Review of the Stamp Scrap Art Tour

I attended the Stamp Scrap Art Tour (http://www.stampscraparttour.com/) in Rockford, Illinois on March 14, 2009. There were 20 different vendors of stamping, scrapbooking, and card-making supplies. This was the first large show I have attended, and I was greatly pleased. I spent about 4 hours at the tour, and could have easily spent the entire day. There were many make-n-take projects as well as technique demonstrations. The vendors were highly knowledgeable and very friendly.

My main purpose in attending was to meet Wendy Wyman, who owns and is the artist for Repeat Impressions (http://www.repeatimpressions.com/), which is based in Freeport, Maine, and for whom I design cards as a member of her design team. She was busy demonstrating how her "flip stamps" could be used to make really fun interactive cards when I arrived at her booth. She took a few minutes to talk to me and tell me how rubber stamps are made. I was pleased to see several of the cards I had designed on the display boards. It was a pleasure to meet the lady behind all the great stamps.

The booth for Rubber Cottage (http://www.rubbercottage.com/) was very busy. They have beautiful animal and scenic stamps. I bought stamps of a fawn and a bird's nest. There were some other stamps I wanted, but I only had a limited amount of money to spend, and most of it was spent at the Just for Fun booth.

At the Just for Fun (http://www.jffstamps.com/) booth, I watched a demonstration of how to use their faux postage stamp and template to create cards that looked like postage. The demonstrator also explained how to use the same technique to recycle old greeting cards or to add a twist to a photograph. This concept really appealed to me, and I had to buy a faux postage stamp, template, and the decorative postage stamp scissors. I made cards using the stamp and template for my card club and everyone was wild about them. I also bought several unmounted stamps. I have visited their website since my return home, and I have a very long wish list!!

Several people were crowded around the demonstration area at the Stamp On It (http://www.stamponit.net/) booth. The demonstrator there was showing shoppers how to use the Cuttlebug die cut machine. The great thing is, a lot of the dies she was using will work in other die cut machines. She used embossing folders, Spellbinders, and even a brass template for dry embossing. She explained all the various layers you need to build to create a good embossed image when using each of these various methods. She certainly made it look easy and I will be pulling out all those dry embossing templates to try!

The folks at Tessler Stamps/Stencils Co. (http://www.tesslerstamps.com/) were also demonstrating dry embossing using a light box. I really enjoyed seeing the demonstration on using embossing paste. A good tip is to tape your template on the sides and on the top when putting your paste on. To remove the embossing template after you have applied the paste, remove the tape from the sides, and use the piece of tape on the top like a hinge, so you don't have to worry about smearing the embossing paste.

Darcie's Country Folk (http://www.darcie.com/) have some very cute stamps. I sat down to do a make-n-take using shrinky dinks printed with a clip art image from one of Darcie's CDs. This was a really fun technique and I will have to visit the web site to order some shrinky dinks paper.

Sweet Impressions (http://www.sweetstamps.com/) stamps are very romantic and pretty. The demonstration at this booth was embossing on vellum. The stamps on display were mainly unmounted, but I ordered some mounted ones from their website. The stamps are very nice quality.

Stamp La Jolla (http://www.stamplajolla.com/) had a fun make-n-take using twinkling H2Os and sugar dust. They had several beautiful floral designs, and I really like their Christian bookmark stamps.

There were several drawings for $100 throughout the day. It was exciting to hear the cheers when someone's number was drawn. Two huge baskets filled with products were also raffled off.

I had a terrific time at the Stamp Scrap Art Tour and would highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to attend should plan to spend the day...and lots of money!! Be sure to check out their website (http://www.stampscraparttour.com/) to see where their tour will be taking them next.

Welcome To Kim's Keepsakes!!

Welcome to Kim's Keepsakes!!

The first real "keepsakes" I created were some keepsake boxes I made when my children were born. I saved the wrapping paper and gift bags from their baby showers and then cut out images I liked and decoupaged them onto paper mache boxes. The keepsake boxes were the perfect place to store the ultrasound videos, cards, baby hat from the hospital, etc. I made a few more as gifts for some friends and relatives.

I began creating scrapbook pages in 2001. My sister and my mother walked and talked me through making the first few pages, and then I just went wild. I began taking classes, and spending lots of money at local scrapbook stores. I also learned a lot by reading magazines and looking at pre-made scrapbooks on ebay. I got some good ideas and inspiration for my scrapbook pages. One thing I discovered on ebay was the paper bag scrapbook album. It is one of my favorite types of scrapbook albums to make. It is relatively cheap because you just use paper bags, and one sheet of 12'x12" paper gives you 4 scrapbook pages!

I began making hand-stamped cards in 2005 after a lady at church mailed me a card and I discovered she was a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I had seen ads for SU in the scrapbook magazines I was reading, and was looking for a demonstrator. How lucky for me that she lives right up the street! I have learned a lot about stamping from the Stampin' Up group Carolyn teaches, as well as from reading Vamp Stamp News. VSN is a neat magazine that focuses on a different technique each month. Check out their website at http://www.vampstampnews.comI have also dabbled a little with altered art. I like to make collages on notebook covers using up leftovers from my scrapbooking and stamping projects. I also like to alter clipboards and decorate them for use as photo frames.

I entered the Making Memories Magazine Masters Competition for 2009 this summer, but was not selected. I don't think I journal enough on my scrapbook pages. It was still fun to try.

I was selected to join a rubber stamp design team on July 16, 2008. Repeat Impressions of Freeport, Maine, put out a call for designers to their customers. I mailed them a CD of my card designs, and they selected me to be on their team. I am having lots of fun making cards using their stamps. Check out their website and see my gallery at http://www.repeatimpressions.com. If you purchase anything from them, please let them know Kim from Design Team sent you.

I received so many compliments about my scrapbook pages, my cards, and my keepsake boxes, and heard so many people say, "You should sell that", I decided to venture out into the small business world. I am teaching some classes for my town's park district. I have some items in a local shop, so if you ever get to Washington, Illinois, please stop by Holiday Presence on the historic square and see what I have to offer. Won't be coming to Illinois any time soon? I also sell some things in my etsy store on the internet. Visit my shop at http://www.kimskeepsakes.etsy.com and tell me what you think.

If you haven't been there yet, etsy is a site where everything is handmade. If you are a crafter, there are also materials available for sale on etsy. It is a neat site. I shop there a lot, myself. I like to support artists who are using their vision and talent to create something unique and one of a kind, instead of buying one of thousands of the same thing that has been mass-produced. Jewelry is what I mainly purchase from etsy, but that's another blog entirely!!