Rethink Your Use of Stamped Images

 If you are anything like me, you probably own a ton of both rubber, clear and digital stamps.  If you are OCD...errr...I mean ORGANIZED, you probably have your stamps filed away according to season or holiday or perhaps by manufacturer.  Think of all those awesome stamps that get filed away and only come out once a year.  Sad, isn't it?  Wouldn't you like to get more mileage out of your stamps?

Today I want to remind stampers to think outside of their organized (or not so organized) boxes and find new uses for the stamps that would only get used once per year or for one season of the year.  I, personally, use my Halloween stamps year round.  Not all Halloween images are scary and the ones that aren't can make great Birthday Cards for boys and girls, especially images of cute and quirky monsters or aliens.

Here is a birthday card I made for my nephew:

Click image to enlarge.

I made this card 5" x 7" and added the birthday banner, balloons and the uncolored image with a drop shadow in PSE8.  I then printed the card on Copic X-Press-it blending card and colored the aliens with the most vibrant Copic Markers I had.  I trimmed the card a bit so I could add it to the colored card blank.  The inside had more balloons and a typed greeting as my handwriting is beyond horrible.

Sorry for all the watermarks, but digi theft happens daily so I try to protect my work as well as the artist who draws the images.  In this CAS card I used the digital stamp "Aliens" drawn by Rick St. Dennis.  More images like these can be found in Rick's Zibbet Shoppe.  If I didn't use these cute little guys, I may have used "Buddy and His Pet Plant", "Screaming Me! Me! Me!", or even "Cousin Dweeb".  If I was making a card for my niece I may have used "My Pet Fluffy", "Flying High", or "Phineus Pucker".  Those alternatives are just in the Cute Halloween section and the Monsters and Aliens section of Rick's shoppe.

  I know Rick has well over 750 images in his shoppe and all are organized to be easy to find.  Instead of Halloween images, I could have used Spring or Easter images, Cute Animals, or some of the new, beautiful fairies in the Fantasy section of Rick's Shoppe.

Rick has a bit of everything to suit every crafter's needs.  He has cute, quirky, bizarre, spooky, scary, romantic, all the holidays and even Steampunk images so if you haven't browsed his shoppe in a while, I encourage you to head on over to take a look.  Also, don't forget that non-traditional images can be used for many occasions.

I know I blabbed on and on and didn't really teach anything.  Here is a sneak peek of a tutorial I'm working on now.  Hopefully, I will have it ready soon.

Cheers!

~  Lady B ~