Vacations & Stamping written by Steph Schirmer

Summer is the time of year to take vacations, the kids are out of school, and the lazy days of summer set in. How does your art fit into this time? Is it off limits, do you take things on vacation, do you make time on trips to include it, how do you pack for it or do you need this time to get inspired and rejuvenated or is this strictly family time?????

If you take your art with you on vacation what do you take:

1. Pre stamped images
2. A few selected stamps
3. A selection of water color pencils
4. Water brush
5. Pre cut cardstock
6. A variety of embellishments
7. A variety of markers
8. Glues and tapes
9. Plastic Ziploc bags
10. Paper towels
11. Ruler, scissors

Prep work is a must and working on a specific project will cut down on the amount of things you take. With all the craft totes on the market there should be no problem with finding the right one to fit your needs. Storing things in plastic bags will keep your work clean and dry. If crafting totes aren’t an option this is a great way to store things in your bag. Throwing a Ziploc bag in your suitcase will take up no room and be available if time permits you to do something.

If you do journaling or not, and you know where you are going for your vacation, stamp a journal to take with you on your trip. If you have the whole trip planned out stamp sections that pertain to the areas you will be going to. This is a great way to do some creative work while relaxing with your family and no one will know you are crafting in your own special way. This not only creates a journal but a mini book of likes and dislikes you did and a great way to note interesting places you went to and ate in. Another thing, you can collect things from your trip and add them to the journal as you go to personalize it even more and it becomes a special souvenir of your trip. Taking a menu, napkin, post card, newspaper clippings or brochures and yes pictures, anything that is unique to your trip will add something for you to remember it by. If you don’t take a journal or do journaling, these are great things to find as embellishment for cards, always be on the look out for those things and yes look to the ground you would be surprised what you can find down there.

If you are going to a new place you have never been to before, do some prep work of the area:

1. Check the area out on the internet
2. See if there are stamp stores
3. Paper stores
4. Bead stores
5. Antique stores

When we go on vacation with the family, we donate most of our time to the family, but remember this is your vacation too and you deserve a little time to do something that you enjoy doing too. If you get prepared and have an hour to yourself you can make the most of it and see what is out there.

Magazines are something everyone mentioned as great for taking in the car and on a plane. A lot of us save them up to take with us on a trip and marking the pages as you see things you want to try will cut down on the searching after you are home. By perusing your magazines it will keep your creative juices flowing and make you anxious to get home to try them.

Some talked about going camping and stamping, so there was a lot of prep work involved because of the limited space. I remember watching a show on television and it actually showed a retired couple living in a motor home full time and how a section of the motor home was designated and designed to her stamping, I was amazed how she crammed so much into such a small space. If you didn’t have a specific area for your items, stamping totes would come in very handy in this situation. The biggest key would be organization and specific projects.

Some of us are lucky enough to go on stamping cruises, workshops or stamping retreats, of course these would be a wonderful way to be around creative people. These types of vacations are strictly a “me” vacation and I think any artist would enjoy to the max. Normally for things like this there are classes and workshops to take and you normally receive a supply list to bring with you for the classes. Depending on your mode of travel would depend on how you packed, I think we all would be devastated if we checked our bag and it never made it to our destination so those things should be considered also.

The bottom line to vacations and stamping is to enjoy what you are doing, because that is what vacations are for. If your vacations are strictly family oriented, collect things and make something special with the items after you get home to remember your trip. If you allow time to explore the area be prepared and make the most of the time you have. But above all enjoy whatever time you have and who ever you are with.

Thanks to everyone who helped with this column

Steph Schirmer
sschirmer@stampersmall.com

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