Paper Craft Planet and Stampendous present the Back to Basics series: Lesson one: introduction to rubber stamps. Basic stamping techniques.

4. Paper Cutting Basics All paper has “grain”. This is the direction in which the fibers lay together to form the paper. You can find the grain direction by bending a whole sheet of paper in both directions. Grip the paper very lightly and gently bend the sheet. In one direction the paper will resist you, in the other direction it will bend easily. Paper bends easily when it is folding along the grain. Cut the paper for your card base so that you will be creasing it along the grain. This eliminates the need to pre-score your cards. Paper folding against the grain. Paper folding with the grain. grain of paper 12” 12” 8 ½” 11” grain of paper 5 ½” 5 ½” fold line fold line

5. Paper Cutting Basics When using a paper trimmer, align the card stock carefully and firmly with the plastic ridge at the top of the trimmer. Measure along the left side of the card stock. Cut your card base 8 ½” X 5 ½” and fold it in half. A standard, A2 card is 5 ½” X 4 ¼” and requires no extra postage. Align corners of card stock carefully and press thumb in center of fold to start the crease. Use your thumb to complete the crease in either direction. Take the time to learn to measure! It’s easy. ¼” ½” ¾” 2 tiny lines = 1/8” The fractions stay the same as you move beyond each inch. So the green arrow points at 1 1/8” 3/8” 5/8” 7/8”

6. A Simple Card We get so involved coloring that we forget we can make a darling card with just colored stamp pads. Meet Rooco the Raccoon™ a new little friend from Stampendous. Hear the adventures of the real life Rooco, a childhood pet of Stampendous owner Fran Seiford, at: www.youtube.com/stampendous

7. Rooco Pumpkin Card Supplies used to make this card: Cling Rubber™ Stamps from Stampendous CRF203 Cling Rooco Reach CRE256 Cling Pumpkin Grin CRL231 Cling Lift Spirits Memento™ Ink Pads from Tsukineko Tangelo and Rich Cocoa Ribbon from Creative Impressions Brown Grosgrain with Orange Stitching Card stock from WorldWin™ Peaches and Cream DoubleMates™ and Coffee Cascata™ Adhesive from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L EZ Runner Plus white card stock, foam adhesive and scissors.

9. Rooco Pumpkin Card Start with the Pumpkin stamp. To use the Cling Rubber stamps, first carefully separate the acetate packaging liner from the cling vinyl. Save the liner for storing the stamp, it keeps the cling film clean and preserves its cling properties. Use the stamp by placing the cling film on a clear acrylic stamp handle. Press the film around the image firmly to the acrylic handle. It will cling firmly until you release it by pulling up on the cling film.

10. Rooco Pumpkin Card To ink stamp, place it on the dye ink pad without any downward pressure. Pressing firmly or rocking the stamp will create excess ink in the wrong places. Twist the stamp lightly on the pad to cover the whole image with ink. Then tap gently several times to even out the ink coverage Begin with one of the 5 ¼” X 4” pieces of orange card stock. To stamp the pumpkin place him over the corner of the paper and press firmly over the whole design. The clear block and the design on the cling film allow you to see exactly where you are positioning each stamped image.

11. Rooco Pumpkin Card Start stamping the pumpkins in the corner and stamp off the edges. Continue stamping a random pattern that goes off the edges of the paper. Rotating the stamp each time you stamp will make the background appear more natural. You can use this technique with any stamp to create a tone on tone background which is simple and fast.

12. Rooco Pumpkin Card Use the same techniques to stamp Rooco Reach on the 2 ¼” X 3” panel of white card stock. Then use the easy positioning of Cling Rubber to stamp the pumpkin in orange in Rooco’s hands.

13. Rooco Pumpkin Card Stamp the Lift Spirits Cling Rubber greeting on the 1 ½” X 2 ½” panel of white card stock using Memento Rich Cocoa.

14. Rooco Pumpkin Card It is important to clean your stamps. Ink left on them will dry them out and ruin your stamp pads. Use the Rubber Scrubber™. Spray stamp cleaner on the pad where indicated and rub the stamp from wet to dry.

15. Rooco Pumpkin Card Assemble the card: A tape runner style adhesive like EZ Runner™ by Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L makes it easy to attach each stamped panel to its coordinating orange panel. Always apply the adhesive to the back side of the smallest of the two pieces being joined. Then center the panel on its appropriate layer. Layer the white panels on the light orange sides of the panels.

