Silly Scanning

What does an artistic Queen do with 3 kids when she doesn't have the energy to lug out art supplies but wants to do something entertaining & fun?

She gathers the kids around the scanner and follows their instructions!

It helps to understand that today had been an incredibly taxing day - and we only had a little while before the Princess went to spend the weekend with her dad. We had too much time to sit around...not enough time to get a bunch of stuff out. The kids had boundless energy...I had none. In a rare alignment of the planets the kids weren't trying to kill each other. I wanted to do something fun & creative with them, capitalizing on the brief moment of humanness they were exhibiting.

That said, I also wanted some new materials to play with. I've been wanting to try printing on my transparencies - but quickly found out tonight that the kind I have are not for inkjet printers. Oops. Now the cat has black paws from walking across the no-matter-what-it-will-never-dry transparency. The permanent kitty prints across my sheets should remind me not to try that again!

Pulling out the scanner was perfect! We came up with some really silly scans (thanks to the kid-directed poses) and I think I have some great material to work with for future projects. I have a bunch of stuff I have to do first - but I can't wait to sit down and play with these - they will provide hours of fun for altering projects!

I should probably mention that my children and I don't actually resemble circus people as these pictures would suggest...well, at least I'm not.

I will admit that I crack up every time I look at these!

I'll post the finished results when I get them done.

Printing Plates

A couple of months ago, I purchased some print foam for block printing from Aileen at Outside the Margins. I hadn't had time to play with it until now - and since I'm redoing my Funky Art Journal I decided this was a great time to experiment with it. My goal was to make up a couple of designs I can use in the book. I've used some unmounted stamps in the Journal already - but have felt stifled because I'm limited in the designs I can use to what I have on-hand. I want to add something bigger and more "me" to the Journal...so I sat down with my embossing stylus and the print foam and began doodling.

ONE SMALL BORDER & TWO LARGE DOODLED IMAGES

The idea is simple - the foam is similar to a foam "paper" plate or a Styrofoam meat tray. It is easily carved and Aileen (owner of Outside the Margins) suggests using a pencil, lollipop stick or ballpoint pen for "cutting" design into the foam. I thought using an embossing stylus may provide for crisper lines and a more defined outcome - but we'll see.

I was a little surprised at the amount of pressure I had to use to get the deep impression I wanted. Since I've never worked with this before, I may have gone way too deep and it might not produce the results I'm hoping for. My elbow is sore and my finger has a blister from the hours of pressing the design into the foam and then tracing over it again and again. I do love the versatility of this stuff and will definitely order more. I love that you don't have to lug out the carving equipment or rubber carving blocks in order to create an image. I also love how inexpensive it is - three 6x9 sheets for $4.00. (And Aileen is very reasonable with her shipping prices.) Not only is the foam a lot cheaper than the blocks of rubber ($1.25 per 6"x9" sheet for the foam vs Hobby Lobby's price of $2.29 for a 4"x4"x1/2" Staedtler Master Carve block), using a common household object to "cut" is much more convenient and cheaper than a set of carving tools.

Another positive I see for using the foam is that it's much easier to cut in a different shape/size than rubber...and it's a whole lot easier and safer to work with. Carving tools must be sharp in order to work properly - you won't cut, stab, jab or scrape yourself with an embossing tool, lollipop stick or pencil. I also like that if you make a mistake, throwing it out isn't as heartbreaking as throwing out a rubber block. You can get "dozens" of prints from one piece of foam - which is perfect for me since I tend to tire of an image after using it a few times. I also like this better than Pen Score because it IS permanent. (Aileen also offers Pen Score through Outside the Margins - just click here.)

If you have never carved your own stamps before - and aren't sure it's something you'll want to do more than once, can't afford the investment, only need one image or want to practice on something cheaper than rubber - this is a great product. Print foam will give you good idea of the work involved in carving your own stamps - and save you some loot, too.

THESE ARE RANDOM DOODLES DONE ON ONE SHEET - I STILL HAVE
A LOT OF ROOM FOR BUNCHES OF DOODLES

It is almost impossible to get a decent scan of these - since the foam is white and the doodles are just carved into it, you can hardly see it in a picture. It's very easy to see the images in person - I was surprised at how well they stood out. I will post a sample project once I have a chance to move onto that part so you can see the designs more clearly.

TWO SMALL PLATES - I DOODLED TWO DIFFERENT IMAGES ON ONE PIECE
OF PRINT FOAM AND CUT THEM APART

Making Rubber Stamp Shelves the Royal Way

As I said in my last post, I'll explain how to make my version of stamp shelves. These shelves are an inexpensive alternative to pre-made shelves, work much better for storing smaller supplies, and totally customizable. They are also mucho easy-o!

Please ignore the curtain rod hanging in the first picture - that is left over from a previous project.
I decided to leave it up so I have a place to hang my art while it dries.

