Hello Dolly by guest artist Shannon Benedetti

Creative Paper Dolls by Shannon Benedetti

If you love paper dolls, doodling, and RubberMoon Art Stamps, then let's get creative and make your own RubberMoon Paper dolls!

You will need the following supplies and stamps:
Dye inkpads of choice

Smooth Watercolor Paper – I used 100 lb.

Coloring medium – I used watercolor pencils.

Here are some of the stamps I used from 
RubberMoon Art Stamps :

• Love this face – kp5172b
• Itty heart – mk169a (little heart for hat)
• Doodle Thing – sc113e (to make the top)
• Dots and Circles – ml205 – (for skirt)
• Shiny star – mk166a (star used in skirt)
• Inksplat - kp5152h (for background dots on tag)
• Be Yourself -db9116C (words)
• Give me Paper - MK479E (used as top)
• Cameron Quote-ML203G- (skirt)
• Little home- db2324D- (top)
• Doll legs- hbhrS10 (available soon)

Once you stamp your selected images, let you imagination fly. Simply draw around your stamped images to create body shapes. I drew the arms, and used a stamp for the legs, but you can draw your own legs and shoes.

For finishing touches, I rounded the corners of my tag, added a fiber tassel,

I used Ranger Glossy accents and Ranger Liquid Pearls to add a bit of 'pop'!

Now you are ready to color and add your own special touches. Have fun!

Here I have done a little step out diagram so you can see the process:

More samples !

Guest artist Shannon Benedetti has been a long time RubberMoon lover! She lives and makes her wonderful creations in sunny Florida.
Thank you Shannon, for sharing your time and talent with us!

STAMP BOLDLY WITH RUBBERMOON

by Guest Artist Ceci Córdova

Sometimes when I tell people about my rubber stamps, they ask, "What do you do with them?"   They see the images but have no idea what can be done beyond stamping the image on a piece of paper.  And, then what?   Sometimes when I am talking with people who really like the ideas and images of the rubber stamps, they ask how to use them to make them worth buying in the first place.

This series is for those who ask those questions and need just a little encouragement to spread their stamping wings. If you have never stamped before or want to make your stamps earn their keep by being more versatile and doing many jobs, this is the place for you!
 
Try some of these ideas and send us photos of your efforts.  We'd like to see what you come up with!  Show off your work and inspire others!


Today we'll start with the Stardust Frame (db4923) which is sparkly and exciting and attracts the eye, but.......once you've got it, what can you do with it?  Well......come in and see!

I love the Stardust Frame stamp......It does so much with just one imprint.......you really don't need to do anything else, but actually, the stamp lends itself to many different uses.......come along with me......and see.....


The first and simplest use of this stamp is simply to stamp it on a card and use it as the decoration all by itself.

When you are in a hurry or aiming for simplicity, this is the easiest.  It is large enough to fill the front of a card and strikingly unusual in black and white or any other contrast.  Try it in white ink on a dark card.  Stamp it.  Write your message inside the card.  You're done.  That was easy!  That's a lot of excitement for very little effort


If you have a little more time, with not much greater ambition, you can embellish it a bit with other stamps. 

Here I've used it as an address label on an envelope.  Again: simply stamp the image once.  I then embellished it with a sprinkle of stars (star stamp DB2484) (another option would be MK180 Stardust, which would fit in just beautifully) to give the impression of the stars spilling off the corner of the envelope and used MK586 Man in the Moon stamp to balance the image and frame the return address.  You don't have to use these specific stamps, but you can see how three simple stamps can dress up an already exciting stamped image!


Another simple, easy embellishment of an exciting stamp: color it in. 

This takes more time than just stamping but creates excitement for the eye and spirit and soothes the soul of the colorer.  I admit, I find this very comforting....it doesn't just take me back to kindergarten, because I've done this all my life, but it does make art easy.  If I want to make something beautiful but don't have lots of creative energy, just stamping some outlined images gives me a chance to color quietly and have a beautiful joyful piece of work, in the end.  If you have the time and interest, make a few cards and they will be on hand for the times when you are in a hurry and need a card.

I enjoy using all kinds of color pencils.  Prismacolor are nice and soft but they are expensive and break easily.  I find that I am happy with plain old Crayola Color Pencils.  I buy the largest box during Back to School sales.  Get your money's worth!


OK.  This one takes a little more time. 

You can use color pencils or water color or crayon or felt pens....your choice.  If you've got the time, color in the background, too.  Or, the background, only.  What the heck.  Do what you want or what you have time for.

I shaded the colors, starting by picking out all the color pencils I had in the turquoise family, from light to dark.  I started with dark, against the outside border of the image and then fanned out using lighter colors and lighter strokes, as I got to the edge.  I went back over again on places I wanted it darker.  We will have a tutorial later on color pencil shading, but that's enough for right now.  I just want to show you different ways to use this one stamp.


OK. If you have even more time and ambition, this is easy and fun......just takes a little more time and tools. 

Again, I stamped the same image on card stock, and after it dried, I cut out the window with an Xacto knife, so we can see the inside of the card. 

On the inside of the card, I stamped the same moon (MK586 Man in the Moon stamp) so it is visible through the window. 

Then I sprinkled stars (star stamp DB2484) around where they are not seen through the window, and a couple of happy sentiments (db411 "Moondancing is strongly encouraged" and db4459 "Happy Birthday to you"), also outside of view through the window.  The surprise element is what makes a window fun.....some things can be glimpsed through the window but the entire story remains a secret until you open the card.

Of course, you know you can combine all of these ideas: color the stars and cut out a window to show more colored images!  You can fill in the empty square with a name, a message, another stamped image, as well as an address.  Color them all or leave some or all of them uncolored....use different colors of ink.  Just look at all the possibilities!

OK.  In this post, I've used cards and an envelope. 
Here are some other simple, quick uses for this and any stamp, in case you are wondering "what else can I do with that?": 
•  Stamp repeatedly on blank paper for wrapping paper. 
•  Stamp it in the same color of ink or vary the ink randomly (actually, to save your ink pad, stamp all the images in one color first, then clean the stamp and repeat with another color.  Then clean again, etc etc, for all the colors you want to use.). 
•  Gift tags. 
•  Lunch bags. 
•  Decorate the top of a letter....once or repeated across the top of the page....or sprinkled around anywhere you want!

Oh, my stars!  There are so many many uses for every stamp.  Get going!  Have fun!  And share with us what you make!!  We'd love to see it!

We'll be exploring more stamps in future postings, learning how to get the most use out of each stamp and how to make simple and versatile cards with the stamps you have.......or  the RubberMoon stamps you have just decided you NEED to have!


About Ceci
I have always enjoyed stamping.  There is something about reproducing the crisp image on paper and sharing it or decorating it or just enjoying it as it decorates a new surface.  I have been collecting stamps for many years and began carving them from erasers in my teens.  I enjoy carving my own, collecting those made by others, and playing with them to give voice to stories, thoughts, and feelings as well as color and excitement to otherwise barren surfaces.