Flower Stamp Carving Tips by Autumn Hathaway

Hand-carved Flower Stamps: 2 Designs by Autumn

Autumn shows the difference between hand-carving low-relief and high-relief flower stamps.  Her small bottle cork-mounted flower stamps are very well made.  She is especially creative in using her stamps to design backgrounds and large blocks of color on envelopes and journal pages.

Autumn's designs can be found at Etsy and Pingg, and she lives in Massachusetts.  Read her short tutorial here: Stamp Carving + Small Flower.
Sandi Holland on Google+

Making Cards That Mothers Would Love

If you are not connected to me at flickr.com, you haven't seen these 2 Mother's Day cards that I made with my art stamps.  This 2 Dragonflys stamp can be used by inking only one of the dragonfly panels.

You can also print the complete stamp on a piece of paper and cut each dragonfly panel apart.  They each will have their own border and can be used as individual clipart.

Dragonflys Handcarved Art Stamp w/Handmade Card

This art stamp was quite a chore because I didn't have my carving tools at that time.  Carving with a straight X-acto blade is murder.  I sent this 2 Dragonflys card to my baby sister, Candice, who lives here in Jacksonville, and has a 16-year-old, Trevian.


Handcarved Eraser Art Stamp w/Sundial Handmade Card

I made the sundial card using the masking technique, which adds dimension.  I sent this card to my middle sister, Rita, who lives in Nashville.  She has 3 grown children, Everett, Sharie and Mitchell.  Kolbe just turned 11.

Both are tri-fold cards and I was so anxious to get them off that I didn't have time to photograph the inside.  I'll have to make more stamped, tri-fold cards to show to you.  They are quite unique.

Happy Mother's Day and have a positive and pleasant week filled with more creating.

Glittered Brads Quick & Easy Video Tutorial

In this YouTube video, crafter The Bug Junkie shows how to take inexpensive brass brads and add a glittered cap using embossing powder.

I was so excited when I bought my embossing gun years ago.  I used a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby.  I've used it to emboss greeting cards and collage elements.

Though you can sometimes use a hair dryer to melt the embossing powder on paper designs, the stream of air can be too strong.  This can dislodge the powder.  If you use a low setting it can take too long to melt the embossing powder.

I've read that you can hold paper, on which the powder is applied, over a light bulb and the heat will complete the embossing process.  You'd have to be very careful.  While I am a fan of making do, it's best to purchase the craft tool that is made for embossing.  The heat stream of the embossing gun is narrow, hot and soft enough to efficiently and quickly do the trick.

Embossing Gun







Embossing Pad







Embossing Pens









Embossing Powder

I like embossing pens because you can write fine and medium-lined text to emboss.  I am excited about glittering my own brads for collages, hand-bound books and other mixed media art.  Have fun.  I do.

Good Morning Blog: The Interloper Must Be Contained

It's a crisp 52 degree morning with the sun breaking over the horizon.  I love getting with you first thing in the morning.

My aloe vera plant greeting the morning sun rays. 

Blog, what will my day be like?  I don't want to meet any of the household tasks that are waiting.  Why do I have to stop to do the laundry?  I know I want to pick the mounting for my possibilities aura collage.  It's more fun to continue cutting lime and chartreuse clippings...


Clip art in my fav colors: chartreuse and lime.

I know I need to clean the shelves in the fridge door.  Why do I have to?  Is there a self-cleaning fridge on the market?  I'd rather carve out another one of my coffee cup art stamps...

Hand carved eraser art stamp of coffee cup.

There's so much to do, that I don't want to do, but must work in.  My life is art, craft and writing, and I work in the household jobs.  Not the other way around.  Housework is the interloper.   

It's a crisp 52 degree morning and I'm going to do what I always do...spend the day working on projects, off and on!