Splish Splash!

Well it's about that time of year again!!  Time for April showers!! AND time for another inspiration card for PIP Challenges!!

This week's challenge is #1812 and sponsored by DIGITAL DELIGHTS. Not only have they generously supplied our PIP Challenge team with digis, but they are offering a prize of $5 of in store shopping to our lucky winner!!

                    I am ... well, delighted!!  with my stamp choice, Splish Splash Susie   I have to admit ~ I've already used her 4 times!!!  She is so seasonally perfect and so perfectly delightful!!  Right now Splish Splash Susie is only $1.50, so you can see how the prize money can go a long way ;)

The 2 cards I have featured today are both printed on Watercolor paper.  I heat set the printer ink with marginal success. 


My first step was to spritz the whole thing with water and then watched in horror at the printer
ink began to spiderweb!!(Orange umbrella one!!) I let it dry and then was VERY CAREFUL as I colored, trying not to saturate the lines and also avoid the black bleeding into the colors. You can see in the close ups that I was maybe a little too careful to stay away from the lines!!


  The image with the blue umbrella, I printed about 1/3 smaller and did not spritz!!  I had a lot less trouble coloring it without the bleed.

To make a short story long, I used a splotchy technique to color the background and more carefully colored in the subject!  A few layers, jewels, some great sentiments (a nod to UNITY STAMP CO) and I suddenly have a couple of bright, cheerful cards perfect for this time of year!! I should note that the white streaks and smeared highlights are made with a white Uni-ball Signo pen and the texture on the blue umbrella is a result of Prima Oil Pastel in combo with Zig watercolor marker.





Good luck!  I am excited to see what you come up with :)  Have a great week & get those pinkies inky!!!!

Converting Wood Mounted Rubber Stamps to Cling Mountings (the easy way)

I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to reorganize my "craft room" ~ actually our dining table and built in 1970s china hutch!!  The main focus of my efforts has been to get my wood mounted stamps onto cling backgrounds so that I can use them easily in my MISTI stamping tool!!  In trying to be discerning as I go, I have found none of my stamps are better as wood mounts!!


This is a little emotional for me because despite my absolute love of stamping, I also look at the stamp as an actual piece of art; often displaying the blocks as part of my décor!!  Now many of those beautiful representations of the stamp are in piles, bags full of jumbled wood blocks with no rubber stamp left on them!!!

That brings me to my next point ~ storage of rubber stamps without the bulk and weight of the wood blocks is FAR SUPERIOR!! I will, at some point, have so much extra space!!!  I have also figured out a system that works great for me........     Interested?  Read on :)

This will be a long post but if your thinking about converting your stamps I do have some information that will be helpful :)

First of all, I have found that I don't have to purchase the cling foam to mount my plain rubber stamps on, as I've been doing now and then for a few years. This process is very tedious because of needing to cut out the stamps after they're mounted and it can be expensive and slow too!  I have also discovered with a MISTI you do not need to have the foam backs because you can re-ink & stamp if your image doesn't transfer the first time!

So, how to get the stamps to "cling"?  I have discovered a great product called Aleene's TACK-IT Over & Over.  Another plus concerning this product, you can make glue dots with it too!!

• Stamps that are not yet mounted to wood blocks but prepped for it (like new Stampin' Up! sets) - Crazy but just peel off the protective backing, trim your stamp and stick it to something like a fleece blanket or a t-shirt. Lift & stick over & over until the permanent stickum is not so permanent.  I did this to mine OVER & OVER and no problem having them stick really well to acrylic blocks or the MISTI.  Don't be shy ;) Save the backing & just stick them back to it for storage!
  

     

• Trimming stamps - It is important to properly trim your stamps if you use them a lot.  It is so upsetting to have the part of the stamp with no image leave an inky shadow, spot or line! I even trim some of my factory die cut stamps if there is too much extra rubber or a "window" area that needs removed from the center of the stamp.  MOST IMPORTANTLY you do not want to under cut the image, always make sure your scissors are angled so that there's just a little more cushion than rubber.  If not you may have an immensely difficult getting all of the image to stamp, MISTI or not!!

      

The First photo shows the correct angle to trim at. THE SECOND PHOTO IS A BIG NO -WRONG ANGLE!! The third photo shows what it should look like when you're finished.  You don't have to trim as closely as I do, I just like them that way!! (easier to place maybe??)Below is an example of a poorly trimmed stamp, I may have to remove the cushion to make it stamp properly (the cushion should always be a little bigger than the stamp (or identical!)

