Oh Baby It’s Paradise – Tutorial #103

33 Comments August 18, 2008 zindorfstamps

Summer is not over yet. After having an unseasonably cool week here in Ohio last week, the heat was back over the weekend. Bad thing is our pool water is freezing cold and will need to warm back up. So yesterday was one I spent on the deck lounging, after washing the car, cleaning the house, washing two giant dogs. Hmmmm, I guess I didn’t do that much lounging. . . . .

Here is a beach scene to warm you up.

This cute little baby stamp is from http://www.mypapermoon.com Isn’t she just adorable.

Ready, let’s go to the beach. 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: mypapermoon.com “baby” & Inque Boutique “A word or Two”

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Baja Breeze & Pacific Point

Ink: Stampin’ Up Creamy Caramel, Baja Breeze & Pacific Point, Palette Noir Black

Accessories: Real Red & Creamy Caramel markers, Silver Brads, White Gel Pen, Brayer, Fine Detail Clear embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Versamark marker, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Stamped Sentiment with Creamy Caramel ink on Whisper White card stock.

Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement, stamped the baby with Palette Noir Black ink.

Colored the baby, baby’s shadow and paintbrush point with a Creamy Caramel marker.

Colored the bow in her hair and the paint brush handle with a real red marker.

Missed taking a photo, oops! Cropped the sides of my card stock. It now measures 4″ x 4″. Colored over the baby and the paint brush with a Versamark marker and heat embossed the image using fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Brayered Baja Breeze ink on the top of the card stock.

Note: I do have a new brayer. It is a Speedball brayer just like my old one, but the handle looks different. The roller is the same as my old one. It says “Soft Rubber” on the package. I can’t believe four of you readers commented on my last post about the new brayer, very observant!

Brayered Creamy Caramel ink at the bottom of the card stock.

Masked the top 1/4th of the card stock with a post it note.

Sponged Pacific Point ink at the post it note edge. Being darkest with the ink at the post it note edge and getting lighter toward the creamy caramel ink.

Removed the Post it note mask.

Made a whole lot of little dots with a white gel pen right were the blue ink meets the Creamy Carmel ink to create a look of foam at the waters edge.

Used the direct to paper technique by smearing Creamy Caramel and Pacific Point ink pads directly on a panel of Baja Breeze.

Assembled the card front and here it is measuring 5″ x 6.5″.

Hope your day is one of playing in the sand at the beach.

Until my next post. . . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Inspiration Imagine – Tutorial #102 and Blog Candy Winner

19 Comments August 16, 2008 zindorfstamps

Happy Saturday!!!!!

One thing before I get going on today’s tutorial, we have a blog candy winner out of 137 comments, the random number generator selected #26, LittleSeaOtter~Kecia , Who wrote “Oh, how I love this card. Makes me happy just looking at it. Favorite thing about fall? That’s a no brainer…..Ohio State Football!!!” Kecia, please e-mail your address to me at mzindorf@aim.com.

Alrighty then, about today’s piece. Split Coast Stampers.com has a great challenge on Saturday mornings. It is the inspiration challenge and I love it. I use inspiration pieces all the time to come up with my creations. For example today’s inspiration piece is this swimwear. I took the color palette and swirl from the inspiration piece. Those are the elements from the swimwear that most inspire me. I didn’t feel the need to work in any paisley, or try to duplicate the pattern exactly 🙂

Let’s get started.

Supplies:

Stamps:Innovative Stamp Creations “Flair of Summer”, Cape Arago “Bird”, Inque Boutique “A Word or Two”

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Purely Pomegranate

Ink: Stampin’ Up Kiwi Kiss, Purely Pomegranate, Baja Breeze, Basic Black & Chocolate Chip

Accessories:Versamark Pad, Clear embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Brayer, Ticket Corner Punch, White Gel Pen

Stamped half of the plant image on a piece of Whisper White card stock by first loading my stamp with Versamark and then Kiwi Kiss ink before stamping. Note I only put the Versamark and the ink on the part of the image I wanted to stamp. I then heat embossed the image using fine detail clear embossing powder and a heat gun. Heat embossing the image makes the image resist any ink put on the panel (emboss resist technique).

