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Please feel free to use my designs for inspiration, I just ask you to credit me, and provide a link back to my blog.

Thanks, Shaz XX

Sunday 19 May 2013

Making your own shadow stamps

I've seen mention before about making your own stamps from Fun Foam, and you can get this stuff really cheap. I know I've seen it in The Works, and I've also got it from our local Poundland. I think there's about 10 sheets to a pack, and they're usually A4 size.
 I cut myself some circles, and scalloped circles, using Framelits dies through the Cuttlebug.
I lay the dies onto the A plate, C plate stack, then the foam, then my B plate.
I also did some Hexagons, and some Large Labels, both Nestabilities dies.

Then I had a thought. What if I ran them through an embossing folder? So I did.
This is the Tim Holtz Woodgrain folder. I recall reading that you could heat it with a heat gun and stamp into it, to get a reverse image stamp, so I heated it for a few seconds first. I also tried it without heating, and I don't really think it made a huge amount of difference to the impression either way.
Next I tried cutting out some circles from the embossed sheet.


You also get a choice of embossed or debossed stamp, as it comes out double sided!


Now I was curious to see how it would stamp.
I stuck it to an acrylic block- I meant to use repositionable tape, I picked up the wrong one- but it cleaned up ok. Its better to put the tape on the block, it doesn't go onto the foam very well.











I inked it with DI, Salty Ocean all over, then Chipped Sapphire around the edge.


Typically with DI, it gave a grungy, faded print.
Then,I made a useful discovery. I cleaned the stamp up with a baby wipe, and it was still damp when I re-inked it. This made the ink go onto the stamp better. Just out of interest, I stamped one print after another. I got a total of 11 prints, each slightly more faded than the last, out of one inking.


Now I went into full embossing mode, lol. This is a Darice folder, Brick Wall, and I think I will cut this one into squares & oblongs.

This is a Tim Holtz folder, brickwork. I also discovered that if you aren't happy with how its embossed, if you heat it, or re-heat it, you can take the design out, then re-emboss.



I did that with these Hexagons I embossed in a Honeycomb folder.
When I started this, I embossed the sheets first, then cut them out. I wasn't sure if embossing them after cutting the shapes would cause them to distort. I found that depending on the die you are using, you may get a light outline around your shape. This happened with the Honeycomb folder I cut up with Hexagons. So I reheated them, then re-embossed the cut out shape.



 Good news is that the shapes don't distort when embossed.











 Using Fun Foam in embossing folders through a Cuttlebug requires some trial & error.
Mine would not take the normal sandwich for an embossing folder with card, plus some Darice & Tim folders are thicker anyway, and already require a bit of re-jigging. And some foam is thicker than others!
The sandwich that worked for me is:
A plate
C plate,
 Embossing folder with foam
 2 or 3 sheets of cardstock shim








So I gave the stamping a go- I wiped the stamp first with a baby wipe, to moisten it, then added the ink. DI Mustard Seed & Spiced Marmalade again.



I think I was a bit heavy handed with the Spiced Marmalade, so tried it again adding it with a sponge this time.


Another experiment with how many prints I could get. This time I got 10 from a single inking.





 A quick try out with a different combo- Adirondack Raspberry & DI Dusty Concord. Sponged on the edge colour again trying to avoid any hard lines, and this seems to work best.


5 nice prints, and I would have got 2 or 3 more paler ones.
 I've been thinking that if I coated the foam stamp in Clear Embossing ink, or Versamark first, then added colour, I would be able to heat emboss it. And I think that if I heated the foam up, then let it cool before inking, I'd get a smoother surface.
Something to try out next.

Supplies:
 Darice embossing folder, Honeycomb
Darice embossing Folder, Brick Wall
Tim Holtx texture fades folders, Woodgrain & Bricked, which comes as a two-pack. (I could find it on Amazon, at a silly price, but there have to be other stores that have it)
Fun Foam/Funky Foam
Dye inks.



6 comments:

Myrna said...

Shaz
Interesting tutorial, thank you.
I find fun foam so handy for so many projects. I run it through the Xyron and have pop dots to whatever size and thickness I want.
It also makes great flowers.
Myrna

Rossella said...

Hi Shaz,
I have made stamps from funky foam before but never thought of embossing them, thanks for the inspiration,
Rosie x

gardenpinks said...

Ths is a fantastic tutorial Shaz and so full of information. Thank you for doing all the experimentation for us :)
Lynn x

Queen Lightwell said...

Thanks for the full-on tutorial and loads of tips! I don't think I have any sheets of this stuff but I do have some sort of kit I was sent that has that kind of stamp material in it. I also just use my embossing folders for stamping at times, with a brayer to make sure its a good stamping, of course. :) Thanks! Deeyll

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Found this fascinating, Shaz (catching up on missed posts, yay! now have my computer glasses, if not bifocals :D)

.. not sure if can find i here but sure am going to have a look around thanks so much for sharing oh and trying also not to be too green about your your ink pads one day might invest in some more.. maybe?? Shaz in Oz.x

Unknown said...

I Googled "making your own shadow stamps" and your 4 1/2-year-old post was the first result! Thanks for the tutorial. I want to get some shadow stamps since Susan at http://simplicitybylateblossom.blogspot.com/ used them recently, but the ones she uses (Hero Arts) are discontinued and pricey on eBay. So thanks for saving me some money. I love the idea to emboss the foam and will try it as well.

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An end of an era

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