Fabulous Finds Friday — Judikins

What’s new at Judikins? Sock monkeys! These are the cutest little images — I may need them all!

Check them out: (The only one missing is the original-looking sock monkey — he was so popular he was sold out before I got to the Judikins booth at the Carson show!)

Sock monkeys!

Another Fab Find is a technique using Judikins’ Mica Gloss  inks,  demonstrated by Cherryl Greene. What I loved about Cherryl’s technique was that nothing was wasted — she used shrink plastic as her palette, then stamped and shrunk the plastic into an attractive embellishment.

She used Judikins’ Mica Gloss inks, either matte or gloss cardstock (depending on the look), shrink plastic and stamps for several techniques. Here is just one sample. She put a few drops of ink on her shrink plastic then used a brayer to apply the ink to a stamp, which she then stamped on glossy cardstock. Love the shimmer!

A pretty card using mica inks. Don't wash off that brayer! Roll it over another piece of cardstock for a pretty background. Other techniques include dropping three colors of Mica Gloss on a postcard, spreading the ink around, then "smooshing" another postcard on top. When you pull the cards apart, there is a pretty background on each. You can do the same by putting drops on your palette, spreading the color and picking it up with a brayer.Below, Cherry takes that inky shrink plastic, cuts it, shrinks it and stamps into it while it is still hot. Cherryl Greene demos shrink mica magic at the Judikins booth.

 

Shrinking the plastic.

While the plastic is still warm, Cherryl presses a stamp down, creating an impression. She then sprinkles on Judikins’ new glaze-like powder (it looks like embossing powder, but it’s not), sets it on a hot plate so the powder melts, and has a beautiful glazed embellishment.

visit Judikins at www.judikins.com

Have a Fabulous Friday!

Fabulous Find Friday — Hanko Washi Floral Art

I have two Fabulous Finds from Hanko Designs. I first fell in love with Hanko Designs through their lovely Asian stamps. Then they brought in beautiful papers. And kits. The latest kit is Washi Floral Art.

Card made from Hanko floral kit

Kits include instructions, patterns, floral wire and stamen. You provide your favorite paper and card stock. See the pretty cards behind Hanko owner Norm Yoshida? Those are some examples of what you can do.

Hanko's Norm Yoshida, sample cards

And here are some different samples made by the talented Lori Lai, using punches. Check out her work at www.lorilaidesigns.com.

Tiny cards by Lori Lai.

The other Fab Find is a dimensional foam square that comes in teeny tiny pieces. You know how hard it is to cut foam tape when you need a small piece? Well, fret no more! These bitty things, called Stix 2 Anything double sided craft foam pads, measure a wee 1/8 of an inch. They are not very thick, but give just enough lift for tiny pieces. They come on a sheet and are best removed using the tip of a craft knife. I will try to post a photo later.

The Stix are not on the website, but contact Hanko at www.hankodesigns.com.

Paula’s Best Foot Forward

Paula Best’s  fanciful designs include cats, dogs, fish and llamas, as well as pithy sayings. The beautiful artwork is such fun to color. Paula, who recently moved to New Mexico and is now selling her original paintings, showed up at the Carson show with new rubber, including unmounted dies and dies mounted on cling.

Paula Best now offers unmounted images.

Here are some of my favorite Paula Best images:

See more of Paula’s best at www.paulabest.com or www.paulabestrubberstamps.com

Stella & Angus Star at Carson

Stella & Angus are more than just turtles. These stamp images come with their own back story, says Melissa Forsyth Sampaga, owner and stamping queen at Pugnacious Stamps & Designs and The Rubber Cafe.

Melissa Forsyth Sampaga colors in a new design.

 “Angus is always trying to impress Stella and she is not impressed,” says Melissa, who named the images after her dogs. “But he is the perfect man. He takes her on trips and boat rides, plays music for her and is attentive to her needs.”

Here’s a closer look:

Some new images at The Rubber Cafe.

You can check them out www.therubbercafe.com under the new products section.

Fabulous Finds Friday

There are so many nifty gadgets and supplies for creative types that I’ve decided to add a weekly feature to my blog: Fabulous Finds Friday. Every Friday I’ll feature some cool tool, inspiring image or … well, a Fabulous Find.

