Stretch Your Stamps Day 1

Its the first day of class at Stretch Your Stamps at onlinecardclasses.com and we tackle background stamps.

I used the background stamp from Penny Black that I won for participating in Jennifer McGuire's Cards That Care drive last year. Love this stamp! Its a little like the Hero Arts stamp they are using in class.

First card uses the pieced background technique that is demonstrated by Kristina. I don't have dies that could be used like her hexagon example so I decided to cut my backgrounds into strips instead. To incorporate Dawn McVey's tip to stamp on an element, I made a dimensional banner (as demonstrated by Nichole Heady during Make It Monday #51) for my sentiment and stamped a dotted pattern on one side. I'm making cards for Operation Write Home this summer so thought PTI Pure Poppy and Enchanted Evening would be perfect for the patriotic vibe I was going for.

Next up is my card using the stamp acetate tip from Amber Daigre. Boy was this WAY out of my comfort zone! I had bought a pack of clear cardstock way back when and it was still unopened. So was my pad of Staz-On black ink too! Decided to try this since I had the supplies and now had the perfect excuse to use them. Stamping on acetate was harder than I thought, even with a stamp press. I ended up with two partially incomplete images and was nervous that the Staz-On would smear. I didn't want to waste both pieces of clear cardstock so I decided to reposition my banners in a different way than her example to cover up some of the stamping imperfections. I like it but maybe not enough to try this again!

Another lesson learned is that Staz-On actually STAYS ON your stamp even after you try to wipe it clean right away. I didn't have any other stamp cleaner other than my usual baby wipes so I guess my stamp will just be stained black now.

Thanks for sharing my journey with me! I'm skipping Day 2 of class because I don't have any collage stamps (just not my style) so I'll be back here for Day 3 which features Alphabet Stamps.