killing a bit of time with a friend yesterday, we fetched our craft supplies, watched some youtube videos and quickly crafted our first pop-up cards! doing one has been on my 101 list for some time, and it wasn’t nearly as tricky as i had thought it would be.
once you grasp the basics, it’s just a matter of cutting, folding and gluing in the right places.
maybe something to incorporate into our tradition of unusual christmas cards? :)
so, on my second time at stempel-medina earlier this year, i wanted to do something with postcards. it’s the perfect format for a small project, and being that i am immersed in them everyday, i thought they might be useful. i had a huge amount of gifted stamps at hand, many of which were art-related, but i wasn’t sure how to use them… until i saw these tourist rubber stamps. i grabbed them, and got to work on these little museum scenes:
i rubber stamped the little guys, watercolored them, and then used my super sharp scissors to painstakingly cut their shapes. then, i assembled them in the little scenes, adding the stamps and some background paper. it took way too long, but i quite like the results. :)
twice a year, in a quiet isolated hostel in the middle of germany, a group of 50 women comes together for a long weekend. they drive in from all over the country and have been doing this pilgrimage for years, way before internet and facebook-organized events. some heard about it on local shops, others through ads posted on newspapers… they responded to the initial call and just kept coming back. in their daily life, they quietly nurture their common passion on the side of their jobs and family life. but on these special weekends, they load their car trunks to the brim with all sorts of magical tools and drive here, for uninterrupted me-time with their hobby. they’re passionate rubber stampers.
i received an invitation from the meeting organizer earlier this year, and have attended two of these events now. on the first one i was stumped… so baffled in fact that, despite being familiar with the concept of stamping, i did not touch a single rubber stamp the whole weekend. instead, my mind reeled with questions… who were these people? and what universe was this, filled with speciality inkpads and ink sprays, textured paper, calligraphy nibs, embossing tools and sharp scissors that cut through glue without getting ruined? my mind was overwhelmed, as if i had stepped into a different world altogether, one i knew nothing about. i felt like richard discovering london below for the first time.
they welcomed me, the stranger with bulging eyes and raised eyebrows, and told me it was normal, and that i would come back someday. sure enough, a few months later, i was packing my own suitcase with my meagre stamping possessions and taking the train down to bielefeld. this time, i came prepared – i had questions, ideas, and a better grasp of the german language. and so we stamped, we talked, we crafted, we laughed. i’ve learned a thing or two about rubber stamping, but especially about how life is about these smaller moments when you get out of your comfort zone and embrace mysterious new worlds. now, i guess i’m a rubber stamper myself :)
the downside of moving to other countries is the things we have to leave behind. (if i were in charge, there would be a special travelling discount for people moving to new places, as well as ilimited luggage allowance. *humpf* )
but since i’m not in charge (yet!), some of my favourite things are still in portugal – like my negatives, books, crayons, stamps*… and knitting needles. in a lucky quirk of fate though, i found a great place here to buy them: arlyna’s closet. arlyna, together with her husband, own a very nice design company here in shanghai and in her spare time, she does all sorts of crafty things, which she sells in her shop. my favourite are the bamboo knitting needles, but there are also stitch markers, pouches, bags, etc.
give it a look!
also, check out these knit night cupcakes, from vegan yum yum. aren’t they just soooo irresistably cute? :D
* i took care of the stamps part today, in a local stationery shop. less than an euro for the full alphabet, numbers and a stamp pad. :)