Shadow stamping with the backs of clear stamps

06/09/2010 by UKMA 2 Comments

Now I am back from holiday I should be back to original content on my blog, starting with this one today. If you are like me, you always look for new ways to use existing supplies.  A while back I posted about using the outline shape of clear stamps to create a pattern to cut stamped images out that was neat and looked like a pre-made embellishment.  I am NOT a great cutter-outer when it comes to leaving a uniform border.  This trick helped me, especially with journaling stamps and frames, to end up with something that looked a lot better than what I could create cutting on my own.

It got me thinking about clear stamps and last night, on a whim, I tried something out – it worked!

Basically you press the etched side of your stamp (the part you would normally ink) to you mount and ink the BACK of the stamp and stamp that on your paper.  You can use any ink dy-based, or pigment ink for this so long as you clean your stamp as soon as you get done so you don’t ruin the “sticky” effect that will let you stick it to the mount later.  As with many clear stamps, mostly Distress Ink is rubbish for this, unless you really want a speckled mottled background.  Flip the stamp and stick it to the mount in the normal way then ink again.  So they would show up well here I used black ink, but monochromatic, tone on tone looks nifty too. Stamp this over your shadow.  Now you can cut out along the shadow edges . 

It goes without saying that any symmetrical stamp (square, circle, oval, rectangle, some flowers) will work but anything oddly shaped won’t.  The stamped image you get from the reverse side of the stamp won’t match up. 

This worked, as the frame is more or less symmetrical:

This worked, pretty much, even though it is NOT symmetrical as you can just cut it along the stamped line for those bits that fall outside the shadow:

and all these little foliage images work well too:

The outline ones, like the first one, work best.  I think it gives a sort of 1950s retro look to the stamps. 

You could stamp with the back on the reverse of card or patterned paper then flip it and stamp the image on the other side, which would let you use oddly shaped stamps as well.  If you are a neat cutter-outer, this will seem pointless (really, I can cut quite intricate fonts easily so long as I am following the lines)  if cutting leaving a uniform border is a struggle this tip just may make your life a bit easier.