Ink Applicator/Blender Review

I have been using the old rectangle Distress Ink Applicator/Blending tool for a while now.  In my opinion the felt rectangles are too small.  But I make it work by using two of them or cutting my own.  If the Velcro underneath sticks out it can scratch your card.

But I recently noticed that many people are now using a round version of this tool.  I decided to give it a try and I do not like it.  The felt has been replaced with a sponge like pad that grips the paper and leaves big ink marks.  I had a very hard time getting the ink to blend and was not happy with the change.     

Sometimes I just use a piece of felt and not the tool part at all.  The long piece in the photo shows that I would use one color and then move down a little bit when I changed colors.  The next thing from Ranger/Tim Holtz will be little felt covers for your fingers; like a sewing thimble only felt.  You heard it here first ;) 

So, have you tired both?  Which do you prefer?

Secret Santa Stamps

This is my 5th year to participate in the Secret Santa stamp swap.  The 1st year we got an awesome Santa stamp that we planted near Santa Claus, Indiana.  The 2nd year we got a tiny frog stamp that we sent off as a hitchhiker.  The 3rd year we received a stamp of Charlie Brown, Snoopy & tree, that has recently gone missing.  Last year we got a Gingerbread man, that we sent out as a hitchhiker.

This year our Secret Santa was RideTheMoose (fun trail name).  She sent these cool stamps AND some chocolates!  One of the great things about these stamps is that they were carved on materials that I have never seen before.  The white one is labeled, "seed" and I don't know what the pink one is.  They are both much thicker than Speedball pink.

I will probably plant the strawberry in the spring and the leaf guy in the fall.  Thank you RideTheMoose :)

Self Portrait Collage LTC

This is my card for Beetle's "Self Portrait Collage" LTC swap.  My card is called, "Route 66."

My original idea for this swap was to carve a selfie and put that stamp on a photo background.  I sat down
and played around with the photo edit software for 30 minutes until I got the image in a way I could carve it.  I struggled with the carving and then Beetle posted on the tracker about how the photo could be printed.  I went back and reread the instructions and realized that I wasn't supposed to carve a selfie :(

Original Photo

So  I decided that I would remake one of my vacation photos.  I carved the stamp of the car and the Route 66 sign, colored everything with Sharpies, added my photo, and attached to the map background paper.  About half way through I thought that the darker (top) map paper would look better and I switched.

Unnecessary Selfie now a PT 

They turned out pretty good.  Kinda a pain to color them all.  I really should read the instructions before the start on my stamps/cards!  I love the little photo corner holder things :)