a wonderful idea. She's asking people join her in committing to doing something, anything, with her.

Care to join me? I think I'll blog every day. It may just be a photo or two. But it supposedly only takes 28 days to make a habit. This could be just the thing to get me on the blogging train. Choo-choo!