Bookmarks

I love to give books or certificates to book stores as gifts. However, I like to have something handmade in the mix as well. So, I make bookmarks, often customizing them to suit my intended Giftee. Bookmarks are simple and fast to make, and they're a little something that my loved ones can keep using long after the books have been read and shelved.

Bookmarks, since we're quickly coming up on that time, also make great stocking-stuffers.

Plus, they're an excellent way to remind someone, even when you're not there, that you care about them.

So, get out your cardstock and stamps and make a few bookmarks today!

Where will your imagination take you?

RubberMoon Stamps

Imagine

Tall Tree

Chubby Crow (sm)

Chubby Crow (lg)

Polaroid Type Alphabet

Library Card

Stars

To the Moon and Back

New Moon

Winter Wonderland Triptych: RubberMoon stamps and Imagine Crafts Cross Promotion

 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!

I was very excited to create a piece for this Imagine Craft-RubberMoon blog share.  I am a long-time fan and user of Tsukineko inks and mediums, but are so many new options that I had a hard time choosing what I wanted to do.  I decided to try using their sheet metal in ATC size to create a stand-alone holiday triptych that I can use year after year. I chose the StazOn inks in Ganache, Emerald City, and Gothic Purple to colorize the scene and enhanced it all with clear Goosebumps and irRESISTible Texture Sprays in white and green.

I began the project by prepping the metal with a quick-drying product named GlazeOn.  This is a wondrous new project that works in two ways.  First, it acts as a ground to help the inks adhere better to the metal. Second, it allows you to layer the solvent-based StazOn inks so that you can create in layers. Pure genius.  I let the GlazeOn air dry for ten minutes and then squeezed some white StazOn reinker onto the metal and spread and textured it with a cosmetic sponge.  I repeated the process on the other side and let dry.  My project was now ready for the composition.

 

I added the ground with Ganache using a pouncing motion and a cosmetic sponge.  When dry, I added some opaque white StazOn reinker for snow.  I continued the scene by stamping RubberMoon's 5 Snowy Trees, added small and larger stars that were part of the RubberMoon Mail Club in black StazOn, and used a cosmetic sponge to lightly color the trees for a base coat.  Looking to add interest to the trees, I added some dots to the trees with the end of a paintbrush using the Gothic Purple StazOn.

 

          

I sealed that layer with GlazeOn.  Once dry, I used the inksplat stamp to add some texture to the sky area and then split up the sentiment and applied with black StazOn. 

Again, I sealed the layer and then set about using the irRESISTible green ink to darken and shade the trees.  This added more depth and interest to the composition. You can see the color difference in the first picture below.  To add more visual and tactile texture, I sprayed white irRESISTible ink and then finished with clear Goosebumps spray and let them dry. 

 

When dry,  I used a ruler to mark, used a 1/16" hole punch, and then added the jump rings.

Here is the triptych laid out (front).  The different textures really stand out, even in the photo.  The back looked empty with just the white background on top of the metal, so I reproduced the ground and then used my favorite StencilGirl stencil, Layered Salad,  by Terri Stegmiller.  I used the irRESISTible green on a cosmetic sponge first to support the color scheme on the front.  I then repositioned it and used black StazOn to finish.  I finished with a spray of irRESISTible white for that snowy look.  

I love the textural look of this project and enjoyed working with these new products from Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts, and, of course, it is always wonderful working with RubberMoon stamps. Thanks for joining me in my winter wonderland. As always, you can find more of my work on my site or on Facebook at Nancy Curry Art.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

One Stamp, Three Designs by Barb Black

Hello, fellow crafty people!I have a lot of rubber stamps. I mean... a LOT! Usually my designs include multiple stamps. But every now and then I like to challenge myself.


So, when I received this very cool Tall Tree stamp in my last RubberMoon order, I decided to play and only let myself use that one stamp for three different designs.

This first design was inspired while I was sipping coffee and watching the cottonwood leaves flying from the trees.



For the background, I used a sponge dipped in various colors of ink pads and simply swiped it across the cardstock. I sprayed the sponge with Tsukineko's Ink Potion No. 9 and swiped over it again.



