August updates

Well, here we are in the last few days of August. I always feel a little bit melancholy around this time of year, even though the "official" end of summer isn't until September, the end of August, for me, is the end of summer. I think it's because the end of summer seems to have a much wider symbolism than just the closing of idle summer days from our childhood (not that mine has been idle!) I guess it's basically a reminder that time is marching on and no amount of wishing it would slow down will have an effect on it. And maybe the fact that each August marks another notch on my belt, of the years slipping through my fingers. HA, maybe that's why it's always kinda sad.

Enough introspection, here's what I made on my summer vacation....

Actually, I just made this yesterday.
I don't have vacations anymore, it's all work work work ....
When I omit a stamp on a customer's order I like to make a little mail art to send the missing stamp along in as a mea culpa for my momentary lapse of efficiency. It also gives me an excuse for playing with my stamps & supplies, which unfortunately, I never seem to have the time to do. ~ This envelope uses 2 of the papers I have in stock plus leaf ribbon, leaf stamp from the flower set, simple scroll stamp and the checkered frame for the address block. The extras are ginormous ric rac, buttons & other paper I had on hand.

Now for the actual updates part of this post. (thanks for asking dr. koolarama ;-) For those that have been paying attention, my relocation plans are moving very slowly. I listed my house around the 1st of July & have only shown it 2 maybe 3 times - small town, not a whole lot of buyers out there I guess - very depressing. I'm trying to mentally will my house to sell by the end of August - X (that's my fingers crossed) I'll post more news on that front when I have any.

Business updates...

My annual August birthday sale is in full swing, in fact it has been all month. If you missed the announcement, Visit MadRatRubber (it's 20% off just about everything in stock) I've been meaning to pop over here to the blog to post about it but I have only the usual excuse - Many things to do - Little time in which to get them all done, huh huh huh (that's me panting from all the running I'm doing) here's a partial list, refinish the deck (major project), pull 6' high weeds, keep the house clean for showing, mow 1/2 acre yard, clean up studio, process orders, do something about laundry room, call plumber, add new products to web site, update customer files, paint the front door, fix flat on bicycle, etc etc etc. A lot of the list wouldn't be a big deal if my house wasn't on the market, it's just the added pressure of wanting everything to look great for any potential buyers.

Okay, reading over my list is making me antsy, I'll have to wait & post about the cool new Tim Holtz products I've added to the inventory later, I promise, but for now I've got to get busy...

Drawing Winners Announced

For those of you who have been paying attention, I've finally gotten around to drawing names for those gals who placed an order in December. The winners are Barbara Scott & Jennifer Mehlman. I'll be notifying them shortly & getting their new stamps in the mail tomorrow.

Due to the dearth of orders that qualified for the chance to win only 2 winners were picked but there's always a possiblity that I'll find another reason to give away the 3rd set so stay tuned...

I hate to post anything without something to look at so here's a card I made for my sister's birthday. The image on the left is the front of the card, behind it the envelope & to the right is the inside of the card. I got the paper used on the card & envelope from Paula's Kit Club, the letters are grungeboard letters from Tim Holtz's line of Ideaology products (which I hope to start adding to my inventory before too long) The leaves are faux suede "ribbon" that I carry on my Ribbon page. I inked the letters with yellow ochre & used some distressed embossing powder to give them some texture. I then sewed the letters to the leaves & glued the leaves to the paper. The "birthday" word is done the same though the background is green ribbon. The inside of the card was inked with a combination of greens, yellows & blues then stamped with the leaf stamp from the "Flower Set" Last of all I ran the edges through my sewing machine. She didn't get it until 2 weeks after her birthday 'cause it took me a while to finish it between interruptions. It was also hand delivered rather than mailed so I don't know how well it would have held up in the mail.

Mail Art

A couple of recent-ish postcards I made for a mail art exchange, using old maps, patterned paper, packing tape transfers & of course stamps from MadRat Rubber.

A tutorial of sorts...

