If You're Happy and You Know It, STAMP Your Feet!

This came around a month too late for Christmas, so I'll be using it in various times throughout the year, and fine, maybe next Christmas, too.

Alex Paredes was a classmate in high school. She doodled a lot, her books and notebooks had loads of extra drawings (which I envied), and teachers may have hated us when we sat right next to each other for talking too much. X years later, I saw on social media that she put up Rubber Ducky Stamp Co. and her art is now available in rubber stamp form!

As said on their Facebook Page,

"Rubber Ducky Stamp Co. is a handmade venture and a love affair with rubber stamps.Each stamp is drawn, carved and assembled by hand, featuring a unique artwork mounted on a tanguile wooden handle. Each design is one-of-a-kind and will not be repeated."

I don't know what crossed my mind but I asked if she could make a stamp of Odie's paw so that my "celebrity dog" can make "pawtographs" (term mine) without soaking his actual paw in ink. It just seemed like a fun idea, and I'm so happy she agreed to do it!

The instruction was clear and simple: take a photograph of Odie's paw, then measure the actual size. Waaaaay easier said than done. I had to do my best to clean Odie's right front paw, then I made him play dead so I can capture the photo I needed. It wasn't as clean as I hoped it would be because he kept running in the dirt. Sigh. When I got a photo with relatively good details, I gave the dog a break before measuring. I didn't bring a ruler with me for safety (I KNOW he's going to eat it). Instead of measuring the paw itself, I made a water stamp on paper then measured the paper impression. Of course it took a few tries because paper is fun to chew!

Dirty Paw!

Of course he ate the paper! Twice!

I gave the information to Rubber Ducky and received details regarding pricing and payment, paid for our commissioned work, then finalized the look of the stamp before having it sent to me via courier. Odie's paw is a mix of pink and gray so I wanted the pink details to be seen, so those parts were given stripes in the stamp itself.

The wait wasn't very long. I received the stamp in a cute little cardboard box containing the handmade rubber stamp mounted on a tanguile wood handle, as well as a small sheet of care instructions. The stamp looks really meticulously made, smooth finish and all. I was so excited when the stamp arrived! But then I searched high and low for a stamp pad at home and we didn't have one, so I had to go out and buy the next day. I bought a blue stamp pad so we can play Blue's Clues. I also currently use it to label Odie's food containers since I store his treats in the fridge, and am planning to use it for gift cards and such. The stamp with the handle is 2x2 inches, and is a little over an inch tall.

I'm more than satisfied with the purchase and am so happy to have Odie's paw immortalized by Rubber Ducky Stamp Co. Visit their Facebook Page to check out other designs and/or order a custom made stamp like I did. Support handmade!

Odie's paw. Thank you, Rubber Ducky Stamp Co!