Sock Monkey Madness 2007

Not naughty- it means using UNmounted stamps...

Ahhh, spring. I dislike snow, so I'm always glad when lawn mowing season rolls around, even if I don't much like mowing the lawn either =)

Bad news from the US Postal Service- effective May 14 2007 they are DOUBLING our postage rates. No exaggeration here- our average item currently costs 63 cents to ship and that will go up to $1.18 in May. On top of that is the cost of the padded mailer- 50 cents- and the eBay fees of at least 94 cents per item. What that means is that our shipping cost for mounted stamps will have to increase from $2 to $3 for the first item, and still $1 for each additional in the same package ($4usd/$1 for folks outside the US, except Canada which will be $3.50usd/$1). I hate to do it but I have no choice...

But we can make some changes too- the way I figure it this only applies to MOUNTED rubber stamps. I'll start offering all of our stamps UNMOUNTED as soon as my fingers can make the changes in the listing program. This will mean much lower prices AND cheap shipping, since unmounted stamps ship neatly in #10 envelopes for just a 41 cent postage stamp.

And if you'd care to check out our website www.amazingarts.biz we're still offering free shipping on all orders over $10 thru May 31st. Grab it while you can, because it won't last long...

Have you seen our new line of Bondage and Fetish stamps? They're a bit bizarre but nothing rude, just a little freaky. If you're a different kind of weird we also have some great flowers designs about to be listed, several new celtic designs invluding a great dolphin image and a Celtic Moon & Celtic Star that come to us from Aon Celtic designs www.aon-celtic.com.

And mini tarot card stamps 1" tall- I've released the complete set of all 78 cards in a tarot deck, reproduced from the 1909 Rider Waite set. These are wonderful for recording readings, making jewelry, scrapbooking, cardmaking... so many uses!

And there are new sock monkey stamps, including a couple of pirate monkeys (Primates of the Caribbean!) a cool Sockopelli image and an adorable sock monkey face.

Feel free to drop me a note if you have suggestions, comments or really bad puns. Many of our designs originate with suggestions from folks like you so keep those ideas and bad puns coming, I love hearing from you!

I have had a problem with some people not receiving my emails because of spam blocker issues, so if you haven't heard from me with a reply to a question/comment/really bad pun please check your settings. You may also contact me at my alternate email scottmmcdonald(at)hotmail.com or add me to your MSN IM if you like. As always, problem people and weak puns will be mercilessly crushed, shredded or ridiculed =)

And yes, I do custom work all the time. Cost is generally $2 per sq inch mounted, $1.25 per sq inch unmounted. Self-inkers in a wide variety of sizes and shapes are also available, running $10-25ish. Just drop me an email at scottmmcdonald(at)hotmail.com and tell me what you need, we can work from there.

Oh, and the website is up, have you seen it? http://www.amazingarts.biz

All of the images that I offer are either original art that I create myself or art that is in the Public Domain, not subject to copyright, that I digitize and modify to make into stamps. If there's something that you'd like me to make, feel free to drop me an email with your suggestions. Most of my stamps are very limited production; I only make a few at a time.

I'm not an 'Art' stamp maker per se, I make commercial and industrial parts and process marking devices (address, bank, etc., all custom) which is a whole different world. I own a small company called Amazing Graphics/Amazing Arts, we make a LOT of stamps for NASA and the space shuttle program through Sundstrand Aerospace and their subcontractors, all based here in Rockford, IL about 75 mi west of Chicago. Rockford is also home to Cheap Trick, Aidan Quinn, Danica Patrick, and Sock Monkeys- we have a Sock Monkeys on Parade thing going on, and there are 6ft fiberglass Sock Monkeys set up all over town. The one that Cheap Trick sponsored was unveiled a couple of weeks ago; do a search on Google, you'll find a picture that was published in our local paper.

Since my stamps are usually commercial/industrial they aren't quite as pretty as the cheap Chinese-made commercial stamps that you find in stores, but they do exactly the same job, are very enviro-friendly, and the mounts are made of synthetic wood made from recycled HDPE plastic- hard to tell the difference, but not as nice as the hard maple blocks found in stores and there's no index/picture on top (get some scrap pressure-sensitive stock from your local printer for cheap, you can make your own if you need them). Trust me, you'll like them- the quality of the image is outstanding; you could even say that they make an *Amazing* impression! If you don't like them I'll give you your money back, no hassles.

"Politicians are an irritating by-product of the electoral process. The solution is fairly obvious- rather than electing our leaders with a popular vote we ought to take a vote to draft them, with severe penalties for non-compliance and malfeasance. The best person for the job is usually the one who wants it the least." (McDonald)

Q: Do you allow customers to sell hand stamped products made by your stamps? I wanted to use one when I make my greeting cards which I eventually plan to sell.
A: Good question! Yes- actually I encourage it, as long as it's an item that you make yourself and sell to the end user yourself; no mechanical reproduction, nothing other than direct hand-to-hand sales is permitted. I think creativity rocks! I'd appreciate seeing what you're making though (send me a pic!), and credit to Amazing Arts if possible would be nice but not absolutely necessary. You make a good point- I ought to write up something to that effect; I have folks making hand-stamped cards, clothes, candles, ceramics and even cement paving stones! One guy asked if it was ok to get a TATTOO of one of our images- yikes, I'da never thought of that one! You bet I asked for a pic of the work when it was done =)

And if you'd like an image larger or smaller to suit your needs just let me know, I can have it made and ready to go in about a day or two; other modifications are possible depending on the specific item and I'm always glad to hear new ideas.

If you've read this far you're either an extremely intelligent, insightful and tasteful person or a completely crazed rubber stamp addict- either way, thanks for stopping by! Check our user group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amazing_arts/ to see a lot of ways that artists are using or stamps, and new items are always shown there first, often the same day they're created. Hope to see you there!

2007 Scott M. McDonald