Brayered Baja Breeze about 2/3rds the way down the card stock from the top and then 1/4 of the way from the bottom up leaving a very light space in between the two brayerings.

Using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement, stamped bird with Basic Black ink.

Colored the bird in with a White Gel Pen. In the large open areas of the bird I tried to imagine which direction the feathers would go and that is the direction I colored in.

Stamp part of the plant image again by loading just part of the stamp with Chocolate Chip ink.

Brayered lightly Purely Pomegranate ink at the top and bottom of the card stock.

Oops, I got a smudge of ink at the bottom right corner of my panel. Fixed it by stamping over it with the plant image again with Chocolate Chip ink.

This is my color palette that I used with my finished panel.

Stamped my sentiment with Baja Breeze ink.

Assembled card front and then decided to add the flourish with Baja Breeze ink. Used my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement.

Here is the finished card measuring 5.25″ x 5.25″.

Hey, give an inspiration piece a try. Remember your piece only need to take small elements from the inspiration piece. No need to try to recreate it. 🙂

May your day be filled with images that inspire you!

Until my next post. . . . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Announcement! I’m Going To Austin, Texas!

28 Comments August 15, 2008 zindorfstamps

Good Morning! I just got the word, I’m scheduled to teach Brayer workshops in Austin, Texas on September 20th & 21st. I can’t wait to meet you Texans! I know there are a lot of you too. So if your interested contact: Lisa Itatani at litatani@pacbell.net or flatfishpaperarts.blogspot.com

Lydia from Texas will be hosting me. Visit her blog which is too funny at www.understandblue.blogspot.com

Also, there are a couple of spots left for the Dayton, Ohio Brayer workshops on September 6th. Here is a great link to that workshop info with pictures of the projects: http://marcopaper.com/classzindorf.htm

For more workshop dates and places check out the workshop calendar at the top of this blog. 🙂

Also, I really need to share a little something special. I received this picture from a very proud Grandmother. Her soon to be eight year old grandson, Noah created this using one of my tutorials. His Grandmother is not the only one proud! Way to go Noah!!!

I promise to have a tutorial up tomorrow morning along with the blog candy winner for this week.

Until my next post. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Enjoy the warmth of the sun on your face!

Hugs,

Michelle

Tool Time – Embossing Powder

39 Comments August 14, 2008 zindorfstamps

I’m posting a bit late today. You see, I’m a Virgo and my mind will absolutely not function in an unorganized workspace. So when I woke this morning and look around at my craft-room it was very apparent I had to spend the morning organizing new purchases, putting away items used and give the area a really good dusting.

So after straightening up there was no time for a tutorial so today I am going to talk about one of my all time favorite tools, Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder. 🙂

If you have read a few of my tutorials you know that I use a lot of Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder. It is one of three items that I keep within arms reach at all times when I am stamping. The other two are my heat gun and my brayer. I know you are all shocked, lol.

I get my fine detail clear embossing powder from Stampin’ Up and I have also used other brands that I have picked up here and there from craft stores. I’ve not run into any that have not worked well. As long as it says “fine detail” on the container I believe it will work great. If you get clear embossing powder that is not fine detail it will look like crystals and will not work as well with intricate designed stamps.

I use clear embossing powder so I can stamp with any color of ink, apply the clear embossing powder and it becomes the color of the ink. I don’t have to have a bunch of different colors of embossing powder hanging around. If you are using dye based inks you will need to load Versamark on your stamp, then load the stamp with ink before stamping. The Versamark will give the embossing powder something to hold onto. If you are using pigment ink, it is wetter and the Versamark is not necessary.

I store my fine detail clear embossing powder in a sandwich sized plastic container so I don’t have to use any other tools and try to put in back in the very tiny container that it comes in. I just keep an old spoon in the sandwich sized plastic container with the embossing powder and I’m ready to use it.

Well there you have it my two cents on Clear Embossing Powder.

There was a couple of questions posted to me that I wanted to answer today also.

