HOORAY FOR GIVEAWAYS!!

Strawberry hand carved rubber stamp

Personalized hand carved rubber stamp

I'm celebrating my birthday with a give-away! Everybody loves free stuff, right? I'll be getting spoiled on my bday (May 12th) visiting with my best friend, so why not share the love? Here's how you can enter to win either of these stamps. The heart stamp will have whatever two initials you'd like.

* Leave a comment here on the blog saying which stamp you'd prefer - 1 entry
* Follow the blog >>> - 1 entry
* Follow Green Garden Stamps on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/GreenGardenStamps - 1 entry

In your comment, let me know if you also followed the blog and/or my facebook page. If you are already following either, let me know and that will still count as extra entries. For each of the above, I'll include your name in the hat. So let's say you do all three, I'll put three slips of paper with your name on it into a hat. You can better your odds of winning by doing all three.

PLEASE NOTE: I'll need some way to contact the winner, so please include your email or a way to contact you (for example, if you have an Etsy shop you can leave that link and I'll send you a convo through Etsy).

I'll choose the winner on May 13th and I'll let you all know here who the winner is. Best of luck and spread the word to your crafty buddies!

Signs of Spring

Bouquet in vase hand carved stamp

This new stamp of a bouquet in a vase was inspired by this hand built, raku fired vase I made in art school. I've always been a far superior 2 dimensional artist, and most of my efforts in 3 dimensional art ended in disaster (you don't even want to know the ridiculousness I produced in my sculpture class). But this vase, out of all of my pottery work, was and still is my pride and joy. I love it most when it is filled with forsythia which happens to be in full bloom!

Lady slipper hand carved stamp

The lady slipper is one of my favorite flowers because it is so elusive. Spotting one in the woods feels like discovering a rare prize. This lady is a true independent spirit - try and transplant her out of the woods and into the garden and she'll put up a fight (or downright refuse).

Along with the forsythia and the lady slippers (who are quietly emerging in woodlands unseen by human eyes), the daffodils and hyacinth are up, the crocuses are singing, the robins have returned and the peepers peep at night. Spring has really sprung - it's official!

Visit the shop for more hand carved rubber stamps at http://www.etsy.com/shop/GreenGardenStamps

My Crafty Customers - Kay's Kreative Korner

Kay of Kay's Kreative Korner is what I would call a "master scrapper". Some people (who don't know much about it or how it has evolved) might still be thinking of scrapbooking as a kitschy project to do in a weekend. A few photos here, a few stickers there, some pretty background paper and you're done. Well, not Kay. Her designs are truly inspired works of art. She sells scrapbooking embellishments in her Etsy shop like these gorgeous butterflies you see below.

Butterfly Embellishments Moonlight Serenade

In her latest blog post, she shares with her readers this remarkable layout featuring her adorable dog Toby who is, apparently, quite the bird chaser! There are so many design elements and techniques used in this one page that I encourage you to read her blog post to find out more about her process.

Kay purchased several of my DIY flower garden stamps including this pretty petal stamp.

Large striped leaf or petal stamp

Below you'll see a close up of how she used this stamp. Isn't it gorgeous? Here's a bit of information about how she used the stamp in her own words...

"I stamped the petal stamp with Staz-On ink on a transparency, cut it out & then with a white gel pen I added white dots along the inside flower design. I then cut the petals in a bit more & bent them upwards for added dimension. I finalized the flower by adding a black Sultan Gem by Prima in the center. I also tucked a bit of dried copper baby's breath--also known as gyp underneath my flower embellies."

I can't wait to see what other creative expressions she comes up with in the future with the other stamps she purchased! Many thanks to Kay for being such an inspiration and for being a great example of how scrapbooking has exploded into an intriguing and stunning mixed media art form.

Please visit Kay's shop for scrapbooking supplies and embellishments and be sure to visit her blog to see her latest creations.

Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/kaylori77
Blog - http://kayskreativekorner.blogspot.com/

Take my poll and enter to win a free set of gift tags!

TAKE MY POLL AND ENTER TO WIN A SET OF HAND STAMPED GIFT TAGS!

glass?

or wood?

glass?

or wood?

I really want to tighten up my product line and part of doing that is deciding between wood or glass mounts for my smaller stamps (larger stamps will remain on wood mounts). Which do you prefer? Your opinion means so much to me that a random commenter will get a set of free gift tags of your choice from my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/greengardenstamps

Here's how it works. Leave a comment responding to my question of wood or glass mounts and enter to win in the random drawing. Follow my blog and your name will be counted twice (if you're already following, I will count you twice as well)! Just be sure to leave a way for me to contact you. Poll runs now through Monday, August 16th at which point I'll put all of the names in a hat (literally, my husband has a sweet hat collection! hehe) and choose one at random. I'll announce the winner on the blog. Best of luck to you and thanks in advance for helping me decide which one to go with!

Large ornate hand carved herb and vegetable stamps

What's better than fresh tomatoes and basil fresh from the garden? Not a whole lot! My vegetable and herb stamps combine a botanical reference with a folk art/wood cut looking style. Check the rest out here and feel free to suggest more that you'd like to see!

Search more vegetable stamps for sale at Etsy.com.