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?

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.

How I Prepare my Cling Stamps

Last week I shared how I prepare my photopolymer stamps. Today I am sharing how I prepare my cling stamp sets.

For the longest time I avoided cling stamps as I struggled with placement and also stickiness. However, Stampin’ Up! have developed a cling adhesive backing which is super super sticky and with more practice and stamping I have gotten better with stamping. Of course I still make errors but I am getting better.

Before stamping my cling stamps, I check all the stamps are there, that the stamps are the correct stamp set in the correct language. If it is a two part cling set I check that I have each part. After I have checked that the stamp sets are correct, I check the stamps outline. Stampin’ Up! stamps are cut on machines ( i think) and if they are lined up incorrectly there can be insufficent space around the stamp and therefore can affect how the image is stamped (this has only happened to me once with the Panda’s from Sale-a-bration a few years ago.

After my checks I add the cling stickers to the back of my stamps, it is easiest to add the cling if yoiu remove the backing one by one. You need to line up the stickers, as they can not be removed once they are stuck on the back. If you try to remove them they can remove the foam from the stamp which can affect the way it stamps.

I then stamp out the stamps on scrap paper to check how they stamp and to ensure that all the residue from the production process is removed. The video below shows the process that I use. It depends on the stamp set whether I use the Stamparatus or just using blocks.

I also create masks when I stamped the stamps, I use some gorgeous masking paper by Inkadinkado, which I cut out with scissors. Do you create masks for your stamps?