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/

Step by step - hand carving a sunflower stamp

I was so happy to get a new commission to create a large sunflower stamp for my customer's wedding invitations. How exciting! Not only carving the largest stamp I think I've ever carved but mostly knowing that something I created will be incorporated into someone's very special day. I began with a sketch approved by the customer. It's roughly 3.5" x 3.5" square (or in this case, circle).
I like to sketch in ink, so I've gone over the design with pencil to be burnished onto the rubber as seen above. Basically just trace your design in pencil on paper, flip it onto the rubber, then rub the paper with something smooth like a burnishing board or a smooth handle on a butter knife.


Next, I've carved out around the petals with an Exact-o knife.


Here comes the fun part, carving out the design with my Speedball carving tool.



Now to test the stamp - looks great!



Now I'm ready to glue the stamp to the back of a prepped wood mount. I have painted it this happy yellow in an acrylic paint and then spray varnished it. I use E-6000 glue for a really solid seal.





For the top of the wood mount, I've added a stamped piece of sticker paper and spray varnished it again (it will get a couple more coats when it's done). All that's left to do is lacquer the exposed wood in the back and it will be good to go!

This will be going out to a very kind customer that's been a pleasure to work with but I think this may be the start of something as far as a prototype for over sized stamps. What other designs would you like to see in this large scale?

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.

Large ornate hand carved flower stamps

This poppy stamp is an example of my more ornate work on a larger scale, carving botanical studies of flowers with a wood cut/folk art look. To see more in this collection, visit my shop
Green Garden Stamps.