Our immediate family has taken a liking to the sport of geocaching, so it was an easy thing to decide on some geocaching kits for Christmas presents. I showed bits and pieces of this project as I as working on it, but now I can finally reveal the whole she-bang.

I started with a stack of hand-bound log books made from recycled cardboard and paper, plus a bit of embroidery floss. I used a Coptic stitch and Japanese stab stitch for the bindings.

Then I carved custom rubber stamps to be used in logbooks as a means of identification. (This is more commonly used in letterboxing but can also be used with geocaching.)

They’re mounted on thin wood blocks.

I stamped some paper to attach to each of the logbooks to personalize them.

I then created some sneaky mini-caches.

And whipped up some pouches to hold the stamps, inkpads, and little pens.

This was really a fun thing to put together. I definitely gained more confidence with my stamp carving, too. Now we’re all set for some serious caching!

I’ve been trying to set aside time once a month to do a page or two of art journaling. For me this really amounts to doodling and writing notes about things that took place that month.

I’m hoping some day I might find the creative energy to take it a little further, but the idea for now is just to keep exercising the creative parts of my brain. I’d like to eventually journal more frequently, too, but given my track record as a horrible journaler, I think this is a fair start.

There are also a couple of wood blocks ready to be turned into stamp mounts. (Thanks to the Huz and our neighbor’s saw for turning some inexpensive unfinished blocks into mounts for me.) Can’t wait until I can show you these stamps!

Boogie on over to Kirsty’s for more creative spaces!

I’m working on carving some rubber stamps this week. In my usual fashion, I’m attempting something that’s a little beyond my reach. I haven’t practiced enough to be good at fine detail or small designs, but that’s exactly what these are. It’s a practice-on-the-spot sort of thing.

I’m getting a little tired of doing the same design over and over, but I’m determined to get it right. (And I think I’m getting there.) These will be part of some Christmas gift sets as well.

There’s more creative determination and do-it-as-you-go at kootoyoo, as always!

New decorative sewing pins required …

… new paper packages, which required …

… little card stock “stickers,” which required a new hand-carved stamp.

I printed way more than I need at the moment because I have ideas for other ways to use them. I’m still snipping them all out.

The packages are matchbook style and made of double-sided card stock that I had forgotten I’d bought and discovered while looking through my papers. I stapled pieces of white felt into them for holding the pins and attached the “stickers” with a little bit of double-sided tape to cover the staple on the front. They overlap the edge of the bottom flap a little to look almost like a clasp.

Being inventive and resourceful to meet needs can be fun, but it can suck up an awful lot of time. That’s sometimes the trouble with creating, isn’t it? You just keep creating and creating and creating….

Back to snipping. Busy, busy, little bee!

(Find more humming creative spaces at kootoyoo.)

With shop updates comes the need for packaging supplies. Since I finally managed to add some things to the shop, I also found myself creating some functional items, like display cards for brooches and envelopes for card sets.

I actually enjoy this part of the process. I like being able to be creative in order to achieve a purpose, a useful goal. And this was all about expanding the designs I already have in place and making them work in a new way.

Along that vein, I thought I might share how I make my tags and business cards, just for kicks. It’s a simple process that requires minimal effort and expense—just the way I like it!

First, I use a business card template in Microsoft Word, simply adding my shop name and web info to it. A standard business card is just the right size for my tag design. I use my own personal font, aptly named “Gretchetto,” that I created with a free online program. (It doesn’t actually look like my real handwriting when the letters are all strung together, but I like it anyway.)

Then I print the page on pre-cut business cards that my hubby has had sitting around for ages. I’ll probably switch to regular old card stock and cut them myself when I run out of the pre-cut version, depending on what works out to be cheaper.

After separating them all, I’ve got a nice little stack of cards waiting for the final touch. I ink up my hand-carved large cloud stamp (seen in my header above, as well), and place it on the table ink-side-up. Then I center my cards face down over the stamp, carefully place them onto the stamp, and rub gently to transfer the ink.

(I used to do this the other way ’round, with the stamp being placed onto the card, but I found I can be more accurate in my layout if I put card to stamp instead.)

Once finished with the printing, I leave some of the cards as-is for business cards, and I cut the rest into cloud shapes, of course using the print as a guide. I feel more crafty when I use my X-acto to cut the clouds, but sometimes I settle for scissors, as I’m faster that way.

I punch holes in each side of the tag with a 1/16″ punch, thread some twine from front to back on one side, back to front on the other. Tie a bead onto each side of the cloud, twist around a package, and voila! I like that the process is relatively fast, thanks to the printer, but still retains a touch of handmade, thanks to the personalized font and the stamp.

