How to carve your own stamp!

Ok, from time to time, I am asked to make things that I might not have at the moment in a stamp. For instance, someone wanted a baptism stamp, well, I made one for her, because I have never seen one! Well, I was asked to make a "potato" Thank You card. I have seen potato stamps. I even have stamps with potatoes on them, but I don't have a single lone potato. So when this kind of thing happens, I make my own!

I'm going to share with you how to carve your own stamp!

To start, I have this pink rubber from the craft store... you can also buy it in cream...just feel the edge of it, if you can rub it off like an eraser (its gritty), do not buy it! This feels like an eraser, but is smooth. You can buy it in many sizes of sheets, this is a 8 1/2 by 11 inch size.

I drew my potato on it in pencil. Then I used one of the tools and cut it out, you could also use a craft knife to cut it out.
Here it is cut out. You can also do a detail drawing on a piece of paper, and burnish it on the rubber instead of drawing it on freehand...so you could use clip art from the puter too...

This blade is a Large V blade. You can buy packets of blades at the craft store. They are really cheap and you can get 4-8 at a time for a couple of bucks. I like the Large V and the small V.

You put the tip of the V next to your pencil line and trace around the item, making sure not to cross over your pencil lines. Then I start to take out the outside, just taking strips.

Then I start taking out the inside that isn't needed. making sure to outline my pencil marks. You just work in a little area, taking out little by little.

Once you get it cleaned out and think that it is ready, I ink it up with a black ink pad to see what I have missed and clean it up some more.

See, I missed some at the bottom, plus there is some bits and pieces that didn't get taken out.

I clean the specks out and then use the blade to cut around it and clean it up. You could use a craft knife. The tools are actually linoleum tools. Funny huh!

Here is a picture of several of the tips, they interchange in the handle.

I put Tack it Over & Over on the back of the rubber. That way I can take it and put it on a clear block, then take it off and store it in on a sheet protector.

I ink it up and stamp it!

Here's my Potato Thank You!!

Hope you like it!! If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me!!

"red" shares today..

I can't stop doing recipes. I love them! Here is another one that I did, I had to get this chicken stamp. He cracks me up. When something makes you smile...you do that! I had the chicken feet stamp from years ago, and they worked great with him! Hope he makes you smile too!
Ok, so am trying my hand at another pull out card. I love, love, love gumball machines! I have an old antique one from when I was a kid, it was the only thing I wanted for Christmas. I think I loved how you could put a penny in, and get a piece of gum that would last all day! Instant satisfaction! (yes, I was one of those kids who saved their gum too... I used to know all the verses to: "Does your chewing gum lose it's flavor on the bedpost overnight?") So, when SU came out with a gumball stamp, hmmm...guess who owns it now?

Here is the card closed, and down below, is the card open.

Sorry for the scan, but you get the idea! Hope you like my gumball machine!

6X6 Recipe Share

I made a couple of 6x6 recipes the other day, have a few more in the works too. So I am sharing these two with you!

You have really got to try these peanut butter cookies! I didn't think that it would work, but it does and they are super good! I make mine with chunky PB. Think maybe I will make some today! You can also make it with Splenda...some thing funny about the splenda version though, it is really "sweet".

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

"Thank You!"

My poor friend. She has had a whole lot of problems health-wise lately. Her latest adventure is that she has had to have IV Antibiotics for 8 days in a row, to fix the infection she received at her insulin pump site. She really doesn't do to well in the doctors, and especially if they are inserting needles in her. A couple of her last visits, she took her 3 year old with her to be brave... he ended up covering his eyes. (Squirty is so funny...) Anyways, there was one nurse who was with her the whole way, bruised arms and all. So she asked me to make her a thank you card for putting up with her and helping her. So this is the card I made.
There is a white panel inside with the ribbon mimicking the front.
Hope you like!

Late Tues post..

