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Surf City Archives |
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Dragonhome's Convention Tips Attending rubber stamp conventions can be a blast-if you're prepared. That's what a visit to this site will do for you. It'll help you make the most of your day or weekend visit to events that admittedly can be hectic. Veteran California site operator Judith Perry here discusses everything from convention preparation and a budget to classes, camera use, children, pickpockets and what to wear. ArtCard Ideas More than 50 artists from across North America and Europe are in the featured gallery of postcards made of fabric and rubber stamping, stitchery, layering and other media, materials and techniques. Clearly, fun was in the air with this fanciful group. An online visit will get you rethinking the potential of stamps and fabric, and perhaps some unexpected mail art. Create Fabric Art Tags, cards, shadow boxes, collage and other mixed-media art for those who love to incorporate fabric and sewing into their rubber stamp art. Plenty of illustrations are here, too, and they're clickable to large, "inspectable" size. Blogs, visitor commentary and archives abound, with more art examples for illustration. German site, but the art speaks to all. Vintagestamper Rubber stamping enjoys art with aged accents, fully illustrated, courtesy of Nancy Dooren and friends. Ideas to boost your imagination, as with using vintage postcards and magazine illustrations, are a treat, and themed swaps offer opportunity to share your vision of stamp art. This Netherlands-based site is for all, with descriptives in both English and Dutch, and you're invited to comment on the art and link to it, as well. The extensive archives and seemingly endless array of hyperlinks are sure to occupy your day with reward after reward. Skinny Saturday Not too big, not too small-that's an apt descriptive for the art found here. Everything measures 3 by 5 inches. And it changes every week, too, because that's the nature of themed art challenges. Each Saturday, a new theme is featured and posted, and stamp and mixed-media artists around the world respond with an outpouring of fresh, original art to share with other participants (and curious kibitzers!). All of the details on how everyone does this are listed, and challenge themes have included Beauty, Distress Inks, Make a Wish, Diptyches and Wings, among many others. Arty Girlz A new weekly challenge is posted every Tuesday on this site from Julie and Crissi in the United Kingdom, and everyone is welcome to join. That's an offer you can't refuse! Finished examples are added to an ongoing gallery, for visitor enjoyment, and you're welcome to comment on the art, as well. The Graphicus Gallery Jolly good show! That might roll off your tongue, in a decidedly British fashion, after you explore this site in England. First-rate art abounds in the tailored galleries, where samples are conveniently organized by themes and designers. A simple click on a link will take you to Nature, Oriental, Valentines and Romance, or Autumn, for example, and art that encompasses accordion cards, mandalas, daisy tags and a gardener's notebook. The featured designers may not be so well-known in North America, but their collective talent is up-up to global competition. |
Debbie Gimbel Rightfully featured on the Sanford art products site, Florida stamp artist and color expert Debbie Gimbel shares her wizardry with pencil enhancement. Everything about application, blending and other pencil techniques is here, and her 13-step instruction on stamping and adding pencil hues will get you on your way toward mastery of pencil color. Vintage Papers Nancy Maxwell James loves papers, rubber stamps, digital photography and vintage items. Her extensive show of art on her blog and website affirms these interests. Gallery art keys on themed challenges, such as arches, ATCs (on their own themes, like Halloween and friends), the color red, and flora. The comments section on all art promotes a dialogue of understanding the creative process. And as with a gift that keeps on giving, site archives going back to 2006 offer an ever-expanding gallery of mixed-media rubber stamp art. MaryJo McGraw Artist, instructor and author extraordinaire MaryJo McGraw makes her home in Idaho, but you're likely to see her at rubber stamp and art conventions across the country or aboard an ocean cruiser headed for Mexico. Not to worry, as you can enjoy some quality time with her at her site. The Ask Me section allows you to post crafting questions, and she provides answers based on her time-tested experience. She also lists her Top 10 favorite crafting products, and you can learn a lot from reading her blogged commentary and checking out accompanying illustrations (which click to enormous size). Archived blogs continue the art-and-instructions sensibility of the site. Hampton Art If you'd like to learn how cards are made, you can find answers here. Each month has a featured card, and with it are full instructions and a materials list. Finished sample cards are clickable to eye-pleasing size. Previous featured art, which embraces tags and mixed-media cards, is archived, for long-term enjoyment and edification. Senior designer Claire Hampton has her own gallery of cards, tags, miniature books (the Accordion Postage Book is cool!) and other formats, as with a tin necklace. Xela's Art Blog Art, art and more art. That's the essence of this site from German artist Alexandra Knittel, who goes by Xela. She offers a baker's dozen of delicious themed galleries. They include fabric art, artist trading cards, tins, cards, shrines and much more, with a big nod toward mixed-media presentation. All thumbnail examples click to a larger size, for close-up scrutiny. Bonus: Monthly featured galleries are archived, so you never have to miss anything. Letterboxing with Atlas Quest Letterboxing is proof artistic that you can shape up while rubber stamping. The pastime encompasses elements of stamping and scavenger hunting, where you keep a journal that you stamp to show your discovery of hidden letterboxing sites-in your town and around the world. And, you use your own personal stamp to note your visit in a letterboxing site log. (Who knows? Some day there even may be a letterbox in the RubberStampMadness offices.) Atlas Quest has an excellent letterboxing glossary, along with information on blogging, a letterboxing directory, tutorials, a gallery, message boards and other essentials. The Letterboxing Link section is especially helpful, with links to stamp carving sites, the history of the art-sport and much more. Yes, tips on getting started, too! |