I have a lot of stamps. I don’t use them as much as I should. They always seem a good idea when I buy them but then they go into a drawer and I forget all about them – the exception being swirls, and journaling stamps, which I seem to use a lot.
Ao I was having a play yesterday, making a Valentine’s day card for DH (I know, I say I never make cards but I usually try to make Valentines and Birthday cards for DH and the kids and I figure even *I* can make 6 cards a year!) and came up with something that I will keep on playing with, I think, cause I like the effect.
Basically I spritzed some Radiant Rain on a bit of cardstock and let it dry. I stamped over that with a texture stamp (this one is a sort of crackle-look effect) and Staz-on. I stamped the little sentiment over that, again with Staz-on. I found a nice primitive heart image and used it to cut a piece of Fun Foam then stamped over the sentiment with clear embossing ink and embossed over it with Ultra Fine clear embossing powder. I messed about with distress inks and Fire Brick and vintage Photo to colour the card, wiping away any ink from the embossed ares. Then, with something I have had in my stash for ages (I swear at least 10 years!) a Versamarker, I drew a line around the edge of the embossed heart. I carefully dusted that with Super Russet Pearl-ex. It was getting darker and darker as I was finishing, hence the last photo being not very bright!
I punched a few little hearts and again, did something I used to do a lot , punched a teeny hole in each one, added a jump ring and hung them from a safety pin stuck thru a little ribbon bow.
Card done!
The technique works well with any large-area stamp (I found some home decor foam stamps in my stash – again, used to use them A LOT, now I never seem to – they work a treat) – be sure to let the Distress ink dry fully or you will get the Pearl-ex clinging to it as well as the Versamarked area!
In this one you can see the Versamarker – it has a fine nib and a brush one
This is a stamp I got from Homebase about 5 or 6 years ago
I like it even without the added sparkly line, but the shimmer adds something. In any case it was fun and something I expect I’ll play around with a bit more. I am really into this using-old-stuff idea and I like how it seems to be opening up my creativity and making me take a moment to THINK about what I can do with things instead of just doing “the usual” with it!
