STAMPING 101

Article of the Month

November 2007 - Accenting Stamping with Dimension

Love stamping? Want to add some dimension to your stamped images? Designer Susan Cobb takes her stamping to a new level with Fun Flocked accents—from the row of asterisks along the bottom of the card to the quotation marks and even the question mark stamped on her metal brad!

It's Your Birthday "Again"?
By Susan Cobb

Never used Fun Flock? It’s easy! In fact, it’s a lot like heat embossing, without the heat gun—and flocking works on paper and other surfaces, like the metal brad at the center of the flower on this card.

Susan stamped her images using Tsukineko’s Essential Glue Pad, then sprinkled black Fun Flock (from Stampendous) over the glue for a textured "flocked" image. She instructs: “Press lightly into the flocking, then turn the paper over and shake off the excess. I recommend working on a piece of scrap paper so you can tap the excess onto the paper, then hold the paper into a funnel shape to return the flock to the container.”

One trick to remember when using Fun Flock: “For best results, keep the glue pad covered between stamping, as it dries out quickly,” says Susan.

Susan also advises flocking non-porous materials like metal brads as the first step in the project process in order to give it plenty of time to dry. She first attached the brad to a scrap of cardstock, then gently stamped on the center of the brad. She added Fun Flock to the stamped image, pressed it down and shook off the excess, then set the brad aside to dry.

“While the brad is drying, I made the rest of the card,” says Susan, who placed the fold of the card at the top. She trimmed 3/4" from the bottom open edge of the card front only, then covered the top 2 1/4" of the card front with dotted paper and the bottom with striped paper. She used Zots™ to attach brown gingham ribbon over the seam between the two papers.

Computer journal "It's your birthday again" and "Let s Party" (omitting the apostrophe) on white cardstock, trim, then ink the edges black. Susan stamped and flocked quote marks around "again", then attached the words to the card front. She added the flocked big brad to the white flower and attached it with a Zot™ near "again". “Tie a knot in a piece of ribbon and Zot™ it on the left-hand side of the card front as a balance to the flower,” she says.

For the card inside, Susan glued a 1"x4" strip of striped paper to the inside panel. She stamped and flocked an apostrophe in the word “Let s”, then accented the apostrophe with a brown brad and glued “let’s” and “party” along the strip. She stamped and flocked an exclamation point next to “party” and added a brown brad as the point on the exclamation mark.

Susan then stamped and flocked asterisk-shaped flowers along the bottom inside panel of the card, alternating between two different styles. An easy way to get even placement is to start with the flower in the center of the row, and stamp the remaining flowers at the right and left. After flocking the flowers, Susan added brown mini brads to the centers. “Adding the brads means the brad legs will show on the back of the card,” Susan says, adding: “If you don’t want the legs to show, simply use a leftover strip of coordinating paper and glue it along the edge of the back of the card. This is also a great place to initial or “sign” your card design!”

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