Category Archives: stamping

Nov4

Basic Technique Number One

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Heather

Once you’ve mastered the basics of stamping, there are so many ways you can use it. (If you are new to stamping, or are having problems with stamping, sign up for my email list. There’s a great (if I do say so myself) PDF and video on what the most common mistakes are in stamping, and how to avoid them.)

One of the most fun things to do with stamps is to create your own background papers. One of my very first blog posts from way back when shows you the basics. It’s even part of Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s Dirty Fingers Clean Design True Scrap Class. (affiliate link) It’s definitely one of my go-to techniques when pulling out the stamps.

A quick tip for you: to create a sophisticated look for your background, use a stamp with strong structure that lends itself to a tiling motif, and use an ink pad similar in color to your paper. For a more subtle look, you could even use versamark ink, which creates a lovely watermark effect.

Don’t forget, if you want to get a card in the mail, make sure to sign up for my email list!

Now, I’m off to make more cards. If you’ve got a technique or design question, or a tool or supply that stumps you, comment below, and I’ll add your request to the card-making queue.

Nov3

Giving a Sketch a Twist

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Heather

Giving a Sketch a Twist

You’ve already seen two cards based on this sketch from Becky Fleck’s Page Maps 2. (affiliate link) Let’s look at one more version, shall we?

Obviously different from the two previous cards, right? But if you look at it, it’s still patterned strips to one side, and focal point on the other. This time however, it’s rotated 90° and the strips are the sentiment, instead of the focal point.

The other two cards in comparison:

Today’s tip is all about improving image quality when you stamp. Before I stamped the sentiment banner, I tested it out on a scrap piece of paper. It’s ALWAYS a good idea to test stamp when you’re breaking out a new to you stamp.

I am so glad I did because I discovered this:

What’s that? Why yes, there are low spots in the stamp! Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you are at stamping, because you’ve got an imperfect stamp! This was a fairly easy fix. I used a fantastix from Ranger and added ink to the spots that didn’t transfer from the stamp. You could also use something like a small, stiff, paintbrush or a fine tipped foam makeup brush to fill in the missed spots. The final image looks fine, don’t you think?

Let me know if there are any design rules or techniques you’d like me to cover for you this month.

And if you want to get one of the cards I make in the mail, make sure you’re one my email list by signing up here.

Oct28

Card Month Reminder

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Heather

Card Month Reminder

Starting November first, we’ll be studying card technique and design every day. That’s a LOT of cards to make. Rather than letting those cards take up space, I’d love to send them out to YOU!

Make sure you’re on my mailing list by October 31. I’ll be emailing all my subscribers and asking for the snail mail addresses of anyone who wants to receive one of the cards made during November.

You can sign up by filling out the form at the top right of the blog, or by clicking here.

Have any topics you want me to cover in November? Tell me NOW so I can be sure to fit it in!

This is going to be fun!

What should I play with first?

Oct5

A Month of Cards!

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Heather

A Month of Cards!

Today is National Cardmaking Day, in case you didn’t know.

It’s a totally made up holiday (created by Paper Crafts magazine if I remember correctly) but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate it!

The original plan was to host a card making party today, and make cards to donate to Operation Write Home. However, with a whole bunch of family obligations this week, I wasn’t able to do that. (If you’re local, I’m looking at weekends in November, if you would like to join me!)

Speaking of November…

Instead of spending all day today making cards, for the month of November we will be making cards EVERY DAY. If you have techniques you want demonstrated, or design questions you want answered, make sure to add a request in the comments below.

I am so excited to be doing this with you. So excited that I want to mail you the results! I’ll be sending an email out to my subscribers on November first, letting them opt into a snail mail list, so I can send each of them one of the cards I make. If you want to get something pretty in your mailbox, make sure you sign up for my list before the first of November!

You can sign up here, or use the sign up form on the top right of the page.

I can’t wait to start making cards with you! This is going to be fun!

Some card ideas to inspire you!

Sep2

Blast From the Past: Background Stamping

Posted on September 2, 2013 by Heather

Blast From the Past: Background Stamping

Way back in the dawn of time (or 2007 as the case may be) I had a little blog on blogger called The Dragon’s Den. On it I talked about whatever struck my fancy, whether it was stamping, or family life, or how much I loved LOAD. It now has its very own domain name, but it’s purely for personal thoughts now. Some of the old posts have some fun information though, and I thought I’d share one of the oldies with you now:

Today I’ve got a simple project you can do with stamps. This will work with any stamp. I’m using a very architectural stamp, but you could use an animal stamp if you’ve gone zoo crazy, or a Christmas stamp if you’re putting together holiday cards, or a ball stamp if you’ve got a kid whose second word was ball. You’ve got the idea.

A word about stamp pads

There are a lot of different inks. But when it comes to putting ink on your stamp there’s only one thing you need to know: is it a felt/cloth pad or a foam pad?

If it’s a felt pad like the one on the left, you bring the stamp to the pad and tap it gently on the pad, then give it a little twist before lifting it off the pad. If it’s a foam pad like the one on the right, you turn your stamp upside down, and gently tap your pad on the stamp. No twisting! You can rip or separate the pad from it’s case if you aren’t gentle. If you follow these instructions, you can have stamp pads for years! They will need re-inking eventually, but that’s another easy thing to do. How to tell if a stamp pad is felt or foam? Get your fingers dirty! A felt pad feels like a piece of canvas, and a foam pad feels like, well, foam.

The Technique

We are going to make a background. I used this technique to make a card and a scrapbook page, but there are lots of other things you can do with this idea–even use paint and you have a home decor treatment that looks like wallpaper, without the need to scrape and peel in ten years when you decide you must have been crazy to do that. First you need to choose a stamp. Base this on what your end project is going to be. I knew I was going to be doing something with my husband in it, so I chose a stamp that could be considered masculine. (Maybe.) This one is from a The Angel Company set. (I miss TAC! They are now out of business.) Then I chose three colors–2 colors close in hue, and then an accent color. I used Versamagic chalk inks in Niagara Mist, Hint of Pesto, and Night Sky.

Start with the lighter of the two colors close in hue, and stamp in a staggered pattern, leaving room between images for the image in the darker color. If you aren’t comfortable with eyeballing it, stamp the image on a post it note, with as much of the image on the side with the sticky strip as possible. Cut close to the image, and you’ve got a repositionable place holder that you can use to help space your images. In StamperSpeak, it’s called a mask, and it’s a very useful trick for layering images, and creating scenes.

After you’ve filled the page with the lighter color, choose where you want your accent spot to be, and stamp the image once with the accent color. Then fill in all the empty spots with the darker background color. Don’t forget to go off the edge of your page. This will ground your background, and it won’t look like it’s just floating there, waiting for you to finish it.