Getting Creative with Digital Stamps

Good Morning Everyone,

I've been selling my Digital Stamps for quite some time on Etsy now, but have decided that the Etsy fees are too high to make it worth my while. So many of my stamps will be available on this blog again. It's going to take me some time to update them all.

Today I will share a few tips on some ways to get creative with your Digital Stamps other than running off a Digi and coloring it in.

TIP #1

This is a very easy tip but it takes a bit of cutting. First I ran off the digital stamp on white cardstock (you could just use white paper for this one instead of cardstock), and again on blue cardstock (only). I ran off two of each, ready to use on a couple of cards.

Next, I carefully cut out the large sails from the white cardstock. I want to stress carefully because with all the lines in there it's very easy to cut the sail in half, and you don't want that. 

Glue them in place on the image with the blue background matching up all the lines. Any kind of glue should work. Then I took a white pen and filled in the sails that were still wrapped, near the top of the masts. I'm giving you a large picture as it's kind of hard to see in the photo. I also painted the little box at the end of the ship white.

And you're ready to incorporate her into a card. Here's the free digi.

TIP #2

Next I'm going to show you a technique with my Stacked Cups Digital Stamp. I inserted one image onto the background, sized it, then copied and pasted the rest into place. I wanted five because there are five cups in the stack. Leave this image up on your computer because you will need it again.

Next cut out some designer cardstock that will fit over a cup stack. Five different pieces that work together. Tape them to hold them in place making sure you don't put the tape over the area to be printed. Again, I've done twice the amount for my own use. You would only need to do one sheet.

Now place the sheet into the printer and run it off again. Here is my one sheet ---

And here is my other sheet. A good example of what not to do. Make sure you place the sheet into your printer correctly and not upside down, like I've done below.

Ya, I did that. Sigh. OK, nothing to see here, move along. 

Since two of the stacks above came out alright I just re-did three of them. Note how my paper got shifted a bit when I put it through a second time. Make sure you cut the cardstock wide enough to allow for a bit of that. I'm not using the bottom portion, so it's totally ok.

I suddenly became very aware of how many mistakes I made, but hopefully my mistakes will encourage you to not repeat them. 

Next mistake  step. You'll have to do a bit of fussy cutting with an exacto knife for the cup ears. I also recommend you do that first, as it makes it easier not to cut them right off. 

When done, cut out the cups (again, you'll only have 5 to do). I left the saucers on the bottom cup, but you could cut them out too. 

You'll notice my tape got into the print area on some of the cups, both on the top and bottom. 

Oops. 

Again, try not to do that.

Now just re-stack them. I haven't glued mine onto cardstock yet, this is just to show you.

Also, who says you have to have five cups in a stack? Go ahead and play---

And that's the second tip. 

Now the third tip really doesn't need any photos. 

TIP #3

Print off your digital stamp.

Rub your image with a bounce sheet or one of those anti-static bags. 

Using an embossing pen (I just use clear), outline your digital and throw some embossing powder on there. I usually use black powder but get creative if it suits your fancy.

Use a heating gun on the powder and go ahead and color in the image when ready.

It just adds another dimension to your image and makes it stand out a bit more. 

I use whatever embossing pen I can find because I live in a community where choice is a byword when it comes to some things. They run about $10 CAD here. It's a worthwhile investment if you like to play with digi's. 

Okay, well there it is. 

Hopefully I get creative and make some cards soon with these images. 

Until then, 

Blessings,

Carmen