I was delighted recently to interview rubber stamping author and designer Judi Kauffman. Judi gives us an insight into life as a professional stamper and as well as telling us about her recent book, By The Batch: Creative Cards, Postcards, Envelopes and More, she also shares stamping tips that will be useful for both beginner stampers as well as those with wide ranging experience. There is a gallery of Judi's work to go with the interview. Judi has a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge of all aspects of the craft and this is a very interesting interview.

I'd love to know what you think of the interview, why not leave a comment below, pop into the forum and join in the conversations or send me an email.

Make It Mine magazine is the latest magazine from Kalmbach Publishing Co. This magazine explores different ways of adding embellishments to clothes and accessories, and has some interesting projects for stampers. As well as featuring ideas for stamping on fabric to create wonderful one of a kind garments, stamps are used to make textured buttons. The magazine also has a useful website that offers videos demonstrating techniques as well as providing more information about projects and how to embellish items.

Read more about Make It Mine magazine and the accompanying website in this profile.

A great way for small business to create a brand image without losing the personal touch is to use customized rubber stamps to create labels, customize packing slips or any number of other ways. A rubber stamp with a simple logo or message is perfect for small businesses such as those making handmade goods. A stamped label gives a professional touch to an item without looking mass produced and this is so important when building a business. Read more in the Using Stamps in Small Businesses article. The stamp in the photograph was made by Sweet Papery and more information can be found on the Sweet Papery website.

Stamping crops up in the most unexpected places! I was interested to see that the website of the popular 'For Dummies' series of books is promoting a 'For Dummies' rubber stamping kit. This kit is being offered by Dimensions (Inkadinkadoo) and consists of stamps, inks and card blanks.

Kits are a great way to get started with rubber stamping and can easily be added to as the stamping bug takes hold!

Take a look at the new website from Taunton Press. Craft Stylish is dedicated to crafts of all types. Stampers will be interested in the paper craft section which features different articles and project ideas. While at the moment none of these feature rubber stamps as such, stampers can adapt projects such as the Matchbox Announcement really easily to incorporate stamped images.

Let me know what you think!

If you can bring yourself to look forward to Christmas before summer has even started, now is the time to start preparing submissions Christmas issues of stamping magazines!

At Rubber Stamp Madness the first theme for the November and December issue this year is Peace on Earth. The second theme is Magnets - the only requirement is that what ever is sent will magnetically stick to a refrigerator. The deadline for both themes is June 20, 2008. For more information take a look at the submissions page on the Rubber Stamp Madness website.

Over at Stampington, the Christmas theme continues with an invitation for stampers to send in their most special Holiday projects. The deadline is June 15, 2008. More information can be found on the submission pages.

Stamper's Sampler also have a call for seasonal projects. The theme is Holiday Happenings and readers are invited to send cards, wrapping paper, holiday décor, ornaments, quick and easy gifts,and anything else Holiday related. The second theme is Family Newsletters and readers are invited to send in ideas for the most creative ways of sending out the yearly recaps. They can be flat or dimensional. The deadline for these two themes is May 15, 2008 so just enough time to enter if you get going now!! For more information follow the Stampington link above.

Scrap and Stamp have the theme of Make It Merry and are asking for submissions of holiday cards. The deadline for this is June 18, 2008 and more information can be found on their editorial calendar.

Have you been published in any magazines? Feel free to brag here - leave a comment below or pop into the forum - we love to hear of rubber stamping successes!

Scented embossing powders add a bit of fragrance to a project. They work in the same way as normal embossing powders, however after heating they retain a distinct whiff of something sweet and interesting! They can be found in a range of colors and fragrances and are a good way to add something a little different to a stamping project. The colors generally reflect the fragrance, so brown for chocolate, red for cherry etc. As the scent wears off after a couple of weeks scented embossing powders are best suited to projects such as handmade cards. When using these powders to make cards then leave the embossing to the very last moment so that the lucky recipient gets the full scented benefit!

Scented embossing powders can be found online from companies such as Cornish Heritage Farms and Gel-a-tins.

If you fancy having a go at making your own scented embossing powder there is some useful information at the DIY Network. There are also some interesting discussions at SplitCoastStampers with stampers sharing their experiences of making their own scented embossing powders.

Take a look at our Review of Gel-a-tins Chocolate Bliss Scented Embossing Powder for more information about scented embossing powders from Gel-a-tins.

The lovely coasters in this picture were stamped by forum member Candy McSween. Candy discusses how these were made in this forum post. Although these look very impressive, they actually require little in the way of supplies - simply some tumbled stone tiles, stamps (Candy used Close To My Heart stamps - 'Alfresco' and 'No Peeking'), ink and chalks.

Readers are very welcome to post photographs of their work in the forum - it's a great way to show off your wonderful work and to share ideas with other stampers. You can either add photos as an attachment to your post, or if your image is hosted on a website such as PhotoBucket or Flickr, you can post the image directly into the page using the code given.

Correctly storing rubber stamps keeps then in tip top condition and helps to ensure great stamping results every time. Fortunately, creating good storage systems doesn't require a lot more than a bit of ingenuity and recycled cast offs from around the house. Different shaped boxes make great places to store wooden stamps and cd cases are great for keeping unmounted stamps safe. Ice cream tubs, biscuit tins and other food packaging are also useful ways to store supplies.

Take a look at our article about Storing Rubber Stamps for more information and ideas.

If, however, your stamping supplies are outgrowing your handmade stamp storage system there are other options available. French Envy, for instance, sell a range of custom built storage furniture, including a credenza that stores up to 4000 rubber stamps!

Moldable foam is a fun product for stampers. It is a great way to create your own stamps for a whole variety of projects. The foam is simple to use and a surprising number of items make great impressions into the surface of the foam. All that is required is a heat tool to heat the surface of the moldable foam. Items are pressed into the foam to make an image and normal inks can be used as in any other rubber stamping project. If you've not had a go with it yet, take a look at our Modable Foam profile to find out more!

Have you used moldable foam or other unusual stamping products? Do feel free to leave a comment below or drop into the forum and join in a conversation!