On Sunday I headed off to Zeist, a town about an hour from Amsterdam by train, for the Art Specially stamp show. This is the fourth year I’ve gone to the show, and I always find something new—usually at the Judikins booth! (Where I should just have a standing account.)
Even though a lot of the vendors are stores, it’s nice to be able to shop for everything in one spot. I debated whether or not I should go this year, but I needed some basic cardstock (black, white, off-white) and double-sided tape, and a big acrylic block for some new Paper Artsy stamps I got recently.
And I figured since Judikins wasn’t attending this year, I’d save a lot on stamps…by not buying any, right?
Of course, in the end one doesn’t just come home with tape and cardstock. And one can pretty much always find a stamp or two…or three or four…that go together perfectly. I came across a stamp company I hadn’t seen before called Different Colors. The woman demonstrating showed (of course) multiple stamps together, and they looked so fresh and summery that I just couldn’t resist. She actually had a lot of very obedient customers: She would make a little card with a couple of stamps, and we would diligently load up our baskets with the stamps she used. Then she’d make another little card with the same stamps plus another one, and we’d all reach over and add that to our stash. Either the stamps are irresistible, she’s great at what she does, or we were all hypnotized.
I also came across these handy organizers for Distress ink pads. The lady at the stand told me, “If you have all the Distress ink pads, you’ll need four of these.” Well, I have some Distress inks, but certainly not all, so I got two, figuring I’d have extra space. Nope! I have exactly half of the Distress inks. Does this mean I shouldn’t buy more? Ha!
Toward the end of my time at the show, I ran into Marsha Valk, who I met at the Mixed Media Circus in Hamburg. She designs for Scrap 365, which is a cousin of sorts to the Craft Stamper magazine as they’re both published by the same company. I love her style, and you can check out her blog to see her designs. I especially love her photography!
It’s amazing what a visit to a stamp show (or stamp store) can do for my creative energy level. When I got home, I started playing with my new stuff straightaway and even got a head start on the cards I’ll teach in my Mixed-Media Photo Cardmaking workshop at The New Label Project in June.
Enjoy…and happy Monday!
You were FOR SURE hypnotized! The stamps are really nice and I haven’t heard of them before either. Nice card you made!
It’s always fun to see what people on ‘the other side of the pond’ are doing with art. Thanks for sharing and I’m going over to visit Marsha in a minute.
Jan (A&S gal)