So you want to get started stampin'...

Not long ago a very good friend asked me " I'm thinking about doing my own Christmas cards next year. How do I start?" It was out of the blue, and my automatic answer is "Stamps, Ink, Paper" or try a card kit to see what you like.... but what does that all mean? Can it really be that simple? Yes! The hardest part is answering the question "What's your favorite color?" because making your own cards is totally you, it's a reflection of what you think is beautiful and what you choose to celebrate. This blog is about getting started, or re-started, on what you like and what you want to say. It takes less time to make a card than to haul out to the store, find the right one, and wait in line to buy. Just save yourself the time! When you really "care enough to send the very best" it shows in something that you put your heart into, and a handmade gift has heart like nothing that can be bought in a store.

Stamps: There are so many options in the world of rubber stamps right now it can be overwhelming. Cling Mount or Rubber? Sets or single stamps? I myself use both Cling mount and Rubber stamps, but I don't buy any stamp that's not a set.
Conventional wood mounted rubber gives you a cleaner stamped image with less chance of "holes" where the rubber doesn't meet the paper, and you can easily use a Stamp-a-ma-jig to get it positioned on your cardstock exactly where you want. They're also sturdier than the clear cling mount type. I've actually made many of my rubber stamps into what I call "hybrids" - you can see my first blog on "Unmounting Wood Block Stamps" on how to take the rubber off the wood to use on a cling mount block and have the best of both worlds.
Cling mount stamps are typically a clear plastic that is inherently sticky. To use these you need a clear acrylic block of comparable size to your stamp - and there are plenty sizes of those to choose from. If you do go this direction, spend a little extra $ and get thicker blocks; these are much easier to hold and keep your fingers out of the ink pad when inking the stamp. I like cling mount stamps because they store easily and compactly. They frequently cost less per stamp, too, because you don't have to keep re-buying a wood block every time you buy a stamp. You can also see where you're stamping on your paper without having to use a Stamp-a-ma-Jig, although a jig is still useful when you want to be extra precise. The disadvantage to clear/cling mount stamps is that the are squishy, and when you stamp with them they tend to expand under pressure and can be blurry on the edges, or leave "holes" where some of the stamp doesn't meet the paper. They can also tear or get gouges in them. They will also discolor with some inks, but that does not affect their performance. Here I've got 3 types out on the craft sheet, unmounted rubber, wood mounted rubber and clear stamps. When purchasing stamps, always buy in sets. Individual stamps look great on the store shelf, but when a stamp has no context, it's harder to integrate it into your card front or scrapbook page. Card fronts and scrapbook pages ares a collages with a mission - relating your sentiments to someone else. A stamp set can consist of several images, sayings, or a combination of the two. When starting out, look for a set of both images and sayings; this will give you some flexibility with your designs. Good types of themes to start with are Christmas, Birthday, Thank you, Get Well and Sympathy. We all need cards for these occasions and as long as you've got the stamp for one, you're covered for any emergency. There are some sets that have all these things in one, or various combinations of a single theme in many different styles. Choose what appeals to you and reflects your personal style. Just like that favorite sweater in the drawer, if the set is something your comfortable with then you will use it more often.

Ink! If you've ever been in a craft store, or flipped through the pages of a catalog, you'll find a plethora of choices: colors, types, and sizes of ink pads. Personally, I think I've just about tried them all. Here's a run down of what's out there and what you might need for what you want to do.

Dye vs. Pigment ink: It might be helpful to think of Pigment Ink being akin to acrylic paint. Pigment ink, called "Craft Ink" by "Stampin' Up" is thicker; most colors can be stamped on many porous surfaces as well as paper (Only Orange, Whisper White, More Mustard and Really Rust are not recommended for fabric; heat setting is recommended when using this type of ink with material other than paper). It's thickness allows the ink to stay on the surface and not be absorbed. This enables it to be heat embossed or use it to stamp a light color of ink on darker colors of paper and still be able to see the lighter color. However, it is not good for very detailed stamps, the ink clumps on any fine details and makes them look smudged. Pigment ink pads also require re-inking more often because of the viscosity of ink. It's good for scrapbooks because the color is more "lightfast" than dye ink, meaning that it's not faded by light as easily. I started stamping for my scrapbooks and began with pigment ink because of it's lightfastness, but I gravitate to dye ink because lines and details come out sharper.