Do you get ink on your hands? Do you have trouble getting it off and if so, do you use a special cleaner to get it off?

Well let me answer by saying a big YES, I do get ink on my hands. 🙂 It is a rare day when I don’t have ink stains on my hands. It is my badge of honor as an artist and it is small price to pay for all of the joy stamping has given me.

I don’t use a special cleaner and since I work with all dye based inks, I go around with ink on my hands until it wears off. It usually only takes about 4 hand washings before it is not noticeable. I don’t like wearing fingernail polish because it will definitely stick to that and never come off.

Get the picture, I’m not very glamorous, lol.

Well that is all for today.

May your day be one that is overflowing with Joy and Creativity!

Until my next post. . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Harvest Moon – Tutorial #101 and Blog Candy

148 Comments August 13, 2008 zindorfstamps

It’s been unseasonally cool here in Ohio for August and it makes me want to think of fall. Fall is my favorite, favorite, favorite season of all. The colors just speak to my creative side.

Also, I wanted to use these great stamps by Fire Cracker Designs By Pamela. Here is a link if you want to check them out: http://www.safesecurestore.com/stores/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=firecrackerdesignsbypamela Love them!

I’m always happy to get a set of stamps that has images, such as the corn stocks that are in different sizes. Makes making scenes with depth so much easier. So you stamp creators out there keep that in mind, please, lol.

Oh yeah, I’m giving this card away as blog candy!

So to enter for a chance to win this card, please leave me a comment on this post telling me your favorite thing about the Fall Season. If you are getting this blog update by e-mail you will need to click this link to leave a comment on this blog post: http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/08/13/harvest-moon-tutorial-and-blog-candy/

I will use a random number generator to pick the winner on the morning of Saturday, August 16th.

Ready for this tutorial? It’s a long one today, so grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage and lets get started. 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: FireCrackerDesignsByPamela

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Basic Black

Ink: Stampin’ Up Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, Basic Black, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Palette Noir Black

Accessories: Brayer, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Piercing Tools, Brads, Prismacolor Markers, Versamark Pad and Marker, Sponges,Post it Notes, Coluzzle Circle Template, Fine tip Black marker

Stamped the scarecrow on a piece of 4.25″ x 5.75″ piece of Whisper White Card stock with Palette Noir Black ink. I used this ink so I can color with Solvent based Prismacolor markers and don’t have to worry about it running.

Colored with Prismacolor Eggshell Marker.

Added Prismacolor Sand.

Added Prismacolor Cloud Blue.

Added Prismacolor Blue Slate.

Shaded tan areas by going over parts of them with the Eggshell marker.

Nice thing about Solvent based markers, you can shade by coloring and letting it dry and then going over parts of it to get a darker color.

Colored Shirt with Prismacolor Goldenrod.

Added Prismacolor Tuscan Red.

Shaded the Shirt by going over parts of it again with the Goldenrod marker.

Colored over the entire image with a Versamark marker and heat embossed using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped small Cornstalks by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then Old Olive ink before stamping.

Heat embossed images using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Note: you do not have to clean the ink or embossing powder off of the scarecrow. It will melt right into the embossing powder on the scarecrow and disappear.

Colored in the stalks with a Prismacolor Eggshell marker.

Colored over the stalks with a Versamark marker and heat embossed using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Stamped large cornstalks by first loading the stamp with Versamark and then Close to Cocoa ink before stamping.

Heat embossed images with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Colored in the large stalks with a Prismacolor Sand marker.

Colored over the large stalks with a Versamark marker and heat embossed using clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Cut a circle out of a Post it note being sure to have part of the circle cut from the sticky part of the Post it note.

Used the post it note circle as a mask for the moon.

Brayered on Baja Breeze ink at the top and bottom of the card stock leaving a light space in the middle.

Brayered on Not Quite Navy ink at the top and bottom of the card stock not covering the Baja Breeze ink entirely.

Brayered on Night of Navy ink at the top and bottom of the card stock not covering the Not Quite Navy ink entirely.

Removed post it note mask.

Sponge some Baja Breeze ink over the Moon using a swiping motion from side to side to streak it.

