New stamps and dies - What do I do now?

I often think that sometimes I have a number of hobbies, buying stamps, using my stamps and cleaning/organising my craft room. I am really good at buying stamps, not so good at utilising my stamp collection or organising my room.

I have to admit, that I lack confidence sometimes in what to create. Sometimes I can take up the limited time in my craft room pondering what to create. To overcome my block, I prepare my stamps and dies to show how they stamp and the look of the dies. I look at the combinations of the stamped messages and write out some of the options. For Words of Cheer, I considered just buying the dies, but the sentiments are gorgeous and can be used for inside and outside sentiments

I also look at the catalogue for ideas from the concept artist. As a demonstrator I can access the information which shows what items have been used to create each card and also the basic techniques, this helps as a starting point (you can use the pictures or contact me directly if you have any questions about catalogue samples.) I then tend to create a board on Pinterest to Pin the items that I find using the stamps and dies I am playing with. I am conscious that not all examples and images can be seen on Pinterest so I also tend to do a Google search and look at the images ( I must confess sometimes you get some random images so be careful what you put in the search box!) These images can be saved to Pinterest or can be saved for future reference, I tend to try and Pin them to Pinterest as that is where I tend to look for inspiration. Of course, there is also Facebook and Instagram as well, also its does not have to be the stamp and die set you are using which inspires you, it doesn’t even need to be Stampin’ Up! I tend to pin anything which inspires me .

Pining keeps me quiet when I someone has stolen all my spoons. I love searching for inspiration, I just have to ensure that I remember to craft too. What do you use to find inspiration and to start creating with your new stamps and dies?

Batch Making Simple Christmas Tags

My last video showed how to make some simple tag topper tags to match some tissue paper which I have in my craft room. Todays video shows how I batch make tags, either to sell at craft fairs or to use on presents .

At Christmas I use so many tags and my family and friends need tags too. This often means that I need multiples to match my wrapping paper (or I buy wrapping paper to match my pre-made tags.) I find the easiest way to create lots of tags is to batch make them. If I make them one at a time it takes about 5 minutes. I created 12 in about 40 minutes by completing the tasks together.

Actions

1. Decide on a design

2. Collect all the supplies needed to create the tags - stamps, blocks, ink, Versamark, embossing powder, heat tool and ribbons/ embellishments.

3. Find or work out the dimensions needed for the tags

   Metric

   Shaded Spruce/ Night of Navy and Basic White - 5cm x 10.5cm

   Imperial

   Shaded Spruce/ Night of Navy and Basic White - Just under 2 inches x 4 inches

4. Cut all the tags (including the white for reverse)

5. Punch out all the strips using the tag topper punches

6. Using the Embossing Buddy or any anti-static tool (this prevents Embossing powder from sticking to places you dont want it.

7. Use Versamark to stamp the greeting

8. Add embossing powder ( tap or blow off the excess, you can also use a brush to remove the excess.)

9. Use heat tool to set/melt embossing powder

10. Leave tags to cool

11. Identify a white tag or backing for each tag (may need to trim off excess)

12. Stamp the to and from in chosen ink colour

13. Add glue to stick the tags together (trim off excess)

14. Cut twine down to length required for all tags

15. Add twine to tags

The video below gives a quick how to video.

Grouping tasks together saves time and enables a bit of choice as they do not need to be exactly the same. I have a few more tags to make and I need to find some suitable paper. I also use brown paper, I am pondering crumb cake tags, what colour tags will you be making?

How I use Large Ink Pads

Are you new to Stampin’ Up! ink pads, or would you like to find out other ways to use your large ink pads. Over the years that I have been creating cards and items, I've fallen in love with the Stampin’ Up! inks and colours. If you're looking for high quality ink pads with gorgeous colour options (bonus being that they co-ordinate with the paper, pens and embellishments), these ink pads are for you. All the cards on this page were made using different techniques and the large Stampin’ Up! ink pads. There are a number of ways that they can be used.

There are different ways you can use large ink pads. These are a few:

Stamping- using the ink pad to ink up stamps, large ink pads make it super easy to ink up large backgroun stamps.

Stamping with blocks - either with or without water (look out for a future video on ways to use blocks for stamping.

Stamping with other items - geli plates or other items such as Stampin’ Marker lids or the end of pencils.

Creating you own embossing colours - using Versa mark and the ink pad with embossing powder to create you own coloured embossing (stamp in the Versa Mark first then add the ink, this prevents adding colour to the Versa mark pad.)

Adding colour- their are a number of ways to add colour to your cards, using Wink of Stella, Water Pens or blender pens.

The video below shows the different ways I use the ink pads and the cards I have made.

