A great idea for unmounted rubber stamps...

I ADORE rubber stamps and have collected them for more years than I can count... They are such fun to use in so many mixed media applications.  I am NOT, however, a huge fan of the cling mount stamps that attach to the acrylic bars.  I know there is the advantage of being able to see where you are placing the stamp... So if that works for you... that is great.  I am just a die-hard lover of wood-mounted stamps.  They are much more expensive to purchase and do take up lot of storage space... Many of my favorite stamp creators have sheets of unmounted images that are not available in wood mounted... so I have found a great compromise solution that works very well for me.  

The credit to this idea goes to the fabulous Michelle Ward.  You can go to her blog, scroll down a bit, and get all the details for how she mounts her stamps on foam kneeling pads found in the garden center.  Now is the perfect time to pick these up... maybe even on sale as summer is soon coming to a close.  I have found the kneeling pads vary quite a bit in thickness, but they all work well for me.  I have some little storage drawers that hold all my foam-mounted stamps.  I can just pop open the drawers and see exactly what I have to choose from.  Here is a pad I picked up at my local hardware store yesterday.  

I love the way this one works with some new stamps I have recently ordered. Christy Tomlinson has some darling stamps... loved this one for texture.

I glued the image to the cut foam with Fabric Tac... a favorite adhesive of mine.  I used Liquid Nails on some of the ones I have previously mounted and both adhesives work great!  I cut out the printed image and glue it to the other side of the stamp so I can keep everything organized well.

Michelle uses a gel contact cement.  I have used that and it works very well... but a bit smelly.  Trial and error helped me find my best solution.  

Roben-Marie Smith has so many darling stamps... I have drawers filled with her images, and I use them so often.  I love to buy her rubber sheet sets, and this method has worked so well for those pieces.

My latest new "art toy" is the divine Gelli Arts gel printing plate.  This delightful new tool is the best way to do fabulous mono prints to serve as backdrops for stamped images.  

It's yet another rainy day here... so it really feels like the perfect day to play with the gelli plate and some stamps... ahhh... art bliss...

dreaming of building sandcastles in the air...

"If you have built castle in the air,

your work need not be lost;

that is where they should be,

Now put the foundations under them."   Thoreau

...what a special thought...

Junelle gave us the "beachy" theme this week.

This summer has not included a trip to the shore for me...

but I have been re-visiting special trips in memory...

I can almost hear the waves and taste that salty breeze...

Visions of blooms are still appearing in my artwork...

from an outdoor cafe with blossoms spilling from pots along the walls...

to a pick-up truck serving as a mobile flower market...

what fun~

One of these lovelies could be plucked and planted

inside this blue jar... happy place~

"Come forth into the light of things,

let nature be your teacher..."

Wordsworth

Enjoy these last few days of July...

Let your senses be immersed in the delights of summer...

Follow the light~ 

Sketching summer beauty

Now that it finally feels like July here in our little southern town...  many are drawn to local outdoor markets... with booths overflowing with every color of bloom, fresh produce, yummy breads and preserves... Oh, how I love summer...  The summer market found a place in my art journal this week...

A real "perk" from social media is the plethora of sweet images that pop up every day... One appeared this week that prompted me to sketch this girlie... holding a gorgeous bouquet.

Dearest Junelle provided the inspiration for this little row of posies on an old ledge.  I fell in love with the Wordsworth quote... It found a "home" on this journal page...

My yard is ablaze with my ever-favorite crepe myrtles.  That delicious pink hue has my name all over it! 

I truly have been enthralled by the beauties surrounding me... soft, mysterious... lively...

Enjoy every moment of this precious season...  it will pass all too quickly...

My "wildflower summer" continues

I'm still having the most fun with  "wildflower summer" sketching, watercoloring, and mixed media creations.  Many of my pieces will reside inside a yummy old book... one with a soft, baby jane blue cover (yet to be further altered).  This wildflower-adorned weathered gate is the title page for this happy little "over-stuffed"  art journal.  

The porch swing page changed a bit from my first inception... now with an accompanying sentiment about friendship... always...

I'm really not one to like sleeping outdoors with creepy crawlers everywhere... but in my dreams... a quirky little tent like this one would be an idyllic escape from the hubbub of daily life.  The edge of my tent is made from muslin... with some wild little stitches... just for fun~  Thanks, Junelle, for this cutie-pie idea~

I loved Junelle's idea of the hidden pocket... mine holding a quote and some memories of a camping trip gone wrong!!!

A very positive creative practice is reflection on childhood play... helping an artist to re-create the abandonment of those days of no inhibitions... no rules...  One experience that is vivid in my memory is the delight of playground magic on that old seesaw... where "teamwork" with my partner was really all that made a difference... and that metaphor of balance is one that speaks to  my heart.  

Wildflowers seem to be everywhere these days... in fields, along interstate highways... so lovely.

The study of wildflowers has been such a refreshing distraction... oh the delphinium... so delightful!

In girlhood days, my cousins had the most fabulous playhouse... I was green with envy... It wasn't a treehouse... but was nonetheless bliss for little girls...  Although I was a girlie girl... I longed for a treehouse getaway...  It never came to pass... but it can, even now... in my little sketchbook... 

Home IS heaven for beginners... and I love being home...

Bitty vintage campers in watercolors...ready to roll~

What a cool spring we had and now we're having a pretty wet summer here in western North Carolina...  Despite the weather, I'm "traveling" all over in my bitty vintage campers... through our WILD ART SUMMER Wildflower class with the delightful Junelle.  The internet is awash with these precious campers... on Pinterest... on Facebook... everywhere.  They are just so darn cute! Even though my idea of "roughing it" is a weekend at a resort... I can imagine the fun to be had at many locales... in a sweet little vintage camper...  This one is even equipped with a satellite dish!

How about a trip to the shore in this little "stripey"... with surf boards atop???

... or to the mountains... with a campfire and luscious burgers on the grill...

... or a shady spot with an old tire swing and a bike, holding freshly picked wildflowers.... ah....

... I can still remember the "hippie, flower child" days of my teen years... so how about a pink "flower power" camper and matching car???  How fun...

Wherever your travels lead you... be safe and have some really great days!