High school chemistry meets stamp room

Hello!  We have a new scanner and I am still working out the kinks of uploading and editing.  This was done in the Paint application, so very basic editing capabilities. I think I managed to save a lot of white space along with the picture. My apologies for the crookedness. My old editing software had a straightening function, which this one doesn't.

A friend of mine asked for some custom thank you cards, including one for a techie sort of fellow. I don't have any techie stamps, so I went with a science theme instead.  I figured that a techie person would have taken at least some science courses. Just like crafty people tend to like lots of different crafts. Also, I have been watching a lot of Big Bang Theory, and if Sheldon & Co are anything to go by, people like that appreciate any science-related effort at all from muggles.

So, here we have it.  I started by swiping some Izink pigment ink on a piece of marl paper using a baby wipe (colours: cactus, bamboo, turquoise, iris, topaz). Then, I used a bubbly Dylusions stencil to rub in some different shades of gelatos for my molecules.  Once I had a pleasing arrangement of little happy atoms, I connected them using a ruler (!) and the writing tip of a beige Tombow marker.  I kept adding lines and atoms until it looked nice and moleculey.  Next, I stamped the periodic table (Indigo Blu) with Versafine Onyx Black ink and added some framing lines with a black pen and ruler.  I adhered the panel to black linen, and then to a teal card base, which I edged in Tide Pool shadow ink (Hero Arts). For the sentiment, I stamped the same image on white paper and cut out the various letters. Unfortunately, no one has decided to abbreviate any elements with just the letter A.  There are lots of A-somethings, so I picked one and painted over the extra letter with opaque white Copic ink.  I added some other splotches of the white on the other letters to make it look more grungy, and less obvious.  I guess "cooking my results" like that will prohibit this effort from successful peer review, but it could never be successfully replicated either.  It will have to be a one-time experiment!  I found some great dotted scrapbook paper in my stash, a bit grungy with different coloured circles of different sizes. It made the perfect envelope!

I hope this techie person likes it!  I am pleased with the result and can see myself enjoying using this periodic table stamp from time to time.  It brings back memories of high school and Mr Taylor, my high school chemistry teacher.  I can see that classroom perfectly in my mind's eye, with the green chalkboards on two walls, the rows of lab benches at the back, the fume cupboard and sinks, and the bunsen burners and the smells of all the different things we'd make.  I did enjoy chemistry quite a bit.
How about you?  Any fond memories of high school?

Jake's birthday card

Hello!  No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I have just had a bit of a dry spell in the stamp room.  I've done some knitting, and reading, and some Bible art journalling, but not a lot of stamping.  However, when a special boy turns 10, I had to get inky!

I used the My Favorite Things combination set of letters and cutting die (Vanity License Plate) to make the focal panel.  It's stamped in Deep Lagoon Fluid Chalk Ink and I added the top and bottom words with some snap-together letter stamps. I also edged the license plate with some coordinating Copic marker (BG97 I think) I inked it with versamark (should have heat set first - it smudged - grr) and embossed with several layers of ultra think embossing enamel (UTEE).  It's very shiny and looks like a brand new license plate.  The various accent layers are from the Wander collection (BasicGrey) and all the papers are edged in Memories Art Print Brown. I used my corner rounding punch (small) to round the edges of the main panel to go with the rounded edges of the license plate.  The card base is Crushed Curry (Stampin' Up).  I felt the card needed an accent of some sort, so I fussy-cut some little cars and a bus from a scrap of paper and popped them up, and brushed them with clear Wink of Stella.  I don't think it made the card too girly for Jake.

It was fun to get back into the stamp room.  I will have to clean it up and get back there more regularly.  I felt a bit rusty making this and I miss my ink and rubber! I think what it is is that my job has gotten very interesting in the last year and I have been really engaged and interested there, which has meant that I am more tired when I get home and needing less to "fill up" my "contentedness reservoir" with stamping.  Not a bad reason, I suppose!  It's nice to feel like I enjoy my job.

The other thing that happened in our household that has taken priority in a good way is this little fellow.  Introducing Finnegan!  He's a shih tzu-cocker spaniel mix and we got him on Labour Day weekend when he was 11 months old.  He's a full-time cutie and part-time criminal mastermind, specializing in aerial acrobatics and petty thievery. He has stolen all our hearts and we can't imagine how we ever got by without him. This is a picture of him from the fall, when he really loved roaring around the backyard and jumping in and out of leaf piles.  He would do big laps and sail off the top step of the deck (top of three shallow steps, don't worry) into an enormous pile of maple leaves.