Spring Fling Sale

I'm having a "Spring Fling Sale" to celebrate the demise of old man winter. We had a couple of weeks of unusually cold weather this year that just might have killed off 1 or 2 of my bushes. I'm still hoping for signs that they're not complete goners. The weather has been getting milder and everything is starting to green up. So what better time to celebrate!

From now thru April 30th you can save 20% off just about everything in stock (some exclusions) All savings will be refunded after transactions have been completed. It may take me a couple days to do the refunds so don't worry if it doesn't happen over night.

Enjoy the mild weather while you can 'cause you know a hot summer is on the way!

Help Wanted

I'm looking for a couple of good artists to design & create projects using MadRat rubber stamps. While most small stamp companies use Design Teams that are only committed for a set period of time, I'm looking for 1 or 2 people that are willing and able to commit for the long haul. People that I can count on to produce consistently great artwork using my stamps and products and to promote MadRat on their own blogs, social networking sites like facebook, as well as forums, yahoo groups, etc., etc.

MadRat Rubber is literally a "one woman show" I do it all and I just don't have time to create samples & projects or even post on my blog on a regular basis while trying to take care of everything else. Being a small business on the great big, world wide web, is a bit like being a needle in a haystack, it's hard to get found. So any word of mouth would be greatly appreciated.

My requirements are that you are a regular blogger with a decent following, are familiar with various yahoo groups that specialize in stamping, and are active in stamping forums like splitcoaststampers, rubberstampchat, etc., and not least of all, able to produce impressive artwork with the kinds of images I carry.

At this time I'm only able to pay for your services with free products as well as a commission on any sales you send my way. If things work out well, I hope to eventually offer a small monthly stipend as a retainer of sorts. If this is something you might be interested in, please contact me for more details and with any questions and include links to your blog or other places that showcase your work. Please, only serious inquiries welcome.

RSC Fall Virtual Convention

It's time for the RubberStampChat Fall Virtual Convention. MadRat Rubber has a "booth" & you can save 15% on just about everything in stock. Follow the link to MadRat for the details. If you're unfamiliar with RSC, it's a forum for rubber stampers where you can chat, learn techniques, participate in exchanges & browse the various galleries. The sale runs from October 29th through November 2nd. They're having a scavenger hunt, ghost stories & a costume contest with prizes donated from the many vendors that are members of the community. So swing by join the conversations & see what the other vendors are offering in their booths.
Happy Haunting!

Chinese Dancer Card

At long last I managed to finish this card & envelope I started 2 months ago. I got a really good start on it in one day but didn't have the right eyelets to make the doll articulated. I originally tried to find some 1/16" eyelets but the only ones I found are made of brass, which I'll save for metal work. I then ordered some 1/8" eyelets but realized I did't have a setter for that size. In between these sporatic hunts for needed supplies, I spent all of September & into October working on getting my latest "Day of the Dead" shrine finished (see previous post). No time to take a breath, I'm now at work on several new pieces for my show in March & building frames for the pieces that are already finished. I did manage to finish this card & matching envelope yesterday, one less unfinshed project is off my table, Yaaahh!
This guy is articulated so he can be folded up for mailing (1st photo) & unfolded for fun, (above photo) I'm thinking about using some kind of attachment method so he can be removed from the card if desired. The matching envelope is below. I used a striped patterned paper that I had to tone down with ink to get rid of the garish yellow. The MadRatRubber stamps I used are the Scroll Corners, Psychedelic Circle & one of my newest stamps, the Chinese Dancer Man Doll.

I've been so busy lately that I only just recently took stock of the time, Yikes! the end of the year is upon us & will be over before we know it~! Holy Crap Batman ~ Where did the TIME go ???

OK, just to make my life even more interesting & busy (what AM I thinking?) I decided to have an Inventory Balancing Sale. Most small stamp companies (like me) have stamps made in sheets, sometimes, some of the images on the sheet sell faster than others which leaves an excess or imbalance in inventory. So in order to get myself back in "balance" I'm marking the overstocks down.

OK, technically, I haven't ACTUALLY physically, marked them down but the ones that are On Sale have been noted on the website & I'll refund your savings once the transactions have been completed. Now until sometime around Dec 20th, these select stamps will be On Sale for 25% off. As soon as the inventory on these particular stamps are back in balance, they will be removed from sale. So to shop early for the best selection.

And if anyone out there knows where I can get some 1/16" aluminum eyelets, or something smaller than 1/8", let me know, will ya?

New Halloween Art

Just got some more great Halloween art from Lynne Tears & had to pop over & show them off. This little pocket with card uses all MadRatRubber images, including quite a few of the New Halloween images recently released. The top photo is the card inside the pocket, don't cha just love the way the skeleton's shown biting on the card through the thumb cut out? Looks like he's trying to pull something out. I also like the way she's used the crow upside down, looks like it's playing dead. I've always seen it as a flying crow but now I have a new way of seeing it.

The 2nd & 3rd photos show the card out of the pocket, front & back.

Thank you Lynne!

Time is running out to take advantage of my Birthday Sale!

Go Now to see what's new.

B is for Boo - Halloween book by Lynne Tears

This wonderful Halloween envelope book is the work of Lynne Tears. The photos above show the front cover & a couple of the pages she made using some of my MadRatRubber stamps. The bottom photo is a picture of how the backs of the envelopes are finished. You have the chance to own this one yourself - if you hurry. She's got it up for auction on EBay as I type. Follow the ebay link to see more photos and bid on this beautiful book. Which by the way, would make a great memory book for photos of your own little goblins. & a special heirloom for when they've grown.

The MadRatRubber stamps used in theis book include, Seaside Excursion, Headstone, Sounds of the Cemetery, Skeleton Fingers, Coffin, a Small Bat & Tales Worth Telling. All of these can be found on the Halloween page except for Tales Worth Telling, which can be found on the Words page. If you'd like to know where she got some of her other great images, visit her blog, MoonLightJourney & ask her.

Oh, my August Birthday Sale is still running, so now's a good time to pick up some rubber to make some of your own creepy art! Be sure to check out the 41 new images Here.

New items for the website

Just added some Milagro sets in the Metals section of MadRatRubber.
These have limited availability, especially the sets with the doll parts. There's only 1 of each set pictured. I'll be listing more, but if you see one you like ya better get it while you can.

My Pre-Sale is still going on, (see previuos post) if you're shopping the new images on the pre-sale page, feel free to buy some milagros, (or anything else) while you're there, just remember everything will ship out at the same time if on the same invoice. See the Pre-sale page for details.