It happened almost by accident…it seems like last week I went from carving potatoes to making rubber stamps. Yesterday I started printing fabric and went to bed embossing velvet. Today I’m off to appear on the Carol Duval show. Next week? Who knows.
My name is Mary O’Neil (O Kneel) and I was born to stamp. I like to think that I can make a distinct impression on just about anything and everything I touch. My company is called Hot Potatoes and yes I do think of myself as something of a hot commodity. Just ask me.
Mary began carving potatoes for the “big bucks” when she was working in the movie “bidness” in North Carolina. She learned how as a Girl Scout, and she began again as a scene painter she was familiar with making messes and having fun.
And believe it or not, carving potatoes and printing shirts is one (just one) of Mary’s ideas of having a good time. At least for ten years it was; but as we all know, you strive for more, and carving potatoes is not nearly as glamorous as one might think. Not nearly as glamorous as burnin’ rubber.
In 1998, the rubber stamp business was as HOT as a POTATO and the time was ripe for Mary to make the move from vegetable to mineral, from carvin’ taters to burnin’ rubber. From paper to velvet, from Craft Fairs to the Carol Duval show. Things happen fast in the rubber stamp game and Mary was ready to press on.
There was a hole in the stamp business big enough to rap a (hot) donut (now) around and that’s the spot Mary aimed at with Hot Potatoes. A good stamper can spend HOURS on a project and only be able to show it to a few good friends. Mary likes to think you can spend the same amount of time and talent on a project and end up with something you can show to EVERYBODY.
So get busy, start stamping, and show off!
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