Ildi Co Wednesday

So I'm in the process of moving, and realize that i have WAY too much stuff--that's books, writing and crafting supplies! Yikes! There are sheer metric tons of the stuff, really. I guess you can say that's a perk of the digital stamp revolution--the space. Apart from some space on your hard drive (which reminds me, I have to backup on the external AND on a cd), you don't have to move much when you choose digital stamps.

Unless, of course, you're like me and you print everything out at least twice with different sizes just in case you can't get to the printer, LOL. Let's face it, I'm a bit of a packrat. But I'll be assembling my creating closet in the next few weeks, so it's exciting!

Since it's Wednesday, I get to talk about my favorite digi stamp company, Ildi Co. I'm on their design team and I've really had a great time. There are tons of really talented members of the team as well, you should check them out!

A few days ago, Ildi sent an email with some new images--and I had SOOOO many ideas for these that I couldn't control myself. However, because I'm apt to just jump into a project full force, I decided to go with something simple and easy... And it works.

I wanted to best illustrate the FUNCTIONALITY of digi stamps as they relate to holidays. Too often, we think of a product or using a product in only one way, and really... we shouldn't. Digi stamps are VERY versatile. And really, the only limitation is our own minds.

Let me explain this first one, in my office, we all have name tags on our cubicles (and even for the people in offices, actually), and usually these are very seasonal. Usually there are Christmas trees or ornaments or stars circulating this time of the year, so of course, my department is getting them! Here they are!

Now, they're all colored a bit differently, but because I had everyone's names on them, I couldn't very well show them to you. I lucked out and just wrote out my first name, but everyone else has their full names on them. This is an Ildi Co reindeer stamp, reminiscent of a gingerbread, don't you think? It's actually pieced from using one Ildi Co stamp printed on white Cardstock and one printed on SU's Kraft Cardstock. I cut out the craft and glued it to the bits that required it on the white Cardstock copy. I colored the eye and the bow with my Copic markers and then added a bit of a sparkly gel pen (Sakura Gelly Roll--stardust) so that it's extra sparkly! I did the same thing for the item below, but in a different way.

Ever wonder what to get people for the holidays? Well, since there are so many candies and cookies going around, I decided to hand out pencils--they're holographic, too. And so far, tons of people have been looking around my desk, checking them out. I hope to make some more and then place the tin in the front of my desk, so that people not only see them, but want one. I've already gotten three people asking me if I want to sell them, LOL. They're in a tin canister and there's some glass marbles in it to hold them up.

As you can tell, I LOVE the gingerbread option that is featured on this Ildi Co. post. It's great because it's sweet, but won't rot your teeth! If you've got a sweet mind, come and check me out next week, when I'll be featuring a digi-stamp of a different sort, but still keeping with the theme!

Wednesday Ildi Co. Digi Project

Hey there, creative people!
It's me, GothamGal, and (as promised), I'm going to show you a fun little craft featuring the Ildi Co Stamp series I teased you about last week...

Are you ready?

Ildi Co stamps has a line of DINOSAUR stamps!!! How cool is that? I chose the pterodactyl to feature on this little project. Can you guess what I did?


I made a pillowbox with my Cricut--my VERY first one ever. The template was really easy to follow, and I used some ribbon, some leftover BG paper and a piece of a Making Memories journaling page. And then I filled it with Whoppers! I used to LOVE malted milk balls.

Have you ever made a pillow box? How do you make them?

What do you fill them with?

Stay tuned, more Ildi Co Digi Stamp awesomeness next week!

Ildi Co Wednesday

It's Wednesday, which is my day to showcase some amazing stuff that is made by the great and innovative Digi-Stamp company, Ildi Co. This week, I was inspired by techniques and a sketch (which I can find, but do not have any idea who it belongs to, so I'm going to be doing some research) to make a scrapbooking page.

So I'm reading Heidi Swapp's 'Love Your Handwriting' and I'm trying to embrace my handwriting, but it's a bit hard. I used the Ildi Co Clownkins stamp 'Princess' (which inspired the title of the sketch as well). The stamp was so much fun to color, I'm particularly happy with the way the crown came out, and the nose. I love coloring these stamps in a pastel/girly manner, if you've seen some previous work. The sparkles are Stickles Diamond and I used the Prima rhinestones. The coloring is all from Markers and the picture on this layout is my boyfriend's niece, who was born on my birthday. It's an 8 1/2 x 11 layout featuring Bazzil and Basic Grey Porcelain papers. I used my markers to also color the silver thickers, LOL...

Don't forget to check out the rest of the awesome team for Ildi Co. Please check out my links!


P.S. I *MIGHT* have a preview of the new line very soon for you.

Coming up this week: Prize announcement, Preview of BG's Eerie line, If It's Groovy stuff and even MORE Ildi Co. Happy Creating!

Wednesday Means Ildi Co.!

