From the Vault — Thanksgiving Cards

Ahhhh, it’s Throwback Thursday, so I thought I’d look into the vault and see what’s hangin’ around. And hello … I found these Thanksgiving cards.

This was part of a series I made using Rit Dye and a Batik resist. I sponged Batik-EZ Resist Medium from Crafter’s Pick onto my stamp (Hero Arts), then stamped onto watercolor paper. I let the resist dry, then used a foam brush to paint on various shades of liquid Rit Dye. (You can find dying instructions on the Rit website. Here is a direct link to another card I made for Rit. The process is the same. Here’s another card. I also have some scrapbook pages on the site.)

This is VERY old! (Remember when eyelets were so hot?) I used mini gold and silver ink pads (you can see the small size in the imprint!) to stamp directly on the paper. The leaves image (Stampendous!) was black embossed then colored in with some shimmer paints.

And one more, using some Gelli Arts paper I made as a background:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

From the Vault: Stampscapes

Sometimes it pays to clean out old boxes …. especially when you find old cards.

Often, when I look at these old cards, made when I first started stamping back in the Neanderthal era, I think, “my, these are so simple… and unsophisticated….” But sometimes I also re-discover some favorite stamps that haven’t touched ink in a long time.

Like these Stampscapes images. I had forgotten how much I loved the designs from Kevin Nakagawa, the king of scene-building images. I have several of his scene-making stamps, but I also have these more stylistic images from the Symmetry Sheet 2 collection:

Oh, so simple! This was way before texture embossing folders were out. So check out the old-school scoring lines for simple texture! The image was stamped on a linen-textured cardstock, so the streaky lines are my fault, no fault of the stamp!

This was stamped on a glossy cardstock and it came out much better. (All the other stamps I show here are from Hero Arts and also among my earliest stamp buys.)

Two more versions of the sun:

(Before I had a large stash of patterned paper or background stamps, I used the inside of envelopes!)

Now I need to dig these out and see what I can do to update the look! If you love making a scene, do check out the Stampscapes Web site.

Thanks for stopping by.

From the Vault — Old School Ink Pads

I recently inherited three containers of stamps and accessories from a friend. Check out these old-school ink pads:

And guess what? They still work!
Check this out:

Here are some of the old stamps, too:

Check out the old school stamper:

What a treasure-trove of images! (Thank you to Jennifer for all the goodies!)

Do you have any old ink pads or “vintage” stamps? Do they still work?

Thanks for stopping by.

Throwback Thursday — Cards from the Vault

I’m been loving the old photos friends are sharing on Facebook for Throwback Thursdays. Thought I’d share some cards made loooooong ago when I first started stamping. I found these cards while cleaning out my mother’s desk. I had apparently given her a stack of handmade cards years ago — guess she couldn’t stand to part with them!

Remember your first discovery of vellum? Here’s mine:

Although this card looks so unsophisticated and … well, not very good, I do remember how excited I was to discover this technique. I stamped and embossed in white, then colored the birdhouses on the back, using markers. The image is from Hero Arts. And I still love it (although I haven’t used it in years).

This flowery heart was one of the first stamps I ever bought! Very simple — stamp, emboss, color. I don’t even know where that stamp is now. It may have been an old PSX stamp. Anyone remember that company?

This next one doesn’t seem all that long ago. It was a popular technique introduced by Hero Arts — Shadow Stamping:

So easy — stamp the block, over-stamp it with an image.

Thanks for joining me for this trip down memory lane. I like to think I’ve evolved from those early days!

From the Vault

While cleaning out my closet recently I came across some cards I made when I first started stamping.

This was one of my first background stamps (from Hero Arts). I didn’t keep track of what I used back then, but it looks like I stamped in purple and used a holographic powder for the lines. The jester is from Judikins. I think I acquired the jester at one of the first stamp shows I attended — the Original Rubber Stamp Convention in Carson, Calif. I also bought a matching stamp, a ballerina. I embossed the jester in black, then colored him in using gel pens (which I borrowed from my daughter. I had much fewer supplies back then!!).