I was asked some time back if I'd do a tutorial of how I make my envelopes - so here it is - the photography isn't the best as I grabbed the shots haphazardly as I made a pair of envelopes. As always I had to steal some time to get these done but get them done I had to do, as they were for a couple of my customers. I like to do a little mail art when I need to send a customer an un-mounted rubber stamp that went missing from their order - kind of a little "sorry for my error" stamped apology. The 1st 2 photos above show where I cut the paper from, it's approx. 1/4 inch larger than the envelope all around. I find it's much easier to start a project with a piece of patterned paper rather than blank white. I'm using some of the paper I carry at MadRatRubber but you can always create your own patterned paper by starting with a sheet of colored paper & adding visual texture by stamping a pattern with a coordinating ink color.

Since I'd already decided to use the Running Skeleton, I stamped it out in black ink. But before I put stamp to paper I drew an outline of the envelope on some scrap paper & stamped them out to make sure they would fit. It's one of the great things about stamping - the ability to create several rough drafts of a project before using up the "good stuff". In a relatively short period of time you can try several variations on a layout & decide which you like best.

This is my preliminary layout, the Running Skeleton's upraised fists suggest he should be holding something so I stamped the Checked Frame on a piece of green paper, I wanted the other 2 to also be waving or carrying something so I found 2 stickers - the left one says "been there" and the right one say "done that" I'd draw in a pole or string to connect the sayings to the skeletons hands later. For the other variation I have the skeletons waving postage stamps. The blue paper was actually a scrap left over from a previous project & when I laid it down on the paper I decided it looked like an awning. I added stripes to add to the illusion.

The stamp used for the stripe is from my Flower Set, I used blue ink for the stripes & to distress the edges a bit. Since I was making 2 similar envelopes I made 2 of the awnings. The second version of the envelope had less pattern in the paper so I decided to add a bit more using my Primitive Pattern stamp & a darker but coordinating ink color. I'd already stamped the skeletons so I made 3 masks, which is basically stamping the image 3 separate times on scrap paper & carefully trimming out the images. Using removable tape attach the masks to the stamped images matching them up very carefully. Be sure to put the tape where it won't interfere with the image to be stamped on top or you'll end up with a portion that doesn't get covered. The image below shows the masks on the left & right skeleton. Before attaching the address block & the awning I decided to try and add a little depth at the bottom of the awning so I used a little black pastel to darken the space below the curves. When I finished with all the stamping, I used 77 spray glue on the front of the envelope and stuck the envelope to the back of the stamped paper. I then laid it face down & trimmed off the excess paper (being very careful not to cut into the envelope itself)

The awning & address block are attached with Xyron adhesive. I recently discovered Xyron for myself, I'd seen & heard about it but finally bought the small "X" shaped label maker & played around with it to see how it worked. It comes in 2 parts - the bottom or white strip has the adhesive on it & the clear top (which is very thin plastic) is the receiving surface for the adhesive. The "machine" or holder dealy doesn't have to be used - for these 2 pieces, I pulled out enough of the white adhesive paper & tacked it to my work table, (sticky side up) stuck the paper to it than laid the clear stuff on top. The clear stuff adheres to any exposed adhesive & removes it from the white backing board. The adhesive is now only on the back of the paper. You then peel the paper off the backing & stick it in place. Very cool! Nothing I've seen on youtube or the product info explained how this actually worked. Now that I know, I'll get the 5" wide stuff but will only buy the adhesive cartridge, less waste & more control in my book.
The envelope above has the drawn in strings & the 2 stickers I mentioned earlier. I also added the little star pattern to both envelopes.The last 2 photos are of the finished envelopes with postage & addresses (though I obscured the addresses) They both received their envelopes without any problems. I usually mail them in a clear outer envelope just to protect them from mishap but I do attach the postage stamps to the envelopes themselves & have them hand canceled at the post office.

I hope this inspires you to make some mail art - birthdays & the holidays are a perfect time to send a little creative greeting through the mail!

And yet more mail art

Two of my most recent pieces of mail art. The top is an envelope sent to a customer using some of MadRat Rubber's newest stamps, paper & collage sheets & the 2nd is actually a postcard created using layered pieces of paper, MadRat Rubber stamps (of course) a die cut of the shell, a brass shell charm and the leaf trim/ribbon. The leaf ribbon was actually orange but I colored it red with an ink pad. The leaf ribbon is a new item in my inventory & I currently have it in black & orange but basically with a little ink or paint you can make it whatever color you'd like.

