Stamping… Over the Rainbow

Posted By Phil on August 7, 2007

I’ve spoken before about how I stumbled upon the world of crafting more or less by accident. To me, it’s something I consider fortuitous, mainly because through stamping, I discovered a creative side I never knew I had. It’s funny how things we don’t give much thought to can suddenly change us, and finding new forms of expression can open our world to whole new vistas.

In the spring, Robert and I went to a stamp convention here in Albuquerque. A week later, itching for an excuse to get out of town for a few days, we followed the convention to Mesa, Arizona. We wandered around the Mesa convention, visiting booths we recognized from the previous week as well as new ones we’d never even heard of before.

While chatting with people at a familiar booth, I looked over to the booth next to them. At this booth, I saw a gentleman sitting at his booth table with a stamped image in front of him. He was very focused, and appeared to be using colored pencils to bring to life a formerly black and white image.

This gentleman, as it turned out, was none other than Terry Medaris. We wandered over to his table, and he told us how he draws images, which are then turned into rubber stamps, and how he colors them. Terry uses wax-based colored pencils of deeply vibrant color in his art. I was completely stunned when I saw his work. I also knew, right then, that I would never be able to do what it is he does. And it was there that I was proven wrong.

This past Saturday, August 4, Terry made a stop here in Albuquerque to teach an all-day workshop at Rhonda’s Creative Crafting Center. The day was split up into three different classes, each building on the one before it.

Using Prismacolor wax colored pencils, Terry taught us his unique blending technique for coloring. Throughout the course of the day, we learned how to use colors together to create blending effects, and by the end of the day we were even learning how to use color to create more three-dimensional effects. We even learned how to use a color wheel, something I had no idea how to use and so was fascinated with how it helped put color into new perspective for me.

By the end of the day, I was completely overwhelmed by everything I had learned. What amazes me most, though, is that I was actually able to participate, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to try everything out. I still can’t believe that I can actually do some of this stuff, and I had so much fun with it that I’m planning on doing it more.

Over the next few weeks, as we finish some of the projects we’re working on, Robert and I will be posting some of the work we did at the workshop with Terry. For now, we want to thank Terry very much for coming to town and teaching. We’ll never forget what a great experience it was.

Pictured above, from left to right: Robert, Terry, Phil.

Category: classes, terrymedaris | 2 Comments »
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Posted By Phil on July 14, 2007

For a first project, I decided it would be fun to design a card with a New Mexican theme. I’m a native to New Mexico, so I’m naturally drawn to all sorts of stuff reminiscent of the culture. For this card, I wanted something simple. I had originally set out to use five different stamps for this card (rather ambitious of me, I know), but wound up using only three of them.

The card ended up with the following three stamps:

“Greetings From Albuquerque #2″ from Stamp A Mania (Las Cruces, NM, 2004)
“Mini Zia” from Stamp A Mania (Las Cruces, NM, 2007)
“Fiesta Muy Caliente” from Stamp A Mania (Las Cruces, NM, 2006)

You might notice that all three stamps are made by Stamp A Mania. This company is based here in New Mexico, and makes a variety of New Mexican and southwestern stamps. Hence why, for this project, I used only their stamps.

The design I originally had in mind was to place the “Muy Caliente” stamp at the top of the card, the “Greetings From Albuquerque” stamp at the below, and four zia symbols around the “Greeting” stamp, sort of vicariously representing the four directions.

Before I even started, though, I changed my mind and decided I wanted the Zia symbol to actually be representative of the New Mexican flag. I thought three would be a nice number. So I got some yellow paper and then embossed three Zia symbols with red embossing powder. (Please forgive the quality of the image, as I was having digital camera issues.)

When it came time to stamp the word stamps, I decided I wanted to do sort of a mirror image with the flag. So I got red paper, and some gold embossing powder, and ended up quite pleased with the result.

Now that I had everything stamped, it was only a matter of putting it on the card. I cut out all the pieces first, and experimented with placement on the card (I opted for a light green color for the card). I placed my word stamps at the top and bottom, as planned, but when I tried to get the flags all onto the card, only two wound up fitting. So I tossed one aside.

For the words, I decided I wanted a New Mexican theme for the cut of the paper, so I cut the paper around the edges so that it appeared as much of the wooden frames for porches are done: with a lot of 90-degree angles, and multiple “steps” to enhance the effect. Next, I mounted the words on first yellow paper behind the words, for consistency, and then to brown, for contrast as well as a deeper southwestern feel. Finally, I cut two strips of brown paper into thin columns and created poles for my two New Mexico flags. Here’s the completed card:

It was a very fun card to create. Because I took pictures during the process of creating, I found it neat to look at how the creative process changes. While making some other cards for some friends’ birthdays this week, I noticed a similar progression. Seems to me that every time I start a card, it ends up looking quite a bit different than I had originally imagined it. But really, that’s just the joy of card-making.

