Onyx Who?

My interest in rubber stamping started off innocently enough when I purchased the "Treasures of the Pharaohs" edition of Somerset Studio back in 2000 and became mesmerized with the beauty of the hand crafted art featured in that issue. Well, I had to try my hand at it and thus began acquiring all the "have-to-haves" for stamping and its related art-making tools.

Ironically, where I live, in a metropolitan area of over 4 million people, there is only one "real rubber stamp store!" To get there requires boarding the dog, packing a lunch, and stopping the mail to endure a lengthy trip on congested roads with over 60 traffic lights enroute. My only nearby choices for stamps and supplies are the major craft stores, and we all know how limited their selection is -- I quickly outgrew their minimal inventory. So I have resorted to the web for the wealth it offers by way of a much greater selection of stamps, unique products, and most of all inspiration. And apparently, I have learned that many others enjoy the web for the same reasons.

For the last three decades, I have been involved in the printing and mass-mailing industry, desktop publishing, forms design, newsletter editing/layout design, logo design and have even self-published a cookbook of my family's favorite recipes. So, I've been designing for a long time, mostly for others. Over this time, I've collected and created a bunch of images -- favorites that I think are good looking and will make great rubber stamps as my line expands.

My sister Cyndi is, among other things, a wife, mother of two and a technical writer, but also a talented free-hand artist. She is the artist responsible for the large, stained-glass-like designs in my premiere collection. She "doodled" them on a pad during a particularly lengthy, and dare I say boring? meeting!

So it just seemed "to fit" to put all this designing ability into rubber so we can share them with you, and thus OnyxXpressions was born! My hope is that others will have as much fun using our stamps as I have had making them.

Without the help of Val, Jo, Ruthann, Duane, Peggy, Diane, and Zana, I could not have imagined all that's involved in getting started in the rubber business, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for willingly sharing your areas of expertise.

Thanks for stopping by my site.

Cheryl

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