Stamps and Pens

 These are the new stamps I made after watching a short video on Pinterest. How did I ever manage my life before Pinterest?
The round things are hose washers, from Lowe's and they are pressed onto double sided carpet tape, which in turn is pressed onto some foam that came with thumbtacks, bought ages ago.

My try out samples of the new stamps. The strips were cut from foam sheets which came in a pack of 50, from Wal-Mart.

 

 But this is the real thrill for me. I have been coveting the transparent scribble on deli paper which I saw on Jane Davies' site. I was unable to find anyone selling this paper locally so I went to Amazon and of course there it was. Came in the mail yesterday, to my delight. Just wonderfully transparent, and, yet holds paint without seeping through. And ink too.

 

Just had to stop at Hobby Lobby yesterday, in search of paint that had the topper which makes it writable. I got both black and white. Also got LePen, which has a larger nib and makes broader marks. Sharpie pen works for fine lines, and the best is the Uniball Signo for great white lines. When I ordered that pen I saw that they have them in all colors. But when I got them I was disappointed as the line is so fine that they don't show up on most surfaces. Pooh. I do have the Faber-Castell ink pens with fine brush nibs, and they are permanent, but transparent. Limited uses.

Wal-Mart has a small art supply section and I found this cradled birch board. I could gesso this and paint it, or mount a paper work on it for presentation. That is probably what I will do. For more sizes of wood panels go to Cheap Joes site.

I have 7 panels in 12" square size (Dick Blick) and may try mounting two of my recent paintings (on watercolor paper) and see if they look good enough to offer for sale. 

You know, I didn't want to think about selling paintings at first, since I thought that would inhibit my experimenting, but now that I am over that mental hurdle of discovering what I wanted to do,  if I can mount them and make them look professional, and ready to hang, then I may do just that. 

When I made quilts for people and sent them out, they were ready to hang, no taking them to the framer! ha! I'd like to make that happen for paintings too.