| Store Index: pg.1: Rubber Stamps, pg.2: Mold Making Compound, pg.3 Face & Button Molds, pg.4: Nature Spirit Molds, pg.5: Goddess & Mythology Molds, pg.6: Fairy & Mermaid Molds Gallery & Information Index: pg.1: Customer Art Gallery, Mold Info & Instructions, pg.2: Kimberly Crick's Art Gallery, pg.3: Artist Biography & F.A.Q., pg.4: Shipping & Store Policy Update 2008: Thank you to everyone who has emailed to wish me good health. I'm happy to report that my cancer is in full remission and I'm on my way to a complete recovery! I've moved to Beaverton, OR (near Portland) and hope to start my life over again, leaving Michigan and my past troubles behind. I want to express my profound appreciation for everyone who has supported me throughout the years and helped me survive on my art business. I plan on bringing you many more years of art! <3 If you're interested in seeing my latest artwork, craft supplies and general website updates or my latest personal news journal posts, please check out my blog here. If you're just looking for a little more info about me (such as my interests, favorite media and pictures of me) check out my myspace page here. (I'm not very into myspace, so it doesn't get updated with new stuff as much as the blog.) |
| Welcome to Kimberly Crick's artist bio, scroll down for Q&A. - Frequently Asked Questions below - For questions related to shipping or payment policy, please look at my SHIPPING AND STORE POLICY page here. Still have questions? Email: EnchantedGallery@gmail.com Angel Policy Selling things made with my molds or stamps: If you have purchased molds or rubber stamps, you may sell your handmade artwork created from them freely. You have permission to publish or display your artwork online. The only thing I do not allow is mechanical reproduction of my images (such as product design/t-shirts/prints, etc.) or mold making from casts (molds made from art made from my molds - aka duplicating the product itself). I am not available for commissions at this time. Using my images on other websites/blogs: All images copyright Kimberly Crick. You may use my digital images for personal, non-profit, non-commercial usage only. "Kimberly Crick" or "www.EnchantedGal.com" must remain on any images cropped/posted elsewhere. (Yes, this means you may post my images on other websites/blogs/galleries, as long as credit is given and it's not for money.) About the artist Kimberly Crick: Throughout high school I was envious of every artist I came in contact with. My cartoon figures were lacking in substance. At one point in my senior year I applied for the advanced art class. I thought I could do better than the boring still life and shape drawing of Art 101... I was denied and told that my art was not good enough. Perhaps I didn't have what it took to be an artist? College came along and all of a sudden, I was free. The teachers didn't limit my subject matter. I learned some art history... and then it happened! I stumbled upon all that is Art Nouveau. "This is more like it" I thought, what brilliance I saw in Mucha, Klimt & Beardsley. Mythological art before the newer, less magical, term "fantasy art" came along. The symbolist movement, fin de siecle... this was it, this was my calling. I decided I had to work hard, I would find a way to express myself in such beautiful ways. I wanted to help bring a little magic back into the world through art. My dream has taken many detours to get to this point. I had just finished my sophomore year of college when I discovered I had cancer. It was stage 4 lymphoma, in my blood stream and it had spread from my neck to pelvis. I had very subtle symptoms prior to this and was shocked at the severity of my disease. When I checked in to the hospital my left lung had filled with fluid. I was given a terminal diagnosis and they did not believe I would live past that February 2004. My world became a question mark. A long pause, a very long pause... But my mind was made up for me and something stronger than myself took over. I broke through the fear of living (and dying) and discovered a stronger passion than I knew existed. Although much of my time is spent ill from cancer treatments, I've never felt better as a person. It's very hard for anyone who becomes seriously ill to be productive. I was very lucky to have art as a skill; fortunately it is something I can do no matter how I feel. I’ve been very dedicated to my artwork, often leaning over to be sick while painting. When something so severe happens you really lose a lot of yourself. For me it happened to be a positive thing. At 22 I was not concerned about the things that really made me happy. You know, it's all about working (I had a full time job at a bookstore, where I thought I would work for a long time) and personal relationships, school etc. Although I lost all of that “normal” stuff when I got sick, it also gave me the freedom to be me, for me. That's how The Enchanted Gallery got started. I had begun chemotherapy treatments and if I didn't feel like I was doing something meaningful the depression would swallow me. Why bother going through these treatments, being sick all of the time, if my life was basically over? Well, I'm not sure if the art is what saved me, or if it was the hope that my life could be worth hanging on to. I just keep taking it one day at a time, trying to find those things that make me happy. For all of you in similar situations, I wish you the strength to find your inner happiness. Perhaps if we all find what is meaningful to us, we can make the world a better place. Unfortunately, I will not know the outcome of my therapy for some time. I have frequent doctor visits/xrays/checkups and lots of nice needle poking blood tests multiple times per year, so on the bright side I will catch any future disease early in it's development. I'm living with a purpose and everything seems more important now, something I may have never known without cancer. Art became the answer, the purpose, the input, the outlet. What a perfect way to let out some of the beauty I know exists. My passions are obvious to me now, by losing so much I have gained the most. Thank you for your support, Kimberly Crick New 2008 - Want to know what's new in my life, see general site updates, art and craft projects I'm doing in my spare