Dye ink is water based, very much like watercolor paint and the same as the ink in a marker. The ink absorbs into the paper, thus giving a bold clear detailed image. This is the most popular ink for stamping, there's a huge variety of colors and there are some colors that are water-based that will dry water-proof ("Basic Black", "Basic Grey", and "Basic Brown"). You can also watercolor with the ink from a dye ink pad, which pigment ink does not do. It's also less expensive than pigment inks. Since most of my stamping is on paper, dye ink is what I use the most. So if you're stamping cards, start with dye ink.

Other good types of ink to have on hand: Watermark and Solvent inks. The one's I have used are made by the Tsukineko company of Japan and are available through "Stampin Up". The "Versamark" watermark stamp pad is a clear, gooey ink that stamps 1 shade darker than the paper color, giving a "tone on tone" effect-it looks like a watermark. It is excellent for heat embossing with any color embossing powder. It comes in stamp pad form and marker form. Stampin' Up also sells the re-inking fluid. It is not water soluble, trust me, been there tried that. Another set of inks for the library are solvent inks. Their main advantages are being able to stamp on non-porous surfaces like our clear plastic "Window Sheets" and other surfaces such as plastic, tile, metal, acrylic plastic, etc... and they are non-reactive with water. "Stampin' Up" keeps in the catalog "Staz-On" in Jet Black and Brilliant White. "Staz-On" Jet Black got honorable mention in the Marvelous Marker Mayhem blog, I also love their Brilliant White for stamping on darker paper and "Window Sheets". On paper it gives the effect of being 2-3 shades lighter than the paper color. These are solvent based inks and are non-reactive with water and it is recommended to use the "Staz-On" stamp cleaning fluid, or clean your stamp immediately because it will permanently tint the rubber of your stamp.
Pictured: On the Basic Black cardstock, Craft ink is on the left, dye in the middle, Versamark on the right. On the "Bravo Burgundy" and "So Saffron", Versamark is on the left and dye ink is on the right; in person it is difficult to tell the difference between the two.Which brings us to the final ingredient, paper! For those of you who know me, you know that I have some strange obsession with paper that seems inexplicable - at least to my husband. "Stampin' Up" has 64 standard colors of paper, plus 6 colors that change yearly, plus a variety of double-sided patterned paper and scrapbook kits that also are updated annually, and are designed to coordinate with our stamps. There's also seasonal varieties available. Our cardstock is 80-lb weight which makes it about 2x as thick as what is found in retail stores and is solid color throughout (most kinds of cardstock are white with a veneer of color). It's sold in bulk packages of 8 1/2 x 11 and 12 x 12 sizes, in single colors or color families and offered in textured cardstock in the 12 x 12 size. Because it's sold in bulk the cost per sheet is considerably less than the average retailer. The patterned or "Designer Series" paper is double thick, double sided paper, slightly lighter than cardstock weight, but again 2x the thickness of retailer patterned paper. Having different patterns on both sides makes it twice as useful, there's no wasted sheets of "blah" patterns. So the hard part really is picking out what your favorite color is. When getting started, choose 1 neutral paper (i. e. "Whisper White", "Very Vanilla", "Kraft", "Natural", "Confetti"...) 1 pack of a color family that coordinates with your ink (i.e. the primary colors in the "Bold Brights" family or the jewel tones of the "Rich Regals".) I recommend 12 x 12 inch size cardstock if you're scrapping or 8 1/2 x 11 inches if your making cards. "Stampin' Up's" paper quality is much better than any other I've tried, so much so that after I started using it I donated most of my non-SU paper to my son's preschool because the quality difference was so noticeable. "Stampin' Up" also offers a selection of envelopes in various sizes and colors to coordinate with the cardstock, so from start to send we've got you covered.
Here's your supply list:
1) Stamp set(s)
optional: Stamp-a-ma-jig
2) "Basic Black" "Basic Brown" or "Basic Gray" Classic ink; + 1 or 2 favorite colors
optional Versamark ...and don't forget those markers from the previous blog!
3) A package of neutral colored cardstock and a package of your favorite color family.

