Welcome to another sunny summer week! I'm excited to say that we're having a slight cooling trend here in Woodland, with temps yesterday in the low 90's. We were able to open up the house about 8 pm last night, which was a huge deal... so nice to turn off the a/c and let some cool air into the house before midnight!
This is going to be one of my longer posts, so grab a cool drink and get comfortable.
Today I've got several cards to show you, all using the same color-blocking technique. I'm not exactly sure of the correct term for this type of stamping. If you want to try this easy technique, the first thing you'll need to do is stop throwing away the left-overs when you get a new wood-mount or clear-mount stamp set (the red rubber sets that you mount on wood blocks or clear blocks). That red rubber is valuable stuff! Whenever I get a new stamp set, I save the larger pieces of red rubber that are left over after I punch out the pre-cut stamps. I trim them into all sorts of shapes... circles, rectangles, triangles, squares... then store them away for later use in cards like these. The super-easy steps are:
ink up the selected shapes and stamp them, overlapping slightly or let the shapes stand alone... it's up to you. Then ink up a solid-image stamp and stamp over the colored shapes in a dark ink, such as Basic Black, Basic Gray, or Early Espresso.
The ribbon on this card deserves a whole paragraph of its own! This is the new 5/8 " Crinkled Seam Binding (p. 199 of the annual catalog). It comes in only 4 colors right now (Berry Burst, Emerald Envy, Night of Navy, and Peekaboo Peach) but I'm hoping that Stampin'Up! will offer it in many more colors! What do I love about this ribbon??? Basically everything! It is soft and pliable. It is lustrous and elegant-looking. It ties like a dream. The little crinkles make it look like raw silk. And best of all, it is so lightweight that when it's tied, it doesn't create a bulky knot that makes mailing difficult. I used Peekaboo Peach on this card and the other colors will be on my very next order!
Here's another card using the same technique...
For this card, I used the same stamp, stamping it three times, each image slightly overlapping. The colors are Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake. I trimmed this piece of left-over rubber into a flag shape. You'll notice that I cut this shape with a ragged, torn-edge look. Ragged or smooth, it's up to you! The bird and sentiment are from Best Birds, a carry-over set from last year's annual catalog, now making its home on page 99. Some new Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine ( page 199) adds a touch of texture.
OK... one more simple card to go...
First I stamped a simple wavy-edged rectangle in Pool Party, then stamped over it with the bee from Dragonfly Dreams (p. 138). The sentiment also comes from the same set. The card base is embossed with the Softly Falling embossing folder (p, 211) and I used both the Basic Black and Pool Party Solid Baker's Twine to tie around the top fold.
I've noticed that many demonstrators that are using this technique are now suggesting that you ink up a clear stamp block, but you usually get a blotchy image when using a stamp block. If you want a more speckled look, by all means try using a clear block. I much prefer using left-over red rubber because you get a more solid, even image, you can cut it to any size and shape you want, and you can make raggedy edges or smooth edges. You just have a lot more options when using red rubber.
What are you up to in the week ahead? Going on vacation? Heading to the beach to escape the heat in Portland? Staying at home and staying inside to keep cool? Whatever you have planned, try to make a little time to try out this simple stamping technique. It's easy and fun!
Happy stamping thoughts and virtual hugs coming your way,
Susan
I
No comments:
Post a Comment