I stamped the tree using my Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink pad. I sketched in the leaf pile and falling leaves using Derwent's Inktense watercolor pencils.

For the second card, I went Halloween, because... hello? Candy!


I began with a piece of medium blue cardstock. I used the lid from an old plastic container to mask out the moon. Then, using dark blue and dark purple ink, I sponged in the background.



Once I had the color to where I wanted it, I used my Distress Ink paint daubers in white and silver to fill in the moon.



I stamped the tree three times using StazOn Jet Black ink. I used a white jell pen to roughly sketch the outlines of the trees where the light would shine.

My third design plays entirely to my love of winter. Yes. I'm one of those freaky snow lovers.



For this one I used a piece of medium blue cardstock (the same blue I began with in the second card, by the way). I stamped the tree using Brilliance Moonlight White. I also used some of the same ink on a sponge to make the snow on the ground.



I used a white gel pen to draw in the extra branches. And, to finish the piece, I dabbed Picket Fence Distress Stickles to mimic some gently falling snow.



I'll never give up my many, many stamps and I still love using as many as I can at one time, but it was fun to challenge myself.  I challenge you to do the same. Pick one stamp and do three completely different things with it.



Happy Crafting!

Moon ' ificent!

I love Halloween more than any other holiday and I hope you enjoy my Hallow offering!

Supplies used:

RubberMoon: GE2520 - 4 sided Moon Cube Stamp
Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko:  StazOn Jet Black
Alpha Stamps: Black Dresden Trim
Sizzix: Squares Die and Eileen Hull, Cubes Die
White Mountboard
Sharpie Black Marker Pen
Glue

I began by die cutting all of my shapes

I then stamped my images and went around the edges with a black Sharpie pen

I used the StazOn pad direct to the mountboard. This produces an almost linen/fabric effect on the surface. On the larger bottom square I went around the edge with the Sharpie again to give it more definition against the white edge of the middle size square.

I then assembled my cube using the same StazOn ink technique and finished the top and bottom edges of the four sides with black Dresden trim.


Thanks for taking the time to read my blog today!

Stamping on Fabric

Hello again! Barb here - posting two weeks in a row!


Our weather here in the Pacific NW finally and decidedly turned to Autumn in the past couple of days. Watching the leaves fly off the trees and blow past the windows got me thinking about Halloween. RubberMoon's Blue Ribbon Pumpkin Stamp was just begging me to do something with it.


I decided to take a little departure from my "normal" techniques and stamp on fabric. I began by cutting an approximately 3.75 x 3.5" piece from a length of off-white muslin that I happen to have in my fabric stash.

The piece doesn't have to be perfectly cut. In fact, it's more interesting if it isn't. After I cut it, I pulled some of the outside threads for a frayed look.


Then I stamped on it, using StazOn Jet Black ink. I use StazOn on fabric because it won't bleed like many water-based inks will.

To color it in, I went with my Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. I could have used markers, but they tend to bleed a little, plus the fabric is hard on the markers.

Once it was colored in, I wanted to give a little extra homespun feel, so I decided to do a rough stitch around the edge of the image. A really, really rough stitch! For this I used some orange DMC Craft Thread that I'd had around for-just-about-ever.


(I'm not a hoarder; I'm a Keeper of Very Useful Stuff!)

No need to tie knots. In fact, I recommend against it. When the piece is glued, the glue holds the stitching in place. Plus, if I'd added a knot, it would have left a bump in the finished product.



Finally, to tie everything together and finish the piece, I added a quick, mini tag. It was a pre-cut tag that I have a bunch of and gave it some swipes of color and the "trick or treat" sentiment with the same Derwent pencils that I used on the fabric piece.

I glued the piece to some purple cardstock onto which I'd stamped just a few stars using the star stamp from RubberMoon's Dust Collection set and Brilliance ink in Pearlescent Olive.


Naturally, I couldn't resist adding a little sparkle, so I dabbed some yellow Stickles on the eyes and mouth.


Now that I've done this card, I'm tempted to stitch together a few goodie bags to give some treatable friends next month. There's no end to creative possibilities once you start stamping on fabric!


Thanks for reading my post!

