“Leave your imprint on the world… but think hard about the kind of imprint!”
We can make so many… the environment, our loved ones, society, etc.
For my background I used Daniel Smith tube watercolors – they were dried up on a palette and I wanted to use them up before they went bad. Then I made some marks – triangles, dots etc. – with Posca markers. I was really just playing around and it felt good.
For a focal point I stamped my Row Houses foam stamp with acrylic paint.
The printed portion of the quote is from tissue paper that was part of the packaging of some shoes I bought and I liked it… but then thought a bit deeper about the implication of the quote and wanted to add that too.
When I designed my Neato foam stamp, it was part of a suite of designs all based on some mid century modern stamp rollers I found in a vintage shop. I named all the patterns after slang words from the 1950’s and for the most part they were pretty abstract designs… except Neato just always reminds me of a fish LOL!
It’s kinda funny when you make a bunch of patterns and they really are just non-representational forms… but the more you work with them and get to know them they start to represent something. This is definitely what happened here and I am not alone either – a lot of you out there have seen the resemblance Neato has to a fish and I love that! We are on some similar mixed media wavelengths here :)
One of the first projects I made with Neato were these fish-themed Valentines. I hope you like puns too because I came up with a surprising amount of them… and I bet there are even more out there!
My Creative Squad got in on it too – in this art journal page Maura Hibbitts created an underwater scene using Neato and even an element from my Batik stencil to emphasize that sleek fishy body.
Marsha Valk created a series of cards and collage papers featuring Neato as a fish too, and she admitted it was hard to not add an eye to the stamped design haha.
But ok, maybe Neato doesn’t have to be a fish if that’s not what you are looking for… in fact I really like using it as a border in an art journal spread!
Neato can be just another abstract design that you can use as a tool for mark making in your artwork. In the above I combined it with my Far Out and the back of my Space Oddity foam stamps to create a more complex pattern.
And finally here is my friend Kim from one of our playdates where we used Neato and other foam stamps to make shrink film earrings – pretty Neato accessories if I do say so myself.
So whether you see a fish or just a cool looking design, I will of course never get tired of seeing just how you use my Neato foam stamp! Tag me and share your projects with me, fishy or not :)
A bonus project from Riikka Kovasin from my Creative Squad for you today :) I think this card is super cute with the Hydrant foam stamp as the focal point on top of Grove St (for some extra oomph) and the message “You are the best”!
Here is from Riikka:
“I’m not totally sure how a person could be the best hydrant, but I still thought that the Hydrant would make a great focal point in a card! The shape is really captivating, don’t you think? Maybe it’s more like the hydrant looks like number one? Or that it doesn’t have anything to do with the sentence! “
“Where the art journal page was layered with different mediums, this card is more straight forward. There’s only different inks used in this card. Oh, and some pencil scribbles. The background is done using Archival Inks. First I stamped the circle (another ArtFoamies, Grove Street) and then added some yellow patterns around using a stencil. The focal point, the “Hydrant”, is stamped using Distress Ink and it’s actually from a try out sheet I did after getting the stamps. You might have seen that on my Instagram Reels.”
Thank you Riikka – I think anyone would be honored to be called the best hydrant LOL
Give it a try: you can find all my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the supplies Riikka used:
Riikka Kovasin from my Creative Squad shared this beautiful and bright art journal page last week and we are in love with the colors and composition. She used my new Row Houses and Brownstone foam stamps front and center.
As Distress Ink is activated with water, I first cut the try out sheet into smaller piece, fitting inside my journal. I then used a wet brush to color the whole cardstock using the stamped images. On top I then layered some Izink ICE and then some acrylic paint covering parts of the buildings in the background. I cut the two buildings loose and added them to the page. There’s also some white scribbles, splashes and a sun/moon done using another try-out – a piece of synthetic paper with alcohol inks. “
Thank you Riikka for sharing this page!
Give it a try: you can find all my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the supplies Riikka used:
For this spread I used my new foam stamps and acrylic paints. These were actually all kinds of test stamp sheets for our product photos but I loved the vibrant colors and thought it would be fun to layer them up.
I was journaling just random thoughts on why I love living in a city.
