Still alive

It's been ages since I wrote on my blog. Not that I wanted to neglect this spot but somehow I did. Since I'm back on Facebook I find myself posting more stuff there then here.
I feel bad for neglecting my blog but I will try to take care of it better in future.

As I wrote in my last post, I still find it hard to work in my studio. I can't concentrate on stuff long enough to really get anything done and it's really frustrating. I have a head full of ideas that want to come out but I don't seem to have enough time to make it happen. And while business on Etsy is really slow, I didn't have to think twice when more work hours were available at my current job.
I apllied for them knowing that it would give me less studio time but also less stress and frustration since I don't get anything done and have time nor energy to promote and sell my work on line.

It's a bit of a turning point for me. What once made me happy and changed my life completely is now giving lots of stress. I don't find it easy to cope with the pressure of having to make, create and promote my work anymore. Since Julie came into our lives, lots has changed. Positive changes.
It's hard work raising a child but it is also very rewarding and fun. And we sure do have fun.

I just want to spend as much time as I can with her while she is still little.
I want to giggle, read books, craft, jump in puddles and have teaparties with my little, sweet girl. She is the best that ever happened to me and I don't want to miss this precious time in her life while everything is still new and wonderful. When I look through her eyes, I learn a lot again of what I lost while growing up. It's making me happy and content to spend time with her.
So that's what I do now. Anything else can wait because it's not important for me now.
My studio won't run away and my clay is not going anywhere either. Time will come again that I will get my hands dirty and my ideas into 3D.



Today we got our hands dirty, although that wasn't the plan. But hey, it's more exciting to change plans than to stick to them. I made potato stamps and wanted to make some simple cards but that seemed a bit too hard because Julie liked to stamp all over the card. She just rubbed the potato over the entire card and made a huge mess of them.

Then I changed the plan and drew a large penguin and made her color it.
 First with paintbrushes but that didn't last long: she just decided that fingerpainting is more fun. She's right: making mess is fun!

How to easily stamp names/words?

I might be the last one on earth to tell you this but I'm going to share anyway! It's an easy way how to stamp names and words. Perhaps this might be the tip you have been waiting for forever! :)

Here is what you need:
alphabet letterstampset, masking tape, paper, inkpadPick out the words that you want to make.

Put the stamps down on the table and cut a piece of masking tape.

Pick up the stamps while firmly holding them together.

Press firmly onto the stamps so that they stick to the masking tape.Close the masking tape all around the stamps.

Now you have 1 stamp of 4 letters.

Press the inking pad onto the stamp.

Stamp the word on the surface you want to stamp on.

I have two identical stamping sets so it's easy to make multiple words.

I wish I had three, but I don't so I needed to use
the letter 'L' from one of the above stamps.

And this is the result...

It's very easy to make your own shopname too.
In case that's a long name, use a liner or box
to make sure the stamps are lined up nicely.

Add a piece of masking tape to the stamps.

Press the masking tape firmly around the stamps.

When the stamp is long, you have to make sure that you press firmly
on the beginning, middle and end of the stamp to get an even result.

Tada: ArtMind!

Don't know if this was useful for you, but I remember I was completely enlightened when I first found out how to do this! :)

Now go look at these clever fabric labels by EvaForeva - what a fantastic idea to add your label to your work! :)

How to use a metal letter stamp set with clay?

In July, I saw the new exchange program on Totally Tutorials. The idea behind it is that suppliers offer supplies in exchange for a tutorial. As you all know, I love making tutorials & I love supplies so I didn't have to think twice. I applied for the nice set of 1.5mm letter/number stamps from Evie's Tool Emporium. They arrived very soon after she decided who was going to get them, but I was so busy preparing for the craft fairs that I didn't have much time to play around with them. Well, time has come to show you what I did with them...
I used polymer clay (Fimo) to create gift tags from them. I decided to try white and black and see what the results were.
Here is what you need:

Metal stamping letters/numbers set, polymer clay, acrylic paint, flat wooden sticks, ceramic tiles or glass, cookie cutters, rolling pin, embossing tool or fat needle, paper plate, paintbrush and a cloth.

Take a piece of polymer clay and soften it while kneading.

Put the flat wooden sticks on the ceramic tile (makes it easier to transfer to the oven) and roll with the rolling pin over the clay so that it's nice, flat and even.When you rolled out a piece, lift it up carefully and
transfer it to another tile so you can roll out more little clay slabs.

Punch with your cookie cutters, figures out of the polymer clay slab.

I made two sets in black and white clay.

Before you stat using your letter stamp set, wipe it off with a soft cloth. The stamps are a bit oily to make sure they don't start to rust.Before you start stamping, try your stamp on a sample of Polymer clay.
This way you know how hard you have to press the stamp to get result and it will also be good to see if you're not holding the stamp upside down.

Hold the metal stamptool as straight as possible and press lightly into the clay.

Here is what I stamped...

If you click on this picture below, you will see better what I stamped on the clay.

Take your embossing tool or needle to punch a hole in the clay.

Carefully take the piece of clay off the ceramic tile and punch with your embossingtool or needle on the backside of the clay so that the hole can be used.

Preheat your oven to 110°C or read the instructions on the packaging of the polymer clay you are using.

Put the ceramic tiles with the clay pieces in the oven for 30 minutes
and let it cool down afterwards. It's ready to use when they feel cold.

Put some acrylic paint on a paper plate and paint the sides and front of the clay.

Let it dry for a while.

When it's dry, rub it with a damp cloth
so that most of the paint will come off again.

The harder you rub, the more paint will come off.

Here is another example with gold acrylic paint. Paint it.

Rub the paint away with a damp cloth.

Ready!

Here are some results on the white and black clay. On the white ones, the paint doesn 't look really good I think but I love the black ones. On the white ones, the paint just looks a bit dirty...
It obviously is best to use this technique with colored polymer and contrasting paint.

I made a little package with very thin metal wire. I twist the wire around a needle to create a tiny spiral.

I used chrochet thread to wrap double around the package.

You can also make it an ornament.

Wrap lots of chrochet thread around the package and add the clay label.

Only wrap thread around one edge and attach the clay gift tag.

In case you have a hard time getting the thin thread
through the little hole, here's a tiny trick that makes it super easy...
Cut a small piece of metal wire.

Fold the metal thread in half and put the thread in between.

Stick the metal thread through the little hole of the clay.

See how easy it is, you don't even need glasses for that! :)

I love the white, untreated gift tags best, they kind of look like porcelain clay...

There are lots of possibilities with this metal letter stamp set and I can't wait to use it for my ceramic work too. If you like to try it for yourself, don't hesitate and order a set of your own at EviesToolEmporium. I garantuee you lots of pleasure with it! :)
Michele from EviesToolEmporium also gave away a metal letterstamp set to a jewelry designer who used it to stamp metal. She made a little video montage and it's awesome, you can find that tutorial here.
If you like to receive all the gifttags that I made for making this tutorial, please leave a comment & you'll automatically enter this give-away. :) There's many more then you see in the pictures!
The winner will be announced next week.
Congrats Evylyn of Sumikoshop! I'll be sending out the gift tags soon! :)

Make sure to check out Totally tutorials on a regular basis for lots of fun DIY projects.