Artsy Inkers
Stamping => Techniques => Topic started by: Looser on September 12, 2017, 09:21:37 AM
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As some of u know I 'lost' all my stamps inks & tools. Thanks to pals like Yankee & Stampwilly I have some great things to play with.
This topic is for all of us who want to make best use of our stamps--no matter how many we have. I'll share what I can & everyone is welcome to chime in. #>
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I have a lot of stamps now. I was gifted some large amounts from people downsizing (Jan and others) and now that I have been on a design team for a year I have accumulated a lot from that too. Sometimes, I miss having smaller amounts.
BUT! I do try to look through ALL my stamps at least every other month to have a visual reminder of what I have. If I have an idea for a stamp, I write it down (who knows how fast that idea could get lost!!!).
Jan had recently brought up mood boards, and that reminded me about doing them at Two Peas. Your looked at the mood board, got out all your stuff that worked with it, and then drew only from that pile to make your card. That was a good limiting challenge that always worked out great for me.
Thanks for the topic, Daniel!
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OK. Here's my first example of using stamps so they aren't quite so recognizable.
I made an inner & outer mask to define the arch.
The pic ain't great, but you'll get the idea--i hope.
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Thanks for the input Heidi. O0
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Here's an example of using a shape mask--inner & outer--with stamps. All 3 stamps are from the same set.
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I like both examples, Daniel. That rose stamp really is a great filler stamp. Easy shaped masks are a good idea, especially if you can sponge inside as well.
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I limited myself by using just stamps that were out on my desk, and I made a prototype of my idea. I used the back to school Chantigo set. I decided to make a little frame with the ruler to make a chalkboard for my sentiment.
If the photo doesn't upload right here, I will put it in the gallery.
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I really like ur ruler frame! That stamp set looks like fun.
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I really like how you made a scallop border for your flower-filled heart, Daniel.
Cool ruler frame, Heidi!
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Daniel and Heidi, these are wonderful examples! Years ago I used to make what I called scrap cards. I would pull out one stamped image I might have and then go through my stuff and use small scraps and pieces to make a card. I am still trying to do that and I have a series called Bits and Bobs on my blog. I also did this with dies. I looked at my many dies and looked at ways to alter them to make something different. I think that is what you are doing here -- altering your stamping to make something completely different. Like you said this is very helpful when you don't have a lot of supplies. Maybe we should have a challenge here on the board -- altered stamping! Using the stamps you have to make backgrounds is another way to use them differently.
April :smile:
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Using a background stamp in a different way sounds like a fun monthly challenge April wink-wink!
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If u haven't already done so u might check out Nora's snowman card. It's inspiring me in several ways...
I plan to draw an easy to do snowman & also make triangle trees that I can 'fill' with any of my other stamps--focal & BG.
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Another way to extend small stashes is surgery :o Yeah I know some of us have a bit of fear about cutting up any stamp, but sometimes it let's me double the ways i can use the image. Case in point... Heidi rak'd me a set of leaf stamps. The interior of each leaf is a nice flourish. By cutting out each of the flourishs i have a great set of leaf outlines & a great set of flourishs. I can use each set separately or recombine them--a win win. O0
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Daniel, I agree about the surgery. I always consider which stamps would be easy to put back together again, first. I more often have done this with sentiments. I sometimes like to rearrange the words one on top of each other (or whatever) to fit the spot left on my card.
I'm glad that worked with the leaves!
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I have done surgery on my stamps too and like Heidi, it is mostly with sentiments.
April :smile:
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I have always wanted to add my own personal touch to my stamping. Redesigning a stamp with a little surgery is a great way to give a stamp a facelift! I can become wicked with a knife when I come across a stamp that doesn't fit my style because it seems I can always find some useful parts.
A another method of extending stashes is to make a peg set of alphabet stamps easier and fast to use by laying out a word with the appropriate pegs next to each other and then wrapping a rubber band with around the center of the wooden pegs and stamp them as 1 stamp.
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TY for the pegging tip Jan!
I'm with u on surgery. It's a useful tool. Biggest prob i have is keeping track of all the parts after surgery.
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Same here. I bought a "Spring Fling" dollar stamp a long time ago, mostly because I liked the dotted circle frame around it. I cut out the sentiment so I could re-insert it, or just use the frame. With long sentiments, sometimes I cut them apart, sometimes I mask to rearrange.
Daniel's "Kit in an envelope" comes to mind regarding limited supplies. I enjoyed making something mostly from the supplies included in the kit.
Another way to get more from your stamps is with the reflection, or mirror image technique. You could get two bears for the price of one! I mostly think of the Stampin Up Lovely as a Tree set when I think of reflection stamping but I saw a cool way to reflect a sentiment today, in this older youtube video (https://youtu.be/Oq-98RDCZDY).
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I like that video for the reflection of a sentiment, Cindi! Thanks for sharing it!