Category: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
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Posted By Phil on June 25, 2007

It occurred to me that not everyone visiting this site will be familiar with rubber stamping, so I thought it appropriate to do a bit of an introduction to the art itself.

In simplest terms, the art involves using a rubber stamp to place an image (pictures, words, etc.) onto paper by using ink. You may have encountered rubber stamps at the library, when the due date is stamped onto the little card on the inside cover. Or perhaps you might have gotten to use stamps in elementary school, as I did, for occasional art projects.

The rubber stamping we do, however, is not simply meant to add to other art projects (such as those done in elementary school involving only Elmer’s glue and glitter). Rather, the art itself revolves around the use of rubber stamps.

To start off, here’s what a rubber stamp looks like:

This stamp is made by Meer Image. (If you’re interested in purchasing this stamp, you can do some from the website, which I also have listed in our Favorite Sites section.)

Rubber stamps can be stamped in a variety of ways, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Solvent Inks: Solvent inks are great because they stamp well on most paper, and dry quickly. Also, they’re mostly water resistant and acid free. My favorite brand of sovent ink is StazOn (made by Tsukineko).
• Pigment Inks: Pigment inks are popular for the effect they produce, in addition to their color. They tend to dry slowly, but by applying heat, can be dried more efficiently. Embossing (explained below) utilizes a clear pigment ink. One pigment ink we use regularly is VersaFine. Other pigment inks include chalk inks, which have a slightly different appearance when stamped.
• Dye Inks: Dye inks are usually bright in color, and unlike pigment inks, dry fairly quickly. Downsides are that light exposure causes the ink to fade, and if the ink gets wet, it smears. Our current favorite dye inks are Vivid! inks.

Most of the above information was found in the May/June 2007 issue of The Rubber Stamper. For a more complete list of different kinds of inks as well as ink brands and specifics, see the Ink Chart Update in that issue.

Next, I’d like to introduce some of the different techniques used in rubber stamping. I guess it could be termed vocabulary or jargon, but that sounds entirely too formal. Here’s some of what we do regularly, just so you have a good point of reference:

• Heat set: For those inks that are slow to dry, applying heat to them speeds up the process. This can be done with a hair dryer, but if you’re an avid rubber stamper, chances are you have an embossing tool, which works just fine for heat setting.
• Embossing: This is the process of using a clear pigment ink, and quite often involves the addition of embossing powder. The powder sticks to the ink, and with the addition of heat from the embossing/heat setting tool, the powder melts together to form a raised surface.
• Masking: When doing a complicated card, sometimes one stamp overlaps another. When overlap is not desired, simply place scrap paper or a paper towel over the part you don’t want to have overlapped.

Other techniques we use will be mentioned as they arise in our work. Some require no explanation. For others that require more explanation, we will explain the process in relation to the given card or topic, and if relevant, I will update this list as we go. This entry will be listed in the “Useful Posts” section of the site for easy access and reference.

Category: basics, techniques | 2 Comments »
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Posted By Phil on June 19, 2007

Hi, and welcome to Stamping with the Boys! My name is Phil (I’m the guy on the left). Among other things, I am the webmaster of this site, which means I do all the technical stuff. In addition to rubber stamps, I also enjoy blogging as a hobby, so this was sort of a given for me. I’ll be posting some of my work on here as well.

So, a little history, maybe? I was introduced to the world of rubber stamping by Robert, the wonderful guy who will also be posting all sorts of cool stuff on here. He started stamping a little over a year ago, and once I returned from a summer away, I decided to give it a try. What at first was merely an excuse to spend more time with Robert (and to try something new) has since become an actual hobby for me. I’ve discovered an artistic side I never knew existed. I grew up in the world of classical music, playing guitar and violin. In my adult life, I’ve ended up in theater and now, rubber stamping. Go figure, right?

Anyway, my first forays into stamping were, to say the least, timid. In the weekly class we attend, I copied all the samples as close as possible. As I’ve gotten more familiar with stamping, I’ve branched out and have begun establishing my own style. I love looking at work I did at the beginning compared to what I do now. It’s great to see the progression, not so much because I’ve improved, but more because I’ve become much more open to different forms of expression. It’s uncanny, really.

Why this website? That’s a story all it’s own, but worth telling. While having breakfast over the weekend, Robert was browsing through the latest RubberStampMadness magazine. I noticed an article about blogging, and more specifically, blogging among rubber stampers. Because I already blog, I thought it a natural fit, not to mention the perfect melding of my two favorite hobbies. So we’ll be posting different things that we do from time to time. This includes, but is not limited to: greeting cards, random cards or paper, artist trading cards, and anything else that strikes our fancy. So, in a nutshell, we will be posting whatever we want, whenever we want to. Yay, freedom!

And so I’ll end it here, and get to work so that this site can get even more underway. We look forward to much great stamping! If ever you want to contact us, feel free to shoot us an email:

prstampers@gmail.com

Category: introduction | 4 Comments »
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