Look out over the next few weeks for more in-depth videos on how to use your ink pads. I am super excited about sharing different ways to stamp with blocks, it is one of my favourite techniques, what is yours?

Stampin' Up! Stamp Sets

When crafting as well as loving the co-ordination of the Stampin’ Up! inks, paper and embellishments. I also love the quality of the stamps and the images that they produce. Officially Stampin’ Up! have two different types of stamp types, Photopolymer and ‘Cling’. I consider that there is a third type which I suppose is a subset of cling which is the background stamps. This is as background stamps have there own individual quirks.

Stampin’ Up! have provided the reasons for choosing each different types of stamp. There is an explanation of the types below and the video below talks through the reasons.

Sweet Ice Cream Photopolymer Stamps

The first type of Stampin’ Up! stamps are the photopolymer stamps. Because the stamps are clear all the way through, they make it super easy to stamp exactly where you need to . They make it super easy to line up the stamps required for double and triple step stamping. They also stick to the clear blocks, but do not have the cushioning layer of the cling stamps. This means that they give a better image if stamped on foam (either the piercing mat or Stampartus will help the image stamp well)

Stamp sets are made in photopolymer if they contain a large number of stamps (like Snowflake Wishes), if the stamps are not super detailed and if the stamps are made to layer on top of each other. Photopolymer stamps stamp beautifully whether using blocks or the Stamparatus, I tend to alternate. If I am making one card of a type I use blocks, the Stamparatus is perfect for multiples.

The ice cream lolly on the card above was created with a number of Photopolymer stamps from the Sweet Ice Cream set which combine to make a stunning image.

The next type of stamps are the ‘cling’ stamps. These stamps are red rubber, with a foam cushion backing. The foam cushion helps to get a good impression when stamping. These were previously known as ‘clear’ stamps as they use the clear acrylic blocks rather than the old wooden style blocks which the stamps were stuck to. ‘Cling’ stamps are super duper sticky and the new technology for the stickers is amazing. The only downside being once you have added the sticker it does not come off. I watched an demo called Julie Davidson recently who showed a tip which was to add the sticker to a block and then add to the back of the stamp, near perfect placement every time. I previously tended to avoid the ‘cling’ stamps as they didn’t stick well, but know the problem has been resolved. I recently realised that I have more ‘cling’ stamps than Photopolymer.

Stamps are created in red rubber when they require more detailing or better stamp imaging. The images above and below were created using the Dragonfly Garden, I also used block stamping (watch out for a future video on ways to stamp with blocks.)

Cling stamps will stamp well with the Stamparatus and also blocks, again it depends on how many cards I am making as to which I use.

The last type are Background stamps, officially there are just two, but I think the Background stamps are slightly different to the other ‘cling’ stamp sets. Background stamps are larger and I find it easier to use a Stamparatus to stamp with them.

To use a block I would suggest that you leave the block on the table with the stamp on and add the paper to the inked up stamp rather than lifting the stamp and block on to the paper. using copy paper to rub the stamp to ensure that all the colour is transferred,

Using a Stamparatus makes it so much easier to create a good image with the background stamp, this is the main item I use to stamp these even if I am only making one stamp. I don’t waste as much paper with the Stamparatus.

The cling stamps have grown on me. What is your favourite type of stamp?

How I prepare my co-ordinating dies

Although in my last post I stated that I prefer clean and simple cards, to overly complicated ones, I adore punches. But I must confess that I have a number of dies. I mainly use layering dies, however, I have a number of stamp sets that have co-ordinating dies. I feel I don’t use them enough, so have challenged myself to use them more. To inspire myself and check they are all present and working, I complete a number of actions.

I first check that all the dies are present and correct and that they are the dies I am expecting ( I am not aware that a different die set has appeared in an envelope but it is good to check). I then take a picture, some people scan or photocopy the dies to show their position or alternatively they draw round the dies to show where they go.

I then carefully remove the dies, from the backing sheet as the double sided tape used is very sticky. I usually add a piece of magnetic sheeting to the card to add the dies to. The magnetic sheet I used in the video below came from Pink Frog Crafts. I then count to ensure that I still have all the dies (some little dies can disappear, I have a magnetic wand to find the pesky things.)

I had already stamped the Hand-Penned Petals stamps in Basic Gray, I then use my die cutting machine to die cut the items, I used my Mini Stampin’ Cut and Emboss, which I call Dinky. I cut each die cut for the co-ordinating stamps and then each die in Basic Black. For layering dies, I use Basic Black for the base and then Basic Gray for the layers. I add all the die cuts to pieces of Basic white.

I love having the inspiration for card sketches in a format that I can take it with me. The inspiration could be kept in a stamp case or a notebook.