Stamps + Digital = So Much Versatility!
I don’t think I could see my scrapbooking stash without any stamps in it! Coming originally from a purely traditional paper scrapbooking background, I initially didn’t use stamps of any kind on my projects. But somewhere along my scrapping journey
, I was introduced to stamping via some at-home workshops. Well that was it and I was hooked! I already had a basket of odd stamps I’d collected, but had not known much about how to utilise them. Once I started doing some stamping workshops, I discovered a whole new world. It was like that when I discovered digital scrapbooking too. So combine the whole lot and what do you get? Loads and loads of fun and versatility, that’s what! I never get bored and always find something to play with, whether it be from my digi stash, my stamping stash or my paper scraps!
Today I thought I’d run through a few of my past hybrid projects and highlight some of the ways I’ve incorporated the use of stamps into them. Once you realise that stamping isn’t just using black ink on white paper, you’ll have ideas to make all sorts of projects!
I love to keep loads of spare greeting cards ready in case my kids go to a birthday party, or we’re invited to a wedding or a baptism, or Christmas comes upon you all of a sudden. I just reach for my shoebox and there’s always something suitable hiding in there just for that special occasion! I have made lots of cards that I don’t use because the greeting that I’ve used on them isn’t relevant for the particular occasion I’m searching for. So go ahead and make up your hybrid cards but leave off the greeting on the front. That way, you can reach for those greeting stamps when you actually need to. I’d leave a blank area where you can stamp ‘happy birthday’ or ‘thank you’ or whatever the occasion calls for. My greeting stamps are my most used ones in my collections. You can never go astray buying a ‘happy birthday’ or a ‘merry Christmas’ stamp can you?
Another part to stamping is the ink you have on hand. I just love inking up the edges of my layouts, my cards and just about every project I make has something inked on it. It gives your projects that extra bit of warmth and depth that you may not otherwise be able to achieve. Try it and you’ll be amazed at the difference some shading or shadowing can make! Just check out Julee’s post yesterday as her shading is just exquisite. I tend to just go for it with a sponge dabbed onto an inkpad and slowly build it up around the edges of whatever you’re inking. Start off lightly and build it up to the depth you want. You can apply the inkpad directly to the side of your paper/photo but remember this will come out dark from the get-go. This gives a rather dramatic result which you may be looking for whereas sponging the edges will give you a softer, more subtle effect. Give it a go as I’d never heard of inking up an edge until a teacher in a paper scrapbooking class showed us how easy it was. From then on, I was hooked and my inkpads don’t always get used just for stamping now! Make sure to check out our DISTRESSING link at the top of The Hybrid Chick where you’ll find some further tips on distressing with ink.
And a final thing that I just treasure my stamps for is being able to create my own embellishments or to jazz up an existing embellishment. Before I’d had any ‘official’ stamping lessons, I had never thought to stamp an image, maybe colour it some way, but then cut it out to use as your own personalised embellishment! Who would have thought to do that!?! It’s great to be able to stamp a duplicate of an embellishment that you may have used on your project and use 3D foam tape to double it up so it gives the embellishment a more realistic and dimensional look. Take a close look at the flower on the right of the card.
THANKS CARD
It’s so much cheaper to be able to change up a flower you might have or some plain old chipboard with a bit of inking and/or adding some stamping to it. I love being able to stamp a script stamp onto a silk flower or in this layout, I have used a script stamp on some plain chipboard to add a bit of a vintage touch to the pieces. Can you see the word ‘you’ and the keyhole and the dramatic effect the stamping has on it in the layout below?
For this baby keepsake tin, I used a stamp for the greeting ‘treasure’ and also for the angel wings. It’s so easy to stamp them onto your own papers, colour and cut out.
And here’s my last example showing a beautiful butterfly that I stamped, painted up with some shimmery paints, cut out and 3D mounted. A special little touch to add to my canvas.
So there you have it! A few more simple stamping tips to explore when you’re hybrid scrapbooking!
Other Articles by skyezak:
- Personalised baby's name gift - September 28th, 2009
- Recording memories of your little ones - August 19th, 2009
- Time to start those Christmas cards! - July 22nd, 2009
- Win a gift card to Sugarplum Paperie's store! - June 25th, 2009
- Baby's treasure/keepsake tin - June 19th, 2009