Other supplies shown: Stamps: "I'm Here" (discontinued) stamp set by "Stampin' Up", unmounted; "Seeing Spots" by "Stampin' Up", wood block mounted; corner stamps by The Paper Studio; "Be Happy" (discontinued) by Stampin' Up; "Stampin' Mist" and "Stampin' Scrub"
Ink: "So Saffron" "Bravo Burgundy" and "Basic Black"Classic Stampin' Pads; "Basic Black Craft" Stampin' Pad; Versamark
Paper: "Basic Black" "So Saffron" and "Bravo Burgundy"; "Hoppy Memories" Simply Scrappin' Kit;
Accessories: Large Star Punch; Paper Trimmer
All of these supplies with the exception of the discontinued and clear mount stamps are currently available through me, your friendly neighborhood "Stampin' Up" demonstrator :)

So that's the long answer to a simple question, and hopefully you'll be inspired to share your love in a keepsake like a handmade card. Questions, comments, ideas? Got a mile long wish list that you'd like to shorten? Contact me at HappyStamperKris@gmail.com and I can get you an answer, a catalog, or place an order for you. Let me know what you think!
Carpe Forma!

Marvelous Marker Mayhem

Certainly we've all had experience with markers starting way back in Kindergarten, and maybe most adults have a few markers stashed in a kitchen drawer for marking boxes or some other dull task. Here's a chance to look at markers the way you did when you were younger - as a bold medium to express yourself artistically! Markers are a fabulous way to jazz up your stamping and really put some serious color into your paper crafting projects. Here's a few tips that I use just about every time I stamp. Naturally, I use "Stampin' Write" Markers because they are the best, not just demonstrator bias here; but if you don't have those yet, make sure to use water-base ink preferably designed for stamping, that old Sharpie fine point in the drawer WILL NOT do this.

Tip #1.) Markers can be a substitute ink pad. Often when I don't have that "just right" color of ink in an ink pad, I just grab that "just right" color of marker and color directly onto my stamp, then stamp my image as usual. An even better idea: by coloring with markers directly onto a stamp you can:

a) isolate a portion of the design by coloring only the part you want to stamp

Here, I only want to use one phrase in the middle of this stamp, so I color the phrase "be happy" in "Real Red" and leave the rest clean. Make sure you clean off any stray marks before stamping.

b) have a multicolored image from one stamp

Here, I wanted my butterfly to have a black body with colored wings, so I colored the body with my "Basic Black" marker and the wings in "More Mustard". When you use this marker technique, be sure to give your stamp a big "princess sigh" - sigh real heavily over the stamp to moisten the ink with your breath before stamping it on the paper. It's especially important if you're coloring a larger size image to keep the ink wet.





Tip #2) Oh yes, there's more! Sponging and distressing - does distressing distress you? It's very easy, and very achievable with markers, you don't need a special kind of stamp pad for this technique.
Supplies you'll need are:
1) A non-porous surface such as a plastic pastry mat, or my favorite, a silicon craft sheet available through art/craft retailers. If you're using the pastry mat from the kitchen, make sure it's clean. Flour in the markers is not good.
2) A stamping sponge - kitchen sponges don't work well with this because of the chemicals they're treated with; make-up sponges are OK, but tend to absorb more ink than distribute. I use stamping sponges from Stampin' Up (they're the best, no kidding. I've tried others) Each sponge is 1" thick x 3" round and I cut each into eighths - so really it's a package of 24 sponges for 3.50, a good deal if I do say so myself. They distribute ink evenly, rather than absorbing it themselves.
3) Of course, you need ink, either in a dye ink pad or markers. Here we'll be using markers.

Step 1: On a silicon craft sheet or other non-porous surface scribble with the brush end of your marker next to your card stock to be "distressed".

here, I've scribbled a solid area of ink around the edge of my cardstock. I tore the top edge on purpose for some texture.

2.) With a tight circular motion, push the ink into and across the edge of your card stock, only going about 1/2 " to 1" onto the surface. Repeat as necessary to get your desired intensity. It should give you a slight shading at the edge, adding depth to your collage without adding extra paper. Here I used "Sahara Sand" marker for an antique linen look on "Confetti White" card stock.

3.) To continue the distressed effect, you can scratch the fine edge of the card stock with your fingernail, bone folder or a distressing tool to give it a slight rumple and again, add more depth without adding extra layers to the card.

4.) Embellish and attach. Here, I've layered my "distressed" image layer over a layer of "More Mustard" card stock"distressed" with the same technique using a "More Mustard" marker. Both layers are tacked to a "Basic Black" card. A bit of "Real Red" grosgrain jazzez up the simple stamping.







