…is this man’s treasure.
Today, I am happy to share a lovely card I received from my dear friend Maria Rodriguez. Maria has been following my blog for a while and sent three beatiful cards for the One-for-One Swap I hosted a month ago. This card is MINE, though. I don’t have to send it to anyone else. Yipee doodle dee!
Only a small part of the card is Stampin’ Up!, but it’s definitely worthy of a posting on my blog. After you check out these gorgeous photos (see how I take credit for why these photos are gorgeous?), be sure to read the story behind them. That makes the images THAT much more special. Without further ado, check out this card:
Here’s a closeup of the fairy, tilted a bit so you can see the shimmer on the image:
I have no idea how Maria created this beautiful shine on the face of the card, but it’s truly stunning. Below is an excerpt from the email I received from Maria about the history of the fairy stamp. I’ve edited it down just a little bit.
“Last weekend my aunt went to an Antique mall in Sherrillville, IN, and got me a bunch of unmounted rubber stamps. They were all very dirty from ink, and I really couldn’t make out the images at all. In all there were 20 stamps. My aunt knew how much I love stamping and was sure I could use them, even if they look so awful and dirty. She only paid $10.00 for them, that’s like.50c a stamp. I graciously accepted her gift.
I knew I needed to clean them so I plunged them in a pail of warm, soapy water and left them there overnight. The next day, the water was black but the rubber stamps were looking almost as good as new. I rinsed them very well and dried them with paper towels and proceeded to find out what the images were. I took my big acrylic block, put some repositioning tape on it and started stamping.
OMG!! I was blown away by the amazing images. Faeries, Faeries and more Faeries, all of them gorgeous. Why in the world would anyone get rid of this treasures? I don’t know what rubber stamp company sells them, but I don’t care. The fact is that I now have these beautiful images that I will keep for always.”
How incredible is that?! Maria used a paper napkin for the background of this card – she found a paper napkin transfer technique on Splitcoast Stampers. I’ll definitely be looking this one up and trying it out!
Thank you, Maria, for this beautiful card and for allowing me to share it today.
Stamp sets: Just Believe, Cool Fairy Stamp from an antique mall in Sherrillville, IN Accessories: Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Metallic brads
Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I hope you enjoyed this gorgeous treat today!
Brian
Wow Maria! Stunning! What a great story I’m glad Brian was able to share it today! Love this napkin transfer, my eyes were all over the “napkin” as I don’t care for this particular Fairy. However I love her shimmer in the second photo! You’ve turned this dirty old cast off into a work of art! Beautiful work Maria!
Oh my goodness Brian, thank you so much for posting my card on your blog, this is indeed an honor. I’m having so much fun with this stamps, they are all amazing. The shimmer on the image is from a palate of shimmer water colors I had for a while now. Like I told you before, I’m so happy I didn’t sprinkle GLITTER on her wings because now I know how much you dislike it.
This paper napkin technique is really cool and super easy to do. You can find this videos on the SCS page or just type “paper napkin technique” on U-tube and you can see it there too.
I stoped wondering why would anybody throw this stamps away so I’m just enjoying them now. Thanks again for your kind words.
Well I am fortunate enough to have one of Maria`s cards and her watercloring is so so great and that shimmer is so soft and pretty. You are very talented at your card art ,Maria and I am so glad that I have met you by e-mail and I love the old stamp story it adds so much charm to the presentation . Plus Brian is a sweetie for telling all of us about the card and showing it !! (I love fairies) Maria and I are going to start swapping cards so hopefully I will get one of these pretties….
Cool card and love the back story.
What a beautiful card! I totally love the stamp and the detail you have added to it is gorgeous! And the napkin technique is one I must look up! Thank you for sharing this beautiful card with us Brian and Maria! How lovely and how sweet that your aunt picked them up! I love the story of cleaning them and finding such treasures.
Beautiful, beautiful card! And what a great treasure indeed! –Terri
Stunning. And thanks for the new technique! I hadn’t seen that before! (Now my iron might actually get used!)
Gorgeous card….and I love fairies so this is perfect to share…thank you, Brian! Love your story (how wonderful is your aunt??!!!!!)….and the whole card is fabulous. Will investigate your techniques for the napkin background. Thanks again for sharing Brian…lucky you!
Thank you all for your kind comments. I love Fairies so, when I finally got this stamps cleaned up I was really enchanted by the beauty and detail of each one of them. If Mr. Brian lets me, I will make another one for him so he can post it here. Maybe one of you might maybe recognize them and can tell me who makes them.
This “Paper napkin technique” really is so much fun to do. The sky is the limit as there are so many beautiful napkin designs out there for any occassion so, I hope you guys give it a try.
Thank you again for your comments. My dear aunt indeed gave me a treasure.
I am a sporadic follower of your blog and I love the story about the fairy stamps! Thanks for sharing it!