     

• Removing stamps from wood blocks - Fairly simple & self explanatory. JUST GO SLOW!  It's not the end of the world to remove the cushion from the stamp, but personally I like to leave it on there if possible.  You can carefully used a razor edge to help peel the cushion from the wood cleanly. If any chunks of the cushion come off, you will have a hard time getting a nice image, so in that case I would just remove the cushion.  The rubber needs to be "clean" and smooth before you add the adhesive, as does the cushion if you've left it on the stamp.

     

• Adhesion - Very simple and economical!  Just put a dab of Aleene's Tack-It Over & Over on the back of each stamp, cushion or no. I use my finger to smear it thinly around. Lessons I've learned doing this:  A little goes a long way!!  The deeper the glue the clingier it gets and believe me, you don't need it that clingy!! Also remember the idea is for it to stick to your "block" and come off only when you want it to!  So you don't have to spread the glue edge to edge and especially don't use it where there is a narrowly cut outcropping (like a broom handle shape).  In fact, if you have a small or narrow sentiment just a little glue at each end will be plenty. Always smear it thin and flat, you don't want the glue to be dimensional or lumpy, it will cause problems with how the image stamps. 

     

• TIP:  I collect a large number of similar stamps to work on all at once. This way they can be stored as a genre & I promise, you'll want to do a bunch at once because the dry time is a couple of hours (Prob not that long, but I want to be on the safe side) & once you have them done it's rewarding to have enough to fill a couple of containers with.  You will be happily surprised how many will now fit in a container that originally housed only 5 or 6 of the wood mounted lovelies! 4 or 5 sets are now in each case!!

• STORAGE:  I am so excited to share how I've decided to store these gems!  I have been keeping the plastic from different packaging for years, often using it to make clear cards or embossing it for great effects!  This time I cut them the size to fit inside my storage containers of choice; wood mount Stampin' Up! cases!  You can use any case you'd like because the beauty of it is that you can cut the plastic to fit any size case you have.  Your newly cling mounted stamps will stay clean & organized stuck to both sides of each sheet of plastic!! I cut inexpensive typing paper to size to fit in the lid and base of the container and stamp it with the stamps that will be stored in the box.  Once there is no room to stamp, it's time to make a fresh box.  I can easily see from the outside what stamps are inside and I use different inks, often writing their color beside the image, now I'll have a catalog of inks too!

Below is an example of how I store the cases in our "china" hutch!!  A sharpie label on the end of each case helps me remember what is in each one.  I have tried to use only the size of case that spans the shelf depth for optimal storage space.  This photo shows cling stamps that have backing, but the stamps mounted as above store in the exact same way!  They are also easier to find because instead of a lot of loose stamps in a case I just have a couple of plastic panels to pick up and flip while looking!!

Good Luck ~ Hope this lengthy post was of some benefit to you. Feel free to share it in whatever stamping community you might be a part of & please feel free to leave any comments or ideas you have in the comments :)

Clearly Beautiful ~ Anything Goes PIP Challenge!!

This image is an example of laying out all of

the pieces to see how they might work together.  

Hello & welcome to the 10th week of the new year!!  It is time for PIP Challenge #1810 and your chance to win $12 of fun stuff (you choose!!!) from this week's sponsor Di's Digis!!







     
I invite you to follow the link RIGHT NOW to check out all of her fun, digital stamps!! Lots of adorable kids & critters!  
Today's inspiration card is a result of one of my FaVoRiTe techniques!  I keep all of the rigid, clear & flat plastic from different containers and then use it for card fronts! Butterflies are on my mind as I'm longing for Spring days!  Check out my favorite Card using this technique HERE! 
Cut the clear window piece to size and leave a tab to attach the card back.  Then just have fun adding die cuts or fussy cuts covering the adhesive on the inside of the card with the same die cut !

      I used the white die cut piece for a quick note & signature.  The inside was embossed and rubbed with ink & I layered the decorative pieces to either hide or peek out of the front panel of the card.  

Incase the sender wanted to write a note I left the back blank and used a piece trimmed from the inside and an extra butterfly!  I thought with a cute sentiment this could be a CAS card front by its self!!

Here it is completed & closed.  See how the flowers are layered and the inside sentiment is hidden!  These are simply so much fun, plus they are flat and mail just like a regular card :)