Stamping Spirit

The organizing jag continues.  I have lots of good intentions, just slow progress.   Today, I was organizing stamps, and had a pleasant surprise; the number and variety I’ve accumulated is more than I had thought!

I use stamps for metal clay texture and for etching regular metal.  When I started in these mediums I purchased discounted stamps and would alter them to apply my own interpretation of what they should look like.

Recently, I found a free download of instruction on creating my own stamps.  It turns out that the methods I was using to modify the purchased stamps are very similar to those used for creating a unique stamp.  Now I already know, I will be able to turn my own designs into stamps and increase my tools without higher costs.

So, the discovery with the pleasant surprise?  A stash of stamps I had purchased and squirreled away in an odd location.  What is it they say about out of sight?  Oh yes, out of mind!

DYI – Just For Fun

For the first few months of this year I took a bit of a break and decided to complete some decorating projects.  I’ve been collecting black and white architectural prints, planning to use them in the family room adjacent to my studio. 

Though the studio is usually a mess it has a colour theme; white for work surfaces, accented by a silvery grey and a bright pop of red.  I am working on carrying these colours into the family room, and used the grey and red colours on the mat boards framing the pictures.  Black frames make the black & white photos

They started out looking like this:

Transitioned through this:

And finished up looking like this:

I’m still having a challenge getting the frames lined up 100% but otherwise, I’m happy with how they turned out.  Now to do something about those beige walls!