I also use a similar method to create stickers for closing up envelopes that keep my hand-embroidered greeting cards safe until they reach their new owners. (The envelopes are made of waxed paper cut to size and closed up with a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine.)

I love simple, pretty packaging, don’t you? Especially when it costs virtually nothing and makes use of or resuses items you’ve got on hand. Now I just need to keep myself busy making the things for wrapping up in that packaging!

EDIT: I’d almost forgotten: My Creative Space is back! Pop over to kootoyoo to play along and say hello to Kirsty! I’ve run out of time to visit everyone tonight, but it’s on my list for tomorrow. See you then!

I used some Asian-inspired stamps that my mom got for me at a yard sale. I believe they’re Stampin’ Up brand. And then I used my sewing machine to add a simple border by stitching around the image twice. I embellished the inside of the card and put one little stamp on the envelope as well.

This card didn’t take long, but it still took thought and care, and I hope that shows. All too often we wait until people are leaving to tell them that we appreciate them, and I’m guilty of that in this case. I figured at the least I could tell them now, and show them in my own way with a handmade card.

When I started dreaming up ideas for my move to this new web address, part of the process included sketching ideas for a new banner. I knew that I wanted something that displayed some of my handicrafts and that was (hopefully) fun and interesting to look at. One evening I finally came up with the banner you see today: a drawing composed of prints made by hand-carved rubber stamps and some embroidery. It was the perfect blend of my current passions.

So I needed to carve some stamps. The thought bubbles, or clouds if you please, are simple designs, but I think they still demonstrate an improvement in my carving skills. I drew four different sizes onto Speedball Speedy Cut and used my Speedball carving tool to get them into shape. They came together pretty quickly, which is a good thing for me in these days of minimal crafting time.

Then came time to carve the thoughtful girl, and I wasn’t sure if I was quite ready for something a little more complex. It’s still easy when compared to some of the amazing things being carved out there on the interwebs, but for me it was the next step up. I have to say it went really well, and I was ridiculously pleased with my end result. I think it gave me a little boost of confidence for trying to tackle something more detailed next time.

I think part of the reason I’m drawn to embroidery and stamp carving is because they both employ something I’ve always done: drawing. It’s something I’m reasonably good at, and when I can take my drawings one step further by turning them into a stitched piece or a stamp, I reach a new level of satisfaction. Considered me quite satisfied with this one.

Right now I have so many ideas for both stamps and embroideries floating in my thought bubbles that I’m feeling stalled by the glut of inspiration. At some point I’m just going to have to stop daydreaming and start doing!

I’ve also started to use my new stamp carving tools, but I haven’t gotten very far thanks to a jumpy, bumpy toddler and a busier-than-usual schedule. Before I started with the new tools, I did get in some more practice on pink erasers with varying results.

The first one was still very crude.

I was winging it, just using an X-Acto and basically slicing away rubber where I didn’t want it to print. I had no clue as to technique and wasn’t sure how to achieve the carved look that I so admire. (That’s half the beauty of the stamps, I think.) Despite all that, I still found it quite satisfying to have that lovely, stampy look when I was done.

Then I read some more tutorials, especially one with info geared toward using an X-Acto. That’s when the lightbulb flashed on. I’m not sure I can explain it all that well, but I realized that all I needed to do was use the X-Acto to cut out the same sort of shape that a carving tool would, which would take two cuts as opposed to one. Aha!

My first try was pretty clumsy. I hate how crumbly it is, and I accidentally sliced the rubber in some places I didn’t mean to.

Then I started to get the hang of it.

The tree is my favorite, and oh, do I ever have plans for more. I’m eyeing up several good doodles in my sketchbook. So far I have no real use for the stamps, as I am not really much of a stamper, but that doesn’t seem to matter. I can’t help myself!

P.S. Head over to Ravenhill for an awesome double giveaway! Her projects are always beautiful, and she’s been featured in one of my favorite magazines!

I discovered this craft through some of my blog browsing and found myself fascinated with it. I tried to resist, but I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. I’ve been thinking about it and bookmarking tutorials and even bought some erasers, which is recommended as a cheap material for beginners to practice with.

Until yesterday, though, I hadn’t done anything with them because, well, there’s the little matter of all my time being used up already, but also because I was a little afraid to start. Yesterday, though, the urge was just too strong, so, using a Sharpie, I drew a simple design on an eraser, got out the X-Acto knife, and started carving.

It definitely took a while for me to get the “feel” of the carving, which is why the finished result is pretty crude and a little messy (crumbly), but I did eventually get it and started to really enjoy it. I have some practicing to do, and I have not-so-quietly hinted that I would really like carving tools for my birthday, but I don’t think it’s too bad for a first try. Now if I could just carve myself a few extra hours in every day….