Using Small Stamps Two Ways

Hello everyone! Many of you will remember Jayne Nelson from her time as a member of our Creative Team. Jayne will be popping by the blog from time to time, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

Hi, Happy August! I’m not sure which I loved more when I first saw the From the Vault Bugs stamp set - the large assortment of fun bug images or the wonderful Thank You sentiment. Any of these detailed bug designs could be paired beautifully with floral stamps, but today I’m using some of these smaller stamps to create two summer cards without flowers.



For my first card, I started by blending four of the new Reactive Inks, Splash, Pool Party, Lemon Drop, and Creamsicle, onto a piece of white cardstock. For easiest blending, I made sure to choose colors next to each other on the color wheel. After the ink dried, I trimmed the panel into four equal-sized rectangles and secured them to a top folded white card. Then, I stamped the Thank You sentiment from the From the Vault Bugs set with black ink onto the lower, right panel. This sentiment stamp is my new favorite - it’s the perfect size and a relaxed script font that I love! To enhance the message, I stamped a tiny, heartfelt phrase from the From the Vault Cute Animals set near the lower edge of the same panel.



I decided to highlight this sentiment by creating a “frame” of small bugs around the message. Using black ink, I stamped five bugs from the From the Vault Bugs set onto white cardstock. Next, using the same Reactive Inks that I used to create the back panel, I mixed dabs of ink with water on my craft mat and used a fine paintbrush to paint the insect images. Then, I used the coordinating Frame Cuts to die cut around each image effortlessly. Arranging the images around the sentiment, I secured each one to the card with foam tape. To finish the card, I scattered a few Ombre Sunshine sequins among the bugs.


For my second card, I decided to embellish a few tags with some bug images. I’ve found that clustering small images together or with sentiments on a smaller surface is an easy way to make small images the focal point of a larger design. So, I started by blending an identical background panel with the same Reactive Inks. However, this time, I die cut two, medium tags from the panel using the Nesting Tag Infinity Dies and I cut a third tag from white cardstock. After adding blue hole reinforcers to each tag, stamping the Thank You sentiment twice onto the white tag, and adding a black bow to one inked tag, I used foam tape to secure the three tags across the center of a side folded white card. I also trimmed the lower edge of the card with a strip of Paradise cardstock.



Then, I simply stamped, painted and die cut more insect images and sentiment strips that I secured to the tags with foam tape. Lastly, I added a few yellow sequins for some extra sparkle.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope that you’ll use some bug stamps, or other small images, to frame a sentiment or embellish some tags soon.

Happy crafting,