Sponged Basic Black ink around the card edge to get it really dark. The darker you get the outside of the scene the more the lighter parts in the middle pop!

Assembled card front and used a Piercing tool and pierced around the moon edge.

Drew a line with a fine tip black marker from pierced hole to pierced hole to create some faux stitching.

Used the Tim Holtz ruler and a piercing tool to pierce the middle panel edge. Oops! check out that crocked right pierced line. Covered the mistake with a brad in the right upper and lower corner, lol. And you thought I didn’t make mistakes! Hah!!!

Added more brads and here is the finished card measuring 5″ x 6.5″.

Whew, that was a long project!

Hope your day is filled with early cool Fall breezes and moon lite night.

Until my next post. . . . .. . . .. . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Heart Felt Thank You – Tutorial #100

61 Comments August 12, 2008 zindorfstamps

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Lovely As a Tree & Holidays & Wishes, Cornish Heritage Farms Hinges

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue

Ink: Stampin’ Up Brilliant Blue, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Barely Banana, More Mustard

Accessories: Stampin Up Black & Gray Markers, Post it Notes, Brayer, Corner Round Punch, Gold Brads

Starting out with a 4.5″ x 4.5″ piece of Whisper White card stock.

Mask a little under half of the bottom of the card stock with a post it note.

Brayered on Bashful Blue ink at the top of the card stock.

Brayered on Brilliant Blue ink not covering the Bashful blue ink entirely.

Sponged Brilliant Blue ink at the top of the card stock very heavily to create some drama in the sky.

Sponged a bit of Black ink at the edge of the Post it Note mask to create a couple of hills in the distance.

Removed Post it note Mask.

Masked Sky area with a clean Post it Note.

Brayered on Barely Banana ink on the unmasked section of the card stock.

Tore a piece of post it note in a triangle shape to mask a section to create a road. This is an experiment, I have not tried this before. The sticky part of the Post it note is at the bottom of the card stock.

Brayered on More Mustard ink.

Removed triangle post it note, but left the post it note that is masking the sky on.

Sponged More Mustard ink in the middle of the Road.

Sponged Close to Cocoa ink in the middle of the road and the bottom of the card stock, not covering the More Mustard ink entirely.

Sponged Chocolate Chip ink at the very bottom of the card stock.

Took the Post it Note off of the Sky.

Colored in the middle tree with a black marker, huffed on it and stamped it.

Colored in the two trees on the right side of the stamp with a black marker, huffed on it and stamped it to the left of the first tree I stamped.

Sponged a bit of black ink under and to the left side of the trees to create a shadow.

Used my corner rounder punch on two corners of my main image panel and the Brilliant Blue panel that will go under it.

Stamped two hinges on with Basic Black ink and colored them in a bit with a gray marker.

Assembled card, added a gold brad to each hinge and then stamped my sentiment using Basic Black ink.

Here you have it, the conclusion of tutorial #100 with the finished card measuring 5.25″ x 5.25″.

May your day be filled with dreamy scenery. Thanks again for your encouragement!

Until my next post. . . . . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Fenced View – Tutorial & Convention Shopping

55 Comments August 10, 2008 zindorfstamps

Happy Sunday Everyone!

I didn’t get a chance to post on Saturday due to the Stamp Away USA, Stamp Convention that was held in Sharonville, OH at the Convention Center. This was my first time attending one of these stamp conventions and man oh man, can a Gal get into lots of trouble at one of these things.

Below is a picture of my purchases and believe me I wanted just about everything, but I set a limit for myself before I went and only took that much in cash with me and left my credit cards at home. That turned out to be a smart move on my part, lol. I think I made wiser choices too.

The day was so enjoyable, Karen Barber let me drag her along on the road trip and I also met a few of you blog readers 🙂 A big hello to Colleen and her friends and to Priscilla.

Today’s tutorial was created with one of the stamps I purchased. By the way this is tutorial number 99. If you would like to see the other 98 tutorials check out the tab at the top of my blog that reads “all my tutorials”.

