RubberMoon has me in Stitches!

By Colleen Bodvig

I've stamped my heart out making Greeting Cards for the Holidays, so I thought it was time to wash the ink from my hands and take a break... that is, after I stamped these two RubberMoon images (Star Wreath and 3 Hanging Ornaments) on fabric, using a StazOn ink pad.

 

 

A few simple, satin stitches later...  and Voila!

Don't be afraid to take your ink pad and stamps to new places.  

Be Merry!

Happy Holidays from Colleen!

Fall Paints a Pretty Picture

IMAGINE Crafts and RubberMoon Art Stamps are excited to share with you the amazing projects that our design teams have created to kick off the Holiday Season! Over the next few days, we'll be sharing with you inspiration and techniques using IMAGINE Crafts' line of ink products featuring rubber stamps from RubberMoon. Be sure to visit the IMAGINE Crafts and RubberMoon blogs daily for more projects and ideas!

"In between fall’s final harvest and winter’s first bite comes a golden hour, a time to mull things over, plan for next time, and feel thankful for all the good fortune that drifted our way while we were too busy to notice."

I think this is my all-time favorite quote about my all-time favorite season of the year, and the inspiration for the art journal page created below.

I prepared my base with a layer of  Golden Acrylics, then added envelope scraps and portions of a vintage fall scene postcard.  The white gesso circle in the center will house another portion of the vintage postcard.

Next I added a scribble frame (Stampin' Up) and two leaves in the lower right corner (promotional leaf-shaped cards from Starbucks). 

Then I had some fun with Imagine Crafts irRESISTible color texture sprays in Cottage Ivy and Bronze. You can see the delightful dimension they add in the photo below.

To ensure my final images showed up clearly on top of the acrylic paint and irRESISTible's ink, I stamped with my all-time favorite standby ink pad: Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko StazOn ink in Jet Black and Ganache. Additional stamped images from Stampin Up: Hardwood and RubberMoon: Carved Leaf, Carved Leaf Corner, Round Tree, Mixed Media Scribble, Mixed Media Corrugated, Paint Brush and Kre8tiv Elements stamps.

I double stamped the Mixed Media Scribble with white gesso and StazOn Ganache and highlighted the paint brush with an irRESISTible Pico Embellisher in Wedding Dress (white).

Now, please take a moment during your Thanksgiving holiday weekend and "feel thankful for all the good fortune that drifted your way while you were too busy to notice."

by Colleen Bodvig

The Computer Has No Soul

by Colleen Bodvig

In this world of instant gratification... of selfies, IMs and tweets that we can send out to the world in a matter of seconds... Snail Mail seems to have lost favor. However, I still believe that good things come to those who wait. I would rather let the U.S. Postal Service do its job, even if I must wait, and walk out to my mailbox each day in eager anticipation of possibly being able to hold in my hand a delightfully crafted card, because, face it: 

the Computer Has No Soul... 

but I can see yours in a heartfelt, handmade card.

My basic supplies were a black gatefold card, Gears texture sheet from Gina's Designs, a 2x2 inchie arts Art Square and two squares of silver metallic paper.

Gina's Designs says of its texture sheets to: Ink it, paint it, use it as a stencil... but I got to thinking, why not emboss with it? 

And it worked!

I attached the embossed silver square 

with black brads to the left side of the gatefold card.

On the second unembossed silver square, 

I wrote "Letters Mingle Souls" repeatedly.

I positioned the silver square above upside down in the center of the inside of my card and applied double-sided tape to the right side of the back of the card and closed to seal.

Next I stamped "The Computer Has No Soul" by RubberMoon to the left side of the silver square.

I first stamped the Gears stamp by RubberMoon onto the inchie arts Art Square using Imagine Crafts Delicata Ink in Silver, but then decided I didn't have enough contrast for the front of my card, so I then stamped the same image on a black square and affixed it over the old image on the Art Square. 

(Waste not, want not!)

I then attached the Art Square to the front of the card.