16. Rooco Pumpkin Card Tie the ribbon in a knot around the pumpkin background panel: Measure 16” of ribbon Wrap the ribbon around the card and cross the left piece in front of the right piece. Wrap the left side around the right side, keeping the ribbon flat. Pull this tight enough that your card bends a little. Hold the knot with your finger, then switch to the middle finger of your left hand. Cross the piece now in your right hand over and wrap around the piece in your left hand.

17. Rooco Pumpkin Card When you pull the knot tight, pull only the side in your right hand while holding your left hand still. This will keep the knot flat and perfect. Apply adhesive to the back of pumpkin layer and center on front of folded brown card.

18. Rooco Pumpkin Card Apply adhesive to the back of the greeting panel and position it on the front of the card sliding the bottom edge under the ribbon. Use double-stick foam adhesive on the back of the Rooco panel. Position the focal point on the front of the card over the ribbon. Glue the final piece of orange inside the card.

19. Evergreen Borders Card Here’s a simple, pretty card using Perfectly Clear™ stamps and colored ink pads.

20. Evergreen Borders Card Supplies used to make this card: Perfectly Clear™ Stamps from Stampendous SSC1012 Evergreen Borders SSH34 Medium Rectangle Handle VersaColor™ Pigment Ink Pads from Tsukineko Evergreen, Cardinal and White Ribbon from Creative Impressions ¼” Glimmer Ribbon - Red Card stock from WorldWin™ Pine Cascata™ and Ruby Elan™ Metallics Adhesive from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L - EZ Runner Plus white card stock, and scissors.

22. Evergreen Borders Card When using clear stamps, remove them very carefully from their acetate carrier sheet, especially the first time you use them. They were created on the sheet, and they can tear if removed roughly. Place the clear stamps on the smallest acrylic handle on which they fit completely. This helps to avoid unnecessary ink marks. Clear stamps work best with pigment type inks. Pigment inks are thicker and provide better coverage on the stamp surface. They are also slow drying, so you must be patient to avoid smearing, or you can speed the drying with a heat tool. VersaColor™ Pigment ink by Tsukineko comes in 76 vibrant colors in full-sized stackable pads or convenient 1” cubes.

23. Evergreen Borders Card Pigment ink pads are foam and “squishy”. You must ink a stamp on a pigment pad by tapping lightly many times. Pressing firmly will fill your image with thick ink and will create a messy impression. Ink your stamp carefully and check the ink coverage by looking at the stamp before stamping on the paper. Start with the image of the evergreen trees and ink them with the evergreen pad. To make a row of trees on the front of the card, start by stamping the group of trees in the center. Press evenly and firmly on the entire image, but don’t press too hard, clear stamps require a lighter touch than rubber stamps.

24. Evergreen Borders Card Stamp more trees to the sides of the central group. Re-ink the stamp each time. Hold the paper firmly down and pick the stamp straight up to avoid smearing the image. To make trees that look like they are in the background, ink the stamp then “kiss off” the ink on scratch paper. Then stamp a second row of trees over the first row.

25. Evergreen Borders Card Clean each clear stamp while it is still on the acrylic handle to minimize staining. Use stamp cleaner by spraying it on a lint free paper towel or cloth, then carefully clean the image. Pigment ink must be cleaned out of the recessed parts of the image. Inks that stain the clear stamps do not affect the performance of the stamp. It will still be easy to position, and will still stamp perfectly, but cleaning will protect your stamp pads from contamination with other colors and extend the life of your stamps.

26. Evergreen Borders Card Position the greeting on the clear handle and ink lightly but thoroughly with red ink. Stamp above the trees. Clear stamps allow you to position your greetings straight every time. Use the white pad to add a border of “snow” around the edges of the red card panel.

27. Evergreen Borders Card Stamp the inside greeting in green with some borders in red on the 5 ¼” X 4” panel of white card stock. Allow all stamped images to dry. Tie 16” of ribbon around tree layer. Glue tree panel to red panel, then layer both on card front. Glue greeting panel inside card.

28. Card Challenge Prize Package One lucky stamper will win all the products used on these two cards in our Challenge Prize Package! Thanks to: Stampendous, Tsukineko, Creative Impressions, and Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L for these generous prizes.