The final bit was to sew the black stitches around the edges - this was for 2 reasons,

No. 1 - The postcard I used was covered front & back with patterned paper attached with spray glue & the paper edges were actually about 3/16" larger all around than the actual postcard. To ensure that the papers didn't separate I stitched it all around. And..

No. 2 - It looked good + I've always liked the idea of combining stitches with paper.

For my next session of creating mail art I'll take some photos & do a little tutorial.

More mail art ...

I've been at it again - the 3 envelopes above are all envelopes sent through the mail. (I've omitted the addresses) The top "Fish" envelope was for my Mom, she loves fishing, the other 2 are for customers of my rubber stamp business , MadRat Rubber. I like to do a little mail art as an apology when I screw something up on an order. In both these cases I sold them a stamp I hadn't actually had made - thought I did but soon found out I'd made a mistake. Damn - hate when that happens. I had my whole flock of flying monkey's laid out for a plate of stamps & inadvertently flipped one the wrong way, which gave me 2 identical images instead of mirror images. I'll be fixing that on my next bunch of stamps I make but in the meanwhile I like to send them something to cheer them up. Ladies - thanks for your patience - you know who you are...

One of the reasons I love doing the mail art is that it gives me a chance to play with my own stamps & other items of inventory. Having a "deadline" of sorts assures that I actually take time out from all the other things I need to be doing & get a little creative. I, personally am always thrilled when I get something interesting in the mail, which unfortunately doesn't happen very often.

Some of the new products I've added to the store are papers and ribbons. I find patterned paper is a great way to jump start a project - kinda eliminates the blank white paper syndrome. On some projects I may end up completely covering up the paper so much that it's not recognizable. Even though it becomes obscured it still played an important role in the creative process. A good example of that is the flying monkey (Wizard of Oz rubber stamps) envelope. The paper used has yellow ochres & rust colors with a vintage flower pattern and I changed it up a bit by stamping patterns on the paper with a slightly darker colored ink, (as well as rubbing inks over it in general). The original paper color & some of the pattern can be seen within the address frame held by the monkey's.

Rubbing ink over really graphic patterns is also a good way to tone the paper down. The blue paper at the top of the fish envelope was originally white & blue, very stark & very visually busy, I used a similar shade of blue ink rubbed over the paper to tone down the contrast & give it a watery look. I was really pleased with the way it came out. The paper was not one I would have bought because of the very busy pattern (got it in a kit) but I was able to use it anyway & am happy I did.

Some of the other new products I've added are ribbons, my favorite has been the leaf ribbons used on the flower envelope. It creates a great silhouette & adds texture to a piece. I currently have it in black & orange but they can be painted any color you want.

Well, I guess that concludes my tips for the day. heh heh, time to get back to work, I'm hoping to have new set of stamps ready for August & have lots to do.

Cheerios!

Fish Mail

I've been having bit of fun lately creating some mail art. I made the fish above for my Dad for Father's Day. He has been a long time stamp collector so I thought he'd get a kick out of receiving this in the mail. I cut the fish shape out of 1/4" Masonite and used paper, ribbon & charms from Paula's Kit Club and some MadRat Rubber stamps to doll it up. I was a little afraid of sending my fish off without an enclosure so I had the brilliant idea to use my (MadRat Rubber) fish net stamp & staz on black ink on a clear bag as the "net" for my fish to travel in. I only had to stamp one side leaving the address side clear for the postman to read but the net effect shows through the back. To top it off, the post office just happened to have some dolphin stamps - a perfect bit of serendipity!

P.S. The new Wizard of Oz stamps are now in stock and I've added a new page called Electronica that has vintage circuit boards And I've recently added new papers & ribbons. I've got lots more interesting items to add as soon as I can get them photographed.

