Grace's Reading » Mama Dini's Stamperia

Mama Dini's Stamperia (10 unread)

Exhausted! won again! and another new set.

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 11:26pm PST by dini

1. Ugh...we were out shopping all day! It was actually a pretty productive trip, but such a busy day in town - I wanted to get as much done as we could for Christmas in one shot, because Christmas shopping & traffic here are completely insane. If you thought things were crazy in the Western world, where traffic is basically orderly and people actually form lines...(sisters in developing countries, can I get a witness?) We split up to start, and I went to the grocery store by myself - I ended up near having a panic attack just from the amount of people in the store. Not cool.
2. I won another prize! This one was at Paper Craft Planet - I tagged some cards to match Day 7's theme (7 swans a'swimming = elegant, and black & white looks elegant, so the challenge was to post black & white cards. I found quite a few to share! Click here to see the card that won....(I'll just pretend it wasn't a random drawing!) The sponsor of the day's prize was Verve Stamps ...can't wait to see what Julee sends me!
3. Here's a card I finished up last week using the new 'Birdhouse Trio' set from smARTworks. This stamp set was created from a photo I took of a birdhouse at my Aunt's house in SW Oregon...they have a beautiful place on a hillside overlooking a river...sigh...anyway, loved this birdhouse that sat on their back porch.
The birdhouse itself is stamped with 3 shades of chalk ink. I created the 'stand' by masking and sponging the same shades. The rest of the scene is created with multiple stamps stamped multiple times. I applied the rose chalk ink 'direct-to-paper' to give the scene a misty look. Susan kept talking about sentiments on torn vellum, applying the vellum to her adhesive before tearing it.......she apparently does not use red-liner sheets! That is almost impossible to tear. Anyway, thanks for the idea, Susan - I do like the look!

OK - that's all for me - I'm going to bed!!
I won!

Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 11:02pm PST by dini

Remember this card? I woke up this morning to a "congratulations" email - I won this month's contest over at Art Impressions! So that's cool...a $50 gift certificate to spend - I was browsing the online store this morning and they have lots of "limited time" stamps stuck in here and there. Cute stuff...then there are all those addictive watercolor stamps...and the door sets...and I still haven't used all the stamps that I won last time...sigh...
Spent 7 hours out shopping with the girls for our upcoming homeschool kids Christmas pageant...soooo tired now! Not to mention that the place we ate at used tons of MSG and it made me feel all buzzy and jittery...guess I won't be eating there again soon! Waaaay too much going on here...during the time we were out shopping there were 3 other places I was supposed to be, either practicing or decorating for a Christmas event..........
Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse - new stamp!!

Posted: December 3rd, 2008, 4:01pm PST by dini

A couple months ago Sue from Heart & Soul Rubber Stamp Co. emailed me and asked if I'd be interested in designing a lighthouse stamp for her. She wanted something unique and different, and sent me a photo of the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. The design below is what I came up with, by playing with the photo digitally and adding some lines for clarification. Cool, huh? I love lighthouses, and this one is certainly unique in its structure and position over the water. Well, Sue is ready to release this lighthouse stamp to the public, and she's created a whole bunch of really cool lighthouse-y verse and inspirational stamps to go along with it! I've had a little bit of time to play with mine, and you can see my cards below. Still have some ideas to come......

You can view the full supplement of new releases by clicking here!

This didn't photograph so well...the lighthouse is stamped on vellum that has a bit of a metallic sheen on it, and it glared a bit. The sentiment says, "Jesus is our Safe Harbor". Eyelets.......you know when eyelets were "in" I bought a billion in every color and then hoarded them, afraid to run out...well, girls - I am using them now!

I used vellum on this card too.....First I colored the lighthouse image with pencils, then stamped the vellum layer, added a base layer, and sewed the 3 panels together. The verse says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" Awesome, awesome truth.
If you've never checked out Heart & Soul and you're on the lookout for great sentiments, you should browse around the online catalog. There's definitely something there you need! And remember that unmounted stamps are just $1.50 a piece. Yeah!
Thanks for stopping by!
Christmas tea

Posted: December 2nd, 2008, 4:01pm PST by dini

(Mmm...just thinking of that Russian Friendship Tea - I love that at Christmas...!)

It's time for another smARTworks Tea Party - this one was mine to host, and I challenged the team to make a Christmas ornament. Thought that would be fun, and appropriately seasonal, and thankfully I got my tree up in time to display my ornament there too!

I'm stuck on Joy Boy this week, and he makes sense on my Christmas tree. The sentiment is perfect for him too - "We all laugh in the same language." This little guy was born in Indonesia, and lately has really been making great strides in his bilingualness (is that a word?). The time we were in Singapore, he spent most days with Indonesian families, or out and about on campus, so Indonesian was all he heard. So cool to hear him spout off in Indonesian, or even in the regional dialect of Manadonese.

OK, about the ornament........this is a chipboard frame that I inked with chalk inks, then stamped. The focal image is stamped, uncolored. I trimmed it to fit inside the frame, then trimmed and layered a red-liner double stick sheet over the image (I get mine from Biblical Impressions just because of my affiliation there - not sure where else it is available...there it is $4.95 for an 8"x10" sheet - but that stuff is wicked sticky!). I removed the red liner to expose the sticky part (so the image was sticky), and adhered the frame to the front...I also cut a layer of cardstock to close in the back. I covered the sticky image with those micro glass beads.