SUPPLIES:

FOAM CORE - RELATIVELY THICK*
GLUE STICKS*
GLUE GUN
PENCIL
LONG RULER/YARD STICK
SCISSORS/X-ACTO KNIFE (CRAFT KNIFE)
FIVE 3/4"-1" SCREWS
SCREWDRIVER
OPTIONAL:
CARD STOCK YOU HAVE DECOUPAGED WITH TORN/CUT PATTERNED PAPER AND A COUPLE OF COATS OF DECOUPAGE MEDIUM. ONCE DRY, USE BLACK PERMANENT MARKER TO DRAW LARGE DOODLES. COVER WITH ONE ADDITIONAL LAYER OF DECOUPAGE OR GEL MEDIUM**
* The amount of foam core and the number of glue sticks depend on the number of shelves you make. It is important to use foam core of medium thickness - too thin and your shelves won't hold up, too thick and it's difficult to cut.

** You'll need either plain card stock or the decoupaged card stock to make the front lip on the shelves. This is important to keep the stamps from falling off the front - especially if your shelves aren't perfectly straight. The stiffer the paper, the better it works.

STEP 1: Decide if you want to make vertical or horizontal shelves. Once that has been decided, take a piece of foam core and mark each side at 1.5" increments either horizontally or vertically. Connect tic marks with pencil so foam core is lined every inch-and-a-half.

STEP 2: Prior to cutting strips of foam core, if you want to decorate the base foam core and/or shelves, this is the time to do it. If not, proceed with cutting the foam core at your pencil marks.

STEP 3: Decide how far apart you want your shelves - whether you want them to hold small or large items. I have a variety of stamps so I did not space my shelves evenly - I just "eye-balled" placement. NOTE: Your edges will look very raggedy and uneven. That's ok as long as no "chunks" are missing.

STEP 4: Carefully place a good-sized bead of glue along the edge of one of the strips you just cut. Place glued-edge perpendicular to sheet of foam core, taking care to line up the strip as straight and even as possible. (This is important so your stamps don't wobble or fall off one side.) I tipped the outside edge (the side not connected to the sheet of foam core) of each strip UP just slightly. This helps to keep the stamps from falling off the front. Repeat until foam core backing is full or you have the desired number of shelves.

STEP 5: Once all strips are attached to the foam core sheet, run a bead of hot glue on the top and bottom seams where the strips of foam core are adhered to the backing sheet of foam core. (Another way to say it: Run a bead of hot glue on the top and bottom of your new shelf where it attaches to the backing.) I used a semi-thick bead so I wasn't limited on the weight of stamps I could place on the shelves.

STEP 6: Cut stiff card stock into 1/2" strips. Beginning at one edge of the first shelf, hot glue a strip of card stock to the front of the shelf, lining up the bottom of the card stock strip with the bottom edge of the shelf. (The bottom of the shelf should be level with the strip of card stock and there should be an overhang - or lip - on the top.) If card stock strip is not long enough to cover length of shelf, slightly overlap next card stock strip to end of previous strip. This stiffened card stock serves two purposes: it keeps the stamps from falling off the front AND it covers up the ugly raggedness left from cutting the strips.

STEP 7: Using screws, attach to wall. Placing one screw in each corner and one in the middle should stabilize the shelves enough that you won't have to worry about it falling.

Using this process to make several shelves, I haven't had any issues with stamps falling down or the shelves coming apart. It seems that the shelves are pretty strong (relatively speaking) and could hold much more weight than the stamps I have loaded up on them.

If you wanted to store a few ink pads on some of the shelves, cut the strips of foam core wider than 1.5". Be careful not to try to make them too wide or the strength of the shelf will be compromised.
This is the best method for stamp storage I've come across.

I used to rely on a three-ring binder where I stamped every image on a sheet of paper. This was time consuming and never worked right since I'd run out of room for a particular category and just stamp the image at the end. The categories were totally disorganized and incomplete. I also had to remember to stamp every new image I got - and then wash each stamp.

These shelves are much less expensive than bins or regular shelving units; I can decorate them to match my studio and I can easily make more when I need more room. I can also customize the sizes of the shelves so I have exactly what I want. Having them visible on these shelves saves me tons of room, allows me to choose exactly what I want at a glance, stops me from purchasing duplicate stamps, saves me time since I don't have to dig through numerous huge bins and means I also save time by not having to stamp and wash every new stamp. I wish I had thought of this method years ago!

As always, if you have any questions or something doesn't make sense, please leave me a comment and I'll be more than happy to address it. I hope this helps some of you!

Storing Stamp Pads & Stamps

In one of the art groups I belong to (Art Group Newbies), we've been talking about ink pads. Imagine - some of the girls found it odd that I have over 100 stamp pads. It sounds completely normal to me...but then I am supply obsessed! (Hence the formation of pARTs-a-la-cARTe!)

