Love of Stamps

Today I would like to dedicate my blog to my recently-developed love of stamps. All of this came from my do-it-yourself bride adventure. I wanted to make everything myself for my wedding. Not a little bit of everything, but everything. I tried to find a vintage paper with birds and flourishes, but I couldn't locate the exact thing that I was looking for. Until I discovered a store at Triangle Town Center called Archiver's. It's a scrapbooking paradise--aisle after aisle of every imaginable stamp, paper, and bling-age imaginable. So I started a giant pile on the counter and before I knew it I was hooked. The pictures are some of the table cards and programs that I created for the wedding. I photographed them today with my husband's Canon SLR and a Sigma macro lens.

After the honeymoon and getting back into the busy swing of things at work as a medical writer, I had packed the stamps away and momentarily forgotten my new love. As luck would have it, our fantastic wedding photographers, Mark and Joanna Bolick of Tuesday's Frog in Asheville, sent us our wedding photos this past week. In the goody pack, along with dvds of all of our fantastic images, was a tiny stamp set with owls: a gift from Joanna. (They are wonderful, by the way. I would totally recommend them for a special event. Not only did I instantly want to be friends with them, but they are so talented!) I was so excited about making all of my wedding ephemera that I had shared my newfound stamp crush with Joanna while she photographed the bridal party getting ready on the wedding day. Being a fellow art and scrapbooking enthusiast and an all-around wicked cool lady, she had reminded me of the crush by giving me these precious new stamps to try. I am planning a project for them as we speak.

So now, I will be stamping with owls, and am hoping to take my projects to the next level with the acquisition of my first letterpress!! I'm currently entangled in a vicious battle to the end to win an auction for a letterpress. I've become so attached to it. It's a mint-condition Kelsey Excelsior 5x8, with lots of accessories, and I'm practically baby-talking to it. There are 5 hours to go, so I am incessantly checking to make sure I am the top bidder. I almost feel sorry for the other side of the bidding war.....he or she doesn't know how they are up against....a girl who's already named the darn thing. Santo Vida the letterpress...it does have a ring to it, doesn't it?