Ode to a Cat by Kim

Hello my Artsy Friends! Today, I would like to share with you my Kitty Cat banner. I am a cat person (as you can tell) and thought it would be fun to play with some of the great cat stamps that RubberMoon has in their store.

I had a lot of fun with this banner and used my beloved cat Miss Blue, who is a pure bred blue point rag doll, as my inspiration for the stamps and the sentiments.  I used various colors of ink to achieve my background, and have a short tutorial below to show how I achieved the look.

After I was happy with the watercolor look of the inks, I used various RubberMoon stamps in the background to finish off the look before I stamped on my focal images of the cats.

Here is my banner put together and complete....

I used my Pentel watercolor pen and some colorful inks in various colors. First I dipped my brush in the inks and did random areas of the Inchie Art Squares Tile.  I really love these tiles, they really are super sturdy and make for a great base for my banner.

After I had added all my colors it was time to stamp my images.

I have used a very non-conventional item to put my stamped image on...toilet tissue!  Yes, that's right, I have used some ordinary toilet tissue. I love the effect it gives! I wanted the Cat stamps to stand out from the background stamping I did and this was a great way to achieve the look.  The tissue took the stamp great and then I fussy cut it out and mod podged it onto the art square. The finished result is something different and fun!

I hope you have enjoyed taking a peek into my studio today, and will try out some of these techniques and sweet kitty cat stamps from RubberMoon, they are just purrrfect!

 RubberMoon Items Used

Inchie Art Squares

Flower Cat

Ashley Cat

Impurrfect

Hot Wheels

Roller Derby Kitty

If Cats Could Talk They Would Lie To  you

Bunting Large

Stardust

Scattered Hearts

Loopy Hearts Border

Other Items Used:

StayzOn Ink

Hero Arts Inks

Pentel Waterbrush Pen

Silk Sari Ribbon

Lawn Fawn Jute

Creative Imaginations Sentiments

Meow - Enjoy Your Day!

Give Peas A Chance

Hi! I'm Barb Black and I'm delighted to be one of the new RubberMoon Creative Dream Team members.  I think the most difficult thing I had to do for this first post was to decide which RubberMoon stamp(s) to use first!  It really wasn't that much of a challenge, I guess.


I love wordplay, so as soon as I saw Gretchen Ehrsam's "Give Peas A Chance" stamp, I knew the direction I was taking.  Pairing it with Sunny Carvalho's whimsical pea pod stamp was a no-brainer.

And so, this card was born.

For this card I used the following supplies: 

Glossy white card stock,

Green card stock,

Black card stock,

Water-based green ink pad,

Craft (or chalk style) white ink pad,

StazOn Jet Black ink pad, 

Green water-based markers in two different shades, 

A black Sharpie,

Sequin waste, and 

Sponges

I began by stamping the saying and pea pods on the glossy white paper, using the black ink.  I used StazOn because it doesn't run or bleed when I color over it with anything water-based.  I then colored in the pods and the peas and carefully outlined the piece using my Sharpie.

Once that was done, I set it aside to work on the background pieces.  This is where good ol' messy fun comes in (my favorite pastime).


First I did a rough tear across one edge of the black cardstock just to give it some quirky interest.


Then, using the white ink on the black, and the green ink on the green, I set the sequin waste over each piece and dabbed the inks through the holes with a piece of sponge.

I love using sequin waste for backgrounds!  It's ridiculously inexpensive, which always gets my attention.  As you can see, I used the same piece for both colors.  I simply wiped it off with a clean damp cloth in between uses.  You can probably also tell that I've used this same piece many, many times before. Once upon a time it was white.



Sequin waste is just what it sounds like - it's the "ribbon" of hole-y plastic that remains after sequins are punched out.  Just as different sized sequins are available, so are pieces of sequin waste with different sized holes.  The possibilities are endless!



After all that, the only thing left to do was to glue the layers of my card together, find time to write a quick note, and send the happy little thing off to brighten someone's day.



I hope this gives you inspiration for new projects of your own.  Life is messy - join in!

Bunny Butts

I absolutely love Easter for so many reasons, but mainly for two things:  bunnies and colors. I can't get enough of either.  Now, I like ALL bunnies, but I especially love the ones that are on the plump side so when I saw this Rubbermoon stamp, I knew I had to celebrate the holiday with it. My own frolic stamp was an afterthought, but what else would plump bunnies do but frolic? 