I said I would show the SugarLoaf caddy. It's a great little idea - it has 30 nice-sized Whispers permanent, waterproof dye-based ink pads (in a fantastic array of colors) and 15 Whispers Strokes (markers to color stamps) - all contained in a compact little locking case. The case has a drawer on the bottom that stores the markers - and it slides out on either side. A fantastic invention! (Note: When I purchased the caddy it came with the 15 Whispers Strokes. The SugarLoaf website now says the caddy comes with "A Complete See-D's Alphabet Set and SeeClear Block".)

Fifteen Whispers ink pads sit on one side and fifteen fit on the other side. There is a drawer on the bottom to hold markers, stamps, etc. This drawer is accessible from either side of the caddy. Each side has a locking arm mechanism with a snap-lock closure on the top, securing the contents of the caddy really well while still offering easy, one-handed access.

The rest of my ink pads are stored in a large translucent bin that has handles for portability (not that I go anywhere). The bin holds about 40-50 stamp pads, depending on how neat I am when I put them away. The ink pads I use the most are stored in drawers that I can get to easily. Another small bin holds my small cube pigment pads.

I've tried storing ink pads and rubber stamps in stackable baskets - but that did not work. At all. Everything ended up a mess, lids came off stamp pads and dust accumulated way too fast. (I hate to dust and believe you should avoid it if at all possible!)

Another topic I brought up in Art Group Newbies* (which, by the way, is a fantastic group for novice and experienced artists alike) is stamp storage. I battle with storage and organization issues on a constant basis - the townhouse the childebeasts and I live in is a good size but we are bursting at the seams - which means I have to come up with creative storage ideas. I am not good at this - which explains why my supplies are all over the place.

I can't remember if I already posted about my shelves or not - and frankly, it's a hot Saturday afternoon and I'm just too lazy to go look. Since I was talking about the shelves, I'll go ahead and write about them here. If I've already done a post about them then just consider yourself twice as edumacated.

I have always stored my 700+ rubber stamps in really long, clear bins purchased at the Container Store. I also tried the stacking baskets for a short, unsuccessful time. (See issues above.) Storing all these stamps in the long bins makes it very difficult to find particular stamps. For a long time I just didn't use my stamps because of the problems associated with locating a specific one. That wasn't a feasible solution either. I finally ordered 25 sheets of foam core board because I was going to cover them in fabric and make one wall a bulletin board of sorts. They took so long to arrive (well over a month) that I changed my mind before receiving them and decided to make stamp shelves. I will explain how I made them in the next post...but for now you can see the final result.

This is only one small section of the shelves I made - I will post a wider picture in the post describing how to make them. I like these shelves for several reasons:

• You get to decide on the shelf spacing when you make them
• You can make them whatever color suits your decor - or decorate anyway you like
• You can use the foam core to make vertical or horizontal shelves
• Very cost effective
• Easy to clean

When I was looking at different storage ideas, one problem I kept running into is that most shelving is far too big for stamps - not to mention expensive. It is easy to make 20 of these shelf sets for less than the cost of one regular shelf.

I hope this inspires you to find new ways to organize your stamps and ink pads. I am trying very hard to only purchase unmounted stamps from now on. If you are new to stamping, UM stamps is the way to go. They are much cheaper and take up far less space.

Now, either go rearrange your stamp/ink pad storage or go make something!

* If you are interested in joining Art Group Newbies, more information can be found here. For more information on pARTs-a-la-cARTe, click the "Yahoo Groups" link on the right side of this blog or on the group name above.

A Very Talented Friend

My mailbox was singing and smiling today - and it wasn't only because my friend Susan T sent me some delicious glue sticks. No - the beautiful glue sticks alone would have made my mailbox sing a sweet tune of "comeandGEEETTIIIITTT!!" - but there was something even more incredible than the glue sticks awaiting me. Something so astounding, beautiful and just plain magnificent that I can hardly stop gushing about it!

All Susan said she was sending was glue sticks - which I was beyond grateful to receive. She tricked me and included the most incredible ATC I've ever seen.

I have never had someone else's ATC in hand - only my own. I've never had the honor of owning a beautiful piece of art from someone else - especially not from someone who is talented and creative. Susan changed that all at once today!

I am totally in love with her magnanimous gift. I am so grateful that I get choked up every time I look at it. Susan definitely has class - not only is this a wonderful ATC with a very sweet message on the back, it arrived in a classy sleeve. The ATC is trimmed in black and so nicely finished - definitely professional and regal. Thank you so much Susan - I absolutely love it and your beautiful work will hold a very special place on my shelf (and in my heart). You are so sweet - thank you!!

And just for the record, I chose Susan's blog as the Eye Candy Extraordinaire in pARTs-a-la-cARTe. Do I know my stuff or what?!