Behind the Scenes - Meet Viva Las VegaStamps

It's Friday again, almost weekend! :) But first we have a new episode of Behind the Scenes - Meet the Manufacturers!

Lucky winner of last weeks BTS is:

Congratulations Alice! Please e-mail me your address and the stamp set + chipboard album are coming your way! :)

Today's manufacturer is also a stamp company. I had the priviledge to guest design for them last year November and loved working with their stamps! Today we are talking to the lovely DeeDee Catron. It was great meeting DeeDee in person at CHA! So please let me introduce you to Viva Las VegaStamps:

 

DeeDee, please introduce yourself and guide us through your company!

Hello! My name is DeeDee Catron and I’m the Marketing and Artistic Director for Viva Las VegaStamps!; the world’s largest rubber stamp manufacturer. I live in Las Vegas with my husband and son and our two dogs.

VLVS! offers the highest quality deeply etched pink rubber stamps available on the market. We were founded in 1991 by Wayne Gartley (Stampo in the stamping community!) with a large naughty bits and famous faces section. Viva Las VegaStamps! has since evolved to include rubber stamps in categories like vintage, steampunk, people, backgrounds, western, Egyptian, scenes, nature, animals, words and sayings and many more! We pride ourselves in being in ALL aspects of paper crafts; from altered goods to cards, from scrapbook layouts to tags and everything in between.

VLVS! manufacturers over 19,000 pink rubber wood mounted stamps. They’re manufactured on a 9x7 inch plate of plain rubber. Then they’re cut apart, cushioned and mounted on individual blocks for purchase. You can get them mounted, cushioned on cling foam for your acrylic block, or just the plain rubber! Some of my favorites are the Pointed Pen Tip, the Six Hexagon Background, and the Bird In Flight, because they’re timeless stamps that I can use on almost everything.

It would be awesome if we could have a little peek inside the factory, how and where are the products produced.

The manufacturing process is very interesting. Images to be made into stamps have to be strictly black and white. They’re laid out on a 9x7 inch plate with adequate space between them. They’re then sent to an Engraver who makes a Magnesium plate and a Matrix board. Both are mailed back to us, the Magnesium plate is stored and the matrix board gets indexed and taken to the factory. In the factory we have shelves of boards with their coordinating piles of rubber. When we need a stamp made, we cut a piece of rubber to match the size of the matrix board, lay them together and put them in a press! The press pushes the rubber into the matrix board at a high temperature, which cures the rubber in that specific shape. Viola! Included in the pictures of the process are the stacks of plates and rubber and the press itself. 

How are new stamps developed. Do you have in-house designers or designers from outside.

Products are developed right here in my office! Being the marketing and Artistic Director gives me lots of power! Not only do I get the chance to design stamps myself, but I have a handful of wonderfully talented artists who do drawings for me as well. Some artists draw on request, and some draw whatever they feel like for me to pick and choose from. Once I’ve got an idea for a board (Or theme of stamps) I look through the artwork I have, send out a few requests, and fill in some spots with my own designs to create a cohesive set of stamps.

How do you think the scrapbooking/mixed media scene will evolve in the upcoming year. What will be hot and new, what will be out.

I really think mixed media is where it’s going.. which is great! It brings together mass produced paper and embellishments with fine art skills, creating true works of art. As far as trends go.. I think more hands on DIY stuff will be even more prevalent than it is now. People doing their moldings, making their own floral vines, creating their own patterned paper.. that sort of thing.

Where can we find your company?

VLVS Website

VLVS Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Here are some projects created with VLVS stamps:

 

BY Aimee Fleck for VLVS.

By Hermine Koster for VLVS.

Journal page by Susan Brown for VLVS.

Journal page by DeeDee Catron  for VLVS (There's Nat, DeeDee and me at CHA! :))

By Sandra Strait for VLVS.

Here is a video for making your own Washi Tape.

And here is today's awesome giveaway: Plate917 – a 9x7 inch collection of images perfect for mixed media! 

For your chance of winnig this inspirational set of stamps you go to the VLVS website and find your favorite stamp set of the 2013 releases. Then you come back here and leave a comment. You can comment until Thursday, February 21 midnight (GMT +1). Winner will be announced in next weeks BTS! Good luck!

Thank you so much for this peek into your company DeeDee!

Wishing you all a happy and creative weekend!

Comments

[Grace]

I love the police box and instagram stamps. Thanks for the chance to win.

[Jessica]

this are really beautiful stamps. At the page i loved the three whimsical trees. They are really funny

[taru76]

This giveaway plate is actually my favourite one! I also enjoyed plate number 918.

