One of the easiest things you can do to make sure you get a good image when you stamp is to test stamp on a piece of scrap paper before committing to your project.

Case in point: Check out these images from a test stamped piece of paper.

If you notice, the top image is very, very blotchy. That’s because I was trying out using distress stain as an inking medium on a clear stamp. Definitely NOT a good choice for that particular stamp. The bright blue image a little bit below it is a test to see how well Distress Inks would work with the stamp. Still not good enough. Finally, at the bottom, the red is Hero Arts Shadow Dye Ink. That, if I do say so myself, is a gorgeous transfer. So Hero Arts it is!

One more thing. Check out the upside down image in the middle of the paper. Notice how it’s mottled pink and blue? Some ink colors are more difficult to remove than others. Apparently the red colorways in the Hero Arts Shadow Inks like to really cling to a stamp. Wash your stamp and stamp onto scraps until the ink no longer transfers. Otherwise you’ll get some odd colored images.

Final product:

This is such a simple card. But this is one of my faves so far this month. Wouldn’t this make a really cool insert into a pocket page?

Don’t forget, if you’d like to get a card in the mail, join my email list. I’d love to send you one!