ANNOUNCING.........

That's right, dear Readers! I am introducing my own line of stamps! Can I get a woohoo?! This is the culmination of 7 years of hard work and I am so happy that I could burst my buttons! (Except I mostly wear funky T-shirts, which have no buttons....)

Back in the late winter, I had a discussion with Hampton Art about creating some stamps for them. They agreed and I am now licensed under Hampton Art as "Gloria Stengel Designs"! Can I get another woohoo?! 

I designed my logo, all by my own little self. I wanted to convey my all of my various styles of design with one "look." Not so easy to do! I love to use flowers and prints and ribbon, but add some metal gears or old light bulbs. I love clean lines, with lots of layers. I love grungy and shabby. I love color and print and neutrals all at once!  It's graphic, but layered. It's neat and messy at the same time. I hope my logo says all of that, and more. {grin}

My first three stamps are ready for production and will be part of the Hampton Art 2013 Holiday line! I created three wood-mount rubber stamps for Christmas. The catalog should be ready in mid-June, and then I will be able to share the actual stamp art!

I am hard at work on more designs for the summer catalog and have high hopes of having more than just the three Christmas stamps, but that means I need to GET BUSY!

For those that wish to know what type of stamps I will be creating, I am happy to let you in on the scoop! First, let's be clear...I CANNOT draw. Not a lick. Not even a stick man. You will NOT be seeing flowers or images of that sort. My "specialty" is word art, so you will be seeing lots of sentiments. I am learning Adobe Illustrator and hope that you will see some "graphics" as well. However, the bulk of my work will be sentiments and phrases.

I started creating "digital" sentiment stamps years ago as a way to always have just the right sentiment in just the right font. I have taught classes where I gave my students my pre-printed sentiment sheets. To have my stamps become actual rubber (or cling or acrylic) stamps is a DREAM COME TRUE!

I cannot wait to hold the actual stamps in my hands, and put ink on them! I will be sure to share the images with you as soon as I can! (I think the stamps will be available in some of the big chain stores as well. Can you even believe it?! I am giddy!)

Thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way, especially my family! They have had to live with me talking about this INCESSANTLY for years. A huge thanks to Kathy at Hampton Art for believing in me and helping me along the way. Thanks to Diane at Graphic 45 for giving me the introduction to Hampton Art, paving the way for this dream to come true. 

And thanks to all of you who read and comment and support me via this blog! Plus, my blog's birthday was May 31. My blog is now 7 years old! What a perfect birthday gift!!!