die cut stamps

As promised, I am back!

Today has been a busy day, but the time I have spent in my studio has yielded much results. *man I love days where you actually feel like you've gotten lots done!*

So, here is my full project (from the sneak peek yesterday), and a little information about it...

Paper: plain white cardstock, sei, unknown scraps

Ink: Versamark, distress ink, memento

Cricut: Pagoda

Stamps: Inkadinkado "Letter", Provo Craft

Other: Perfect Pearls w/water

Ok, so I have heard a lot of question in the past about making your own stamps with the Provo Craft Cricut Stamp Sheets, so I thought that I would give my two cents worth. *hehehe*

The stamp sheets come in a package like this. There are two 6x6 sheets in each package.

The sheets are made of a thin material that feels similar to your Cricut overlay. They are made to be cut with your cricut, however, you do need a deep blade housing and a deep blade.

A few things I have learned:

Use a new/very sticky mat. It needs some serious sticking power to keep it from sliding.

Use the setting PC has suggested (at least at first). I have found those settings make for very nice cuts... speed:3 , pressure:4 , and deep blade set at 4.5

Don't try to cut things that are very small, or very detailed. I think of it like trying to cut thick jello... there is enough give in the material, that really thin lines or small cuts don't always work well.

The stamps don't hold ink well at first. Use a cheap nail file or an eraser to roughen up the surface of your cut stamp. You can also ink up your stamp with VersaMark, then the ink color you want to use. The VersaMark won't hurt your other stamp pad, and will give a nice surface for your color to stick to.

If you have a larger stamp, try placing your paper on a mouse pad or a piece of craft foam to stamp. This has just enough give to help get a good impression even in the middle of your stamp.

These stamps will stain. They have even stained with inks I wouldn't have thought they would. It is fine! After cleaning your stamp, you can stamp it onto a scrap paper. If no color comes off onto the paper, you are good to go.

These stamps sheets are designed to stick to your acrylic blocks (or anything else you use to mount your clear stamps... like glass...)

Don't be intimidated by it! Have fun and be creative.

Because you are cutting your own, you can make stamps that layer (the same way you make your paper cuts layered)

The stamp material is the same on both sides, so with each image you cut, you get a reverse image simply by flipping the stamp over! How fun is that?!

I store my stamps on an acetate sheet. You can also store them in CD cases, or how ever you store your other clear stamps.

For my project, I used VersaMark to stamp the fish I cut out of the stamp material using the Pagoda cart. I only cut one fish... I just flipped it over to get them facing each other. I then used white embossing powder. After heating, and allowing to cool, I inked the whole paper with distress ink. Heat embossing acts as a resist, so no ink sticks to the embossed images. To finish it off, I sprayed the paper with a nice coat of Perfect Pearls w/water. This gives it the shimmery look while helping blend away any harsh lines left from inking.

Hope you enjoy creating your own custom stamps!

Have a fabulous weekend!