LittleBirdyScraps

Stamping on Saturday

As threatened promised, this week I thought I'd pass on some tips about choosing stamps.    There are so many of them out there, I find it very difficult not to just buy all of them....but if you're on a tight budget, or any budget at all really, this just isn't possible.

Or maybe you're a bit wary of buying stamps at all, because you don't know how much use you'll get out of them.  Certainly if you're a scrapbooker you might not be able to see yourself using them at all.

Stamp sets, or unmounted sheets, tend to fall into one of several categories:

Character stamps:  These are more usually sold individually, but often you'll find a set which includes several different figures, maybe some accessories, and maybe some decorative elements such as borders.  There are usually some sentiments included too.

• Why would you buy character stamps?  Well, if you like to make cards using this type of image, you've probably got plenty.  You might be attracted to a particular manufacturer such as Stamping Bella or Kraftin Kimmie, or maybe you're after something for a specific occasion such as 'get well' cards.
• What might you use them for?  Apart from making cards, this type of stamp can be used for scrapbooking - you can use a decoupage technique to make layered embellishments, for example.  This looks particularly effective with fantasy characters such as fairies, or cartoon/retro images.  I used one here:

Can you see her? 

You can also use little figures on other projects such as ATCs, for which they're a perfect size,  and if you make batches of cards for children at school, they're extremely useful!

• Is it worth buying a set/sheet of character stamps? This is a personal thing, obviously, but I think you need to look critically at what's included in the set.  If you really like a character stamp, I would suggest trying to buy one individually, as realistically you're not so likely to use the other elements in the set.  However, individual character stamps which include a sentiment or two are very useful indeed.
• In conclusion....Having said all that, I wouldn't recommend making a character stamp set your first purchase.

 

Decorative elements:  Images such as swirls, borders, medallions, flowers etc.  These are extremely useful, whatever type of project you like to make.  It's tempting, when you're trying to work out what to spend your precious pennies on, to decide that you don't need any more decorative stamps because you've already got some.  Next time you're looking for just the right swirl, or the right size circle frame, and you can't find it - make a note of it.  Decorative stamps are a good thing to look for in the sales, and a carefully chosen selection will be useful for years.

• Why would you buy decorative stamps?  They're useful for just about everything - scrapbooking, cardmaking, mixed media, journaling, and so on.  You might already have several borders or swirls as part of other sets, but look at the possibilities for using a set of images designed to go together.  Can you layer them to make floral motifs?  Could you create a frame with corners using the stamps in one set?  Are the elements interactive?  One of the best sets I've bought is the Prima Build-a-Frame set, which I've used here:

It's a simple idea - you combine the elements to make frames of any size, and there are some images which will work as corners or just decorative elements.  I've used this on ATCs as well, so it works at any size. 

• What might you use them for? Again, this are great for making embellishments on scrapbook pages.  You could use a border to make journaling cards, or buy some journaling stamps which are pretty versatile in themselves: use one underneath a flower or title to add layers, or make one into a flower centre.  Scalloped borders are very versatile - I've used them to make roof tiles, waves, and the edges of rolled flowers.  And don't get me started on swirls!  Medallions are another extremely useful design, like circles in general.  If you're a cardmaker you can use decorative stamps to make layered background papers, or to frame/accent your focal point.
• Is it worth buying a sheet/set of decorative elements?  I would say, yes!  Choose carefully, and think about starting an 'I wish I had...' list.  It's easy, particularly when a sale beckons, to forget all your good intentions and buy something a bit mad! 
• In conclusion:  I think that decorative stamp sets are great 'working' stamps that you'll use again and again.

 

Mixed sets: Probably my favourite, purely because they're such good value for money and I can often satisfy several needs at once with just one set!  A good mixed set of stamps with include the following:

A background design

One or more focal images

Decorative elements

Words/sentiments

And - if it's interactive, you've hit the jackpot! :D

 

Let me explain.....

Here's a set from Artistic Outpost, one of my favourite manufacturers

The background image in this set is the printed seed packet - but look!  On the left is a seed packet, from which you can trim the sentiments in the middle, to leave you with a frame, or you can stamp the marigold print on top of it, making a complete seed packet.  So it's also got an interactive element.  And you needn't stop there - that blank seed packet could have anything on it: the girl with the wheelbarrow, the flowers underneath, or an image from somewhere else entirely.

The focal images are the girl, and the flowers at the bottom.

Accent/decorative images are the bees and the strawberry.  You could use that strawberry to make background paper, or stamp, mask and stamp again on the seed packet.  How about using it on shrink plastic, or in a metal-rimmed tag?  I've heat embossed it on a frame and it looked really sweet in bright red.  The bees could make a border, or a little tag; I cut mine out separately but they can easily be put back together on a block. How about stamping them in a ring, all facing inwards around a simple daisy image, for example?

Think about how these different images would look as second-generation imprints - pale, background interest.  Can you heat emboss them, colour them, paint them or shrink them?

Here's another set from Paper Artsy:

The obvious background image is the grass at the bottom.  But you could use the flower head  or the swirl, repeat stamped to make a background, too.  That little 2p stamp could be cut out and used as an accent, maybe covered with Glossy Accents or made into a flower centre.   Repeat stamp it in a row to make a border or frame - this would look lovely if you coloured them with different pencils.

The bird or the flower head could be focal images, and there's an interactive element too - the 'secret garden' phrase will fit into the film cell as will 'take flight'.  The film cell itself is just asking to be layered - cut out the cell, maybe stamped onto a section of a photograph or another image, and layer it with foam pads over an identical image stamped onto your background.  Like this:

This is particularly useful, too, because of the 'flight' and 'nature' themes.  Any of those words could be used on an ATC or a card for universal appeal.

