When I first ventured into unmounted rubber stamps, I was introduced to the world of Ma Vinci’s Reliquary. Primarily a great resource for alphabets, Ma Vinci offers all sorts of unique letters, numbers, diagrams, and figures.
From visiting her website, you’ll learn that Ma Vinci loves letters and numbers; one can get caught up in her enthusiasm while browsing the pages of her website (http://crafts.dm.net/mall/reliquary/). All of these stamps are great for journaling and for altered art, among other things. What I especially love about unmounted alphabets is that the sky is the limit when it comes to creating phrases in your work, and the stamps don’t take up a lot of room in your workspace. If you’re not familiar with how to use unmounted stamps, there are lots of resources right on the Reliquary website to help get you started.
Not your traditional flower girl, this gal reposes among a field of daffodils, smiling demurely at the viewer. Scenic calendars are a goldmine for this technique: I simply used a craft blade to create a slit in the landscape image and tucked our nude sunbather in discretely among the blooms.
Microscope slides are so much fun to work with. Some of Ma Vinci’s smaller images are perfect for making small collages. This project shows images stamped on both slides of a slide, and some funky cardstock from Heidi Grace is sandwiched in between.
Our glamour girl card highlights another of Ma Vinci’s nude stamps, as well as her funky metal Intaglios.
You’ll also find lots of Mona Lisa images at the Reliquary. For the next project I wanted to give her a little sparkle, so I scattered multicolored glass beads around the flower “halo” for something close to a Mexican/Southwestern feel.
Try using Ma Vinci’s tiny alphabets for addressing envelopes and adding a little jazz to your mail art projects. Have fun exploring this resource, if Ma Vinci’s Reliquary is new to you. If you’re familiar with the wonders of the Reliquary, check out the newest alphabets.