The sentiment was stamped on shrink plastic and cut into a tag shape. That's attached with a bow through a punched hole. Makes sense, right?

Be sure to check out the other team members' creations as they post throughout the day...
Trish
Susan
Giovana
Donelda

If you played along this week, link your post in a comment here so we can see your work! Thanks for coming by!
Like a Mighty Warrior

Posted: December 1st, 2008, 4:01pm PST by dini

FINALLY I get to share this card! This is a set I designed back in July when we were in the States...you can read more of the back story of the set at this post here... Anyway, the set was released by Firecracker Designs by Pamela back in September, but the stamps went to my parents' house in the States, where they sat with some other "to be mailed" stuff until there was enough to fill a package to ship overseas.

Here's my first piece with the set - I decided to go monochromatic on the image, but IRL there's more depth to it. The cardstock I used has a little bit of copper flecking in it - really cool. The shading is done with Prismacolor pencils, blended with OMS. The verse panel was simple to do - I used just a strip of cardstock, stamped, then punched the ends in the corners of my scalloped square punch. The flourish stamp is from Stamp Camp - just needed something there in that panel!

Here is the actual stamp - just wanted you to see how really really deep these stamps are etched! Super high quality. And, BTW - this set is on sale right now, just $7.99! Click here to see the full set.
Thanks for stopping by!!
New sets from ODBD!

Posted: November 30th, 2008, 8:55pm PST by dini

I won't be working with these sets, but wanted to share the new releases that are available beginning today from Our Daily Bread designs! The first is an Advent set. Kelley Holland, the owner of ODBD describes the set this way: "I Wait for the Lord is an Advent Wreath that celebrates the advent season. It starts with a verse about the announcement of the birth of Jesus, then a verse about waiting for the Lord to be born; the final verse describes how He is the light of our life!"

The second new release is called "Worship the Lord". It's a snow-covered church with several sentiments/verses related to worship and Christmas.
Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team has created - you can see their cards in a slideshow on the ODBD home page!
Four Calling Birds

Posted: November 30th, 2008, 7:17pm PST by dini

Paper Craft Planet is running a series of challenges and prizes - each day a company/design team is hosting a giveaway related to the 12 days of Christmas. Our Daily Bread designs is hosting day 4, Monday, and giving away the set Sing to the Lord. Anyway...here's my card for the challenge! The bird is colored with Prismacolor pencils, and there's glitter glue on the flower centers. The sentiment is from the Flourished Christian Symbols set.
So Day 4 is 4 Calling Birds - If you have a bird card or a card with a 'calling' theme (megaphone, telephone, cell phone, etc) ready to post, enter it in the challenge over at PCP for a chance to win, by posting it in your gallery with the tag '12day4". Good luck!
Always, always..............and a sale!!

Posted: November 30th, 2008, 8:45am PST by dini

I just love the sentiment of this quote by Claude Monet...the full quote is "More than anything, I must have flowers, always, always."
I must have been thinking of Amy Westerman when I made this card, judging from the bright colors and mixed patterns...! The rose was stamped on watercolor paper, masked and stippled, misted, then overstamped with the flourish. The rose is watercolored with reinkers, then painted over with pearlescent watercolor paints. I trimmed around a few of the petals, and curled them up a bit for some dimension. (Gotta have dimension!) The right side of the dark pink panel was punched across with a corner punch.

All stamps are from Impression Obsession - and by the way, they are having their annual BIG SALE this week - you can use the discount code 8SALE to get 25% off your whole order! There are also a bunch of clear sets marked down 25%, and the clearance section has been stocked up with stamps at 50% off! So head over there for some super great deals. You will not be disappointed!
Ahhh......

Posted: November 29th, 2008, 10:54am PST by dini

Just had to share this picture of my little guy who asked for the drumstick yesterday - and finished the whole thing! Not bad for a 2-1/2 year old, eh? And speaking of him, here's another card made using the Joy Boy set from smARTworks - this time it's pieced and layered with foam tape for dimension. I added some color with Prismacolor pencils.We had a really nice Thanksgiving celebration yesterday - it was very special, and shared with our closest Indonesian friends. Kinda bummed though - no turkey left over! Now what do we do?
Wheelbarrow thanks

Posted: November 26th, 2008, 7:44pm PST by dini

I should be feeling more holiday-ish, but we're not celebrating Thanksgiving until Saturday. Here's a Fall-ish thankful card though - I don't think I've shared this one yet! The wheelbarrow image is from Impression Obsession (the link is to the unmounted stamp in the clearance section - great prices there!), and it's colored with Prismacolor pencils. There are embroidered French knots on the flowers. Not sure where the orange came from, except I remember at the time I was in a blue/brown/tan rut, and wanted to get myself out of it. Orange is definitely out of the rut!

I did put my Christmas tree up this week...I would so normally wait until after Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving is so late on the calendar this year that I just couldn't stand it anymore. It's been 2 years since I got to put up my own Christmas decorations (last year we were on furlough). So I have 2 trees up, a 7 foot one and a 3 foot one, my Willow Tree nativity, and lights in the front window. Here was something I didn't expect, though - we have these little house lizards called cicaks (pronounced like chee-chucks), and apparently they lay eggs...and have been hanging out in my Christmas tree box for a while now. Weird, huh? Eww.