Collage stamping - one up!

Oh me, I do like to play! Inkadinkadoo has new stamps that I truly adore! And then the sentiments from Cloud 9 - everything just works together so well! And I decided to play! For this first card, I stamped and embossed glossy cardstock with clear EP, then swiped it through colorwash on my craft sheet.



and then I added black pen and white pen using doodling stencils:



And since I'm working on collage stamping, I wondered what you could do by collaging stamps using clear EP. Of course, it's just a tad more difficult, but I managed to pull it off! And the background is 3 layers of colorwash so it came out a whole lot darker - but used the same 3 colors as in the first card. What a difference!




And then I added white pen with the doodling templates. Just too easy to do!



Definitely a card class for San Diego! Can't wait! We are going to play so hard!!!

Altering your rubber stamps!

Oh! GASP! CUT UP my rubber stamps???? Well, maybe after you pick me up off the floor! I USED to be such a purist. My stamps had to be perfectly clean, in order, sitting on the shelves. Row after row after row. Even the wood was clean!

First there were a hundred stamps, then two hundred.....then a thousand...then two thousand....no, I'm not a stamper at all! But I can't resist a cute little stamp! And they literally took over my work space. So I unmounted all of them!

Once you unmount your stamps (it took 2 full weeks....and I saved 75% of my space) you get some kind of freedom. I can't really explain it....but it is a new kind of freedom - to PLAY!!!

Example 1. I might use this stamp a handful of times as it is. A nice western collage.



But I decided to cut the stamped image apart and use the individual elements from it. Now, I know, I can mask and stamp, but that seems a bit of work on a lazy day!



Dare I cut the actual stamp apart, I thought???



What freedom! Of course I did it! And now....do I count this as ONE stamp or as 4? LOL! I think I will get a whole lot more use out of it this way!



Example 2. I truly like this stamp. But I don't like it as a border. I wanted the sky to be open so it would "flow" upwards....not limit me to the size of this stamp.



So I whacked the top off!!! But look what happened! I absolutely LOVE this stamp now!!!



Ya gotta be BRAVE to do this!!!

Example 3. Do you ever have so much open space in a stamp that you get that "smudge" from the ink? Oh I do this all the time! And it can ruin a card in half a second!



So, yes, I cut the inside out!



Don't worry, I left the inside perfect, so I can put it back and have the original image. But I can also stamp anything else in the center of the rope now!



All of the above stamps are from Talkabout Images. So reasonable I can buy 2 of each!

And next....the reverse. Why not take little stamps and create a collage out of them? One of my readers has been so generous and has sent me supplies for the local home school moms. This last batch had a lot of tiny little stamps in it, some dated back to 1996.


Because I unmounted them, I could then collage them back together to give an interesting new look to something over 12 years old!



And yes, different brands as evidenced by different types of rubber:



Put together on Sunday International's thin mount:



The stamp will go to the kids as a collage. But they can still cut it apart if they don't like what I did!

I know so many stampers who get bored with what they have. I say "UNMOUNT IT ALL! Cut it up! Make new collages! PLAY! PLAY! PLAY!"

And YES! I have unmounted ALL of my Stampin' Up sets! Even the ones on wheels! LOLOL!!!

After all, I've got to downsize this year...I've got to save on space! I've got to plan for hubby's retirement and a one level, 2 bedroom condo!

I'm just not sure I'm going to succeed!!! I do love stamps!!!

PS. If you are going to do this, use KIA or Tim Holtz scissors, and cut as close as you can to the image you want to preserve. I use EZMount to back them with and I'm still looking for my favorite acrylic block....but I do like several different brands.

Tutorial - Collage stamping

Yesterday, one of the things I taught was collage stamping. Judikins sells rubber stamp masking tape by the roll which I happen to really like using. But you can run wax paper through your xyron using repositionable adhesive. Or, you can just use any wide masking tape. Doesn't matter. I suppose you can even use plain printer paper...but I do like it to have a sticky back.

Stamp several stamps onto it.



And then cut each image out really close to the border. I put them on wax paper as it's easy to remove them when needed.



Next, play with them a little. Layer them into any collage....something that you like.



The first thing you are going to stamp is the top piece of paper that you just laid down. Whatever you ended with on the top of your collage is the first stamp you use. Mine is the sentiment stamp.

My sentiment stamp had the author's name on it...which I really did not want as part of my collage....so I cut the part out that I wanted and left the signature.



Next, I laid the signature mask on my cardstock and stamped the sentiment over it like this:



When you pull the mask off, the signature is not on the card. Because you stamped it onto the mask.



Next, I'm going to place the mask for this part of the stamp over the area that I just stamped. In essence, I'm covering up what I just stamped so that nothing else gets stamped onto it.



The next stamp you use is the next to the last image that you added to your collage. In this case, it's the little girl. I just stamp that over the mask:



Next, I cover that image with it's mask.



Are you getting the idea here? The next stamp will be the top piece of my collage, in this case, the girl with the ball, just stmp her over the masks:



and then layer the mask on top of her.



The final stamp is my flourish. At this point, I did decide to change the angle of it just a little.



When you peel off all of the masks....your collage is left.



And of course, then you can start to ink and color your collage:



I used 4 stamps with this collage....but there is really no limit to the size of your collage or the number of stamps that you use. It is truly a wonderful way to get more use out of your stamps.....and just makes wonderful cards! The little girls are from CI Stamps (Coronado Island Stamps), the sentiment is from A Stamp of Excellence, and the flourish is from Autumn Leaves.

I think all of the gals had a great time learning this technique yesterday and they came up with some really fun collages. Just makes you want to play even harder!!!