Tips for New Stamp Enthusiasts

It's time to stamp!  You have watched your friends having all this great fun and you feel left out because you don't think you have talent or artistic ability - WRONG!  The stamps do all the work!

The next time you go into a stamp store, take a good look at one of the stamps.  Pick one with a colored image on the back.  Do you see all the colors they used and the shading they did?  All the decisions have been made for you!  Basic black is still the in thing, so buy a dye-based black ink pad, like the Memories brand, and  stamp that has the color idea on the top.

You will also need something to stamp on. Cardstock is good.  You can buy interesting paper and materials at Claire's or you may find cardstock and boxes of invitation size envelopes at office supply stores.

After stamping the image, you may color it with chalks, watercolor pencils, paints and water based markers.  Chalks can be applied with a q-tip, brush, make-up sponge, or your finger!  Watercolor paints, pencils and markers work well, they are usually sold in sets so you have lots of colors to choose from.

If you used chalks, spray the card with a spray fixative or cheap hair spray to keep it from smearing.  When you finish, you can leave it as is or you can layer it.  Layering means a few layers of paper or contrasting cardstock. 

The more you stamp, the more you will experiment.  A quick dab of glitter glue will give your card sparkle and a small bow with ribbon or raffia will add pizzazz.  There are lots of stamp magazines available with projects and finished cards.