Tip #3) Watercoloring! It's such a sophisticated look on a card and yet so easy to do with stamping. You'll look like you belong on a PBS art show with very little time and effort. There are a couple ways to use markers and "Aqua Painters" or "Blender Pens" together to achieve beautiful watercolor effects.
Step 1: Stamp an image using "Staz-On Jet Black Ink" on "Whisper White" card stock. Even though "Stampin' Up's" "Basic Black Classic Ink"is waterproof when dry, the "Staz-On" is more color fast and more intensly black working better with watercoloring. It also smells good. Don't breathe too deep, we've got work to do.
Painting option 1: Once your ink is dry (or you can cheat and heat set it with a heat tool) scribble onto the craft sheet with the brush end of your marker crating a little pool of ink. You can pick up the ink with your "Aqua Painter"/"Blender Pen"/brush and watercolor, just as you would using ink from an ink pad. Start with your dark areas and work to lighter areas of your image. This creates bolder color in your painting.

Painting option 2: Just like in the "Paint with Water" books my son loves, you can apply ink with a marker to the darkest areas of your image by making little hatch marks with the fine point end of the marker and then quickly smudge the wet ink with your "Aqua Painter" and drag the color out into the lighter areas. The ink will naturally fade out as you pull the ink away from the lines. Repeat as necessary to get the color intensity you want. It's a softer effect than painting.

Here, I've used the complementary colors of "Ruby Red" with "Cameo Coral" to shade my flower, and "Always Artichoke" with "Mellow Moss" to shade the leaves. (For a complete list of color complements for all of "Stampin' Up's" colors check out the "Color Coach" - yet another item I use every time I stamp.)

After the watercoloring dries, you can go back in with the fine point and add additional hatches of color in your darker areas.

Tip #4) This is a real fun trick: You can make watercolor wash backgrounds easily by coloring directly onto your craft sheet or non-porous surface with the markers and spraying the ink with water.

Step 1: With the brush end of the marker, scribble patches of color close together but not touching until you have covered an area just larger than your paper.

Step 2: Mist generously with water from a spray bottle (I keep a travel size spray bottle filled with water at my desk). The more water you add the more mottled your color will be.





Step 3: Press surface of your paper into the ink until the whole surface is covered. Allow to dry and repeat by adding more water to your ink on the craft sheet and pressing your paper into it again until the desired color intensity and pattern is reached. You can re-position your paper to get different shadings each time.

It will flatten out as it dries, and you can also speed up drying by using a heat tool. I prefer markers to ink pads because you can control the areas of color and can even draw little designs if you want.



Here, you can see my background sheet, pressed into the ink about 3 times, without using much water. See, it does flatten back out. You can also do this by pressing a Classic Ink Pad onto your craft sheet, but that leaves a larger section of ink. With a marker you can better control the areas of color. While that was drying I punched a 1" circle out of "Mellow Moss" and after stamping, am using the "Bone Folder" to slightly curl ("distress") the edge. Simple geometric shapes can add variety and interest to you card front.
For my little circle, I have stamped it and colored the edge one shade darker in "Always Artichoke" to add depth.


Tip #5)The obvious use for markers is for coloring directly on your paper, and you can play with both the brush end and fine point end for adding shadows and highlights and layering ink for intense color and smooth transitions. Here I started with my dark colors and went over them with my lighter colors pulling both dark and light together into the remainder of the section. Here you can see my finished watercolor card, and the comparison between watercolor and direct to paper marker technique. Although they look a little washed out in the photo, you can see the difference in intensity.


Here's a final look at the cards, and a little bookmark I made with the same materials as the card, adding a little black hemp twine with a couple beads tied on. An eyelet through the top adds a nice finishing touch. Our 80lb weight card stock is 2x the thickness of most retailer card stock and can stand up on its own as a book mark. Since we sell it in bulk packages, it's less expensive by the sheet, too.





If you live in the Kansas City area and would like a demonstration of these techniques, you can host a class and I will happily demonstrate this in person. It's very easy, you bring the people, I'll bring the fun, and you get high quality "Stampin' Up" products for free!

Tool care and maintenance tips:
1. Always clean your craft sheet between inking techniques, even if it looks like the ink was all used, there will still be a little to contaminate your next project. I use my "Stampin' Mist" cleaner sprayed directly onto the sheet and wipe off with a paper towel. "Stampin' Mist" is very concentrated, whenever I refil my mister I mix mine at a 60%:40% ratio with water being the 40%. It extends the life of the bottle of "Stampin Mist" and still gets everything nice and clean.
2. Remember to always store your markers horizontally so that you have even ink distribution between the fine point and brush end.
3. Use a light hand when coloring with the brush end to preserve it's shape.
4. If your markers get contaminated with other colors, scribble on a clean sheet of paper with the contaminated area until the ink comes through the proper color.
5. Keep your "Staz-On" ink pad inverted when stored. This will keep your ink at the working surface of your pad and make inking a stamp easier. Also, you can keep the little plastic protector that comes with the inkpad in place by adhering it to the lid with a "Mini-Glue Dot".
6. For water based techniques, always use the water based dye ink. Our "Craft Inks" do not watercolor.
7. Our "Stampin' Write" Markers work well directly on vellum, no need to get a different set of markers just for vellum.

