Friday, June 11, 2010

One new stamp, and five on the way!

It's been over a week since my last entry, and a while since I've updated with any new designs. I have a few new things in the works, as I received some new charms in the mail today, but they're not ready to share yet. I do have a bracelet that I will soon be talking about here, and if you're a Facebook fan you've already seen it (if you aren't a Facebook fan, see my previous entry for details). It's a wicked dragon wraparound cuff, but because it deserves its own blog entry I will save it for tomorrow.

Tonight's entry is all about design stamps. These little stamps are what makes hand stamped jewelry so much fun. Design stamps usually run about $10 plus shipping, and are available in all sorts of designs. I always have a hard time resisting the urge to buy new stamps, and I've given in to temptation this week and bought six new stamps for my growing collection.

The first stamp I bought is a spiral finial stamp, and it's a fancy little thing that I will be using to decorate some of my nicer pieces. I have an anniversary gift to make this week so I will be breaking it in very soon. I've been looking forward to buying this stamp for a while now, so it's great to finally have it in my arsenal. Here's a pic of the stamp:


Isn't it gorgeous? It's one of the nicest stamps I've seen, for sure.

So now, I am currently the proud owner of these stamps (all of which are available to be used for custom jewelry requests): a princess tiara, leaf, heart, tiny heart, heart with wings, tiny star, fleur de lis, two baby feet, scroll, wavy line with dots, gift bow, flame, tear/petal shape, bird #1, bird #2, apple, and the new finial stamp.

The other five stamps that I have bought this week are not as fancy as this one, but they are just as wonderful. This is because the stamps are hand crafted and one of a kind. They are squiggly wave-like designs of differing sizes that can't be bought elsewhere, and I just couldn't pass them up. They were made by a man named John who created his own stamps by hand grinding, sawing or filing the ends of old Allen wrenches, cold chisels, and screwdrivers. These tools are made of very hard metal, which is hard as heck to put a nick in, much less shape and design. I can only imagine the work that went into these five stamps, and the many others that John made. Here is a picture of them:


Isn't that amazing? I would love to have the chance to sit and look through that whole batch of designs. It would be like Christmas morning to this aspiring metalworker. :)

Anyway, when John recently passed away, he left his stamps and several books full of amazing designs to his good friend Nik, who is planning to publish the designs into a book and is slowly selling the stamps to others who will use them. As you can see, the stamps have a real history, so I am proud to be the new owner to a handful of them.

I can't wait to see what I will be able to create! 

1 comment:

  1. Oh, what treasures! There's something about a quality tool that demands to become a legacy.

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