Double the Love?

by Sue W.
I can't believe another week has past! and another year too!!! Happy New Year to all!!

My first post of the New Year has not been easy. I'm sure you've all had those days at the stamping table that nothing works? well, that was my day. I tell you all this because a) I really want the sympathy :) and 2: to share my "unblocker" with you all.

As I started my card, I was hoping to use a new DRS stamp (D213) that will be released in the next few days, and I wanted to use F298 with it. I also had a sketch I wanted to use, it was sounding pretty simple in my head cause I really liked the sketch, but unfortunately when it came to the execution, it was way off.

I won't bore you with the hours of struggling and frustration, but I was about to throw in the towel and admit defeat, when I remembered what has sometimes helped me in the past (not always, but usually). I asked myself what I'm NOT supposed to do ( I never know where this can lead). This time I went towards the very technical aspect of stamping: make sure you ink your stamp well, use the right amount of pressure, and of course when your stamp is on the paper be careful not to move it (except straight up off the paper). Well I threw all those rules out the window and started not inking the stamp well (turquoise dye ink), using very little pressure and I made sure every time I put the stamp on my paper I gave it a little turn as I picked it up. I also started overlaping (lavender dye ink) just for the heck of it. 30 seconds later had my background and all the pieces fell into place. Here's what she looks like:

Now to explain the rest - I stamped the heart stamp twice, once using cyan pigment ink and once with helitrope, and clear embossed both. I cut both out and then using a blade I cut through the word love in each stamping, so I could switch bottoms and adhered them to black paper that I cut slightly larger. I cut a square slightly smaller than 3 inches and using lavender and soft pink Vivid dye ink and a paper towel I added some color (pink top and bottom and lavender left and right. I layered this on a 3 inch black square. The inside square is slightly smaller than 2 1/2 inches and I did the same thing only instead of black paper I tapped the edges on a black stamp pad and when I mounted it I made sure the pink was on the opposite side of the larger layer. Then I took some turquoise dye ink and sponged over the whole thing.

The rectangle was easy, I used F298 which is one of our Stick 'n Stamps. What's that you ask??? It's a set of 4 small designs mounted on velcro. The stamps are designed to be cut apart so you can stamp each one individually. The mount is a little unusual too. It's about 4 inches long and 3/4" square. There's velcro on the square end and on one long side. The idea is to store all 4 images on the side strip and when you want to use one, you peel it off and mount it on the end. The other thing that I love about it is using it to make borders. You can line up all 4 on the "storage" velcro and stamp with it. When you run out of card, you can remove an image or two to make the stamp fit. I used the 2 middle designs for this card . I stamped the multiple hearts using Vivid turquoise ink, stamping straight and at angles over and over till my paper was covered. Then I changed to the single heart and lavender ink and did the same thing. Then once again I sponged turquoise ink over the whole thing. I then layered it with black paper and attached it to my background and added the squares and the hearts. The bling was the finishing touch!

Sadly :( a lot of work for a simple card, but at least I was happy with it in the end.

Thanks for stopping by! Also just want to mention - please feel free to contact me with any stamp suggestions you might have! I'm always on the lookout for new ideas for new stamps.

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