[Jenneke]

Wow, Birgit, you're spoiling us again with this give-away!! I LOVE the 'Man and Woman with HEarts' but I think this Plate917 is going to be my favorite!! LOVE everything about it!
Keeping my fingers crossed....

XXXJenneke

[isabelle Kellner]

what a great idea for this give away, I love the stamp: Big Dream. awesome!!!
thanks for the chance
hugs isabelle

[Karin]

After watching all those wonderful stamps I decided that Plate 917 is my favorite stamp set.
It's great for my art journal......
X Karin

[Janine]

I love the set of wings!!

[Wynn H]

We are "Dr. Who" fanatics so hands down it's the Blue Police Box.

[Ramona]

I really like plate 918 with the horse and the wings, but they are all really great!! :-)

[Jeannette van Dongen]

I love the wings set and the plate you offer for the giveaway is also beautiful !

[Crafty Newbie]

Wow! I'm almost speechless. These are probably the best design samples I have ever seen. I would love Susan Brown's journal page as a printed canvas for my living room. I must see more. Thanks for sharing.

[Kathleen]

like this on Plate 917 and a lot more;-) but Cracked Background 3 3/4 x 4 1/4 is always good
Thanks for the advice

[Terry]

I love the Chevron background!Thanks for sharing.

[Disco Queen]

The VLVS police box plate set is super funky. However, the pinterest plate set is my absolute favourite due to it's versatility. Thanks for the chance to win.

[Barbara Tobey]

The plate on your blog is my favorite of the newest sets. VLVS is an old favorite source of rubber. Love what you have created with their stamps.

[Kimberly Pate]

it is hard to chose just one, however, I like the sentiments on #918.

[Sigrit]

Incredible, Thanks Birgit. My favourite is plate 917. So useful for Scrapbooking.....

Regards
Sigrit

[Leenamummi]

This plate 917 is absolutely stunning, I could use it in many ways;)

[andrea]

I love the stamp chamomile tea.. and any of the Victoria And Otto stamps. In fact I have them all lol

[Erica M]

Very cool...love plate 910....because of the houses or birdhouses...very fun!

[julie m]

I like plate 921. I always have a hard time with cards for tweens/teens. This plate would make some fun cards for that age group.

[Riikka]

My choise is the hinge silhouette :)

[Jean A Marmo]

Wow -such gorgeous stamps! LOVE the cracked background and bingo card in the mixed media section. So many designs! Thank you for the chance to win!

[Marie-Anne Raeman]

ik hou van Plate 909 en nog veel meer :-)

[Lucy E.]

I like plate 918 the best, although the washi backgrounds are cool too, as well as plate 917!

[Becky Craig]

My favorite is plate 917. I am absolutely obsessed with hexagons. Also, chevron stripes and arrows make me smile. :)

[Alice]

Dat is een leuke verrassing! Thnx

[Darcy]

Great stamps! Love plate 918 the best! Thanks for the giveaway :)

[Marjan]

Such a superlovely giveaway! I actually think plate 917 is my favourite. I love the Pinterest and Instagram logo's. I also think the washi tape stamps are very handy and adorable. And I am a huge fan of background stamps. So this packages is the best ever!
If I don't win, I hope I'll be able to buy it here in the Netherlands.

[Margriet]

Love plate 921, birds in treehole is one of my favourites on that plate.

[Birgit Koopsen]

just testing

[Susan M. Brown {sbartist}]

Thanks for the fabulous post featuring Viva Las VegaStamps! and our wonderful design team. It was also great meeting you at CHA and having a little fun playing creatively with you, Dee Dee and Nathalie. I'm so thrilled to see my journal page here and I'm enjoying all of the fabulous comments from your followers. Hope you'll join us as a guest designer again real soon :)

[Susan M. Brown {sbartist}]

To crafty newbie - I am so honored you would want to have a canvas of this to hang in your home. Perhaps this is something I could have made into poster size :)

[Nancy Aper]

So much fun to read this!! I love the wood stamps: art is here and be adorable!! Nice to work with and what a great price to win, woohoo!!

[Riki N]

Such a nice stamps!
I like many but my favorite Worn Clockface!

[Tiffany]

I like plate 1091. Love word stamps. Plus popcorn makes good background in miced media pieces.

[Elina.]

Plate 917 and plate 918 are the best. If I had to choose, it would be plate 917 though. It has everything I need right now. :)

[beatrice lawson]

Interesting interview, love to learn how things are made. I really liked the Instagram and Pinterest new stamps.