STAMPED LEAVES AND GRASSES CARD

OFFSET STAMPING

Hmmm.....must have been leaning to the side when I made this one!  Anyway, I'm sure you can see how its supposed to be, and make a far better version yourself!

There are a couple of stamping techniques you might want to try (or use again) worth mentioning.  The first is using a small to medium sized stamp to create a backing paper.  I used a leaf stamp with black ink to mirror the stamping in this case, but you can use Versamark if you want a more subtle effect, or mix and match colours if you prefer brighter!

The main image has been stamped twice - once with green and once, slightly offset with black.  If I was re-doing the card I would search out a more olive green, as the lime doesn't quite go with the backing paper, I'd probably use dark grey instead of black and I'd be positioning the stamps a little closer together.
Anyway, as I said, hopefully this effort will inspire you to seek out some stamps and have a go yourself and make a better card!  If you do, I'd love to see it!

I have, of course, used Regal products throughout.

IRREGULAR SINGLE FOLD CARD

THANKYOU CARD

Cards don't have to be rectangular, in fact why not have some fun, as has been done in this example and experiment with some different cuts.  As long as you remember to leave enough on the fold to keep the front and back attached, and a big enough base to support the card, the possibilities are endless!.

The maker has combined some pretty backing papers with elements from a Sparklelight 3D sheet.  She has added a peel-off greeting and some ribbon trim.  This is a fun card for someone special.

(Can you tell from the vague references to "the maker" that I'm not sure who actually produced this masterpiece.  Marilyn says "not her" , I know "not me" so apologies to Janet, Tania or Sharon for the lack of credit).

PATTERNED (DOUBLE) STAMPING WITH DIECUT FOAM

DOUBLE STAMPING

There is space underneath the main motif to add whatever greeting you want to this card - birthday. best wishes, "just a note" etc.  but the main point of it, as far as the blog goes, is to illustrate a couple of useful stamping techniques.

The large shape was cut from a foam sheet (which you can buy from Regal craft cards) using a nesting die and secured to an acrylic block with a little bit of double sided tape so that it could be used as a stamp.

You can just stamp in the ordinary way, in which case the result is a solid image of the diecut, but in this instance, for the bottom layer, the flower was inked up, and then an uninked (Darkroom Door) background stamp was pressed onto it. Instead of stamping the leaf pattern, it removed the pink ink from the diecut, which was then stamped onto the white background circle - patterned stamping!

The image of the inked diecut remains on the background stamp, so if you work quickly you can stamp a "negative" patterned image too!

I've made it sound a lot more complicated than it is.  You can use any solid stamp coupled with a relatively densely patterned one.  This technique appears under many different headings - often Kiss-stamping if you want to search for more info.

The base card is one of Regal Craft Cards newer cards -  Stonewash (PL27), which despite its name is a very on-trend shade of grey.

COLOURED CHALKBOARD EFFECT WITH STAMPS

WHITE STAMPING WITH PENCILS

I've used a blue cardbase from Regal Craft Cards, nesting dies and a stamp from Kaiser to make this card which illustrates a simple technique you might like to try next time you want to stamp on a dark background.

Select a fairly solid stamp, and stamp the image using white ink.  When the ink has dried (if you want to be sure, just whizz over it with a craft heat gun for a few seconds), colour on top with coloured pencils.

As you can see - super simple, but quite effective.  You end up with a gentle chalk-boardy effect.

I deliberately haven't added a greeting as you could use this card for many occasions.

BIRTHDAY/FATHER'S DAY CARD

BIRTHDAY CARD 

We are always being asked for card ideas that are suitable for men's birthdays and so Tania has used her dies and some papers from one of Kaiser's little pads to make this example.

There's no reason not to add a little bit of bling, though, and some well-placed green rhinestones add life and lift the neutral brown tones of the papers.

If you are already thinking about Father's Day cards, it would be a simple matter to replace the birthday greeting with a "Happy Father's Day" and keep the rest of the design.