Here’s a close-up:

And simpler still:

My sad first embossing attempts. Sigh.

A Trip Down Memory Lane….

Amazing what we find hidden deep in our closets…

A friend recently gave me a box of her old … and we’re talking practically prehistoric … stamping supplies. Check out these ancient ink pads:

Here’s the amazing part: some of these pads are still inky!

Anyone old enough to remember when we had to use office ink pads? And colors were pretty much limited to black and red. Ugh. Here’s a pad I once used to stamp cute images on envelopes and to stamp my return address:

We didn’t have the internet back in the day, so we relied on little booklets like these for inspiration:

And check out this old time stamper:

Ah…. memories….

Another from the Vault

Who knew cleaning could be such fun? Here are some more cards made years ago, when I first started stamping:

When shadow stamping first came into fashion, I thought it was the greatest technique because it was so quick and easy. I first learned the technique through Hero Arts when the company introduced solid stamps in various sizes and shapes, and also ink that was soft and mat and perfect as a base. (I’ll be blogging soon about the newest Hero Arts stamps that harken back to shadow stamping! Or check out the Hero Arts Web site and look at Shari Carroll’s video.)

The shadow stamps are definitely Hero Arts, as are the inks. The fish is from Maryse Carrier, who once designed for Magenta. I was thrilled to find out that her designs are now being carried at Stampotique! Do check them out. I had forgotten how fun and whimsical her designs are, so I’ll be digging out more of those oldies from my collection.

This one is all Judikins (except the sentiment, which I believe is Hero Arts.) The background is a fun retro block with four images on one block; the abstract was black embossed and colored with watercolors.

More From The Vault

Last week I shared some cards I made a megatrillion years ago … here are a few more:

How’s that for heavy masking? Back in the day, “postal” images were all the rage. And obviously, I had just learned how to mask! (Masking is a technique used to put one image behind another. You stamp your foreground image, then stamp it again on scrap paper. Cut out the scrap paper image, cutting a little inside the line. Use that to cover or “mask” the foreground image, then stamp another image over it. The second image will appear behind the first. Make sense? If you stamp your mask on a sticky note or use repositionable glue, then it won’t shift when you stamp over it. Tip o’ day!) (Most of those postal images are from Rubber Stamp Avenue, which is still around and still has fun stuff. The ink is Kaleidacolor from Tsukineko — a fast way to add color.)

Here’s when I learned how to stamp a scene:

I haven’t stamped a scene in ages! I should dig out those old stamps and try again.

And my early infatuation with heat embossing (a life-changing event!):

(Images from Judikins.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cards from the Vault

Yes, once again I am in cleaning mode. (This is a life-long project.)

This time, I cleaned out an old box of cards. Many of these were made when I first started stamping, back in the day when dinosaurs walked the earth.

Let’s open the vault and take a look. See if you remember any of these techniques:

Remember old school dry embossing on metal? I think the process I used here involved stamping the image (Lucy’s stamps) on the back of a foil sheet then going over the lines using a stylus. I can’t remember what I used to color the flowers, but it must have been paint or markers because alcohol ink and Distress markers were not around then!

And remember when dark cardstock was all the rage? (Oy, I still have a ton of it….)

Oh, how I adored (wait…I still adore this image!) this Haiku Bunny from Hero Arts! In fact, I may pull it out and use it on something today!

Then there was the stipple background technique:

The “Uncle Enos” image (from River City Rubberworks — they have some hilarious stamps, check them out) was stamped in black then masked using a torn piece of paper. The background stamp (A Stamp In the Hand) was stamped, then the mask removed and I stippled on various colors (I think from a Tsukineko Autumn Kaleidacolor ink pad). The fine bristles of a stipple brush leave a cool textured look.

Hope you had fun with this stroll down memory lane. My next peek into the vault will feature “shadow” stamping — when it was first introduced.
Thanks for stopping by!