Sunday, January 06, 2008

a tin of cloves

memorybox

I've always been curious about your rubber stamp art. Will you post about that part of your creativity sometime?

i started designing rubberstamps by carving my own designs almost twenty years ago. i was freshly married with a husband in grad school and i was working at occidental in westwood/los angeles. i couldn't afford to buy rubberstamps so i started making my own. my designs got picked up by a now defunct rubber stamp company called the paper garden here in san antonio. after that company dissolved, i was picked up by uptown and designed for them until they went downtown and i have been with my trueblue love, inkadinkado, ever since.

this cigarette tin is embossed on the outside as well and inside it features my grandpa (the hottie on the right) and some of the boyz. we're tawkin' old skool cowboy. his chaps look like lucy mae's hair. grandpa's family settled the texas country between san marcos & new braunfels.

memorybox2

my added #8 resolution is to play more. i didn't play enough in 2007. it was the keep-it-all-together year. i miss the idea of playing for playin's sake.


add a question for the bloggityprize. the drawing is on friday morning.

16 comments:

Sis said...

Awesome! I never even thought about how rubber stamps were made - I bet the carving tools are really cool...

You are a sistah of immense talent, Dawnie,
XOXO

Cheryl said...

HI Dawnie,

Perfect! I was so happy to click on your link and see this wonderful tin and read about your journey to inkadinkado. I remember when 'my mother's dress' was the featured stamp set in one of the mags. I've always loved that. Your tin is an inspiration to me. I can't tell you how many I have, just waiting to be transformed. I'm in the lodge, and I can picture your grandpa's picture hanging on the wall. Yee ha!

Gin said...

You execute your art so beautifully. And it's a perfect outlet for how your mind works. Awesome baby, just awesome!

That tin is perfect. Your grandpa is a hottie for sure. Love the chaps!

bughugs,
Gin

fiwa said...

It is so cool to walk into a craft store anywhere in the US and be able to find a stamp that YOU made. I do that when I go home you know, when I'm shopping with my sisters, pick up one of your stamps and say "I know her"! heehee...that's my celebrity sighting.

I love the tin (clove cigarettes - my mom smoked those to get over her nic addic) with Grandpa's picture. Those chaps are beyond cool, and he must have been quite a character. Bet there were some good stories handed down.

biglovins to you -
fifi the attack poodle

Alison Gibbs said...

What a great transformation of the cigarette tin. Fun to hear the history behind the photo.
Alison

realityphotography said...

[...]

above is the is the now, hip, new symbol for speechless and left with mouth open in awe.

jackie said...

With those chaps I guess grandpa walked "fluffy" and carried a big stick LOL.

Going to check out the stamp link. Me looooves rubber stamps!

valerie said...

wow. i had no idea you live in san antonio. i guess i just assumed you came from out of state when i met you at stitch. i used to live in fredericksburg (that's where i went to high school) and now i live in fort worth.
that's so cool you design stamps. how fun is that?
i love the photo of your grandfather!

Brown Bee Studio said...

What a cool way to commemorate a supadupafly grandpa! Your work has always astounded me...keeps me in that surprised little girl mode...you know, hands to cheeks, eyes wide in admiration, lips forming the perfect little "o".....
Play to your hearts content my little chicklet...you DESERVE to! =o]

Anonymous said...

yeah baby--a gal *gots* to get her play on!

Love the music here--BTH makes me swoon.

mwah--be good!

Miz C

Diane said...

you know I LOVE that cowboy picure! one hip and cool grandaddy, but I expect no less from you my fellow Texas girlie girl~

shelleyo said...

I've always loved your rubber stamps and your designs for Crane, but until I found your blog I didn't realize how much we have in commom. I'm 42, have 3 children, a sister named Macy and my great-grandparents had a farm in Staples. My mom and I went to college at TLC - back before it became TLU. VERRRRY SPOOOKY! Love the blog!

Keely said...

That a girl!!! YOU play more (set a play date for yourself at least once a week), and share your creations here for all of your admiring fans!!!

Love the tin... love the picture of Grandpa Chaps... love your rubber stamps!!! [grin]

A bird in the hand said...

I've been wanting to see you "play" for the longest time and I'm happy to see you are. You're right tho' it's hard when you're trying to keep it all together.

My rubberstamp story: I remember seeing a certain girlita's designs and falling hard. I bought them one at a time because I was on a very tight budget when I started.

Some years later, I desperately wanted a tiny stamp I had seen but couldn't find it anywhere except as part of a larger stamp. So I contacted you and you offered to supply it... I held on to the envelope you sent it in for ages: Look look Dawn Houser is so incredibly nice, no big ego, friendly, and she's FAMOUS!!!

Anyway: are you going to be designing more rubber stamps in the near future, Stampita??

xoxo

A bird in the hand said...

"You know how I feel" i splaying now, makes me want to do a hoochie-koochie dance........IT'S A NEW DAWN BABY!

Anonymous said...

Love that silver background!!!!!! How did you create such a striking effect?