Mayday Underground Nov. 6th

Do not miss Mayday Underground Art + Craft show on Saturday, November 6th, from 10 am - 4 pm at the Village Gate in Rochester, NY. Packed with cool indie artists. Any why not...a Luau Theme!!! Awesome.
Mayday Underground Website.

Halloween Giveaway!

I'm giving away a spooky halloween inspired Owl print this week as part of the Rochester NY Etsy Street team's Trick or Treat Halloween Giveaway.

I wish I could participate myself, because the other items that are also part of the giveaway are wicked cool.

All you need to do is follow the RNEST blog, then go to the participating shops in RNEST and look for shop listings that have a picture of candy as the last photo. So for example, if you go to my shop and start clicking on some of the items, you will see one of them has some swedish fish hiding in the photos.

Then you post what you find in the blog comments, and you have a chance to win one or more of these great items.

Happy Halloween!

Next Show: Red Tail Days at Braddock's Bay

Jackbear Stamps will be at Braddock's Bay Red Tail Days on Sunday, August 22nd starting at 9 a.m. This is a great event for the whole family. Here's the details...

Join BBRR for this festival that celebrates the majestic Red-tailed Hawk and other raptors. There will be a variety of activities for all ages to enjoy. A full schedule of events is now available here. Highlights will include LIVE Raptor Presentations, Nature Arts & Crafts Show, Banding Station Tours and Demonstrations, Hawkwatch Tours, the Seneca Park Zoomobile, Storytime and a Coloring Contest for kids. Admission to the event is a $3 suggested donation for adults, kids are free. Food will be available from 2 Guys and a Grill all day long.

The coloring sheet for the contest can be downloaded here.

The following vendors will be participating in this year's craft show:

Peaches Products - Felted Goods and Fibercraft

The Birdhouse

Beadwork by Amanda - Bead, Woven and Circuit Board Jewelry

Jack Bear Stamps - hand carved stamps, custom orders welcome!

Quilted House - quilted handbags, bookmarks, coasters, and more!

My Kitty Empire - whimsical ink drawings and kitty and critter inspired goodies

Beauty In the Eye - handcrafted jewelry and accessories

Shakedown Surplus - Finger Lakes Beach Glass Jewelry

Mayday Underground Arts+Crafts Show

I am so very excited about my next art show!

The Mayday! Underground Arts+Crafts Show is going to be held on....wait for it....Mayday (May 1), from 10 am to 6 pm.

It is going to feature some of the coolest artisans and craftspeople in the Rochester area. I have a lot of friends setting up from RNEST, and am looking forward to getting pumped up from all the creativity.

The venue is going to be this old warehouse type joint on 416 St. Paul Street. Here's a map to get there! It's going to be a cool vibe there with tons of crafts people and live music performances also.

Here's a coupon you can use to get $2 off any purchase over $20. Also, the first 30 lucky folks in the doors are going to get a sweet swag bag with stuff from the vendors. I'm carving a stamp of the "mohawk owl" logo that's getting printed on the bags.

This is going to kick a$$, hope all my dope friends can come!

Overlapping or Layered Stamps

I have wanted to try this technique for some time now, and finally got around to trying it! I carved this ladybug, but the image that is created is actually from using two stamps that are stamped on top of each other.

Let me explain...

First I carved a background stamp that would be of the red wing covers of the ladybug. This stamp gets stamped first. Next, I carved a stamp that would be all the black parts of the ladybug, the spots, head, legs, etc. This stamp gets stamped on top of the first red stamp. Get it!

What an image it makes! So bright and vibrant! This ladybug is pretty basic.

Here is a link to some instructions if you every want to give it a try.

Mail Art

Mail Art, or Correspondence Art as it is sometimes called, is hard for me to define, because it can be so many different things. Wikipedia says it is, "art which uses the postal system as a medium. The term mail art can refer to an individual message, the medium through which it is sent, or an artistic genre"

But what does that mean? Well it couldmean you are altering an envelope with art, or you are stamping faux postage on the envelope, or maybe you are trading an ATC, or making a collage on a postcard, or sending a zine, or even shipping a form of naked mail. It is really art that uses the postal system, and not just art sent through the mail.

I have been doing this since my Etsy shop opened. I always decorate my recycled envelopes with my bearpaw stamps. I have also been creating stamps, like the ones pictured, for the use on letters

and packages.

To me, there is so much negative space on an envelope or box. Why not fill it! Not only does my recipient of the mail get something that looks neat, but I secretly hope that there are some postmen and women who see it and get a little smile at it (or curse my name). It is the emotional response from art, after all, that we seek to invoke.

I have plans to increase my selection of mail art stamps in the shop. I recently relisted my snail mail stamp, another air mail stamp, soon to be followed by a "fragile" stamp, and in the future, some faux postage stamps. Stay tuned!