It’s very common for us to take a stamp and push it down onto the pad many times until it’s soaked with ink. Those were the olden days but it’s a common practice and my stamps need to be able to take the aggression. Stamp pads and rubbers nowadays require little ink. As long as you can cover the surface, you’ll get a good impression. Polymer stamps (clear clings) especially does not take hard pressure and prefer just a little ink.

Nowadays, for big size stamps especially, I’d like to have the stamp face up and reverse the action by pressing the pad onto the stamp rather than the traditional stamp to pad. This allows for even pressure as well as a visual for you to know how much ink has been applied onto the rubber.

This technique has proven to be very effective for big images such as this one:

The background stamp is just a bit smaller than the A2 size card so I had to stamp the paper a few times but I used the backwards stamping technique described above to get the ink to cling.

What’s your tip? Feel free to share.

Option 1: Laser Engraved Items from Etchy Things. (Stamps, Clothespins, Jewelry)

custom stamps

custom earrings

custom bamboo pendant

Option 2: Paper Crafts from Myoga Craft Cave (Cards, Die Cuts, Deco Tape, Coin Envelopes etc)

Choose from a variety of die cuts or gift tags

cupcake wrappers

Prizes will not be exactly as shown above but you’ll have the opportunity to pick option 1 or 2 at checkout or when you’re contacted as the 100th buyer!

Please share this with those who love handmade and once again good luck!

Myoga Studio's Craft Show at Make It Vancouver 2012

Myoga Studio 100th sale Giveaway

In celebration of my two humble stores on Etsy reaching its 100th sale (83 sales total currently), I’m hosting a giveaway to the 100th customer. (Doesn’t matter if it’s on Myoga Craft Cave or Etchy Things).

Buyer can be anywhere in the world (Free shipping to Canada or US and additional shipping to cover the difference if International sale). Prize giveaway will be determined in the next week or so.. please subscribe to get the latest feeds!

Good luck and please tweet or pass this along. Thank you!

Iron Man

This costume took over 500hrs to build and takes about half hour to put on. Originally, we wanted to get it done for last halloween but due to other on-going projects, about 70% was completed and we were left to look forward to when Avengers come out so we can have this pre-party.

Costume lights up in the eyes, hands and chest. LEDs of course. We got excellent feedback from our friends who were able to stay for the debut. Electra and Gambit also showed up and we were able to get a group photo! Speech bubbles are always a must at superheroes party. These signs were handmade from chalkboard vinyl and cardboard. Awesome props!

Iron Man & Black Widow

Super Heroes Party

Speech Bubbles for Gamit & Electra

Pow & Bang Chalkboard Bubbles

I made this stamp for our party so I can stamp everyone’s hand with it!

This are made with laser engrave-able rubber and fit into an upcycled dowel of 0.5″ inches.

Dowel has been sanded, routed for handling and sealed for protection against splitting.

Perfect for any awesome occasion such as:
* invitation cards
* entrance stamp
* party favors
* parties
* scrapbooking

Avengers Logo for the Fan in You

Just 10 days away from Make It Vancouver. This is one of the more popular craft shows, I think, in Vancouver for a reasonable table price. For someone, like me, who’s newer in craft shows, I think this will be great exposure for my local business.

Some of the items I will be selling are currently not on the website because I want it to be a surprise… although I hope people will really like it!

I’m giving away several of my new products as part of my Giveaway and promotion. Hope to see you there!

12 fun projects

I receive updates from different Arts & Crafts newsletters and happen to come across this e-book download for $0.10!
The offer is for Best of Stringing Weddings eBook from . From now until April 12th, 2012 11:59CDT is such a great deal and I wouldn’t mind contributing my $0.10 to this website.

But in case you’ve missed the offer, I am posting it here:

BOSTR_Weddings

Meow Meow

Where we stayed, the family owns 6 cats. 4 grey, 1 orange and 1 black & white cat! Needless to say, it took a few days to remember their names and to recognize which is which. All of them with very different personalities and needs. All of them were adorable and friendly. As with our host and his family, they were adorable too!

Barney the Donkey

One of our favorite things to do in the morning was to walk to the local Donut shop. They served Kona Coffee, a Hawaiian blend, which is rare to find in Canada. We would bring back pastries and coffees and walk to visit Barney, the local donkey down the street. Barney was a funny little donkey as it is attracted to the color black and would run to you if he notices your black clothing or in my case, my black hair.

Universal Studio Hollywood

We also made a trip to the Universal Studios in Hollywood and visited movie and TV sets as well as went on the Mummy ride and watched Water World. It was an overcast day and by nightfall, it got pretty windy I thought I was back in Vancouver.
Our pass is good for a year so we’ll be back to visit the new attraction: Transformers 3D.

Sunset at the Pier in LA

The pier was also a very magical place to visit in LA. The beach and ocean are so beautiful and everyone there seemed chilled and good natured. It’s too bad we got there a bit late because all the rides were closed and plus the weather again wasn’t too warm to stick around. Frank got a very nice photo of the sunset. He also surprised me by proposing which I definitely did not expect. I said yes!

Black & White Lamborghini

Another reason to visit LA was to see and take a ride on their Lamborghinis. Of course, we got a lot of attention at every stop. It was a beautiful sunny day – finally! and we rode around town and stopped to enjoy some Mexican food. I had an Ahi Tuna Taco. Not bad at all!

Yum Cha Cafe at LA Chinatown

On our last day, we stopped by Chinatown LA just before going to the airport. The first place we saw was “Yum Cha Cafe” and I couldn’t stop laughing at the sign. If you know Chinese, you’ll know what I mean and why I laugh.

Now I don’t feel so bad for ranting. It’s not really me ranting, it’s just my attitude towards you (it).

Alternatively, I’ve saved a PDF here as well so feel free to download it here.
EASYCARDS_Q12011DIGI