Clear polymer squid ... stamps!

A prototype - not in production yet...

New RubberStampMadness Ad - and Stamp Discount

(An edited reposting of an entry originally posted on Jan 30.)

Lost track of time! Just received the Spring 2009 issue of RubberStampMadness, with our newest ad.

Discount Code: The discount code is blurred out here - we want to encourage people to pick up a hard copy of RubberStampMadness - a great magazine. The code is good for 10% off rubber stamps when entered during the checkout process on our site. Although there is no way for savings calculated automatically on our Etsy shop, you can enter the code in the notes section when you check out and we will refund you your savings. (Coupon codes apply only to rubber stamps - mounted or unmounted - and will not work on our eBay shop.)

Stamp Images: Unfortunately, the squid and round geometric design featured in the ad (and probably the reason behind the positive response we've had so far) are not yet available as stamps. (The corner and zig-zag elements are available as part of our Celtic Knotwork Triple Twists sheet.)

Long story as short as possible: We have been testing out processes for creating polymer stamps and had been planning to have those designs come out as our first images in polymer. We experienced some set backs and do not yet have a finalized system.

We will continue to plug away (although it is a busy month and so it will have to be on the back burner for a bit). Once we have a process down, we should be able to get images out at a faster rate and create different sizes to satisfy individual customer requests, etc. We are excited about the possibilities.

In the meantime, we apologize for any disappointment. We certainly did not intend to advertise products that are not yet available.

(We will see how we feel about using (and recommending) the polymer stamps for velvet. I know that there are plenty of people who do use them for these purposes. I want to be sure that there isn't any danger from applying heat to the stamp.)

Artwork in the Ad: Loden put this ad together. For the background he used photo of our embossed velvet pillow, below:

He then layered on images of the corner elements from our Celtic Knotwork Triple Twists as solids in yellow and outlines in red. A layer of semi-transparent blue, then the squid image I made, and the circular design that he created.

Squids

Loden showed me a new way to "clean up" images to prep them for stamp sheets. It is great, but it doesn't seem to have cut down on the time it takes me. Really, much of the time spent is due to the irresistible urge to keep changing little things, here and there. A curve, width or slant of a limb, etc.


This squid image, at least, is done. The images on the left will be the stamp images. The ones on the right are reverse-value to see, roughly, how each stamp would look on velvet or stamped light on dark.

I still have to clean up one more squid image. We have an image of a cuttlefish that will probably be included as well. Between the two of us we also have sea weed, shells, a sand dollar and a horseshoe crab. We will have to play with sizing and layout to see what makes the cut.

Squid, squid, squid, squid, squiddley-squid, squid, squid

Why yes, I'm still fussing with the squid designs.

No - that's not the half of all of the drafts and versions.

Yes, an image so "simple" and "cartoony" should take less time. But the arms and suction cups need to be arranged...

just

so....

hmmm...

Squid-dle-y doo

Drafts

I have been grabbing time here and there to work on an ocean-themed stamp sheet and have been caught up in an image of a squid. Questions about size, detail, how much "artistic license" to take in order to make it work as a velvet or clay stamp. An earlier version had much longer arms, but squid arms are not as long as those of octopi, in relation to the body.

Hope to wrap this up today, as I have many other ocean elements to get to. Want to get sheets into production before the ad comes out in Rubber Stamp Madness.