Friday, July 13, 2012

Sunshine and Shadows

Hi stampers!
 Friday is here... yay!  It's the start of a summer weekend and it looks like we're going to have plenty of sunshine, so what are the shadows I'm talking about??  Well, it's shadow stamping, of course!
We explored shadow stamping the other night at my first technique class of the summer, but since not all of you attended, I'll share some of the info here.

Shadow stamping is done by stamping a shape (square, rectangle, triangle, circle, or stripes) in a lighter color as a background, then stamping an image over the shape in a darker color.  In the past, Stampin'Up! has had stamp sets that were just shapes, to be used for this very purpose.  We currently don't have a set like this in the catalog, but it is simple to make your own shape stamps with leftover rubber.  So don't throw those scraps away!  You can cut them up and make a great stamp!  If you plan to try this technique, it helps if you have some Craft and Rubber Scissors (page 180 of the annual catalog).  Using these scissors allows you to cut through rubber very easily.  It is more difficult with regular scissors, but it can be done.

Check out this card and then I'll explain how it was done...




To make this collage style card, I started first with the shadows stamped in So Saffron. To do this  I cut left-over rubber into different sized rectangles and then adhered them to one of my larger blocks, block E, thus creating a large background stamp.  After stamping the background, then I just started stamping butterflies in Midnight Muse and Tangerine Tango.  I really like how a background like this gives structure to a collage card.  It provides a framework for the rest of the images.  To give a bit of dimension to the card, I stamped two of the butterflies on vellum card stock, then cut them out with the new Elegant Butterfly punch and adhered them with just a tiny bit of Crystal Effects. 

The stamp sets I used for this card are the new Papillon Potpourri and Kindness Matters (for the smallest butterflies). The colors are So Saffron, Tangerine Tango and Midnight Muse-- my new favorite blue.  So there you have it... a clean and classic card.  Add the sentiment of your choice inside and it's ready to send.

Next time you get a new stamp set, save the rubber "frame" that you'd normally throw away and soon you'll be creating your own shadow-stamped cards. 

Happy weekend, everyone!  Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to come back on Monday for another classic card.

Susan


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