WOYWW#209 and the really Big Show

It is WOYWW #209 already and I missed #208!!  The big party!  Oh well, I forget what was going on last week, anyone else feel the days whirring by??  I did notice there were lots of stops on the hop:174 that is the most I have seen!  Go Here to Lovely Julia's blog to start or continue the hop: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/  Have fun!

 

And what is on my desk today??  We had the Heirloom Stamp Festival show in town this weekend!  I've been going off and on since the year it started in 1993!  It was really fun to chat with vendors that have been coming since the start, "Stampland" is one, I love their stamps!!

 

I only purchased a few stamps this year that weren't "word" stamps.  I purchased a grab bag of 15 Sentiments for 5.00, I thought well this isn't a big risk, I liked everything the company had, when I got home and stamped them out (they were unmounted cling) I was delighted to add them to my collection, every one was great!! I also purchased 6 sets from our Daily Bread Designs, They were my main reason for going!   The other great tool I purchased was a mega mount, which is leading to my work desk!!

 

The mega mount and is an awesome tool for big back ground stamps!  if you go here to fellow WOYWW'er Lindsay's blog, she did a splendid job covering the show, she video'd awesome demonstrations! http://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/ and there is a demo on this block, but be careful, if you watch it, you may be doing the same thing I am showing here!!

 

 

 

 

Here is the block, I am showing you the back so you can see the handle and the convex edge.  By rolling the stamp you get a beautiful image with very little effort!! If you like back ground stamps, you know how much work they can be, along with the waste of ink and paper with bad impressions!!

I tried the Meaga Block  show and LOVED it!!  So I decided to remove all my big stamps from their blocks and Go For It!!

 

I unmounted 72 big stamps!!

Using the microwave method, I had this done in about 90 minutes!

  I tried to put them in one drawer, but they were crammed in so tight, I couldn't get them out!  They went into a drawer from my storage set/workcounters.

 

 

 

The next issue was ink, they demo'd these with chalk inks and pigment inks.  That was no problem, I have  20 chalk pads and about 30 pigment pads.  But, while they are new they are also too dry to use, Grrrr!!  I have a recipe from Linday's blog (again) on how to make homemade ink for pennies!  yes I am a BIG "Frugal" fan!!  Did I mention I met Lindsay at the show?  She is even more lovely "live" than on her videos!! Any way I had all the stuff to make my inks, but nothing to put them in!  Happily I found the perfect storage container at the Stamp show!!  And it was only 10.00! Now was the time to make the re-inkers!!

18 re-inkers for my chalk pads cost  about 14.00 and that included the containers!  You all know a pigment/chalk reinker sets you back at least 5.00 per color!!

 

 

 

I mixed each shade using Gouche Paints ( opaque watercolor like paints), Mixing them on a acrylic block, matching the color, re-inking the pad- this took me two hours to do.

 

 

 

 

So here is the desk mid production:

 

This looks worse than it was, using diaper wipes helped keep things clean.

 

and 10 minutes  after the last color was mixed:

 

 

 

Really, when I work my room hits tornado phase, but because I have a place for everything, clean up is a snap!!

 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have fun on the hop!!

Ginny M