And the winners are...

First off, I'd like to say thanks to everybody that participated. I finally got a chance to see what people have been doing with the rubber stamps I carry. Up until now no one's ever sent me any artwork other than the occasional stamped envelope contaning an order, (not that I'm complaining about that, I love orders & mail art is icing on the cake) So, Thank you all very much! Now without any further ado, (& providing my internet conection continues to work) here are the prize winners,

Lynne T. takes first place with her colorful Seaside Excursion Tag

Jen W. takes 2nd place with her altered pin, showing that stamps can be used on much more than just paper.

Alice B. takes 3 place with her pretty tag of Imperial Alice.

I had a hard time deciding 3 place so I'm giving an Honorble Mention to Sherry S. for her collage using the Alice in Wonderland images.

The rest of the entries follow, click on the images to see them better as some of them have details that get lost from a distance.

The tag on the left is Lynne T.'s 2nd entry & the 2 cards on the right are from Linn P.

The altered postcard on the left is from Larry R. & the 2 on the right are from Pamela B.

The top card is from Roberta S. & the one right above is from Molly V.

I have to say I think everyone had very clever compositions. I'll be posting them all on my website in the gallery section, though it might take me a little while to do that. In the mean time, I'll be contacting everyone separately to hand out prizes & coupons. Thanks again everybody!

MadRat Mania Challenge Entry

"Dream" Tag art by Alice B.

Imperial Alice stamp found on the Alice in Wonderland Page. This has been the most popular Alice stamp of the group, I believe I've only got 1 left in stock. If ya gotta have one, ya better hurry, it might be a little while before I get more in.

More MadRat Mania Entries & New News

"Voodoo Queen" sent by Roberta S.
Wow, she went whole hog with the MadRat Rubber stamps. All of these images can be found at, you guessed it, MadRatRubber! Thanks Roberta!

"Momento Mori", (which means, remember death, in Latin)is sent in by Linn P. This is her 2nd card sent through snail mail, though it actually got here pretty fast. A nice collection of skeleton images. The ones that can be found @ MadRat Rubber are the words, Momento Mori & the background text, The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, ... you know the rest. These can be found in the Halloween section of MadRatRubber.

Time is running out for anyone else who'd like to send something in. Let's say the deadline is midnight but I don't stay up that late, so any entries that come in after I shut my computer off will be posted in the morning.

Now for the new news...

I've got fairies!

To be more precise, flower fairies. I just added these to the web last night. They are made of resin and can be painted with acrylics, they measure 2-1/4 to 3" tall and have flat backs which are great for glueing down to your projects. I'm thinking maybe for a shrine or in a protected niche in an altered book. I have 4 different styles available, 2 of which are limited in quanity. They can be found in the Glass section of MadRat Rubber.

I've added 2 new ribbons to the Ribbon page.

These are 5/8" wide & sold by the yard. I've always liked these simple ribbons with the saddle stitching. I've include smaller versions in some of the collages I've done. The larger sizes are great if you want to add some stitching or wording in between the dotted lines.

More Milagros

I've added 5 more sets of Milagro's to the mix. It's taken me awhile to do this since I been sooo busy! Find these in the Metal section.

Last of the new announcements, for now,I've added a couple sets of Vintaj jewelry assortments to my Etsy store, MadRatMiscellanea.Etsy. The one pictured has bees, dragonflies, flowers & misc findings. If you're not familiar with Vintaj, it's a company that specializes in "natural" brass. It has a nice aged patina which I think is perfect for adding to altered art projects or jewelry. I will be adding this line to the charms section of the website when I can, hopefully within the next couple of days.

More MadRat Mania Entries

"Dream"

Dreams of cupcakes & crowns and flowers & flight! Sent in by Sherry S. She used Crowned Alice & the White Rabbit from the Alice in Wonderland section of MadRat Rubber. Find out more about what she used in this piece & see more of her work @ Esprit*d'Art. Thanks Sherry!

I received this card in the mail from Linn P. She used my Owls stamp found in the Animals & Halloween pages of MadRatRubber. Thanks Linn!

Scroll Pin by Jen Worden. She used my Frog Skeleton stamp, not sure how she did this but be sure to visit her web, she's got some great challenges. There's a couple that I've been meaning to do but haven't found the time yet. She just posted some really cool etched pieces, (one of which used my Perch Skeleton stamp). I've been dying to try some etching for ages. Hopefully I'll get be some etching supplies (and time) before too much longer. Thanks Jen!



And now for something completely different!

These are headlines that my husband came across on the web, we got a good laugh off them so I'd thought I'd share.

1. Include Your Children When Baking Cookies
2. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Experts Say
3. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
4. Drunks Get Nine Months in Violin Case
5. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms
6. Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
7. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
8. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
9. British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands
10. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids
11. Clinton Wins Budget; More Lies Ahead
12. Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told
13. Miners Refuse to Work After Death
14. Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
15. Stolen Painting Found by Tree
16. Two Sisters Reunited after 18 Years in Checkout Counter
17. War Dims Hope for Peace
18. If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last a While
19. Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
20. Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge
21. New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
22. Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Space
23. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
24. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
25. Typhoon Rips through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

Our remodel is coming along just fine, this weekend we got the new floor put in & attached the new baseboards. Today we changed out the ugly beige outlet & switches & installed the new toilet. We're back to being a 2 potty family, Yaa! If you want to see our progress go here.