time? I keep a blog at http://theenchantedgallery.blogspot.com/ Frequently Asked Questions - Q&A: Some of the reasons I don't do International shipping: Unfortunately due to PayPal and USPS policies, I can not ship outside of the United States at this time. One reason for this is PayPal's seller protection policy. It makes me financially responsible for these packages unless they can be tracked. They tell businesses to factor these losses into planned expenses, but I'm not a large enough business to buffer this expense. The US Post Office also requires extra paperwork, hefty postal charges and transportation (international packages must be taken to a post office, not mailed from home.) It's possible this policy may change in the future. For now, for customer service/loss/damage/credit card charges/incorrect addresses/fraud cases etc. I am required to provide proof of shipping and delivery which can be verified online for PayPal. The US postal service does not provide tracking for packages outside of the states. Since USPS is the main service in the US and is integrated into the PayPal system (I can pay for the postage right out of my PayPal account and have the mail man pick it up from my home) it has not been convenient to find an alternative shipping company. In the future I may look into shipping with Fed Ex or UPS if a convenient & affordable service with tracking is available in my area. If you would like to be notified if/when this option becomes available, you may email me at: enchantedgallery@gmail.com Please note: I get a lot of emails and can not respond to them all. All international order queries are saved for future response. It is possible that this may be months/years until either PayPal and/or USPS change their policies or that I expand my business and hire help. I'm sorry I do not have time to make exceptions to my policy right now. The paypal shopping cart will automatically block international payments. Even if you'd like to ship your items to a US address, if your credit card/bank is based in another country you will not be able to order: I am not able to accept international orders at this time. If your bank account or credit card are based outside of the United States, PayPal will not allow you to add a shipping address to your order that is outside of your home country. This means that when you order you would not be able to select your USA address, not even as a "gift address" option. This is their policy, so it's automatically blocked before ordering can occur. Until www.paypal.com changes their policy there is nothing I can do about that. The only way around it is to have someone who has a United States account to place your order for you. This also applies to accounts initially created with a US address but have a non-US funding source (any international credit card or bank account) attached to it. PayPal determines your location based on your funds, not just your address, sorry! What's your telephone number so I can pay directly with my credit or debit card? / I don't have a PayPal account? Paypal is the only way for me to accept your credit card payment online. I do not have a credit card machine and could do nothing with your credit card number directly. You do not need to register with paypal in order to use the shopping cart checkout. You will need to provide an email address along with your shipping information, but you do not need to "confirm" your account or sign up for anything with them. I accept unregistered and unverified paypal transactions within the United States. If you have a credit card or checking account you can use their site as a secure "middle man" to pay for your order. This is the most popular and trusted checkout system available, owned by www. ebay.com. Is paypal safe? As THE leading auction payment site, owned by www.ebay.com, you've probably already heard of them. They are a secure middle man for sellers. What they do is keep your information available to you only. I can never have access to your payment information. I only receive a notice that funds have been transferred to my account. They do not share credit card or bank account numbers with any sellers!!! I personally think it's a lot safer than mailing a check or money order. This way I never see your account numbers. With Money Orders you also run the risk of a seller claiming they never received it/it was stolen/cashed by someone else etc. Paypal provides seller & buyer protection and requires proof of shipping in the event of a dispute/credit card chargeback. Questions about rubber stamps: Can you make a custom design for me? As of August 2006 I am designing my own rubber stamp line. I do not own a vulcanizer (rubber stamp making machine) and I can NOT do requests. If you are interested in making your own rubber stamp designs, I highly recommend the company "Picture My Stamp." You can check out their pricing here: http://www.picturemystamp.com/ I am an angel company, meaning you can sell artwork made with my rubber stamps, as long as they are handmade. No machine reproduction of images please. What mounting technique do you recommend? / How do I use unmounted stamps? It depends on the type of rubber stamps you have. If you're using domino size stamps I would recommend using them unmounted. Just trim out each individual image (leaving about 1/8" around the edges, taking care not to undercut with your scissors.) I use mine by laying the stamp, design side up on a sturdy table, ink them with StazOn ink and press my domino onto them. If you have other (larger than the 1" x 2" size) stamps I would recommend getting sticky foam sheets with vinyl cling on one side. That way you only ever need one acrylic block for all of your rubber stamps. This uses the power of static cling, just peel off your cling foam mounted stamps from the acrylic block. My favorite online retailer who sells mounting supplies is here: http://www.picturemystamp.com/ You can also get acrylic blocks in a variety of sizes (and low prices) at your local JoAnns or Michaels craft stores (I haven't seen the sticky cushion there, though if you're feeling creative theres lots of ways to make your own with craft foams/sticky tapes etc.) A little more info (and pictures) on mounting options on my - How to use unmounted stamps page. Questions about