So you are either here because, you're a fairly new stamper, or you liked the look of the Class samples or hated the look of the craft samples , or you've just stumbled on this post and are wondering if its for you.
If you have not read this post
Want to Stamp but don't know how (Shortened title) I suggest you read it before continuing as it explains everything you need to know about the classes and Challenge,
Hi fairly New stamper, it dosn't seem so long ago I was just like you, so please don't be intimidated I promise you that you can do this, and if you stick with me for the 2 months, at the end you will know more than many stampers who have been stamping for years! If you just stick with me for the first class you will have a lot more confidence than you did, and you will know more than you did.
Hi fellow Experienced crafter, glad you liked my samples, or sorry you didn't There is a reason I picked grunge style cards so hang around you may find out something you didn't know. I know I am still learning everyday.
Hi Entrepid adventurer, it may be a new world to you, but like most new things, it can be exciting, scary, mind boggling (Why would anybody do that!), Just give me this post to show you what stamping can do for you, and how easy it can be !
So tips for beginners this week (will be downloadable at the end of the week)
I apologise in advance for the length of this post but I really wanted you to get as many tips as quickly as possible.
My 1st tip for beginners is please do not compare your first few cards with cards on pinterest , Instagram and facebook, people usually only put their successes on their pages, They do not put on their failures. Trust me we all have failures, I still occasionally smudge my stamping, drop the pad on the card, miss stamp, make design mistakes, What some crafters won't tell you is that some of their mistakes forced the vital change that turned the card into a cracker.
So what to do when stamping goes horribly wrong?
or
Stamping Mistake, then Turn over a new leaf, Draw a line round it, Stamp it out, Cover it up, Go for the grunge , Make a splash, or just Cut it out, literally
Its only paper, its not the end of the world, That's also why paper was made with two sides,
Turn over a new leaf, just flip it and try again. (for double sided patterned paper make a different card) For single sided paper screw it up really tight, then unscrew and flatten out. Use it as a crinkly background,
Draw a line round it, otherwise known as why squiggly lines are popular with crafters,
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| Notebook 1 |
Drawing a line round it will solve a load of issues.
Drawing a line to hide marks or unstraight edges.
If you make a tiny mark on the edge of a card or of a stamped image, take a black fine line marker draw a squiggly line starting at the point the mark is and go all the way round the card, or do two more squiggly lines on the same edge and use it as a border. Or if mark is really small you can do fake stitching just do small dashes along the edges of the card. (Notebook 2 small heart)
If you have stamped a border and it doesn't quite line up, or if you have added your focal point a tiny bit off line, Squiggly lines are your best friend and can make it look like its straight, Just squiggling a line around it makes it a lot less visible, if its still noticeable squiggle a second line going in and out of the first line.
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| Notebook 2 |
On both notebooks I specifically didn't try to line the word pieces up that well, to ensure that I had something to fix, I did 2 things squiggled round them then took the same colour marker and filled in any obvious gaps.On notebook 1 I used really squiggly lines to round the edges, on notebook 2 I I used fairly straight squiggly lines!
On the tree card, when you catch the edge of the stamp and leave an ink mark around a greeting. You can draw a couple of squiggly lines round the greeting, and then using light grey ( I mixed night o navy, cherry, cobbler and always artichoke marker on block o get the grey. I then added lots of water) with aqua marker ad a wiggly painted line down one side and either top or bottom edge to create a shadow.
Using lines to make your focal point pop!
If you find that your focal point doesn't visibly pop off the matting layer (show up that well). Draw a line round it. you can do short squiggle with a dot followed by short squiggle`eg. keeping squiggles approx same length or a normal squiggle line or an intertwined double squiggle or fake stitching either straight or do tiny crosses for fake cross stitch
Drawing around anything with a black line either straight or squiggled gives it more definition.
