5th Saturday - Stamping without Stamps

As you know, we are a stamping challenge, and by that we mean  stamping with traditional rubber or clear polymer stamps - but have you ever thought about other things around the home you can use for stamping?

Almost anything that has a defined shape and isn't going to  soak up the ink can be used to stamp with. It's a good idea to experiment on scrap paper because different things work better with different inks - this shows up well in my first sample, where I have used a dragonfly shape that has been cut using foam sheet.  I stuck it to my acrylic block with a dab of glue stick that washed off the block easily afterwards. The multi-coloured dragonflies were stamped with a Kaleidacolor pad, which is a dye ink, and some of it soaked into the foam making the images quite light - perfect for a background. The salmon pink ones use a Versacolor ink which is much thicker and "juicier", resulting in a bolder image.

My next sample uses a cardboard tube from the centre of a roll of toilet paper! I squished it into a heart shape and dabbed it on the inkpad - again, the pigment ink worked better

However if you want to use bubble wrap to stamp with, a dye based ink is a better bet because the juiciness of a pigment pad can force ink up between the bubbles, giving you a smudged finish. I used a Kaleidacolor ink for this stamping.

You may remember potato printing as a child, or with your own children, but you can carve any firm vegetable into a stamping tool - these butterflies were stamped using a parsnip

And finally how about using the eraser tip of a pencil? They never seem to be terribly good at actually erasing things, so here at last is a use for them.

We'd love to hear about what unusual objects YOU have used to stamp with!

An InLinkz Link-up

Fifth Saturday ~ Technique Time!!

The three cards I made

Since today is a fifth Saturday, we at Twofers want to share some techniques with you instead of a challenge.  Our hope is that this will help awaken your creativity and you'll discover something new to do with your rubber stamps. But don't fret, next week we will be back to our regularly scheduled challenge.

Hi all, it's Christi here sharing some ways to use your chalks and stamps. I never knew that chalk was a crafting item until I began rubber stamping. There are SO many techniques using this medium that I actually had trouble deciding which ones to use.  I have two tutorials for you and I hope that they motivate you to get your chalks out and have some fun! 

The very first technique I learned was what we called "Poppin' Pastels" and I learned it from when I was a SU! demonstrator.  It's very simple, yet can be very striking.

Sponge Daubers

Items Needed to Create Poppin' Pastels
Chalks (I use Pebbles Chalks in Basic Brights)
Versamark ink pad
Regular cardstock (no coating)
Images 
Sponge Daubers

How to Make the Card
White Card Base
IndigoBlu Poppy Heart PH-D
Spellbinders Die Set Majestic Squares, #S4-422
Designer Paper for background
Ribbon 
SU! Corner Punch (I can't remember the name, sorry!)

I actually made this image twice. On one I used the applicator and little cotton balls that came with my kit, the other I used finger daubers.  The daubers worked 100% better than the items that came with the kit; so much better that I threw the other heart away.  Anyway, you stamp your image in Versamark ink (works better than embossing fluid, in my opinion), let it sit for about 5 minutes (you don't HAVE to let it sit, but I think the chalk stuck much better when I waited for a bit) and once you have let it set, get your daubers and chalk.  You will have to "rough" up the chalks a bit, you can't pick up enough color if you just tap on the chalk.  And don't rub off excess chalk - it could smear - just blow it off or turn the card on it's side and tape.

Then I cut the heart out using the Spellbinder die, cut the panel out of decorative paper (let me tell you a story real quick - I had ONE sheet of paper that matched the heart perfectly, of course I didn't KNOW I only had one sheet until I demolished the one sheet in my Silhouette CAMEO - it came loose from the mat and I didn't notice until it was too late. Searched like a mad woman for another piece - nope. No way. It's 11:30 at night and while I think craft stores would do a hella crazy business if the stayed open 24 hours, they don't agree. So I bundle up and I'm off the next day and go to TWO different brick & mortar stores, with a swatch of the ruined paper and try everything to get some sort of match. Anything to even make a transition to another color. I finally found the background paper that sort of matched in one store and the ribbon in the other store - whew! That will teach me!!), used the old SU! corner punch to add some interest and attached the background paper. I then glued the ribbon so it goes all the way around the panel, I was concerned about the glue showing, so I just went into the inside of the card. Lastly, I glued my heart onto the ribbon. Honestly, I love the card so I am glad I went insane (and it really wasn't that far of a trip - he he he) trying to match the chalk - it was worth it!

I also made this "Thinking of You" card using the Poppin' Pastels technique mentioned above.

Items Needed to Create Poppin' Pastel
Chalks (I use Pebbles Chalks in Basic Brights)
Versamark ink pad
Regular cardstock (no coating)
Images 
Sponge Daubers

How to Make this Card
White Card Base
Purple Ribbon
Purple Paper
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Crazy Talk, #CMS236
Wendy Vecchi Heirloom Art Background stamp, #LCS103
Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black 
White Scrap Paper

All I did for this card was stamp the large Wendy Vecchi stamp on the card base using the Versamark pad and sponged the chalk to make a rainbow.  I discovered a bit of chalk had smudged on the bottom, so I just cut it off.  I chose purple paper to extend the card to it's normal size and glued some purple ribbon I have had in my stash forever to sort of hide the transition.  The purple card covers the whole back of the front of the card.  I then stamped Thinking of You using jet black ink onto a white scrap, cut it down and attached it. 

