So... those Alterations dies from the Tim Holtz collection... I lurve them loads... and have been thinking up different ways of using them... so I decided to make some of my own foam stamps. To make them is a doddle... I used cushion stamp mount foam (Kling On) but you can also use fun foam with strong tape on the back of it. Simply run the foam through your die cutter with an Alterations die and then mount it onto a piece of acrylic. I use packaging from my Idea-ology but you could use thicker acrylic, like Fragments, if you prefer.
I have done a little show and tell set of pics... the first one is showing the different stamps I made... along with how they stamp (I used Gesso to stamp with) and also some sequin waste - this makes a fabby faux dots stamp. To achieve the background colour, I spritzed card with water and then spritzed over the top with Purple Twilight and Sail Boat Blue Colorwas Sprays and dried them off.
I used Gesso to stamp with - popping some onto my craft sheet and dipping the foam stamp into it... and I also used some Cut & Dry foam to apply little bits of Gesso through the sequin waste. To add some contrast I blended some Black Soot Distress Ink through the sequin waste too.
The butterflies were stamped onto more coloured card, using Gesso... then cut out, gems for the bodies and then popped onto the base card using Glossy Accents as glue. The sentiment was cut using the Tickets Alterations and stamped with a Paper Artsy sentiment. Finally, I made a jazzy flower. This is made from book pages which have been cut using the Tattered Florals Alterations spikey flower and then put into three piles of even amount. One pile was lightly coloured with watered down Gesso (I spritz the Cut & Dry I used to make the wash) Another was coloured with Dusty Concord Stains and the third was coloured with Chipped Sapphire Stains. They are then layered up and finished with an Idea-ology button.
TIP!! I like to use white Gesso for stamping my foamy stamps and blending through sequin waste because it is a little thicker than most paints so it doesn't splodge everywhere. However, a good substitute should you be out of Gesso is... Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint - Blank Canvas (which is white) The Studio line of paints are thicker than normal acrylic paints as they are more concentrated and can be mixed with Extra Time or water... so... neat Blank Canvas is good! :O))
The ingredients are:
Movers & Shapers Mini Flourish
Ranger Colorwash Sprays: Purple Twilight & Sail Boat Blue
Distress Stains: Chipped Sapphire & Dusty Concord
Claudine Hellmuth Studio White Gesso
Idea-ology: Accoutrements & Memo Pins
Right that is enough waffling from me for this week... if you have a go making your own stamps, please do leave me a comment and let me know how you get on :O))
Thanks for looking.... Hels x