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| Tree Card |
Using lines to help with handwritten greetings
Also if you don't own the right greeting stamp, choose a grunge style card or a naive style like the boat card and you can get away with doing it by hand, even if your writing is pants like mine
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If you want it straight use a pencil and ruler to add a light line where you want the greeting. Count number of letters and spaces in each line. Measure your line, On a piece of paper draw a copy line. Divide the length of your line by the number of letters and spaces you have. Mark sections for each letter and space .
In non joined up writing enter each letter and space into each section. Now with your fine line marker you can draw lines that follow your letter starting really close, you can angle these to get different results (Just have a little practise on some copy paper, starting with your hand writing and seeing how any different look you can get , using straight or squiggly lines. See which ones you like. Those will be your go to options when you need a greeting you don't own) when you are happy , copy this onto your card! Oh don't forget to rub out the pencil lines!
Oh finally is a dot a small line, you can add 1 dot on each point on a letter (works well on caps) for one look and if you add 5 small coloured dots around each dot you have flowers on each point.
(Take note this weeks challenge is best handwritten (with lines and or dots) greeting on a card or on a piece of paper for those just beginning, the weekly winner will get a little git in the post and all entrants at the end of the month will be in a draw for 1 of 2 £20 voucher )
I think that's enough on lines for today,
Stamp it out!
This is really easy, have you got a stamp that you can stamp over it, Can you change the position of your stamped greeting to cover it, not sure if it will look OK with the stamp you have chosen to cover it. Stamp it on the Stamp-a-ma-gig sheet position over mark, if it looks great do it, if not try something else.
On the boat card. First admission of the week, I really dropped my acrylic block with marker on it on the edge of the card leaving a big night of navy blob, It was going to just have white background and doodled borders.
So what did I do. I took the small rectangle from "Whats my Line" Cut a piece of copier paper 1/2 inch smaller than my card. and centred it over my card and held it in place on one side . Then stamped in night of navy with the rectangle randomly around the edge, I didn't want a solid night of navy border so I stamped turning the block, and wasn't too worried if it wasn't pressed hard enough to get a full impression. I re stamped in places I thought there was too much white. I think this works really well on this card.
Cover it up!
Can you add ribbon, washi tape, or an embellishment ! If you have smudged your greeting. Cut a panel about 1/4 inch bigger than your greeting. stamp greeting onto it, add a line border and adhere it over the top!
Make a splash!
Take inks or markers n the same colours as your card. With Aqua-painter pick up some of the colour on the brush then tap your finger on it while holding it over card , this will create splashes, do it in 2 or three colours if mark is still showing as a mark. Mix more water with the ink and flick the brush over the card to get bigger marks.
Go for the grunge!
If you are a beginner and all of these things are happening. Grunge style is amazingly forgiving, for new stampers. Its meant to look grungy and distressed. So if you make a mistake on a card, just add all of the above and Grunge it UP!
Just cut it out!
So you may have noticed that that the panels in notebooks one and two don't match, that's because when I stamped Notes I was slightly off track, So I just cut it down till it was straight. Easy to do with a trimmer. Which I will explain in the class notes. So you can also cut your focal point into a panel and make a separate panel for your greeting.
WHAT YOU WILL GET IN THE CLASS NOTES
Basics
All of the above with example photos before after !
Making your own basic card blanks and envelopes
Basic stamping Wood, Clear and Photopolymer
Basic watercolouring techniques
Line drawing examples step by step
Text writing examples step by step
Project Class
Take a Note Notepad instructions inc how to cover any size notepad or post it notes
Boat card and Tree card full step by step instructions, and product list for each project.
Well those are my beginning tips, I hope you found it interesting. The basic class notes will be available on Sunday to download I will put download here, On Monday I will e mail out project notes to this weeks customers, I will also provide a download for the project notes for non customers. They will be £3.00
Please comment below and tell me what stamping issues you have and I will cover then in the next two weeks.
Also this weeks challenge
Create your own greeting using your own writing and lines and dots. Put a link below to your image and on Monday I will announce this weeks winner. Plus you will be entered into this months beginners class draw.