Mail Art

I received an order the other day from one of my customers in this arty envelope by Sandy N. I love getting mail art as well as making it. Though unfortunately I have a really hard time finding the spare minutes to do much of anything creative lately (& I have so many projects I want to do!!) As you can see by my previous post that I've spent the first 2 months of the year finishing up several pieces for a gallery show. I sold 4 of 9 pieces (& am very happy!) The gallery will continue to display the remaining 5 for a while longer.

For the bulk of March I've been working on New Rubber! yea!! which I'm having a Pre-order Sale to introduce. There's a total of 44 new images. The new sheets include a half sheet of 70's inspired flowers which I can't wait to play with. I've got several projects in mind already for them. The other images include some more mirror images of the Alice in Wonderland/Through the looking glass, that I already have in stock (well, there's one or 2 that are out of stock but will be back in along with the new rubber), 9 new backgrounds or textures that are roughly sized for ATC's. I'm planning on using some of these for making impressions in clay. I've got 2 more antique French dolls (Pierrot & Pierrette) + several pairs of shoes & some fun frames or banners for adding birthday words to or, shoot, fill 'em with incoherent ramblings. Say whatever comes to mind! Here's a sample I made with one of them, admittedly I had to do it on the computer 'cause I don't have my rubber yet.

I can think of lots of fun things to say, like "pick up your clothes!!!" or "eat your peas!" I'm going to make "eat your peas" into a stamp. I get a kick out of that phrase. I'll be doing some of the standard phrases like Happy Birthday, etc to fit in the billboard spaces. But those won't be ready until the next round of rubber which I'm hoping to get done by August/September, gotta have new images in time for Halloween, don'tcha know.

Ooohh, I smell dinner cooking. Hubby's fixin ribs. Gotta go....

At long last...

At long last, I have a smidgen of free time. Since the 1st of the year I've been absorbed in finishing up several pieces for my show at Mariposa Gallery in Albuquerque, NM. I have shown there for many years & have been included in many theme show but this is my 1st solo show with them. The piece above is one of my favorites & the last piece finished. I'm extremely happy with the way they all came out. I've posted the rest of the pieces on my website if you'd like to take a peek, MadRatStudio.

Spoiler Alert!

I mailed out the prizes for the OWOH drawing, I think, the last week of Feburary. (Time has a way of getting away from me) I haven't heard back from anyone one yet so I'm assuming they're still in the mail stream. I've posted the photos of the envelopes below, so if you're expecting one & want to be surprised, don't look any further! I did remove the names & addresses so technically on one knows who's getting what.

These are all envelopes so once postage stamps were added some of the design elements were covered up. Unfortunately I didn't get to scan them with the stamps since I needed to check with the post office for proper postage. All the stamped images used are from my rubber stamp business, MadRatRubber, except for the address box below the woman's feet on the envelope below. The other design elements are rub ons from various companies (including a couple that I carry in my shop) ribbon that's been stamped on, blue raffia ribbon & the grunge board stars which I inked in red & embossed. I even stitched around the edges of 2 of them with my sewing machine, I've always wanted to try that! I had a lot of fun with these & look forward to having time to do more. I hope the recipients like them.

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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?

I've got mail..

I decided to do some mail art for the winners of my OWOH drawing. It's something I've wanted to do since I saw an exhibit at the Albuquerque museum. They had a traveling show of mail art that, if I remember correctly, the Smithsonian Museum sponsored. I was wowed by the variety of work. I did 3 envelopes for the winners, 1 for Lisa O. who sponsored the "event" & a forth one for a Small Studio Productions mail art contest that I found out about through one of the yahoo groups I belong to. The 1 st one goes to Jo James of TheCartBeforeTheHorse, I blurred out or removed the address for privacy's sake. I used Basic Grey paper and stamps from MaVinci's Reliquary, Sunday Int & of course my own company,MadRatRubber.

The 2nd envelope goes to Merc @ FindingJimmie

The 3 rd envelope goes to Caryl @ CarylsRealm
The 4th envelope goes to Lisa O. of the OWOH event as thanks for organizing the whole shebang.


The 5th envelope is my entry into the"Empty Mail Box Contest", hope it gets there in time. And I hope they all get to their destinations in one piece!