It's Wednesday, which is the day I get lucky enough to feature work for Ildi Design Co., a digital stamp company that's relatively new and totally AWESOME!

I decided to make a card featuring the adorable bear (KUMA?) flying a kite. I personally, love flying kites and can remember taking my little brothers to the park to fly kites a lot when I was growing up. Maybe Mary Poppins had way more of an impact than I thought it did (they sing a song about Flying Kites just before the end credits, LOL). Here is my card:

I actually took off the end string, so that I could give the illusion of movement. This is from personal experience, as sometimes kites will not behave! I added some ribbon to the thread. I bought thread similar to what we use when we fly kites--the clear stuff (I think it's similar to fishing?). Anyway, I like the way it turned out, but I'm thinking of a bigger card next time, with maybe a few more bells and whistles--clouds, a sun... you get the idea.

Be sure and check out Ildi Co and snag your set of these adorable stamps--you can save $6.50 when you buy all 10 stamps for $20. Why are digi stamps so great?

• Well, for one thing, they won't clutter up your desktop because you store them on a computer, flash drive, etc (just make sure to back them up!).
• Digi stamps are just as fun (if not more fun) to color--no waiting for ink to dry or trying to figure out placement (you can open your photo editing software and print out an entire sheet filled with digi stamps).
• Digi stamps can be sized to fit nearly any project! That's right, when was the last time you wanted that physical stamp to be just a tiny bit smaller, but it couldn't be because you didn't buy the smaller size in addition to the bigger one?

I'm definitely not tossing out my rubber stamps, because I really love them. But I will say that digi stamps are becoming a lot of fun for me. They're really cool to use, and I love the idea of a hybrid type stamping project. I like the ease of use and the control I can have over the image.

Seriously, if you haven't yet tried digi stamps, I would suggest you try out Ildi Co. They're a really great, small company that's making leaps and bounds. Get in on the ground so you can snag some really great deals. Check out the links in my sidebar to see some other really great projects that showcase the functionality of these cuties.

(By the way, there's some really cool stuff coming along from Ildi Co. Check back next week for my Wednesday card AND you might also want to check back next weekend, but more on that exciting news as it develops!)

Happy Creating!

Call for Ildi Design team AND a digistamp freebie!

I heard about a new digistamp company over on SplitCoastStampers this week. They were not only looking for a design team, but they were giving away a digistamp. An adorable digital stamp featuring a teddy bear. The name is Ildi Co.

Needless to say, as soon as I saw it, I thought about coloring it. I've been doing a lot of coloring lately. So, I followed the instructions on their site and then went ahead and got the image and colored it. Wow, I really like the way it turned out, I think I am really getting the hang of coloring with markers (not to be snotty--I'm pretty sure there are a LOT of other tricks I need to learn.

Anyway, here's my card. I used Making Memories paper (from a few years old 6x6 pack), a Hero Arts sentiment and my Fiskars Threading water border punch--I used a EK success corner rounder on the sentiment, stamped in Black Memento ink. It also represents the first time I made a succesful bigger card in my opinion. The card measures about 5 & 1/2" by 5 & 1/2"--I usually do the cards that come out of cutting a piece of 8&1/2 x 11" in half.

Go on and check out Ildi and try your hand at coloring the image, see what you can come up with. I CHALLENGE you!

Making the leap!!!!

I did it! I finally did it!

What did I do?

I picked up some physical stamps from 'The Greeting Farm.' It's an online community and store that features cute stamps of girls (Anya), boys (Ian) and animals. Anyas and Ians are really hot right now--many people I follow seem to have the stamps, and there's a huge following on both the main 'The Greeting Farm' site and it's sister site, 'Club Anya.'

I bought a few of the company's digital stamps earlier this year, and while I love them, I never remember to have cardstock ready for when I want to print them out. And if I have the cardstock, forget about me remembering the file with the stamps. I just have no idea why I can't remember to bring both things with me.

But that's in the past, since I've bought some physical stamps from the company, thanks in part to their low shipping cost and their 'Farmer's Market day.' Farmer's Market Day happens on the blog, and it's the day stamps are offered at a lower price, but quantities are limited. Though I've been looking at the site and wondering which to get for a while, I knew I had to act fast. Almost before I realized it, I had these little cuties in my cart:


They looked so adorable and functional. I can see using a lot of these for different types of cards. And since the shipping for one more was only a dollar more, I had to pick up this little one:


The best part? I only spent $20. And now I'm all nervous about getting them and playing around with them, especially with the Copics. I think they'll make an awesome addition to my collection, and a great way for me to experiment with some really cute stamps. Looking through my collection, I've noticed I don't have a lot of human type stamps you can color. That's something I hope to change.

I will update you once I get the stamps, you can expect a full review. And remember,
in order to check out the Farmer's Market, you must check out their
blog

, but you can also check out the rest of their site here.

Has anyone else had any stamps from 'The Greeting Farm'? Let me know your thoughts.