Lastly, I attached a sheet of white paper to the center inside of my card for a letter-writing surface.

I hope you will take some time to send a handwritten note in a handmade card to someone you know!

Witchy Woman

by Colleen Bodvig

I'm a little surprised that my inspiration for this month's project is this creepy, little spider from RubberMoon (ge2888 - spidey) - particularly since I HATE spiders!  But there you go:  One never knows when the inspiration bug will bite you!

My spider needed a home on which to reside (and multiply), so I assembled some bits and pieces which I hoped would become an art doll assemblage.

Hot glue gun in hand, I went to work! I don't think there is any reason a Witch has to be unattractive, do you?  Borrowing the face from RubberMoon's New Moon stamp, she looks more angelic than witch-like:

...so I "creeped" her up a bit with lots and lots of spiders (stamped on vellum):

But I couldn't stop there.  She needed a canvas to stand against, so I created a makeshift shadowbox from this vintage find:

...and I ended up with this:

Below are a few closeups of the details.  For the spider web (Victorian Greetings), I decided to make use of the "halo" left over from punching the face out of the RubberMoon New Moon stamp:

For the fall scenery, I used two RubberMoon pumpkin stamps (long, tall pumpkin and pumpkin vine).  Both were stamped on a heavyweight vellum and colored with Copic markers. Since the ink from the alcohol markers stayed on the surface (did not bleed), I ended up with a pretty and slightly glossy effect as I worked the layers of color.

One paper hat and a train of fibers later, her outfit is complete:

Enjoy your Halloween... but beware the spiders!

Tea for Two by Colleen Bodvig

If you follow my personal blog, Remains of the Day, you may already know that I recently experimented with a few ways to add color to a solid image stamp (RubberMoon's Teapot and Mugs).  

Taking one of my test prints (shown above), I was inspired to create this "Tea for Two" collage:

Below are a few of the steps involved in creating the layers of this collage:

First, I used matte gel medium to glue down the tea-related dictionary clippings, then used my new paint wedge tool by Catalyst along with Golden Fluid Acrylics and Making Memories Acrylic Paint to lay down a base of color.

Next I added texture with foam stamps I created from embossing folders (the text background and mini dots shown below):

I can't seem to create ANY collage that doesn't include faux post, so using 100 Proof Press postage borders and postage paper, along with RubberMoon's "teacup bird," I created some postage stamps to add to my collage:

For the last layer, I stamped with RubberMoon's "dots & circles" and "circles upon circles" using acrylic paint...

...and then I added the postal cancellation images as the finishing touch!

I hope you have enjoyed the journey!   :-)

Go Postal !!

I received my RubberMoon MoonMail Club package a while back, and one of the extra treats included was mini, perforated Postage Paper from 100 Proof Press. I quickly went through those sheets but, fortunately, I had more on hand. Of course, I had to dust off the package!  Shame on me for missing so much fun when I had the material all along, and a BIG Thank You to Sara Vukson (100 Proof Press) and Kristen Powers (RubberMoon) for the collaboration on last month's MoonMail Club package and helping to get my creative juices flowing again with faux post.   :-)

In the stamp below, the "Postage Due" border stamp is from 100 Proof Press and the oak leaf collage stamp is from RubberMoon.

In the RubberMoon envelope below, I used another postage border stamp from 100 Proof Press and "Bird Fence" from RubberMoon.

Below: "Cow jumped over the moon" and "Moon Mail" by RubberMoon. As a side note, the envelope below was a business reply envelope that I covered with a page from a magazine... Waste not, want not!

I am in LOVE with this stamp by RubberMoon: Nesting Bird:

Nothing complicated... just fun stamping ideas, but you will find a few tools will come in handy: I find a stamp positioner is a must when stamping in these tiny frames. 

You will want to mask off the areas you don't want to stamp on if you are working on the postage stamps individually (as shown above), but if you plan to use the full sheet for your image or if you plan to color the background, you will want to also use the coordinating 100 Proof Press template to mask the postage stamp's border edge.

Go Postal...  it's fun!