mailed payments: Since going through my cancer treatments I've been moved around a lot and haven't been able to make a permanent mail-order page for this website. Eventually I will be able to get a PO box address for mailed payments (and a paper catalog,) but until then you can shop at my ebay store which keeps my current information. Ebay shopping requires a free ebay account and will allow you to send a Postal Money Order as your payment. Being registered with Ebay also allows me to keep a record of your items ordered online, your shipping address/contact info and provide you with ship-date emails. Ebay is a separate website and contains most of the products seen on this site. Sorry, only my most popular items are stocked there due to their seller fees. Click here to visit my ebay store. I do not accept personal checks offline, however you can pay with your personal check through my paypal shopping cart. This is called an e-check, an electronic version of your check. It takes about 4 days to clear your bank account into mine before I receive a notice of your payment (expect this minor shipping delay.) It works just like a real check without the mailing paperwork. About WHOLESALE or bulk orders/volume discount pricing: I offer wholesale discounts on rubber stamps only. Discounts are available to individuals or business alike. You can see the rules and price list here: WHOLESALE RUBBER STAMPS. Due to the time intensive nature and low profit margin of making molds, I am unable to offer a discount on my flexible molds. About my flexible molds for polymer clay and other craft materials: My molds are very flexible, use without a release agent (such as water or corn starch) your material should pop right out when you flex the edges. If you have really sticky clay, try setting it in your freezer for 10 min (with the clay in the mold, this will help it become firm.) The molds can handle heat to about 650 degrees f, this includes Utee (melted embossing powder), wax and resin. You can bake your softer polymer clay inside of your molds. However, it is my opinion that your mold will last many more years if you don't bake it, as constant high heat will slowly degrade your image over time. I only sell the light purple flexible molds. Any examples shown are to help you see the design you are purchasing. Nearly all of the examples shown are made from polymer clay with pearl ex or acrylic paints. More information about my molds available on the Customer Art Gallery. Mold Info and Insructions Page. About ceramic clay and PMC (precious metal clay and pastes): I have never used either of these with my molds, but from what I know about these materials I can say the following: PMC may require a mold you can bake to reach a leather hard stage from the original paste. I do not know how hot it needs to be, but this is probably not a good idea. If you can get it to that stage in under 650 degrees it will not hurt the mold. PMC3 in CLAY FORM will work fine. You can use these molds the same way you would use polymer clay. Press the PMC Clay into the mold and flex the edges to pop out your design. It's best to remove the image before firing, not only because of the heat, but because PMC shrinks 10-20% while baking and the molds will not. Ceramic clay could be used (for the impression, pre-bisque firing) but only with the deeply carved molds. I know that this type of clay is more gritty and wet, thus not able to pick up the finer details of many molds. Nature spirit carvings and button molds should work, probably not the more shallow molds such as vintage art nouveau items. More information about my molds available on the Customer Art Gallery. Mold Info and Insructions Page. Using my molds with soap or wax: Just about any material works well with the type of mold compound I use. However, the size of my molds are suitable only for cameo attachments and inclusions. I do not have any molds large enough to make entire soap bars or candles. More information about my molds available on the Customer Art Gallery. Mold Info and Insructions Page. What is this light purple mold compound? It is called "Mold N Pour" made by ranger ink / Suze Weinberg. It can be found easily online or at your local mega craft store (such as Michaels, if they are near you)... Keep in mind that this compound is very expensive, about $12.99 to $13.99 per (2) 1.5 oz. kit in retail stores. It does not come in bulk pricing, but it yields the best detail and flexibility. I have tried many different mold making materials and I would recommend this one for polymer clay, UTEE / poured embossing powder, paperclay and hot glue. I sell this compound here and you can learn how to use it on that page. About selling art made with my molds / copyright info: You may sell any artwork you make with my molds, including plain cabs, to parts of your art project, etc. You may publish your art or display it online without permission. ***PLEASE DO NOT use your cabs to MAKE NEW MOLDS FOR RESALE, as some of my images are my own copyrighted designs.*** If you make molds for sale with my copyrighted designs I will have them removed through your web service/ebay. If you need to know which ones are under my copyright protection, visit the mold pages on this site, they have red * stars before their descriptions. Remember, you always have permission to make anything other than new molds with my items :) -- Where do the carvings come from?: Some of my carvings (such as many of the Nature Spirits) were purchased from a supplier who commissions designs directly from his carvers in Bali. These are ordered by me as one of a kind carvings with permission from the seller for my craft use. Once I purchase this carving it is mine to do with as I please. There are also many faces which are carved by me on this website, and a few art nouveau replica pieces which are past their copyright domain. There is no copyright for your jewelry making/crafts, but there is for making master molds (since I now own the rights to the master carving, purchased directly from the employer of the carvers.) Since I only sell molds, the craft supplies, I am happy to allow you to sell finished projects made with them. Click here to read my "Angel Policy" - What it means and examples of things you CAN freely make to sell with my products. |
