Good morning. We're almost at the weekend already. I hope you have something special planned or maybe even just a bit of crafting to pass the time. We have our gorgeous boys on Saturday whilst Mum and Dad have a much-earned break and an hour or two together in peace.
With Jonny in his last year at Uni and Karen pursuing studies to complete her Masters as well as a full-time job, it's all go in their house at the mo.
On the other hand it's great to be young and able to do all these things and still have energy to cope with two growing, lively boys. I don't think I ever had that much energy. :) LOL
Onto today's cards. They are ultra simple and easy to do but I felt like a bit of a change and got out some more of my goodies from the NEC to play with this week.
Background stamp - Impression Obsession - Stamps and Memories 'cover a card' stamps
Versamark ink pad
Foliage, birds and sentiment stamps from Inkylicious
Chalks - Plaid and EK Success (I've had these in my stash for ages)
Butterfly and sentiment plaque - mover and shaper dies - Tim Holtz Alterations
Isn't that background stamp just the business! I love it. As you can see I've tried two colour ways but the autumnal one seemed to come up best. I love the way it has a textured look to it as well. There are so many of these 5.75" square stamps to choose from that it's hard to make a decision. :)
The foliage and sentiment stamps are beautiful and so versatile. I think Inkylicious prices are hard to beat. The birds come in a set of ten stamps - some flocks and some single birds. If I tell you I spent nearly twice the price on one tiny flock of birds stamp a while back, you will know where I'm coming from. These little guys were only £3.50p for the set!
This is the blue and green version. The cloudy background looks more obvious IRL, I may have to try another set of chalks to get a better depth but as this was just a quick trial, I think it came out not to badly.
METHOD for stamping background
If you are new to stamping or haven't used such a large stamp before here is how I did it.
As I said these stamps are very large and require a mounting block that is pretty costly to use them. I didn't buy the mounting block needless to say. :)
I just inked my stamp with the Versamark as it lay flat on my table.
I laid the card stock piece over it and then brayered the card to transfer the ink. If you do it this way be sure to hold it gently in place or it may move as you brayer.
If you don't have a brayer, gently smooth the card with your fingers until the whole surface has been in contact with the inked stamp.
Remove the card, turn it over and chalk in your chosen colours. Apply the chalk by dabbing the colour onto the ink making sure to cover the whole image.
Lightly buff off the extra chalk with a lightly scrunched up tissue - don't rub as you may blur the image.
You can seal the chalk with a fine spray of hair spray - cheap and cheerful is fine.
Thank you for joining me today. I hope some of the information was useful. If you go over to Stamps and Memories and have a look at the large stamps and you feel the need to buy more than one - don't blame me - I'm only a delighted customer myself. :)