New MadRat Mania entries & other thoughts

"Vacation Photo #4" by Molly V.

Heh heh, Molly has the kind of humor I appreciate! She used MadRat Rubber's Skeleton doll & Perch skeleton, both can be found in the Skeleton section of the website. Thanks Molly!

These 2 tags are by Lynne T., be sure to check out her website, MoonlightJourney to see more of her work. She used Seaside Excursion, Skeleton fingers & Rest in peace (in Latin) on the left tag & Momento Mori (remember death in Latin), Skull w/sparklers & Bat silhouette on the right tag. All of the can be found in the Halloween section @ MadRatRubber. Thanks Lynne!

There's still time to enter your artwork for the MadRat Mania Challenge, if you don't have any MadRat Rubber stamps, you can still get some in time to get creative. You don't have to mail any art in, just submit it via email. Check the "Mania" link above to get all the details.

New tiny people assortments are now back in stock, as are the hand magnifiers, with more interesting stuff to come. I plan on altering one of the magnifiers as soon as I can find some free time.

My life has been full to the gills with remodeling the house & trying to take care of the rubber business, not to mention the yard work. Unfortunately, my husband has health problems so most of the physical work is up to me. He does the electrical stuff, hangs the towel racks & helps with hanging the cabinets, I cut the wood, repair the walls, paint etc., etc. etc. Luckily, he keeps me fed, takes care of the laundry & does the dishes. So far we've pretty much finished one bathroom & are on to the next. If you're interested in this sort of thing, you can check out our progress here. I set this page up so my family back in Louisiana can see what kinda progress we've been making.

Update on MadRat Mania Challenge

"Juggling Dormice"

MadRat Mania Challenge entry by Pamela Blais. She used the left & right Dormouse stamps from the Alice in Wonderland page & the Flower Rope border on the Banners, Borders & Frames page. Thanks Pamela!

Well, folks, entries in my 1st ever challenge have been kinda sparse so I thought I'd open it up to projects using any MadRat Rubber stamps images & extend the deadline till June 20th, the Summer Solstice.

Here's a recap of the challenge,

This is an open challenge, all that I require is;

1.You must use at least 1 if not more, of any stamp from MadRatRubber

2. You must agree to let me use a photo of your entry on my Blog, (you are here) & in my MadRat Rubber Gallery. All copyrights/ownership of artwork remain with the creators and I can't be held responsible for any unauthorized copying or distribution of your images from either of my sites. Ya put stuff on the web & there's no controlling it! Submitting an entry into the challenge is your consent!

3. Entry must be received by June 20th 2008, I don’t know about the rest of you but I like to have a little time to work on my projects!

Style, subject matter & media are totally open. I just want to see what you can do with my stamps! Feel free to combine your project with other challenges, if you do the Gothic Arch challenge, use some of my stamps & enter it on my blog, working on an altered book? Send in a photo of the finished page where you’ve used my stamps. Like to stamp on fabric or in clay? Send me a photo of the finished piece; I don’t care what you make just as long as it incorporates at least one MadRat Rubber stamp.

4. You do not have to send in your artwork, just make sure you send a good photo, if you have a blog, post your entry on your blog, let me know it’s there & I’ll come copy & paste it onto my blog, (with a link back to your blog). If you don’t have a blog, email your photo or point me to your online photo account. No more than 2 entries per person. If you enter something early on & decide you want to enter something else instead, let me know & I'll remove the previous entry & add the new one. I'll post all entries on my blog so everybody can see the final results.

If you need a little inspiration or something to spark some ideas, check out the Projects, Inspiration & Challenges section on the right hand column of my blog.

And Yes, there will be prizes!

1st place $50.00 in rubber credit
2nd place $35.00 in rubber credit
3rd place $20.00 in rubber credit

Prizes are rubber credits @ MadRatRubber, meaning you’ll have a credit on the books for your prize amount, to be applied towards the purchase of rubber stamps. Shipping cost will be the responsibility of the winner.

For those of you who haven't any MadRat Rubber stamps or would like to use some of the new images, there's still plenty of time to place an order & recieve them in time to get creative. All of the new images are noted on the website with links from the home page to the sections where the New images can be found.

Most orders are shipped Priority, but for orders of um rubber only or other small non breakable items, feel free to request 1st class shipping to save on postage. I ship orders pretty quick so make sure you either leave a note in the message section at check out or email me separately after you place your order & I'll refund the difference via Paypal.

Other News

2 new sections have been recently added, I now have a Grab Bag page, for those of you who like a little serendipity in your life (and art). 5 different selections are available & you'll save up to 50% off regular prices. The 2nd section is Ephemera where I've added some vintage tickets & labels. (here's a sample)

I've re-stocked the magnifiers and added some other interesting item's for your creative endeavors, some of which are, Milagro's, some cool plastic people in various sizes, 2 faced beads, new buttons, ribbons,charms etc., etc., so if you haven't been by for a while, stop by & check it out.

Birthday Club

Now, if you're still reading this, I've decided to start a Birthday Club. If you'd like to join, just email your birthday information in to me and I'll send you a coupon when your birth month rolls around, if it's April 10 the coupon will be good for the whole month of April. This way you can get yourself a present & save a little dough in the bargain.