Here is Church and Row Houses too. I just layered them as I wanted and then added a double sided adhesive to the back and cut where the journal fold is so it would be easy to open and close.
How about a little Love Story? Once upon a time an artist named Nat was introduced to ArtFoamies foam stamps and fell hard for this mixed media tool – she even became a designer of foam stamps and the rest is history!
Haha ok that’s just the short version but today I’m here to talk about my special Love Story foam stamp that I made for Creative JumpStart this past year. It’s a limited edition foam stamp and it’s only available through the end of 2021 so time is running out if you haven’t gotten one yet. Let’s see some of the cool projects inspired by it this year:
My Creative Squad got to play with this stamp in January this year and I love Maura’s Color Story project here where she used the Love Story foam stamp as if it were stained glass with paint and collage. Pretty cool way to make the design pop and to use up some collage papers too!
Robin used Love Story to create this mini book project about her love of gardening. She used elements of the stamp as little peek-a-boo doors into her garden and all the wonderful things she grows there.
Jordan worked in her art journal and used Love Story as the backdrop and facing page design to help her tell the story of her journey as an artist. You can see how she builds this composition in the original post here.
Emilie created a gorgeous piece of art for her son’s room with Love Story and we just love how she used white embossing powder and watercolor with the stamp. See how it comes together in this post.
I like to take elements from the Love Story foam stamp and collage them into an art journal page as I have in this spread. Isn’t it crazy how just a few simple shapes can still tell a story?
And finally here is Love Story in a simple but bold arrangement with a couple of my Mini Motifs foam stamps too. Just black ink and water soluble crayons and ta-da – pretty nifty design for this art journal page.
Just a few of these stamps are left here in my shop so hurry in and start telling your Love Story too!
Happy Monday and welcome to another pattern in my big vintage ledger! Today I’m using one of my newest foam stamps – Hydrant! I kept it simple and stamped the front and back – sometimes the back of the stamp is an interesting shape on its own.
Here is a look at the finished pattern and the Hydrant stamp that I used:
“It’s scary when things change. It’s scary when things stay the same.”
Isn’t that the truth.
For this spread I just stamped with different versafine stamp pads using my new Foam Stamps like the Church. I also used some of my other stamps like the Solid Triangle Small from Triangle Love and the Fan-fare rubber stamp set.
I filled in some of the details with markers like here in the Brownstone foam stamp.
And here is the Powerhouse foam stamp with some details highlighted.
Here is a tip – After using ink, clean your stamps with water and a soft brush to make sure ink does not transfer to your next project or other inkpads.
You get such a clear and complete image when you stamp.
I have had some luck using Julie’s suggestion to stamp with a mat underneath, but I still get bothered by incomplete images.
Maybe it’s the “perfect” side of my brain. I continue to strive to let go. Nice new set of stamps Nat!
My latest ArtFoamies foam stamp designs are released today! I am excited about this grouping as some are familiar and others are newly inspired by my Stroll Through the Hood walks and paintings :)
First let me introduce some of those newbies:
First up is Row Houses – a neighborhood scene of 4 lovely houses, all lined up and full of architectural detail. This is based on my “Neo Greek to Me” painting and a spot in my neighborhood that always catches my eye.
Next up is Church – inspired by St. John’s Church in my hood and my painting “Where is Tiffany” that considers the whole story behind that building.
Next we have a familiar face – Lady Liberty – from my Stroll through the Hood rubber stamps but this one is BIG and BOLD. I am already loving how it has a street art vibe to it.
Hydrant is another that first made its debut in my Stroll Through the Hood rubber stamps. It’s such a fun design that I thought it’d be perfect as a BIG foam stamp too.
Powerhouse is another familiar one and this one I’m excited about because it is almost the same size as the rubber stamp version. You can use them together for an offset print. Pretty cool, eh?
And finally, Brownstone – another favorite from the Stroll rubber stamps too and again, similar in size to the rubber stamp version so lots of layering fun is possible!
I can’t wait to play more with these designs and share some of my projects. I’m digging how bold they are and am thinking about some future play date projects on other surfaces. In the meantime, I hope you check out the new foam stamps here and get inspired too!
Riikka, I so love these colors and the page and the moon!!
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