Hi Everyone, Lisa here. Today I want to give you a few ideas & hopefully some inspiration with regards to getting the most out of your stamps. Do you have many stamps? Are you unsure what else to do with them, besides the obvious..stamp them..lol. So many Manufacturers bring out stamps as part of their ranges these days. Having a co-ordinating stamp set to match a paper range can really help you take your projects a lot further. I am not a perfect stamper and it certainly takes practice. A few factors that can impact the quality of your images are the quality of the stamp, the ink you use & the pressure you apply when stamping.

Here is my first example....
Apologies for the dark photos, the weather in Melbourne today is dark, cold & very wet...hard to believe since yesterday the temperature reached almost 30 degrees celsius!


A few months ago I was shown in a very quick 20 minute session, how to use distress inks. It is really quite fun & gives you a great result in such a little amount of time. I am not an expert at it...(clearly...lol - but is only my second go) so I highly recommend trying it. I have used Tim Holtz distress inks (pads) Ideally work with 2 - 4 colours, some blending, spritzing, stamping & misting to achieve this look. It's great to work on a small card (I used ATC size 2.5 x 3.5) then mount it on a larger card. You will see from the stamp set (pictured below) I only used part of the blossom branch to create a border on my card. Just ink up the part of the image you want to use & turn your card and stamp the image as desired.

For all my projects & ideas today I used the one stamp set - Kaisercrafts' Bonjour stamp set.


This stamp set is a perfect example of an ideal set to use for stamping on different items. Any set that has flowers, borders, butterflies, flourishes, script etc I have found works really well. All patterned paper I have used today is from 'Kaisercrafts Bonjour' 6 1/2 inch paper pad this is a must have item!



Ever wanted to make your own acetate images? Well you can, just purchase acetate sheets, gently stamp your desired image on to the acetate. I used "Staz On ink" so it won't smudge & it dries quickly. I have used black ink today so you can clearly see the effects, you can certainly try other colours. Once your image is stamped & had a chance to dry cut it out & apply to your project.


On this little tag I have altered tissue paper & seam binding with stamped images. Punch out seven scallop circles of tissue paper. Stamp image repeatedly until happy with effect. Join pieces together with a brad in the centre & scrunch flower until you have the look you want.


Here is the seam binding before & after. Just lay it on a scrap piece of paper & stamp the image you want across it. You will get some of your image across your scrap paper that way you cover the maximum amount of ribbon. Let your ribbon dry then apply it to your project.


For my next tag I altered removable table to use as trim. It just adds a neat little border to a card, tag or layout. Depending on your scrapping style some scrappers like to use it to tape down their photos. You may be thinking why not just stamp straight on to the tag? Well you can, but this way you only get part of the image in a even space and the tape adds texture...besides it's fun!


Here you can see the tape which I stuck on a cellophane bag so I could stamp on it, then easily remove it. You can see where I stamped over the tape, ensuring the part of the image I want actually lands on the tape. This is the same process I used for the seam binding.



Do you have any plain alpha stickers or chipboard in your stash? I'm sure you do...why not alter them?


I used 'Kaiser Alpha stickers' I placed the letters I wanted to use on a cellophane sheet & stamped over the letters. Gently peel them off & apply to your project.


The tag on the left was made by stamping the butterfly image using versamark (watermark) ink then gently rubbing chalks over the image so it picks up the colour.
The tag on the right - I stamped the butterfly image using black ink onto crepe paper. This tag has great texture, it's difficult to see this in the photo.....I also embossed the black base tag with Swiss Dot embossing folder.
Both of the scallop shape tags were cut out using Spellbinders nestabilities.


Here I have stamped on a small cellophane bag. I have left it empty so you can see how the image stamped. This is a great gift idea, you can fill the bag with just about anything. You could then make a tab for the top of the bag or tie it off with some ribbon or string etc.

So that's the end of my post for today. I have shared just a few ideas on how you can use your stamps.I'm sure there are lots more. So go have a look in your stash of stamps & keep your eyes peeled when next purchasing your collections to see if there is a matching stamp set on offer.

Have a great day and thanks for your comments we really appreciate them! Maybe you can let us know your favourite stamping technique.

Lisa