The next technique was one I'd never tried before. It's called Chalked Embossing, and I found it on SplitcoastStampers. For this technique you need:

Items Needed to Create Chalk Emboss
Chalks (I use Pebbles Chalks in Basic Brights)
Embossing Fluid
White Embossing powder (I used Simon Says Stamp Extra Fine White)
Sponge Daubers
Regular cardstock
Eraser (regular pink eraser)

How to make The Card
White Card Base
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Mini Blueprint #4
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Crazy Talk, #CMS236
Distress Ink in Faded Jeans
Tim Holtz Mini Blending Tool
Die from Tim Holtz/Sizziz Skull Blueprint Set, # 659375 (all of the TH/Sizzix Die & Stamp Sets that have this die have the same size) 
Pop Dots

For this technique dark paper is recommended but the blue card I used is a color I'd call medium and it worked just fine.  First thing is to decide is the color cardstock you want to use; once that has been decided, take your stamp and

stamp it on your cardstock. I used the stamp as a background stamp so I put a little thought into the placement of the stamp. Then I embossed all the images with white embossing power.  Let that dry, if you try the next step and the embossing powder hasn't cooled enough you'd end up with a HUGE mess.  Once the embossing has cooled, take your chalk and color the white embossing power lines, I used blue to match the cardstock - don't try to be perfect, it won't work and you'll get frustrated - we don't want that - this is FUN remember? After you chalk all the white embossing powder, get an eraser and just start to erase the embossing power.  Use enough pressure so you can the eraser working, but not enough to rub through the paper.  That's it. I think it looks SO cool! You'll be able to tell when you have rubber off the embossing powder from the feel of the card.

So, I made the panel described above and mounted it on a white card base. I then used Faded Jeans ink, stamped the sentiment, used the sentiment die cut in the Skulls Blueprint set to cut it out and then sponged around the sentiment using the same ink.

I pop dotted the sentiment onto the card and now it's ready to go! I have a few birthdays in February that I can use this card for. 

So, there ya go - a few techniques for you to use your chalks with.  I hope my tutorial helped spark some inspiration for you and that you enjoyed yourself.  Have a great day and we will see you next week for another challenge (and another chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Alleystamp!) - thanks! Christi

While we typically don't ask for you to submit your creations on a Technique Time post, we decided we'd LOVE to see some of your projects were you used chalk - no prize for this - just for fun and maybe to share a tip or two.  Your creation can be from anytime, back linking is encouraged! Thanks from all of us at Twofers ~

An InLinkz Link-up

Fifth Saturday - Technique time

Hi - Jane here with our 5th Saturday technique tutorial and this time I'm going to look at Batik stamping, a technique that was popular about 20 years ago when crafters all had a huge stash of Mulberry paper, that fine, fibrous tissue that was popular for matting and layering at one time. I suspect many of us have a stash of it tucked away somewhere - I certainly do - and if not, it's easily available. In fact I saw a pack in the local bargain store yesterday, 5 sheets for £1.

You will need

a piece of white mulberry paper

a colourless embossing pad or a Versamark pad
clear embossing powder
scrap paper and plain white kitchen roll
water-colour paints and brushes  - or use felt pens scribbled on a plastic palette and pick up the colour with a  damp brush for a subtle effect
A fine spray bottle filled with water
your chosen stamp
heat gun
iron and ironing board

First, choose a stamp that has clear uncluttered lines  - I used an old Rubber Stampede stamp called Whimsical Butterfly.

Tear the mulberry paper to roughly the size you want and stamp and emboss the image using the embossing or Versamark pad and clear powder. Make sure the powder is thoroughly melted so it soaks into the paper – if you were doing ordinary stamping you would say you had heated it for slightly too long!

Now protect your work surface with something waterproof – I use the lid of a plastic storage box. Place your stamped image on this and spray it lightly with water. Then paint your design, remembering to aim for a slightly blotchy effect like you see in real batik. The embossed lines will resist the paint and stay white.

Leave your design to dry completely, then protect your ironing board with scrap paper and place the image on it, sandwiched between two sheets of plain white kitchen paper. Iron this carefully with a hot dry iron. The embossing powder will melt and soak into the kitchen paper, which you may need to change to make sure all the powder is absorbed. Now lift the image out from between the papers and allow it to cool – your design will show up in white against the watercoloured background, especially if you mount it on a plain white background.

This is a great way of making your own backgrounds - I've added some die cuts and a stamped and coloured butterfly, using the same stamp, to make this card.

5th Saturday bonus

Thank you for supporting us and sharing your pairs.   We are enjoying the challenge and having a lot of fun challenging ourselves and getting very inky in the process.   We promised that in those months with a 5th Saturday we would do something different for you.   For this the first of these bonus days we have a competition, and a prize.

We would like you to comment on this post listing as many different uses/techniques you know using a rubber/polymer stamp and ink.   We will not publish the comments to keep it fair but of course we will read them.   So thinking caps on, how do you use your stamps list all the different ways.   We will give a prize, the pair of stamps above of stamps to the most inventive technique.    There will also be a Guest Spot for the person who knows the greatest number of different techniques.

You will have 6 days to respond, the competition closes on Thursday 3rd September at Midnight UK time.   The winners will be announced next Saturday when we introduce our 3rd challenge.