Something new.....

Crayola Model Magic comes in several colors and can be found the foil lined little bags in with the kiddos art supplies for about $2 a bag. So have you ever tried rolling it out? That's not a easy task-I found some hand manipulation of small amount to be more successful than working with rolling a large piece. If you know another way I'd love to hear! But once a little is flatten an impression can be made with a powdered (talcum) rubber stamp. Hopefully a nice embossed impression is achieved but I found the depth of the the rubber image and the detail makes a difference. Somewhat it is a little trial and some great successes. I made about a dozen pieces and found I hardly touched the quantity provided. Directions on that package say to use it in one setting and not to store in the bag it is purchased in. After 3 days it still seems fine in the foil bag inside a Ziploc. It took about 48 hours to dry the thinner pieces. I colored the white clay with inks on my aquabrush. Initially some of the ink seemed to disappear...so perhaps a little base coat would be helpful. It was fun to work with a little dimension piece made from the stamp! I bet these pieces could be made into magnets or perhaps even pins if sealed. Hmmm...need to go play some more!
Be sure to share your results if you give this a try!

Birds in my neighborhood

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When I started thinking about what to prepare for a swap titled "birds of my neighborhood" I wasn't sure how to incorporate these raven stamps that are Alaska Native styled images. As I pondered, the Alaska native legend came to mind about the wealthy chief who kept sun in a box until the trickster raven stole it away and threw the sun into the dark sky, giving sunlight to all. So worked on sharing an interpretation of this legend and decided to make the design into bookmarks. Recently I bought some new distress crackle paints (weathered blue-gray stripes)...so all in all I had a blast with some new experimenting with this project.

Thanks for taking a looking!

A lot happens in 1 week!

Sometimes when we look back on the previous week it seems like time flew bye and nothing that we intended on getting accomplished is finished. However in contast I started up my hydrophonic garden again 2 weeks ago. These cherry tomato plants are expected to flourish into large plants so as recommended I only planted 3 or the 7 pots. Yep these plants grow only in water with their schduled nutrient diet and monitored light. The top pictures are of the status at week 3 and the last one is now week 4. When everything here has been covered with white snow for months it is a delight to see new plant growth. I will be happy to share the harvest if you stop in.

Winter Stamp 08 a success!

YES, Winter Stamp '08 turned out as another fun stamping event at 2 peas last week. The challenges were lots of fun and they went on for the full week. And what perfect timing since we were have forty below zero weather here I didn't have much else that I wanted to be doing.

Here's a few of my creations~

This one was to use non-traditional stamps for a spring theme. The jack is a single image so it was fun to create it into a focal image. I used an alcohol background and print the words on vellum. Did you play jacks as a child? The background was made by using a recycled plastic bag as a stamp.

Favorite challenges always offer an opportunity to learn new techniques. This was the first time I played with tyvek. It is the material that is used to make the white fibrous non-destructible shipping envelopes. Lots of inks show the wonderful fibers and add nice texture to a card. Mostly I worked with lumiere paint and while put on in thin coats the colors intensfy when heated. Here is one of my first pieces making the background and circle. I did several other items with this material including the beads below.

I also made this pocket with Tyvek.

Some other new for me included experimenting including with inks on a firm textured plastic cover for a recipe card holder. The texture caused for several trial and errors opportunities. Overall the same princples work as images on transparecies. I used lumiere for the background here.

Thanks to all the wonderful 2 pea stampers for making Winter Stamp another terrific event!

It Monday-it is time for ISMMAKI challenge #5

The ISMAKI challenges are fast becoming the best part of my Mondays! This week I am also joining into the stamping fun with the folks at 2 peas. They are creating lots of fun during WinterStamp...so I used this sketch to complete another challenge that calls for a black and white card with a quote from one from one of the rubber stamps at Quietfire Designs.

Thanks for stopping in!