Materials:  white glossy paper, matting papers, white folded cardstock, Derwent Inktense, black  StazOn


Stamps used:  bunny butts
                       frolic



The card itself came together with leftovers from my classes.  I use a lot of dye inks with Cut n Dry Foam.  When I am done with my projects, I let the inks dry out on the foam for about a week.  When completely dry I rewet the pad with a spritzer and then take prints from it that leave a ton of white space.  This is the piece that I stamped the bunnies on.  It fit with my Easter theme perfectly.  Once the bunnies were stamped in black StazOn, I used four different Inktense pencils dipped in water to get that vibrant color on the tails.  I repeatedly stamped my frolic image and mounted for a festive springtime look.  I wonder where they are going?  Are they gossiping? OOOOO....maybe to an egg hunt!!!  My last favorite part of Easter..............

       H A P P Y    E A S T E R     &     H A P P Y    S P R I N G

Key to My Heart

Happy Valentine's Day!  Since it is that hearty kind of day,  I will create a couple of cards that celebrate those warm feelings but don't necessarily "scream" the V-holiday.  I categorize them  as "thinking of you" cards for your significant other(s),those in your "circle of trust," a favorite phrase of mine mentioned by Robert DeNiro in Meet the Parents, and those needing just a little TLC.   RubberMoon has held the key to my heart for many moons.  The artists that have created for the company, new and old, make designs are perfect for these special cards and they all mix and match well together.  But having said that, I still have oodles. 

To prepare, I decided color themes and got out my supplies.  Two cards were on the agenda for today; one red and gold, and one,  light blue and green.  The RubberMoon stamps I chose are Zen heart, key plate, moon & back, joy, ink splatter, and the Red Rubber Palette.  Also, in a shameless Curry plug, I also used one of mine, "for all time."  Other supplies include textured and printed papers, Golden Fluid Acrylic in Bronze and Mars Black, black StazOn, X-Acto knife and cutting mat,  heart and black round brads, and Score Tape. 

I started the first card by adding Golden bronze paint to the palette with a cosmetic sponge.  I then pressed the slightly textured cream cardstock into the paint and pulled up quickly.  I love the haphazard coverage and LOVE that the palette cleans quickly with a baby wipe or water.

I cleaned the palette and added a bit of black paint with a sponge and quickly stamped the key plate and the ink splatter to add some interest.  You don't have as much time because of the quick-drying acrylic, but I do like the coverage that the paint gives over the other paint. 

I added a piece of black glossy to the cream with Score Tape before cutting around the plate on three sides to make a window.  I decided I wanted some movement on it somewhere during the creation process! It's nice to be able to make changes along the way.   I finished by scoring it with a ruler and bone folder so it had a controlled open position.

I cut a matching piece of cream cardstock and stamped the Zen heart and phrase on it using black StazOn.  It was easy to attach with Score Tape.

To finish, I then stamped joy on the inside of the door AND.....

hole punched the top and bottom of the key plate and filled them with black round brads. That added a little more interest to that window  I was so excited to cut out.

 And....... voilà:     

Now it was time to explore a new direction!  Using Ranger Adirondack dye inks in Juniper and Stonewashed, I scattered the ink splatter stamp around the front, back and inside of the white square textured card. 

Once interest was added to the white, I centered and affixed a paisley printed square and teal smaller square.  I then stamped the key plate onto embossed cardstock with black StazOn ink (TRICK:  cleanly stamping onto that heavily textured paper is difficult so I keep a fine tipped Pitt or Micron nearby and handy and simply fill in the areas that didn't stamp well due to the lumpy landscape.)
I then used the hole punch and heart brads to finish that centerpiece before adding this to the center of the other squares.  

To finish, I stamped the inside sentiment inside withe the same blue ink and called it a day.

 And again,  voilà:  

As always, I love my return to card-making art.  It is so fun to take out a few materials and see where they lead you.  It's even more fun when those that receive them, love the time you took to do the custom work.  Thanks so much for being in my "circle" today.