Last January I had the pleasure of going to Grapevine, Texas to the Heirloom Productions Rubber Stamp Convention. I made my first trip a number of years ago and was hooked! Sadly when layoffs came, I had to bypass on the trips. This past January I resumed a tradition a friend and I had for years. If you have never been to a Rubber Stamp convention, I should tell you the energy in the Convention Center is amazing! Stamp Companies spend hours setting up their booths with all the latest, greatest supplies and samples of the wonderful things you can do with their products.
Always being on a budget, I learned that first time many years ago to do a little homework before the convention and during the convention. You will see so many wonderful things that you will want to impulsively buy. The conventions are usually so large, you almost feel like you are in "sensory overload" - the wonderful kind of overload!! I always check out the Heirloom Productions website for the list of vendors for the show nearest me. Heirloom now has posted their 2010 {Wow ~ 2009 is flying by!!} schedule in case you are in the States and want to know if they will be near you. (Right click on their name above to go to their website.) As time gets closer to the event, they will have a link to the list of vendors who will be at that particular show. I like to spend some time checking out the vendor websites. Sometimes you find something you feel "you just have to have" and you make a mental note to look for that at the convention. So that's the pre-convention homework fun.
When the long awaited day arrives, I make a preliminary tour of all the booths, take in a few demos and then start formulating my game plan for the purchases I want to make that day. Knowing I cannot possibly spend all the money I would love to spend, I always ask for business cards so I can purchase online later if I find something that is perfect for future projects. I have fun seeing everything first and then deciding which booths caught my attention the most. I make a second round and go back to those booths that grabbed my attention. It gets even more fun as I decide what wonderful tool(s), supplies and/or stamps will be making the trip back to Studio Z.
One of the vendors who caught my attention the most in January was {right click on logo to visit website in a new window}:
Stamp A Mania utilizes calligraphers to hand letter their stamps. The beautiful calligraphy definitely grabbed my attention, as did the wonderful images! I really enjoy Southwest designs. Mark and Cynthia are also busy working on some exciting additions with Posh Impressions and Stampa Barbara. {Right click on name to open websites in new window.}
Part of the fun of watching demos at Stamp Convention is you sometimes become the lucky recipient of a demo card. Below is the card I received from Cynthia.
I shot this on a black background to show the moon template used, but the lighting in the room was not sufficient for you to also see the round portion from the cut out that comes with the template so you can ink around it for a different effect. Cynthia used two shades of Embossing Powder for the trees on a grey cardstock. If I remember correctly, she also used an Alabaster ink with the moon template. {Cynthia, correct me if I am wrong.} Whatever color it was, the ink pads flew off the shelf as everyone saw how great it worked for the moon. Each time I look at the card, I think of a cold winter evening and the "Warm Greetings" remind me of a nice, toasty home.
I have ordered online from Stamp A Mania since the convention and each time they are fast in getting the "goodies" to me!
DB {Dear Brother} enjoys buffalo a lot so for his recent birthday {I am really late in posting this on my blog} I made him a card with the Mimbres Buffalo by Stamp A Mania. Each time I look at this stamp I see more ideas on wonderful ways to use it. Below is a picture of the way their wood mounted stamps originally came ~ with a beautiful laser image. You can still purchase wood mounted images, but the index is no longer done with laser. One can only imagine the logistics (and the cost) of mass producing a full line of stamps with laser images! I love that Stamp A Mania offers all of their stamps in unmounted also. This is a cost savings, in addition to the storage advantage of needing less room to store your stamps.
I liked the look of the buffalo on the polished stone background, but the photo does not do it justice:
Along with cardstock in white and yellow, I used one of my Polished Stone pieces recently shown. The image was stamped with VersaMark Dazzle Frost using Ranger's Fine Detail Silver Embossing Powder.
The punch is a Corner Adorner Card Creator punch by Paper Shapers (a division of EK Success). As you can see by the shape, it is designed to punch thru any corner, including the two by the fold. This punch is called "Lotsa Slots".
Hope you enjoyed the card. Be sure and check out the Stamp A Mania website!
For those arriving in search of fiber, I promise fiber content next post.
KZ
