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The Old Island Stamp Company

October 30, 2003

STAMP DRAW WINNER: We are pleased to announce the latest winner in our stamp draw is Wendy Rudyk of Devon, Alberta. Congratulations to Wendy! The new stamp draw is ready to go. This month's prize is three terrific brand new stamps. As usual, if you are the winner you can pick any stamp, including UM's of an equivalent value. Good Luck!

	AROUND THE STUDIO: So, what is happening around the studio? Autumn is what is happening....Autumn leaves, crisp fresh air, pumpkins, burning leaves, winter pansies... It is great! How can you help but to love this time of year? However, I would be amiss if I failed to also mention the absolutely frantic work we are doing to get ready for the Christmas shows (We leave on November 6th), and the torrential rains of mid-October. After three record breaking months of drought we had a week of unbelievable rain....and since we live in a rainforest, that is really saying something. In case you misinterpreted that as a complaint, no way. After the devastation Mother Nature has heaped upon so many people in the rest of North America this past year...we are just grateful. Good news concerning all those quail that were born earlier this Summer: I was in the hot tub at dawn the other morning when I heard the unmistakable cackling of a bunch of quail. I have not heard them in weeks, and did not expect to see them again until next Spring. What was really surprising was the number of them; I could hear and see at least a half dozen. Then they came walking up the path, single file right past the tub. So, I got a very accurate count; 16!!! I could not believe it. That is a fantastic survival rate.
	FROM THE MAILBAG (Sort of!): Q. "Do you have it in stock?". A. We have it in stock! We are very often asked if we have it in stock. I am a shopper too...I hate it when they do not have it in stock. Something that a lot of people do not realize is that we make all of our stamps, and we carry a large inventory at any given time. We even turn our large wholesale orders around in one day, so yes we are going to have what you are wanting in stock.
	CIRCLE CRAFT COUPON: We have the Circle Craft Christmas Show coupon for $2 off at the door again this year. If you are going to the show and would like to save $2 at the door, just click on the thumbnail at the left, and print it off. If you do not have a colour printer, you can print it in black and white and they will honour it at he door. The dates for the show are November 7-11. For information on the other shows we will be at, checkout Where to Find Us. For more information on the show itself: www.circlecraft.net See you there!
	ART MARKET COUPON: We also have coupons for $2 off at the door for Art Market in Calgary November 20 -23. There are actually four coupons on one sheet. The implications of which I think are very clear! Click on the Art market logo to the right for the coupons. For more info on Art Market: www.artmarketonline.com

EDITOR'S NOTE ON MARGARET'S MUSINGS: I asked Margaret to do an article for this newsletter on creating Christmas crackers with our stamps. As usual, she did an excellent job, and I think you will enjoy her ideas. However, I also realized there would be a lot of our stamping friends who would not be aware of the tradition of Christmas crackers. So, before you think Margaret has gone 'crackers', I thought I should explain. Christmas crackers are a British Christmas tradition dating back to the mid 1800's. So, they are very big around the world, especially in the Commonwealth countries. With a lot of Christmas traditions it is hard to know exactly where they originated from. Not so with the Christmas cracker. We know exactly who started it; Tom Smith in London, England 1847. I discovered a link to a website that will probably tell more than you ever wanted to know about crackers www.absolutelycrackers.com/historynew.html. If you are not that 'into' the history, let me tell you briefly that Tom as a young boy worked in a bakers and ornamental confectioners shop, and then began his own cake decorating business. On a trip to Paris in 1840 he discovered the 'bon bon'; almond candies wrapped in tissue with a twist at both ends. From the bon bon he evolved the cracker, which is a cardboard tube wrapped in tissue with a twist at the ends and surprises inside. Most crackers pop like a very small firecracker when two people each pull on an end. Inside you usually find a hat, a small gift, a balloon and a motto or a joke. When you make your own crackers, you can be more creative with what you put inside. For a picture of the crackers Margaret made, click on the thumbnail at the right. To find out how she made them read below. To see the actual crackers come visit with us at our Christmas shows in Vancouver, Calgary and Victoria!

MARGARET'S MUSINGS: If you have had an opportunity to see our display at anytime over the past few years, you would have seen sample cards by our friend Margaret Appleton. Margaret is always trying something new, and comes up with some great effects with our stamps. She has agreed to write a short piece for each newsletter on stamping in general and on techniques slightly beyond the basics.

Christmas is coming and I’m sure that you will be stamping somehow in your preparations. As well as using stamps on cards, tags, and gifts, you can use them to decorate home made Christmas crackers. I have seen crackers made from crepe paper, tissue paper, or wrapping paper.

The stamping part of the project can be done on the paper before you begin. In that case, the images will probably end up randomly stamped all over the roll when it is finished. If you want to be more particular about the placing of images or if the paper you choose is a challenge to stamp on, you can stamp on a separate piece of paper and glue that around the covered roll once it is complete. If you do this, remember you can now punch out shapes and the original paper will show through…. AND you can cut the edges of the top paper with fancy scissors. You may want to wait until the cracker is completely made before you add this top paper. Then it can be centered on the roll after the ends have been tied.

On the ends of the cracker you can use string, ribbon, raffia, or even gold twist ties and add embellishments such as charms, beads, or bells if you want. The ends can also be trimmed with fancy scissors.

A few extra stamping ideas for the images:

Emboss clear on coloured ink

Emboss silver or gold

Personalize with an Erasermate pen and emboss

Make stickers on sticky paper and apply

Try black ink on white paper with only a touch of red or green

Use a greeting stamped all over instead of a picture

Here are the general directions for the cracker:

Cut a piece of crepe paper 6 in. by 12 in. (The stretch of the paper should be along the short edge)
If you are putting a snapper in (fun, but not essential) you have a choice about adding it. Choice #1 Center and glue a small piece of paper (the size of a square of toilet tissue) along the bottom edge (the long edge ) of the crepe paper. Put a snapper underneath.
Center a toilet tissue roll on the bottom edge of the crepe paper and hold in place with glue or tape. Put glue along the top edge. Roll up tightly. Gently roll the cracker back and forth. Snapper Choice #2 put the snapper through the roll to be caught in tightly when you tie each end.
Wind string or ribbon around the paper at one end of the roll. Pull tightly. Put in the treasures that you have gathered for the inside and tightly tie the other end of the roll. The inserts are traditionally a hat, a toy, and a saying or fortune. However, some people are being a little more creative and putting in things such as candy or gum, lip gloss, rolled up gift certificates, lottery tickets, etc. The empty rolls from wrapping paper are often bigger around than the toilet tissue ones. Those might be better to use if your treasures are larger.

Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy Stamping.

STEVE'S PICK OF THE MONTH: I have decided to feature one of our "Old Island Classics" as a 'stamp of the month' each month. The stamp will be available to you at half price with a minimum order between Stamp Draw dates. This month's classic pick is our antique Santa 193-A. This is one of the first stamps I ever made. We found it amongst drawers of old typeset pieces in the basement of a friend's house in Oak Bay. I am sure the original piece is even older than I am!

THE WEBSITE: I have added five new stamps to the Latest Images page, including 3 new ones just in time for your Christmas stamping from Emily Hull. There is also a 'fishbone' leaf by Emily that I think you will find lots of interesting things to do with. We have also done an Old English Text stamp for background stamping. It is cropped such that you can repeat stamp it seamlessly either below or to the side of the original image to create larger backgrounds. I think this is a really neat stamp. It instantly makes anything you stamp with it look antique and classy looking. Hopefully you will get a chance at one of the Christmas fairs to see some of the cards we have created with it.

I have put a some angel drawings on the Drawing Board for feedback. The drawings are from Mildred Campbell from St Albert, Alberta. I am not sure about using them for stamps. Mildred and I are looking for some constructive feedback.

The "Where to Find Us" is up-to-date, including the Christmas shows. Please note that because of scheduling conflicts this year we will not be at either Kris Kringle in Qualicum Beach or at Fulford here on the Island.

Happy Stamping!

Steve Mueller

If your catalogue is up to date it should have 36 pages. The catalogue is of course FREE! Please, note there is one catalogue for printing and one catalogue for viewing on-line. The printing catalogue is no good for viewing (way, way too slow), and the viewing catalogue is no good for printing (the images will not print in their actual size or clarity). So, make sure you use the right one for your purposes.