I Have a Great Idea, but it’s a Secret

I made this stamp to try the idea.
I drew up several samples in my sketchbook and in the end drew something different directly on the eraser.
I still need to test the idea, but I am fairly confident that it will work, and if not I still have the fun stamp.  I’ll let you know how it turns out in a week or two.  Also, I found the giant box of coin envelopes that I bought a few years ago.  If anyone would like me to mail them a few (four or five) stamped with this design send me an email with your name and address.  There is a email link in my blogger profile here or you can message me on the Facebook page.
Have a super crafty weekend!

Button Button

Every day I have been checking Traci Bunkers blog following her 30 day of carving (stamps), it has been very inspiring.  On day 24 her stamp looked like a button and suddenly all I ever wanted was a hand carved button stamp.  Now, I did not want to copy hers, I wanted to be inspired/influenced, but not a copy cat.So here I am trying not to copy her stamp, that blue one is pushing it.   I even got out my box of buttons to find some authentic designs. I find the less stylized ones more interesting, the octagon one (second from the left) is my favorite.  BTW, button holes and thread are really hard to carve!  I also randomly felt the need to make a citrus slice stamp.
I am really obsessed with this shape/idea.  I am going to explore this motif more, maybe a larger stamp, smaller stamp or a different stamping material.

Reminiscing and Eraser Stamps

Once upon a time I used to draw a tarot card every day and journal about it. The card was always a good prompt, even if I only wrote to say that the card had nothing to do with what was going on with me that day (which wasn’t normally the case). It started because I wanted to learn how to read tarot cards, I did the lessons on learningtarot.com to learn the basics and started drawing a card a day and journaling to help me learn what all the cards meant. I enjoyed it so much that I made a special box to store my cards, reference book, journal, and pens (yes, pens, I like to color code my entries). I also decoupaged my favorite card onto my journal cover and got an awesome handmade orange tarot card bag from a swap on Craftster. And then we started our family, I still managed to draw a few cards here and there, but I completely fell out of the habit when we moved back to Nebraska (last entry 3 1/2 years ago). Here in our new house I see my special box every day and I always think ~ I should get that out and start drawing a card a day again and then I get busy and forget. Well yesterday I finally got that box out and dusted it off. Whew, that was a long story. Here is the box and all the stuff from inside, including the new stamps and calendar I made to encourage myself to get back in the habit. I think it is really interesting to see the patterns that the cards make on such a graphic level. I also really love having everything lined up like this, I think I might be some sort of organizational nerd. I finished the box with a thick coat of super shiny sealer which makes it really hard to take a good photo of it.Here, at an angle, you can see it better. I used a plastic bag and black and blue spray paint to make the background and I printed out all the images on cardstock and decoupaged them on. The cardstock really gives a 3-D look that I love! I carved an eraser stamp for each suite (wands, swords, pentacles, and cups) and a sun for the major arcana cards (and cupcakes too). I’ll stamp the appropriate symbol on my calendar and write the card name in the proper color below it and I’ll have a nice orderly record! I also journal about the drawn card in the proper color, just thinking about it makes me happy :)

If you’re wondering, my card for the day (Tuesday, I draw at the end of the day) was The Hermit.

Eraser Stamps

Did you know that you can buy a pack of three erasers for a dollar? I bought three packs (hoarding, because they don't always have them). I also got a box of coin envelopes(not for a dollar), just because I like them.

I used my handy dandy linoleum cutter to carve them and now I have a double sided stamp and I can make more!!! I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these, but I like them. If you would like me to send you a set of six (3 of each design) send me an email, crafterella (at) hotmail (dot) com.