So let’s get started. 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: Stamp by Judith T-40

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Kiwi Kiss

Ink: Stampin’ Up Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Basic Black & Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: Post it Notes, Brayer, Markers, White Gel Pen, Sponges, ribbon, Brads

Brayered Baja Breeze ink at the top of a 5.5″ x 4.2″ piece of Whisper White Card stock.

Brayered Kiwi Kiss ink at the bottom half of the card stock.

Tore through the sticky part of two post it notes and used them to mask the ground portion of the card stock.

Sponged Baja Breeze ink at the torn edge of the card stock to create a horizon line and to put in a couple of mountain shapes.

Right at the torn edge of the post it notes sponged in Not Quite Navy to darken the horizon line so it would really stand out.

Removed post it note masks and sponged Not Quite Navy ink at the top of the card stock to create a more dramatic sky.

Sponged Old Olive ink at the bottom of the card stock to create some depth in the foreground.

Stamp my new “Stamp by Judith T-40” with Basic Black ink.

Colored the rocks with a Going Gray maker.

Colored the tree trunk with a Chocolate Chip marker.

Colored the fence posts with a Close to Cocoa marker.

Colored the tops of the fence posts with a Creamy Caramel marker. Also created a shadows for the tree and fence post with the Creamy Caramel marker.

Colored the flowers in with a white gel pen.

Colored the flower stems with an Old Olive maker.

Added some Close to Cocoa to the center of my tree and fence post shadows.

Sponged Note Quite Navy ink on the edge of my Kiwi Kiss card stock panel.

Assembled card and here it is finished measuring 5″ x 6.5″.

Hope you enjoyed this country scene and will give it a try.

May your day be filled with soft scenery and daisies!

Until my next post. . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Flourish Butterfly – Tutorial

40 Comments August 8, 2008 zindorfstamps

Announcement, Announcement! I will be teaching brayer workshops in the following towns:

Dayton, Ohio at Marco Paper Store (http://www.marcopaper.com/) on September 6th

Fort Collins, Colorado on September 19th & 20th

San Jose, California on October 24th & 25th

For information on these workshops or to host one in your town, please contact Lisa Itatani at litatani@pacbell.net or http://flatfishpaperarts.blogspot.com/ while there are still spots open. 🙂

Come join me and let’s take the frustration out of using that brayer an create some dramatic skies together in the process. 🙂 Hope to see you soon.

Now on to today’s tutorial. 🙂

Today’s project shows off the emboss resist technique. Also, I thought I would celebrate the butterfly while they are still fluttering around in my yard.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Kind Thoughts & Wonderful Wings

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Soft Sky and Blush Blossom

Ink: Adirondack Stream & Aqua, Palette Noir Black

Accessories: Stampin’ Up markers More Mustard, Blush Blossom, Barely Banana, Almost Amethyst, Faber-Castell Black marker, Piercing Tools, Silver Brads, Versamark Marker and Pad, Sponge, Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Clear embossing Powder and Heat gun

Stamped butterfly with Palette Noir Black ink on a 4.5″ x 4.5″ piece of Whisper White card stock.

Colored the part of the Butterfly’s wings and the body with an Almost Amethyst marker.

Colored a part of the Butterfly’s wings with a Blush Blossom marker.

Colored part of the Butterfly’s wings with a Barely Banana Marker.

Colored part of the butterfly’s wings with a More Mustard marker.

Darkened the black lines on the butterfly with a Faber Castell black marker to make the butterfly really pop!

Colored over the entire butterfly, being very careful to stay within the design area, with a Versamark marker.

Heat embossed the butterfly with clear embossing powder and a heat gun.

Using a Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement, stamped the flourish by first loading it with Versamark and then with Stream ink before stamping.

Heat embossed flourish with clear embossing powder.

Note: it was not necessary to clean the stream ink off of the butterfly, it just melts right into the embossing on the butterfly when heated.

Sponged Aqua ink onto the flourish area in a circular motion.

Colored in the flourish with a white gel pen to make it stand out.

After assembling card front, used piercing tools and pierced each corner of of the main image panel.

Added a silver brad to each side of the flourish.

