Stamp Embossing

So I recently learned about embossing stamps. I've never been real into stamps because they seem too... unoriginal, but I've learned that stamps can be used in really creative ways, particularly in card-making and decorative crafts.

To experiment with embossing stamps, I created this picture.


I started with three cards I got in the mail. The Red Cross sent me three identical cards reminding me that it was time for me to give blood, one from each of the donor centers I have visited. All this waste needed to be reconciled somehow, so I decided to use it as art. I painted the cards black with acrylic paint and then stamped them with some stamps I liked.

To emboss the stamps you need pigment ink, embossing powder, and heat. You basically dump the embossing powder on the wet stamp so that it sticks. Pigment ink dries slower, which means more powder sticks. Then when you add heat, the powder sort of melts, leaving a nice embossed image. I read that a hair dryer would generate enough heat, but this was not the case for me. You can buy special tools designed for stamp embossing, but that isn't really my style. I was able to get the same effect by holding the powdered image over the stove. Just be careful with the paper.

And that's it! I bought a frame already matted for three images because I was feeling lazy and found one for a really good price at Joann's.

Now I'm working on my first altered book, which pays homage to one of my all-time favorite Tori Amos songs. This will be a longer-term project, so a post may not materialize for several days... maybe weeks. It's pretty fun, though.

Quicky Love Picture

It's true, I'm in love



So for a quicky craft, I made this little visual ode. My boyfriend won this shadow box for me at bingo. There's actually a little clip glued on the inside of the glass under the terrible glare from my flash. That's what's holding the little picture in place.

I started with a picture of me and my boyfriend from a while ago. This was after coming home from a bingo night, which seemed appropriate. I messed around with it in photoshop to give it a more artistic touch, but you can't really tell from the photo.

I printed this image on card stock. Then I added the blue heart image, which I just cut out of a magazine. I framed our heads with microglitter (which is extra sparkly) and glue.

The little metal love thinger is something I had hanging out in my craft clutter. I added that last to go over the glitter frame.

Flowery Shadowbox

This was a fun craft I did on a lazy weekend afternoon.

First, I found a cardboard box that would work as a shadowbox and then spray painted it.

Then I cut out flowers and leaves from origami paper I had. The flowers are very simple, four-petal flowers with a dot of glitter glue for the centers.

Then I found a background I liked. I used a page from a biology text book with tree leaves, but anything would have worked. You can actually see that it says Unit Four, which I thought added a little character. I used a regular spray adhesive to affix the background into the box.

Then I gathered some sticks. I just picked some off of a forsythia bush on a walk around my neighborhood. I got a general idea for a layout and then I hot-glued the sticks into the box. Then I just hot-glued the flowers and leaves where they fit best.

The biggest problem I have with the finished product is that I don't have a way to hang it, but it would be simple enough to add something to the back so that it could be hung on a small nail. The good thing is that because it's so three-dimensional, it actually just stands on its own, as you can see in the photo (which is not a great picture).

I hope you all are staying cool and enjoying your summer! I know I am!