Sunday sale

You guys were right (and had some cute ideas) the mysterious green item was a vintage carousel for rubber stamps. I use my stamps for adding my name and copyright on the back of my illustrations and for adding the return address for packages and letters.

If you'd like to try it yourself I found a great place online called Simon's Stamps. You can preview your image online and once you've approved it they will make up a stamp and mail it to you. So easy! I love mine.

Just a reminder, the Hunt & Gather trunk show is this Sunday at the workroom from noon - 5pm. It also happens to be my birthday. I've made some new colourful phone cosies, and lots of pretty earrings which would make a very nice Mother's Day gift. I also have lots of fabric scrap packs and mixed-up button grab bags. See you there!

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Working materials

I received my new "needle book" labels! I've wanted some for a while and looked around at other people's blogs to see what they had and where they ordered it from. I finally settled on namemaker.com, based on the price, delivery time and existing templates that I could use with nice styles. They were featured in Martha Stewart and if it's good enough for Martha it's good enough for me. (Hmm, I wonder how often people say that? Well I googled it and there's only three of us that I can see. I would have expected more than that.)

Nancy from Sew Nancy asked where I bought mine a while ago, so sorry for the delay replying. One tip I found for Canadians is that they charge more to deliver to a home address, so if you can have them delivered to your office you can save there. This is what they look like when you receive them, rows of three labels held together with tape:
I ordered two batches (brown text on white), the other ones are the same but on a wider tape for larger items, those go on bags and pouches. These go on my needle books.
Another great item for your craft business, are rubber stamps. I have two now, I was so happy with the first one I ordered another. The first one I bought is for stamping my info and copyright onto postcards. I created lineart of one of my illustrations in Illustrator then added the text and uploaded to the site. The stamps are very nice quality and you can buy your own ink for them in any colour. These were from Simon's Stamps. The site is so great, you can upload your image yourself and preview it and do it a few times until you're happy with it and then you place your order. I think the prices are very reasonable too.
The second stamp I bought was for a reply address with a new lineart version of a recent watercolour. This is so useful I can't tell you, I used to print out colour labels with an illustration on them but it became an extra chore when sending packages. Of course you can just write your address, or print labels with the text only but where's the fun in that?

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7 Random Things About Me

I got tagged a while ago by Khadija and didn't get around to it (until now). I think I was thinking about it too much. So here it is, finally,

7 Random Things About Me

1. I am hooked on Bubbleblaster. When I'm planning my day in the morning I play Bubbleblaster and kind of space out and make mental lists. I like video games where you don't have to think and can just stack and group things which then disappear with a satisfying little noise. This is why the only game I ever played before Bubbleblaster was Tetris - it took a long time to wean myself off that! Then Bradley introduced me to Bubbleblaster.2. One of my all-time favourite shows is "To the Manor Born". It used to be on Tuesdays at lunchtime when I first started freelancing and I would actually run and turn the t.v. on. I even wrote it in my datebook so I wouldn't miss it. It's not on anymore but Bradley bought the dvd for me. In case you didn't know, it's a 1970s British sitcom about a widow who is forced to sell her estate after her husband's death and continues to live nearby. It's hard to explain why, but the bossy main character is just so funny and lovable.
3. My children's book illustration hero is Beatrix Potter. I think her artwork is magical, and have ever since I was very little and was captivated by Squirrel Nutkin and Miss Tiggywinkle. When the movie "Miss Potter" came out I rushed to see it. I thought it was so beautiful and generally wonderful that I actually got teary.4. I'm a sugar addict. I love cupcakes, what am I saying, all cake, cookies, puddings (all kinds), pie, jam, fruit, ice cream and chocolate bars. Preferably with some kind of nuts and/or caramel. I'm the person over the age of 9 that still wants cotton candy when I go to theme parks.
5. I love small kits. Compact containers with little things in them that are useful. I once bought the survival sardine can at a camping store. It's a sealed sardine can with everything you need in a survival situation, such as firestarting cube, matches, hook for fishing, small candy (to keep the spirits up (see #4) and string, etc. I had to open it up, and then added a miniature copy of The Arabian Nights so I would have something to read and resealed it all in a small tupperware container.
6. I read all the time. I'm currently reading "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and I have to say I'm a bit shocked. Not because it's shocking now, so to speak, but I keep imagining what they must have thought of it in 1928. Incidentally because I'm a children's book illustrator I don't put any racy content on my blog. So if you're a parent you don't need to worry.
7. I collect bird stamps. I started collecting stamps when I was little, then stopped for around 27 years. Then recently I found a collection of used bird and flower stamps at Goodwill. I loved the vintage illustrations and I bought a couple of lots on ebay. I don't mind if they're used stamps so it's very inexpensive. I spent a few evenings soaking stamps to peel off the bits of envelope on the backs and it took me right back to cosy times doing the same thing while sitting at our kitchen table when I was little. This post has some pictures of some of my favourites.

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