A Word of Thanks
Hello fellow stamping enthusiasts. In this season of Thanksgiving, I would like to begin my blog by thanking several groups of people that enrich my stamping life. First, I thank all subscribers and readers. You flatter me greatly by “tuning” in each week to see what’s new at The Stamp Act and to view the cards I have made with all the wonderful stamps and other products we carry. Second, I thank those of you who shop at my store. Each week I get calls and emails from stampers across the country who do not have a local stamp store. They always express their wish that they did have a local store offering products, classes, and advice. Please keep shopping here so the store can stay open. Finally, I want to thank all my readers for their patience with the too-often "blog malfinctions" when my blog server (Typepad) completely rearranges my text and photos! I am working on the problem. Think about having to learn a program with absolutely no instructions! It’s all hit or miss! Recently, however, I have found some young programmers who I am hoping will solve these problems so watch for positive enhancements to the blog and the website soon.
Samples with Stamps from Impression Obsession
I have some fun samples to share with you today and they are all from Impression Obsession (IO). Let me say up front that these samples are all inspired by ones I found on their blog. IO has wonderful artists and a really good design team. The card on the left is a real favorite of mine. I am going to send it to my brother and sister-in-law who rescue and foster any number of cats in San Antonio. This sample was so easy to make using what’s known as “spotlight” stamping. Keeping most of the image in black and white means the part that is colored, in this case the pumpkin, really pops off the card. I colored the pumpkin with Copic markers. The cute sentiment is from Hero Arts and the main image is mounted over a background created with one of IO’s cover-a-card 6” x 6” backgrounds called “Tapestry 2.” Add a little ribbon and mount everything on black glossy paper and a white folded (A6) card and you’ve got a fun fall card.
Here’s another really fast card that could be colored for any season. In fact a customer bought this stamp recently because she thought it would make a good Halloween card. I stamped the main image (IO cover-a-card “Birds in Branches”) in black Versafine on white cardstock (5” square) then colored in the background with jumbo daubers and Memento inks (Dandelion, Cantaloupe and Tangelo). The sentiment is from IO’s clear set “Live in Thanksgiving.” I did darken the birds with a fine tip black pen (Copic).
Do you love this fun quote from IO? If you read it and notice a little skip in the cadence on the next to the last line, I did delete the word “dinner” after Thanksgiving so it would fit on my Spellbinders labels 1 die cut! The turkey and the pumpkin are taken from the “Live in Thanksgiving” clear set. I love the turkey legs background paper (Reminisce)!!
This gorgeous stamp (left) is appropriately named “Winter Church” and it is the sister to the IO stamp “Spring Church” (right) Again, the coloring on this image was easy. Just choose a light and slightly darker brown and use these for all the brown elements. The church itself is light gray and the background is B0000 Pale Celestine Blue. To get the variation in color from one marker, simply color the foreground with a very light touch and the upper sky with a little heavier hand. To create the snow effects, use one of my very favorite products Ranger’s Enamel Accents in white. Apply the Accents then sprinkle with clear glitter and let dry. Perfect snow! The background is yet another cover-a-card stamp called “Canvas Background" stamped is Memento Desert Sand with edges distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Inks.
Another Sample with Distress Stains
For this sample I colored the “Twiggy Tree” die cut (Memory Box) then mounted it on a green cardstock die cut with “Leaf Canopy” (Memory Box). The paper from Reminisce has all the fall colors and is the perfect background.
What’s Coming to The Stamp Act?
In a word lots! This week we will receive one and maybe two orders from Memory Box and their new Polar Bear Collection.
I love the new Snow Globe Grand Die (largest of 3 sizes) and the Santa Globe and Polar Bear Globe stamps that fit inside it. Or use the same stamps with the Madison Window Die – uber cute and easy!
Another handsome pair are the Snowflake Ornament and Classic Ornament Dies. The Classic is slightly smaller than the Snowflake so it fits behind it to provide a perfect background for the snowflakes!
And speaking of pairs – the Iron Fence Die and the new Iron Gate dies form a great foreground to and small house.
And who doesn’t love polar bears? Both Colin Bear and Fredward Bear are dies with matching stamps. And the cute little Santa Hat Die fits them perfectly!
For quick, easy yet very impressive Christmas cards this year try the Winterland Christmas Tree Die or the Flowering Christmas Tree Die. Both are stunning!
Check out the matching Solid Pear and Shaded Pear stamps as well as the Winter Collage Background and the Distressed Jingle Bells stamps.
There are lots more stamps and dies coming from Memory Box so stop in soon and see the entire collection.
Exciting new products from Viva Decor
A new product line to The Stamp Act is Viva Décor. From what I have seen, this very innovative company has improved upon some products we have all loved for years. We will be getting the Pearl Pens, Glitter Liners and Inka Gold products soon. Here’s a quick summary of these products:
VivaDecor’s Inka Gold is a revolutionary product that produces an amazing metallic finish. With beeswax as one of the main ingredients, Inka Gold is a creamy metal gloss paint that is safe and easy to use in all crafting and home decor projects. Just rub it on and polish! Inka Gold is easy to apply to surfaces including paper mache or wooden boxes, chipboard, paper, and any other porous surface.
Viva Decor Pearl Pen is an amazing product that will dazzle with its pearly essence! Decorate your favorite garment, shoes, bags, scrapbooks, or whatever you like with Pearl Pens. It's easy! It's like magic! You can create small or large "pearls" by simply increasing or decreasing the pressure. You can create a whole page of "pearls", let dry, then transfer onto your projects!
Viva Decor’s Pearl Pen is a dimensional gel pen that has amazing versatility and quality. Pearl Pen is specially formulated to create perfectly round, non-settling pearls. With its fine control applicator tip, making a wide range of different sized pearls is a snap! Pearl Pen can be used on virtually all surfaces, excellent for fabric, paper crafting and home decor accents. Pearl pen is water-based and non-toxic.
Viva Decor’s Glitter Liner
is known for its non-settling, high glitter content and its exceptional dimensional finish. Glitter Liner dries to a jewel-like quality with an endless shimmer and brilliant gloss finish. Glitter Liner can be used on virtually any surface to add sparkle and dimension to all your craft projects. Glitter Liner is water-based, non-toxic and comes in 12 brilliant colors
Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you will stop in the store soon and keep stamping alive and well in El Paso!
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