Stamp Culture in Japan

Going back to my previous rant about wanting to go to Japan (for stamp research, yeah...and because it's AWESOME). I found a website that talked a little bit about how rubber stamps there are used very often, and lots of rubber stamps have been created to commemorate special events, as a tribute to historical monuments and simple things like marking your train pass. It was interesting to see how detailed they were for things that seem so mundane, like riding a train.

http://www.dotpattern.com/artwerk/rubber-stamps/japan-rubber-stamps.html

More Anime Stamps

This time I found these cute ones from Tsubasa Chronicles on ebay (but I didn't bid on it, need to save munnies!)
This first one is Sakura and MokonaAnd this second set is Syaoran and Mokona
CUTE!

I wonder what stamping/crafting culture is like over in Japan? I would love to go one day :)
I bet I would find some really neat ones. I definitely dig the design scene over there, from the building architecture to the little things like package design.

My Second First Swap

I got so excited about my first swap, that I signed up for a second spot in the same newbie group. I finished both sets of cards very quickly. (Which could be either a good or bad indicator, not sure yet) The cards aren't due until late August so I am ahead of the game a bit. :)

- I chose to get rid of more Groovy Guava paper. I figure even if I don't like it, someone else might appreciate it.
- The designer paper I used for the dress is from a hostess level 1 gift in the current catalog. I popped it up with dimensionals.
- Then I just added a tag from the same paisley paper for the dress with a flower brad in it.

I really liked the new technique for the dress I learned from Kim (her blog is linked on the left side, called Stamp-a-rama) who is an excellent SU! demonstrator, teacher and friend. :)
I'm pretty happy with the overall design, I dig the River Rock ink and paper.

In this card:
Card stock - Groovy Guava (base), Prints Pack DSP (hostess), River Rock and White
Stamps - SU! Priceless, SU! Fashion Statements
Other - Flower brad

My First Card Swap

I recently joined the Split Coast Stampers online community and discovered "swaps". Basically, you make 5 identical cards and swap with a group of 5 other people (or whatever number, can be 10+) that have made their own set of cards. That way you get 5 new ideas from people of all sorts of different crafting backgrounds. I was a little nervous, but I found a swap group for newbies. So this is my first attempt with a swap and here is what I came up with:

This swap was for full cards (4 1/4 x 5 1/2). The cards could be for any occasion with at least 1 stamp, 2 layers of good quality card stock, and at least one embellishment.

- I chose to use a great retired SU! set I found on ebay. There are a couple of really cute stamps in the set, so I am pretty happy with it.
- I also chose to use the Groovy Guava for the base. I had to get rid of it, because it is my least favorite color of the current "in colors". It actually doesn't look too bad with the things I paired it with, but I'd still never want it.
- I colored in the sweater with Rose Red ink and then put some Crystal Effects to give it that puffy look (which you can't see in the pic). I love very tactile effects.

And here is the final result! I kind of like it for my first swap, and it's a nice to be in a swap group with other people who are just learning like me, so I am thinking we might not be judged so harshly. I mean, I like my swap, but until I see someone else's I have no idea if it is crap or not. Hopefully it's in the "not". ;p

In this card:
Card stock - Groovy Guava (base), Summer Picnic DSP and White
Stamps - SU! Fashion Statements (retired)
Other - Very Vanilla Ribbon

Neato Anime Stamps

I am a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle...) so I was super excited to see his work teamed up with my new stamping hobby. This stamp is of Ashitaka and Yackle from Princess Mononoke and is soooo cool! But I have no idea what kind of card I would use it for. I guess maybe a birthday? It's too neat to pass up though.

It can be purchased at:
JBox


I also found this one, from a cute series called Fruits Basket.
Animate USA

Too adorable!

Stampin' Up and the Anticlimactic Package

So I thought this was kind of funny.

Stampin' Up must be running around like crazy with all the preparations for the new catalog, because here is the package I received:


And you want to see what was inside?



One (1!) pale plum craft ink pad.
I thought it was going to be something really BIG and awesome. A "Congratulations! You're the lucky winner!"

Oh well. ;p

Deals and Things

40% off any one item at Hobby Lobby this week
http://www.hobbylobby.com/site3/weekly/weekly.cfm

They also have paper punches, cuttle bug accessories and other scrap booking items for 30% off.

Also, I picked up a couple of deals I couldn't pass up:

At Target in the $1 bin I found a pack of summer scrap book paper


I also picked up this set from Borders for $5.99

Love Notes For My Loved Ones

I thought this would be a fun first post. For those of you who don't know me very well, my family is super important to me. So, playing around with stamps and sharing my new hobby with the people I care most about is easy math ;)
Well, I have two adorable nieces, one is 6 the other is 12. So I made up a mini card project for them. (It seems to be easier to have something pre-made for kids because they can easily get too excited about all the stamps and then they have inked 14 images on a 3x3 piece of card stock, hehe.)
I started off simple, the base card stock was from SU!, they were the Love Notes. The paper I mounted the stamped image card stock came from a card making set I found in the bargain bin at Borders. (It was a box with lots of paper, stencils, scissors, templates and a book - for $2.99!) Then we used various SU! stamp sets (I will have to look up the names later, sorry!) The butterfly one has a gem brad I bought at Michael's, and I also used Crystal Effects on the butterfly. They had alot of fun, and surprisingly, my mom (who is a really hard worker, she doesn't really sit still very often) also joined us. She had a great time. I liked it because everyone liked having something to look at, but they all still branched out and made it their own with little variations here and there. It was a great time, and I look forward to coming up with something for the next time they are all in town. :)