Saturday, 6 February 2016

Experimenting with A5 Background Stamps

Hi everyone, sorry it's been a while since I posted; I will try and do better.  Only a week until half term and then I will have a little more time.  
As a starting point for my latest card, I wanted to use one of the new A5 background stamps by Docrafts.  I chose the Steampunk background, as I want to create a masculine card; I will be trying the same techniques using the Musicality A5 stamp as this is more feminine.  As it is such a large stamp, I initially used the technique of inking up the stamp and laying the card face down onto it.  I used Versamark ink and black detail embossing powder to heat emboss the design.  As you can see, I ended up with an out of focus effect, as I had obviously moved the card when I was rubbing over the back.









 
For the second attempt I also used Versamark ink and heat embossed with black detail powder. This time however, I mounted the stamp onto the large 9"x11" mega mount by Claritystamp which I bought to use with my large gelli plate.  I stamped onto the card.  As you can see, this created a crisper image, but some parts of the stamp didn't come out.  I also found it really difficult to tell if the powder had 'turned' due to the large area being heat embossed.

For my next attempt, I decided to abandon the heat embossing and use black archival ink.  Once again I used the mega mount to stamp the background in the traditional way.
This was my best attempt so far, although there were still some areas that didn't come out exactly as I wanted. 

Next I decided to see if using a brayer to provide pressure on the stamp would create a more even result.  I changed the ink that I used to the Ranger pigment ink (Black Tie) and used copy paper as I was only experimenting.  The first attempt was with the stamp face up on the mega mount and putting the copy paper face down but this time using the brayer over the back instead of using my fingers to apply pressure.  Once again, the image appeared out of focus, as although I was very careful not to move the paper, the direct pressure of the brayer must have caused it to move - even if only slightly.

The final attempt again used the Black Tie ink and copy paper.  This time I stamped down onto the paper and applied the brayer to the back of the mega mount; first in one direction (top to bottom) and then in the other (from side to side).  Once again this provided a much crisper, unblurred image.  


In conclusion, I will definitely be using the mega mount to enable me to stamp the image onto the card, rather than bringing the card to the stamp.  I won't be heat embossing either.  I will stick to Archival ink, as I want to use distress inks to colour the background.  I shall also probably experiment with colouring the card first and stamping over the top, as well as the stamp first, add colour later method using my third attempt from today.  Watch this space!

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