A Quick Tip

Today I just wanted to share a quick tip that you may find helpful to avoid frustration when using your brand new ink pads. I was working on something for an upcoming class and was using a brand new Watermelon Wonder ink pad and a butterfly stamp from Butterfly Basics. I inked up the stamp and stamped it onto Whisper White card stock, but I did not get that nice crisp detail that should be showing with this image.The delicate hexagon texture was lost all together.

Check out my photo to see what I mean...the top butterfly was the first one I stamped.

What happens with the many of the new foam ink pads is that when they sit, unopened or unused, excess ink may raise to the surface of the pad. What you need to do is simply work that ink back into the pad. It only takes a minute...run your bone folder, a plastic spoon or other utensil back and forth over the surface of the pad gently working the ink into the pad. I did this up & down from top to bottom, then repeated side to side.

After working the ink down into the foam pad, I inked my stamp and again stamped it onto Whisper White... you can see the results. A perfect, crisp image, without the frustration! Hope this helps!

Flower Shop Thank You & Tip

I just love stamp sets that have coordinating punches! Top on my list of favorites are the Flower Shop stamp set and matching Pansy Punch and the Papillion Potpourri set with its 2 coordinating punches. Today I have a card using both of these sets along with a helpful tip using the Flower Shop set to share with you. First the card...

I stamped the main panel using Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay & Pear Pizzazz, then cut it into strips. I then ran the strips through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. (I cut and then embossed because it's easier for me to cut straight before the texture is added.)

Now onto todays tip:

I remember reading a very helpful tip online somewhere (but now I cannot find it?) when I first got this set. It makes punching out the stamped flowers so much easier! Thanks to whoever it was that first shared this tip!

At first glance, you may think all the petals on the flowers are the same...so just stamp & punch, right? Well, actually the petals are all slightly different, so if you just slap the image on the block & stamp, you then have to fiddle with the image until you get it lined up inside the punch. So to avoid all that, take a black Sharpie marker and make a mark on each stamp as shown below.

Now, just select your stamp and place it with the marked petal at the bottom of your block, as shown below. (If you are using wood mount...same thing...just make sure to mount the correct petal pointing down)

Stamp your image with that marked petal towards the bottom edge of your card stock and it will line up easily with the bottom petal inside the punch. I also made a small block dot using my Sharpie inside my punch. Hope this tip helps you as much as it has me!

If you don't have it already....just a reminder that Papillon Potpourri and the coordinating Bitty Butterfly Punch is on SALE this month! Find out all the details here.