Someone once told me that you should face your fears. Hmmm. Sometimes I think that person is really crazy. But, then, I always try to face my fears, and sometimes my fears are just silly little things.. (like the color brown...) but other times they can be quite large. Well, this fear I am sharing today, is the fear of the sock monkey. I hate that thing. I hate that he has come back into style! He was such a horrid little monkey, kinda like the "chucky" doll to me.
Maybe it was because of what my brother would do to me... yeah, gotta be it!! Well, I faced the fear and bought the sock monkey stamp set. (maybe that is my compulsion to own all of SU's stamp sets...that's another story for another time!) So I have this thing. I hate him. I really do. So I faced him today and made a card with the little bugger. I even colored him pink. Because I really don't like pink either, it made me feel a little better that the monkey has to wear it!
I was trying out a new technique too... that way if I hate it, I can blame it on the monkey... Above is the front of the card... to open it, you pull the card in the tab part.

Here it it pulls halfway out... you can see the tab on the left better now. Kinda cool, you pull the one side, and the other side magically comes out too!!

Here is the card when it is all the way open! If you want to make a double pull out card, here is a tutorial for you. Go HERE.
I am looking for something more substantial than the grocery sack to make it pull... if you have any ideas, please leave them for me!

Thanks! Hope you like the monkey better than me!

Divider pages for new album

For the dividers for the new recipe album, there are six. In your kit from ETM, she has them worked out for you and step by step directions. I did my own thing, as usual... so here are mine that I am sharing!

This first one is Beverages and appetizers...

This one is soups and salads...
Here are main dishes..

Breads...

This one is desserts..

And last is side dishes.

Of course they won't be in that order in my book, but that was the order the pictures got taken! Anyways, hope you like my version of things! Go to ETM and order you a kit!

Recipe Binder

Over at ETM where I am designing recipes.... there is a new album to make! You can buy it in a kit and she shows you step by step how to create the cover of your album and then how to make the dividers and such. I am going to show you what I did for the cover... (sorry, I never follow directions, I always do my own thing... HOWEVER.... her design is really,really cute! You will have to go there and see it!) Anyways, marching to my own drum, here is my front of my album.
Here is the back of the album, I always make a back cover. I hate to see it bare! There is enough material in your kit to make a back cover and then some, quite a bit of stuff in it!!

Here is the album lying open so you can see that I even decorated the spine of it! No nakedness here!

Hope you like it, tomorrow, I will show you what I did for the divider pages...

Using your "stash"

Here's a couple of ATC's I did. I got to take out some old stamp sets that needed to be used. I used Artichoke, Chocolate and Coral for the first one and Coral and Ruby for the second one. I also used Crystal Effects on the second one to give it a little more something...
Then, from my "stash" I found this pink paper and the punch outs... I got them from a scrapbook swap quite some time ago, and well, sometimes you just got to dip into your "stash" and use what you have! The little heart and saying stamps were those giveaway stamps from TAC when you place an order of 30 or more... Pearls came from the dollar bin. :P

Same card, different punch out, and used rhinestones from the $ bin!

This one uses a stamp set that to me is not a valentine set, it is a spring set, but lo and behold, there was a heart in it... so out it came. (can you tell I'm making valentines???) I popped the middle heart up and then punched holes in the other two and tied a ribbon...

Find something in your "stash" to use today!!

Hippo Post!

Some days you must have a Hippo Post! I love this little ballerina girl! The card she is on is a gate fold card, where you open the card like two french doors... (wonder why they don't call it a "french door" card...) I put a little tab on mine to make it easier to open.

I'm trying to keep it closed for you to see the whole thing... don't know if that worked or not!

Happy Hippo!!

Tuesday Post

I was just messing around in the stamp room, and saw one of these top notes that I cut out for something for Christmas. I thought I could use that as it was heading for the trash...so I saved it and made a couple of cards from it.
Stamp sets used for both cards come from Close to My Heart. I found them one day at a craft fair. Can't pass up a deal! :0)

Hope you like them!

Waterfall Scrapbook

I love making waterfall cards, and someone got the brilliant idea, to make one into a photo album! Yeah! I can do that! So, here is my first attempt at a waterfall photo album.
This is the front cover.

You open it normally, and here is the first two pages.
You pull a tab on the side, and the orange striped page turns open and reveals these next two pages.

Keep pulling the tab and these next two pages show up. I didn't print the whole second page on here, sorry about that...

Keep pulling the tab, and these two pages show up.

Pull the tab some more, and these are the last two pages in the album.

I wish you could see it up close, there is glitter and pop outs everywhere!! The light purplish paper you see with the tab, is the tab that you pull to make it a waterfall...

Here is the album open and you can see the back and front at the same time.

Hope you like it!