Swirls and curls, and the case for digital stamping

My big reorganisation is still ongoing, but I managed to clear enough space on my desk to make a card for this week's Tuesday Taggers, the theme being Swirls and Curls. For the first time ever, I've used a digital stamp, the Hero Arts butterfly.

I'd previously bought a few digistamps from other companies because a) I thought I ought to try them and b) I liked the pictures. However, subconsciously I think I was reluctant to use them because they were not "real" stamps. I have thought about it for quite a while now, and come to the conclusion that there are parallels here with digital photography. Many people said originally that digital photography was not real photography. Now, especially with the advent of digital SLRs, even some of the diehard darkroom aficionados have embraced it. Photography has been a great interest of mine for many years but I never had the opportunity to have my own darkroom, so I joined the digital revolution with enthusiasm. I decided that whichever way the image was captured, the end result is what counts.

I think that this argument may also be used with stamping. Whether made with ink and rubber, or ink and printer, the image which appears on the paper is to all intents and purposes the same. It's what you then do with it that matters. This is illustrated very well by Jennifer McGuire in her video on the Hero Arts blog. I watched the video, checked out the Hero Arts digistamps, and that clinched it for me. Apart from being very good value for money (because each digistamp set comes with lots of extras) many of the HA digistamps have rubber equivalents (some of which I already have!), giving lots of scope for combining the two. Also, the digistamps can be resized, so there are endless possibilities.

Inspired by Jennifer's butterfly demo, I coloured mine with Distress inks and then overstamped it (real stamp!) with the HA flourish. To fit the swirls and curls theme, I stamped all over the base card with the flourish from Crafty Individuals (who are sponsoring this week's TT with a great prize!) and then added some swirly background papers from the gorgeous new Papermania Capsule Collection. A Martha Stewart punched border and a few Prima flowers completed the design.

I should add (in fact I'm doing just that!) that "real stamping" will always be my preference, and it's not often that I make anything without some stamping on it. However, digital certainly has its place too; it's just a different way of arriving at the end result, and I think we are very lucky to have so many and varied artforms available to us to create with.

I would be very interested to hear any other views for or against digital stamping!

Halfway through the holidays

We've just had a lovely few days in Dumfries & Galloway, in spite of the rain, visiting places we hadn't been to before. On one day we followed the Galloway Kite Trail around Loch Ken. The trail was formed after the successful re-introduction of red kites to the area. The highlight of the day was seeing 50+ red kites descend on the feeding station at Bellymack Hill Farm. Food is put out there at 2pm every day, but the birds start to arrive before then. Wonder how they know what time it is! It was an amazing sight. Just a pity the weather wasn't better. Note the Scotch mist in the background of the photo! The rain was blowing straight into the hide from where we were watching, and I could only hope my camera would survive the soaking. (So far so good!)




It's always great to get away for a while, but withdrawal symptoms soon set in, so back to the crafting! My first task when I got home was to make a wedding anniversary card for my daughter and son-in-law. It's their 8th this year, traditionally bronze & pottery. I'd been waiting for an opportunity to use a gorgeous background by Lesley Wharton, aka The Paper Engineer, which she generously gave away as a freebie on her blog. The colours seemed just right for the occasion, and it didn't need any more than a few Prima flowers and an image from Crafty Individuals to complete the design.


I'm still trying to use up my existing stash, rather than buying new stuff. It's not working 100%, but I am definitely buying less new and using more old, so I'm considering that a success! I've had some gorgeous Daisy D's papers for ages and have kept getting them out to look at from time to time. They are lovely quality and the most sumptuous colours and designs. Believe me, making the first cut into them was not easy, but I managed it. There are several sheets of each double-sided design in the pack, and so I have decided that if I keep one of each, using the rest should be quite painless. As with the previous card, the papers needed little embellishment. I used three different papers for the background, dividing them with narrow gold peeloffs, and a fourth for the scalloped circle around the greeting. The Spellbinders ribbon tag was made from the reverse side of the scalloped circle paper. Of course, all the papers co-ordinate beautifully. A couple of Prima flowers, and a Craftwork Cards Circle Message finished it off.

Only three more weeks of the hols left.....