Technique Tuesday!!

Stamping with Audrey Tan!!

I got into stamping during my card-making days. When I made the switch to scrapbooking, my love for stamping accelerated with the advent of acrylic stamps. Suddenly stamping became much easier and more fun now that you could see exactly where you are stamping. For this article, I will be focusing on acrylic stamps.

Here are some tips with regards to using acrylic stamps:

I’ve noticed that different acrylic stamps have different level of ‘sponginess’ i.e. the thickness of the stamp. Now this can pose a problem as to how much pressure is required to stamp without smudging the image. I would suggest testing it out on a scrap piece of paper the different pressure applied to stamping. Normally you do not need to press so hard when using acrylic stamps otherwise this will result in a smudged image.

If you do happened to get a smudged image (which I do sometimes), I find that outlining the stamped image with a black pen helps to better define the image.

Inks.
There are many different types of inks on the market but I’ve noted down the common few that I usually use for stamping:

Tsukineko Brillance and Versamagic dewdrops
These inks are also great for stamping on both porous i.e paper and non-porous surfaces i.e. metal, transparency, glass, wood etc. However, do allow for drying time.

Tim Holtz Distressed inkpads
Some acrylic stamps do not take well to these inkpads as the ink sometimes do not stay on well and as a result, you do not get a clear image. It is best to test it out before applying it onto your project.

Colorbox chalk cateye inks
They can be used for stamping and you get a muted colour effect. However, they do stain certain acrylic stamps badly. It doesn’t affect the stamp though.

StazOn inks
These are solvent inks and were designed more for rubber stamps. They can still be use for acrylic stamps although I would use them sparingly.

Here are some ways that I’ve incorporated stamping into my pages and projects:
I use them as accents on a page.

In this mini album, I’ve stamped randomly on it to mimic the splats made by snowballs.


As part of embellishing a page. In this layout, I stamped the swirls and
cut them out and arranged them on a page.



To create a pattern. In the same layout, I stamped and created a border at the top and the bottom of the page.


Last but not least, use a stamped image as a base for doodling. Stamped an image and make it interesting by adding doodling to it. In this card, I stamped the swirls using Prima Build a Swirl stamp set. I then doodled on it to give it a unique look.