Now, obviously this is only my viewpoint - you may well have an entirely different opinion about choosing stamps.  But hopefully this has been useful to some people.  How about going off to browse some stamps online, and see if you can develop a critical eye!?

What would you have, if you could choose just one stamp set?

Stamping on Saturday #3

Hello chums.  More stash-busting this week, and some more of that make-your-own nonsense as well.

Today I thought I'd concentrate on making journaling spots.  Well, actually they needn't be journaling spots; they could just as easily become embellishments, with something else layered onto the 'journaling' space.  I wasn't sure whether these should be Stamping on Saturday or Sunday School - but they've turned out mostly stampy, so here they are!

There's no decrease in the number of paper collections incorporating vintage ephemera, and much as I love the vintage look I've managed to avoid buying several of them for the simple reason that they use patterns and images I already have in my stash - either images saved on my computer, or older paper designs that are ready to be resurrected!

So, without further ado, let's take as our first example the type of journaling spot/card that has a blank area in the middle surrounded by some sort of border.  One without any lines on it, so it can easily be used as an embellishment.

There are a couple of ways of making one of these - you can use masking and stamping, or you could glue something onto something else.  Here's a masked and stamped one:

 And here's a something-glued-onto-something-else one:

 

For both of these you will need some scraps of plain or subtly patterned paper - an item of stash that's useful in many situations, dear reader.  In my scraps basket I've got a few big plastic wallets and one of them contains bits of papers like this - excellent for stamping on.

So, if you want to make a single layer journaling card, this is what you do:

Get yourself a piece of plainish paper, the size you want the finished journaling card to be.  I used sheet from a 6x6 pad, which was just lined with a red margin. 

You need to make a two-part mask.  Now, you can do this by hand using some sort of template, in which case the principle is the same as for using Nesties - which is what I used.  Because I was feeling lazy....:D

Find some scrap paper for your mask.  Initially I was going to try this with post-it notes but after some consideration it seemed that this would be rather difficult.  You'll probably see why as we go along.  So you will need some repositionable glue or tape.  I always use Zig 2-way glue - I used to think it was expensive but the Craft Barn sell it for a good price and it lasts ages.  I wouldn't be without it now.

Anyway.  Take a piece of scrap paper roughly the same size as your journaling card and run it through your die-cutting machine with a Nestie or whatever in the middle.  I did three at a time:

(Hehe, it looks like a clock!  Little things.....)

Put some temporary adhesive on the back of the label shape and place it in the middle of your actual journaling card.

Now find a stamp to use for the patterned edges.  Think about the scale of the card and the width of the border you're going to create.  I thought I'd use this PaperArtsy set:

 

Stamp your border design carefully. I chose that coupon image on the right and stamped it in Fired Brick Distress Ink:

If you look at this carefully (well, okay, not that carefully) you'll see that I could have made a neater job of stamping right up to the edges of the mask.  I didn't actually realise this until afterwards, and because this piece is a bit vintage/grungy, it didn't really matter.  However, if you want a nice join, you might have to rock the stamp ever so slightly...

Here's another one I did with a Crafty Individuals music score stamp:

The next thing you do, is you forget to take a photo of the next thing you did. *Sigh*

You'll just have to listen very carefully.....

Take the outside bit of the mask, the bit of scrap paper from which you cut the label shape.  Place this over the journaling card so that only the blank, label-shaped area is visible.  Ie, match it up!  You don't have to stick this down, you can hold it in place because you're only going to stamp one thing on it.

Now take your 'accent' stamp - I used the winged girl on the left of the set - and stamp it in one corner of the blank area.  Not the whole image, just a bit of it.  I've done one in the same colour, Fired Brick, and one in Vintage Photo.

Then take the mask away, et voila:

I was particularly pleased with the one on the left, as that placement of the text at the very top, and the numbers with the tag at the very bottom, was on purpose!

See - I can do things deliberately! 

I think it might be quite nice to cut out a tiny label from another copy of the stamp, and layer it over that top one with its very corner missing.

I also made some pink ones, using patterned paper, but I wasn't so keen on them.  Mind you, they look better on here, lol.

For these I used an oval die and a couple more PaperArtsy stamp sets.   I replaced the mask and drew round it because otherwise there wasn't enough definition.

I didn't waste the masks, either.  The two with Fired Brick on them look rather nice all by themselves, so they'll be pressed into service somewhere along the line.

The third label mask was used to make the layered journaling spot.  This was dead easy - I punched a big circle out of some pink patterned paper

I stamped it with a Tim Holtz letter stamp in Vintage Photo:

I used a couple of stamps from the same set to stamp the label shape:

(and my luverly ink splat stamp)

And then I fiddled and faffed with the label, did some faux stitching on it and inked the edges of everything with Old Paper, and stuck it together.  I used foam tape on the back so there's at least a chance of me being able to write on it!  Here it is again:

So, there you go.  (I keep saying that, don't I.)

You may have noticed that I'm making an effort to use stamps from one set each time.  My intention is to do a post about this, as personally I'm not very good at seeing the potential in a stamp set and I find it a bit confusing trying to choose something that will provide value for money.  I hope that gradually I'm learning what to look for, and maybe I could share some tips.....might have to gather a few more first, though!

I hope you've found this worthwhile reading, I certainly had fun making these journaling cards and I'll be sure to point them out to you the minute they appear on a project!

Have a fab Saturday.