One of the vendors I always look forward to at the Calgary Art Market is the Old Island Stamp Company. I bought my first unmounted stamps from them about 3 years ago. I love their designs, and I also love that they are based in my very favourite part of the country, and somewhere I pine to go back to every time it snows here.

I think that showed through in the stamps I bought – I bought the large and small cedar branches (It made me wonder where the closest cedar tree it here?),  and also the gorgeous killer whale stamp above, and the raven below:

I also bought a fern stamp. One of my favourite places to play where I grew up was in the stand of cedar trees at the top of our driveway – it was a perfect little den, and there were ferns along the bank too. The card above is just one layer, I stamped directly on to the base card. The woodgrain background was from the other stamp booth at the same craft fair, Local King Rubber Stamps.

I used both cedar stamps on this card – the big one in ‘Evergreen’ ink (very appropriate!) and the small one in Tea Dye Distress Ink. That is just the colour dead cedar branches turn – I can almost smell them.

I used my newest Cuttlebug embossing folder on the killer whale card at the top – I think it was called Twigs? I embossed some craft cardstock, then rubbed a pale inkpad over the embossing to bring it out. It’s a bit silly to put an orca on a twiggy and cedar-y card – I just bought some great wave-print paper though, so I’ll definitely be inking him up again.