Here you have it the finished card measuring 5.25″ x 5.25″.

Hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial and will give emboss resist a try. 🙂

May your day be filled with filtered light and colorful butterflies.

Until my next post. . . . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Moon Light Cool Cat – Tutorial

38 Comments August 7, 2008 zindorfstamps

A couple times a year I have to get this old Stampin’ Up set “Cool Cat” out and work with it. Love this cat! This morning I felt like getting out the bright colors to liven things up a bit.

Let’s get started. 🙂

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin’ Up “Cool Cat”

Paper: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Basic Black & Tempting Turquoise

Ink: Stampin’ Up Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Basic Black & Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Coluzzle, Tim Holtz Distressing Tool and Ruler, Piercing Tool, White Gel Pen, Bordering Blue marker, Blush Blossom Marker, Black Marker, Sponges

Cut a 2.5″ circle with my Coluzzle out of card stock.

Note: This morning I used a circle cut previously and used in a different project. Nice to keep these things on hand and re-use them.

Used the circle as a mask for the moon. I just held it in place as I worked.

Traced a fine line around the mask with a Bordering Blue marker on a 4″ x 4″ piece of Whisper White card stock.

Sponged on some Summer Sun ink.

Sponged on Some Tempting Turquoise ink.

Sponged on some Wild Wasabi ink.

Sponged on some Ruby Red ink.

Sponged on some Chocolate Chip ink.

Removed mask.

Sponged some Summer Sun ink inside of the moon to the left side.

Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement, stamped Cool Cat with Basic Black ink.

Sponged some Black ink at the bottom of the card stock.

Used a white gel pen to color in the whites of the cat’s eyes.

Colored in the Cat’s ears with a Blush Blossom Marker.

Added some dots to the background to look like distant stars.

Figured out what layout I wanted to use and cut my panels.

Distressed the main image panel and the Tempting Turquoise panel with a Tim Holtz distress tool.

Dragged the edges of all sides of the main image panel over the black ink.

sponged Tempting Turquoise ink around the edges of the Tempting Turquoise panel.

Drew in lines using a Tim Holtz ruler and White Gel pen to create a look of brick.

Drew a black line under the cat to create the top of the wall and colored in the top bricks with the black marker to make it flow better from one layer to the next.

The Tim Holtz ruler has holes in it that you can use your piercing tool with to create a faux stitching look.

Punched my holes around the edge of the card stock and then used a white gel pen and ran it from one hole to the next to create the stitching.

Here you have it the finished card measuring 5″ x 6.5″.

May your day be sunny and your night sky be bright!

Until my next post. . . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle

Tool Time – Red Rubber Stamp Sheets

35 Comments August 6, 2008 zindorfstamps

Today’s post will help take some of the mystery out of buying Deeply etch red rubber stamps, such as this sheet from Innovative Stamp Creations “Friendship”.

When you get your stamp sheet it will look like the picture above. I cut mine out and cut them very closely to the design.

After they are all cut out I paint Aleene’s Tack it over and over on the back sides of the stamps and let dry for about an hour. It doesn’t take much of this glue. The glue goes on white in color but dries clear and is tacky to touch and stays that way. The tackiness lets you stick the stamp to your acrylic block over and over.

Next, I stick the stamps to a clear transparency sheet.

I put the transparency sheet with the stamps on it and the index sheet that came with the stamps in a large plastic store bag. I write the name on the top of the bag with a
Sharpie Marker.

Note: A copy of the index sheet also goes in my stamp binder for easy viewing and selection.

The Baggie then gets stored away standing up right in a box, sorted by manufacturer. It is very easy to look through them to find what I need. They also take very little room to store, love it!

I found that no foam pad is necessary with these good quality, deeply etched red rubber stamps to get a good stamped image.

Here is the link to Innovative Stamp Creations store: http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/ischomepage.html

There are definitely a million ways to store stamps out there. I just wanted to share my storage and prep solution with you. Hope this took a little of the mystery out of buying red rubber stamp sheets.

May your day be filled with good impressions!

Until my next post. . . . . . . .

Hugs,

Michelle