Monday, August 25, 2008

Dancing, Making Stamps

This morning I still find myself in a funk so I did some free form dance this morning with a few of the tunes I downloaded the other day. What a difference that made now I feel great. So I just spent some time downloading some more from a list I got at the Taos retreat. I want to dance every morning if I can. I have always known that sometimes you have to find ways to bring yourself up and I think that dance is one of those things for me.






















I was intrigued when Sharon from All Norah's Art talked of making a name stamp like on Elizabeth Bunsens blog Be Dream Play so I tried my hand at it. The green one I did first where I cut around the name. I typed my name and then reversed it and printed it out as a guide when I carved the stamp. Then I ended up doing K backwards so I cut an extra K and just do it in two steps. It works, but then I looked on the blogs are realized they all used an eraser and carved the name and not the background. I tried one of those and it was much easier. So I found the Staedtler erasers on sale at Staples and bought a 3 pack. The new erasers are embossed with their logo. I tried cutting it off with an exacto knife but that didn't work well. Next I tried a sandpaper block and sanded it off. That worked best. I made the word SAVOR on that one. It is my new word of choice that I got from friend Annelle in Taos. I hope to savor the moments from now on. I have used these stamps on some unfinished journal pages. I think you will see them used a lot on work I do in the future.






















I made this booklet from Kelley's blog. She is taking Suzi Blu's journaling class and they made these little books that are called Art Healing Journals. You record your feelings about working on projects and when they are negative you then record something positive to turn it around. i thought it was a great idea so I made one for myself. I followed Kelley's directions and added some beads to the end.

Another thing I am doing is some of the exercises for the Soul Journal at Caspiana I have done some of her ideas before but others are new to me. I especially like the armor pages. If you go look go to her blog make sure to go back to her July entries where she started the journal. It really is worth a look. I am loving all the inspiration I am getting from new blogs I have found recently. I hope you have time to make some Art today.

8 comments:

Lisa said...

Dancing is such a great cure for the blues! Thanks for reminding me. I dance in my car all the time. lol

Olivia said...

I really like your work Kate, the booklet is gorgeous! Your stamp, too, how creative. xxoo, O

Anonymous said...

I LOVE your art journal - really, really love the colors, the little sea shell dangly, and the DRAGONFLY!!! I've been playing with making my own stamps too; I like the name/word idea.

KaiBlue said...

Aloha Kate,
your journal is simply fabbie!! I like rubber stamps but haven't made any yet.. I'll have to have a bash at them now :)
Peace, Kai xx

gma said...

Dancing is such a happy way to start a day. That makes me smile.
I've tried some of the soul journal pages at Caspiana too.
Savor IS a good word.
:-)

Nic Hohn said...

Dance you heart out! And your journal is just beautiful...

Anonymous said...

Woooo! Go Kate! Dance girl!!! Absolutely LOVE the stamps. Just as always your journal is outstanding!!! Thank you for sharing with us Kate!
*HUGS*
Angela

Sharon Tomlinson said...

Hi Kate, Thanks for the shout out. What a grand idea to make a stamp of your "word". I am so going to do that. You know my word is "enough"
Dance away!