Stamp out your frustration

I have been wanting to try metal stamping for quite a while.  I purchased a metal stamp set and some large washers.

I started simple and cheap.  The stamp set was purchased at Harbor Freight Tools and the washers are from Lowes.  Together, they were less than $10. 

I stamped LOVE on a couple of washers, then decoupaged scrapbooking paper on the back.  After it dried, I covered the paper with glitter varnish. 

I plan on possibly putting these on a keychain... maybe.

Sarah got in on the action too. 

She's a little crazy... crazy like a fox! 

Yay!  Fox Hat!

When my husband, Andy, got home from work and heard this craft required a hammer, he had to give it a try, too.  Any time he can use tools, he's all in!  

Are you sure this is how to do it?

He's getting the hang of it now. 

He only hit his finger once!

Here are their results...

Sarah was quite cre8iv.  Get it? creative=cre8iv  :-)

Now we need to figure out what to do with them!

After all the experimenting on the washers, Sarah and I progressed to stamping blanks.  Stamping blanks are metal pieces that are designed specifically for metal stamping and used in jewelry making. 

We had fun checking out the metal stamping supplies (and lots of other stuff) at Hobby Lobby.  We LOVE Hobby Lobby!!  As a matter of fact, we made several trips.  The first trip we picked out some stamping blanks. 

The metal piece on the green paper is actually a metal envelope!  

The second trip (on the same day) we picked out a few more blanks. 

The guitar picks are really cool!

The third trip (this time on a different day) we purchased a smaller, fancier set of letter stamps. 

These smaller letters are more feminine and fit better on the stamping blanks! 

kind of blurry, but that's the best my camera would do. 

We made a gift for a singer/songwriter friend, L.

L names her guitars, so we felt the need to stamp her guitars' names onto the picks.  Sarah wanted to make a bracelet with the guitar picks, but she went back to school and left it to me... so WE made "name tags" for each of L's guitar cases!  I think WE made a good choice.  Way to be a team player, Sarah!      :-)

Guitar names - Ambrose, Eleanor, and Alistair

 L is in the band Prairie Rehab (as she describes it, they play "twangy folk-pop") and is currently working on their second CD (she is the songwriter - lyrics and music - quite impressive!).  Check out her debut CD on itunes here or follow Prairie Rehab on facebook here. 

A gift I made for another friend included these stamped washers.

The paper on the washers' backs match the rest of the project - watch for a future blog post about this project.

Metal stamping seems to be a good way to work out suppressed anger, aggression, and frustration.  We all experience these on occasion, so you can be fairly certain there will be more metal stamping happening at our house!

Although, we'll just call it "crafting"!       :-)