Take care of your tools and they'll last a long time. I've had my "Stampin' Write" markers for over 5 years now, and they're still working well.

Water color paper tips:
Stampin' Up offers several different types of neutral color paper that is great for watercoloring on. Our best is our 100% cotton 140 lb Watercolor Paper, sold in packages of 20 card front sized sheets. Works best with "Staz-On" rather than "Basic Black Classic Ink". Our "Whisper White", "Confetti White", "Natural White", "Confetti Cream", "Natural Ivory", and "Kraft" papers also are well suited to watercolor technique, each surface is slightly different texture and color; thus will yield a slightly different effect. "Very Vanilla", "Glossy White", "Shimmery White" or vellum aren't suited to water color techniques, although they stamp well and look beautiful with marker drawn directly on the paper.

Supply List:
The stamp set used in these cards is the "Stampin' Up!" "Dreams Du Jour" stamp set currently available. The "Many Happy Returns" set can be used in place of the former "So Many Sayings" demonstrated here.
Card stock colors include: Basic Black, Whisper White, Confetti White, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, & More Mustard.
Stampin' Write Marker colors: Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, More Mustard, Basic Black, Real Red, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, Mellow Moss
Ink Pad: "Staz-On" Jet Black
Adhesives: SNAIL Adhesive and Mini Glue Dots
Ribbon: Real Red Grosgrain
Other tools from "Stampin Up": Bone Folder, Paper Cutter, Crop-a-dile, Paper Snips, eyelet, Stampin' Scrub.
Other supplies include a misting spray bottle, non-porous work surface (silicon craft sheet or pastry mat, etc...)
Contact me at HappyStamperKris@gmail.com to place an order!

"Unmounting Wood Block Stamps"

If you're like me, you have quite a few stamps that you use... sometimes. You don't want to get rid of them, yet they're taking up drawer space. Recently I've discovered the allure of cling mount stamps - in this case - the ease of storage. While conventional rubber stamps offer a cleaner, more detailed image, they are mounted on bulky wooden blocks. All you need to convert your old wood mounted stamps to cling mount is an acrylic block of a size to match your stamps, and some "Tack and Peel" by Tsukineko, available at your favorite craft retailer. Be careful, I used my old "Stampin' Up!" stamps for this and had complete success; it may not be compatible with all varieties of wood mount stamps.

1.) Microwave a wood block stamp for 5 - 20 seconds. The time depends on the stamp size and microwave wattage. Work in 5 second increments; warming the stamp just until glue gets soft and the wood block is slightly warm to the touch. Too much microwaving and you will be explaining why your kitchen is on fire to the Fire Department.






2) Carefully peel the rubber stamp with it's adhesive foam backing and the clear image sticker from the front of the wood block.


3) Align the image sticker to the back of your rubber stamp, trying to imitate the position of the stamp as closely as possible. There should be enough glue between the two surfaces to bond.






4) Adhere Tsukineko Tack 'N Peel to your acrylic block as per the instructions. It's semi-permanent (in other words, it takes more effort than I want to expend to remove). I leave it on and use the other side of the block for my regular cling mount stamps. Keep the clear protective sheet that it comes with on the sticky "Tack 'N Peel" surface when not in use.






5) Stamp and clean as usual. When removing your stamp, be sure to keep your image sticker with the stamp, the Tack 'N Peel is extremely sticky and will tear the clear sticker if you're not careful.



6) Store your unmounted stamps in an envelope, pencil pocket, however you like. I store mine in clear divided page protectors sized for storing 5x7 photos in a 3 ring binder, available at office supply stores.

I do this with my retired "Stampin' Up" stamp sets, old Sale-A-Bration sets and hostess sets that I don't use in demonstrations anymore. Now I have a basket full of good quality maple blocks, maybe I'll make a table top out of them - when the kids are done using them as building blocks. Carpe Forma!