Our first Fab Find is a new stamping surface — EcoArtBoard from Rubber Stamp Concepts.

These nifty tiles (which remind me of Stamp Bord, a smooth white clay-coated stamping surface)  make great embellishments and jewelry. Decorate them with ink, chalk, markers, etc., edge the sides with copper tape or metallic markers, and you have a tiny, perfect embellishment. Make a pin, necklace, magnet, etc., or just plunk them on a card or box for dimension.  

Here are two samples:

Use a water resistant ink such as Staz-On, Ranger Archival, Ancient Page, etc., then color with your choice of medium. These tiles were colored using Yasutomo pearlescent paints. 

EcoArtBoard tiles are eco-friendly and made of recycled material.

Find these tiles at www.rubberstampconcepts.com

Safire Designs

Kathy Post at Safire Designs stirred up a little magic with her stamping and coloring techniques, which she demonstrated at the Original Rubber Stamp Convention in Carson. Kathy, who is quite the star stamper in Crafts ‘n things magazine, demonstrated her cool coloring.

Kathy demonstrates her technique

Here’s a close up:

And some of her other work:

Check out Safire Designs at www.SafireStamps.com.

Original Rubber Stamp Convention

As an intrepid reporter, I just had to go to the Original Rubber Stamp Convention this weekend in Carson, Calif. (At least, that’s what I told my husband…. that it was my JOB to go!) Although the vendor list was small, and the heat quotient high, there was still lots of good stuff. This week I will share some snapshots from the show.

Naturally, Tim Holtz was his usual star-studded self  at the Stampers Anonymous booth. Here’s Tim working his magic:

Tim has a cool new line of circus themed stamps. Here’s a sneak peak:

And a cool tag:

Also hard at work was the dashing and jovial Ted Cutts, who took over Stampers Anonymous from the delightful and artistic Ginny Carter. (Ted’s other companies include Art Gone Wild and Inky Antics.)

Stay tuned for more snaps from the show… and some exciting stamping news about an old company making a comeback!

Sum-Sum-Summertime!

It’s summertime and the stampin’ is easy! The dreary June Gloom has fled Southern California to be replaced by summer sunshine — and heat. Ugh. But these bright die cut cardstock embellishments from K&Company’s Citronella collection put me in the mood for some summer stamping. 

I started out big and bold with this bright and beautiful hibiscus die cut: (Not sure you can see it, but the die cut has built-in glitter)

(dotted background: Hero Arts raindrop stamp; paper: Great Paper Company;  Happy Birthday: Inkadinkado; Martha Stewart punch)

The yellow flower below also has built-in glitter, but I added more with Ranger’s Stickles and a Hero Arts gemstone in the center.

(background stamp: Hero Arts flower grid; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Happy Birthday stamp: Inkadinkado.)

Come back for more sunshine tomorrow!

More Kid Quotes

These cute kid quotes from Inkadinkado really struck a nerve! People have asked for more, so here are a few others:

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Kids DO say the darndest things! Which is why I can’t help but smile when I use Kids Quotes stamps from Inkadinkado. There are about two dozen sayings featuring words of wisdom from the mouths of babes (who are given full credit right on the stamp.)

Some of my favorites include: “You make me smile all over my face” (Ian Hobson,  Age 5);  “Sometimes you just need to take a nap and get over it,” (Maura Stuard, Age 8), and — maybe my favorite — “It’s never too late to be a rock star,” (Sarah Wardrope, Age 12).

One of the things I like about these stamps is that they don’t need much in the way of adornment. The quotes are so cute, they stand on their own. They are especially fun on bright, busy paper or backgrounds. And they are NOT just for kids! I find that adults really connect with these sayings — maybe more than youngsters do!

Here are some samples:

"Rock Star"

(Paper: Paper Trunk; stars: Making Memories Game Board Shapes covered with Sulyn Sparkle 21 Glitter; ribbon unknown.)

And look how the color and style of the paper changes the entire look — same saying, different look!

(Paper: Making Memories; Marthat Stewart eyelet punch.)

On this one below, I also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on the solid brown cardstock. Then I sanded the top of the embossing to give it a distressed look.

(background stamp: Hero Arts raindrop; paper strip: Provo Craft;  flowers: Prima; Hero Arts gems)

And here’s one more: