STAMP DRAW WINNER:  Chalk up another country to our stamp draw winner's circle.  We are pleased to announce the latest winner in our stamp draw is Julie Kosofski from Tamshui, Taiwan.  Congratulations to Julie!   The 'new' stamp draw is ready to go.  The prize is a couple of new 'never seen before' stamps. Good Luck!

AROUND THE STUDIO:  Yes, we are still in business!  It has been a while since the last newsletter.  In the interim, we squeezed in a wonderful holiday in Hawaii, while Emily and the crew kept things humming along here at the Studio.  We have completed some new stamps, but we are trying to get our focus group together before we start a whole new batch of stamps.

Unfortunately, the real news around the Studio is that we lost our official greeter just before Christmas.  If you have been to our studio, you would probably remember her slowly coming to meet you with a slowly wagging tail.  However, once she determined that you were not 'bearing treats', she would totally ignore you!  Brandy was almost 15.  She was with us for12 wonderful years.  It just doesn't feel the same around here without her, but at least I can now talk about it without getting all choked up. 
Thank you for all the good times, Brandy.

TESTIMONIAL: Greetings from Louisiana!  I just received my first order from your most hospitable company.  Emily is an absolute DELIGHT.  I had the pleasure of speaking to her on the telephone.  She was very courteous, patient, interested and friendly towards me.  She is definitely an asset to your company. 
I am completely satisfied with the quality of the merchandise and the way it was packed and shipped.  I will definitely be doing business with you again.  I just wanted you to know.  - Bertie

E-MAIL BAG: Can you make a groundhog day stamp for me?  We get a lot of requests for custom stamps, and while we do make all of our stamps, we do not do custom work.  Most stationary stores and art stamp stores are associated with a business stamp maker who can make a custom stamp for you.  They are usually made out of Polymer (plastic) instead of rubber.  However, they generally work fine, and you can emboss with them etc.   Polymer stamps do not have as long a life span as rubber stamps, but with moderate use they should last you up to ten years.  As with rubber stamps, you want to avoid exposing them to ultra violet light (direct sunlight, fluorescent lighting, etc.) for a prolong period of time. 

All you need is a clean line drawing of the image you want.  Line drawings are black and white without any shades of gray.  The copy of your image should be the size you want your stamp to be or a little larger.  They can very easily size the stamp for you.  The pricing for custom stamps is generally pretty reasonable. 

Be aware that all stamp makers are not created equal.  Some are much better than others.  One thing to look for in your finished stamp is good relief.  Relief is the height of the printing surface above the base of the stamp.  Stamps with poor relief tend to print around the edges of the stamp and in middle of large areas that are suppose to be just an outline.  Polymer stamps with poor relief are generally as a result of poor craftsmanship.  Rubber stamps with poor relief are generally as a result of the stamp maker trying to save money by using cheap engravings.

STUDIO TOUR 2004: Studio Tour 2004 is a group of arts and craft studios open to the public here on Salt Spring Island.  There are 37 studios on the tour this year.   The group puts out a map each year with the location and information on all the studios.  It is also probably the best general map available if you are coming to the Island.  The new Studio Tour 2004 maps are out for this year.  You can pick one up on the ferry on your way to the Island.  We are studio number 33 this year.  It is a great way to find our studio.  There are little signs like the one on the right with our number on it.  So, just follow the signs!  If you want more information on the other studios, click on the little sign to the right for the Studio Tour website.

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.

Simple, quick…even elegant.  If you need a card in short order and there’s no time to fuss, choosing and matching papers and colours, consider the combination of black and white.

The two possibilities are obviously black on white and white on black.

For the first, I stamped an image with black ink (make sure that your pad is moist so you get intense black) and embossed with clear powder on white paper. (or you can emboss with black powder over any colour). I mounted that on to black paper which already had black embossed "background-type" images on it. That was all mounted on to a white card.

For the opposite black/white combo, I used a black card. I embossed white on white for the background layer and then glued on the image that had been embossed white on black paper.

I found that when I was embossing with white powder on white paper, I had to "under emboss" or the image began to fade away. When I was embossing with black on black paper, it was beneficial to "over emboss" so that the lines of the image would begin to melt and spread out more and then become more visible. I hope that makes sense.

For both kinds of samples, I could have surrounded the main image with a very bright frame paper—hot pink, bright yellow, deep red , etc. or with a metallic paper. The splash of colour changes the look somewhat and can also be achieved by using beads, ribbon, brads , grommets, or faux jewels instead of paper. Consider all sorts of images as you experiment with this---flowers, animals, sayings, leaves, etc. It is surprising how almost anything stamped black on white paper with gold surround, then onto black-on- black background, then onto white, will look really elegant.

If you like the idea of more colour being used, stamp the image directly on to a colour and mount it on to either the black-on-black background or the white-on-white background.

Happy Stamping!