Tips & Techniques

Rubber stamps can be used in your photo scrapbooking as long as the papers and inks you
use with them are acid free. Look for items clearly labeled acid free. All of the inks and papers
Stampendous sells are archival and safe for your scrapbooks. Embossed images are acid
free. Our Flocking and Glitter embellishments are also safe for use in your scrapbooks.

Listen to Stampendous owner, Fran Seiford, on Terri O Radio, talk about
how we came up with the Shape Shifting technique and how to do it.
Click Here To Listen Now!

You can shape shift the image of an existing Perfectly Clear™ Stamp by deliberately
distorting the flexible polymer stamp before placing it on the acrylic block. Change the shape
by squishing and pulling the stamp to make the image look tall, short, skinny or fat. Check out
our video and some of our projects as examples:

Apply a little ink to a sponge or Dauber. Test it on scrap paper. Gently brush the sponge
across the edges of your card to create a feathered effect.

You can also sponge through stencils with or without debossing a pattern in the paper.

Stamp 'N Bond is a product designed to act as a glue when you want to apply glitter or a
similar product to your entire stamped image (it works best with more solid images).

1. Stamp your image with a colored pigment ink (use ink in a matching or coordinating color
to complement your chosen glitter).

2. Sprinkle Stamp 'N Bond generously on the wet ink and shake off excess. Preheat your heat
tool until you can only hold your hand under it for a few seconds. Lightly heat the image with
a heat tool JUST until it turns clear (be careful not to overheat). Once the Stamp 'N Bond is
clear it is like a glue.

3. Sprinkle glitter or flocking over the heated area and rub firmly with your finger to adhere as
thoroughly as possible. Shake off excess. You can use a soft brush to remove remaining flock
or glitter from unwanted areas.

  Our Stuftainers™ Thin, Thick, and Thicker containers are an ideal way to store almost
all of your stamping products and accesories. Made of PET plastic, they are archival and non-
reactive for safe, long-term storage. With a convenient hang tab they can be displayed on
hooks or pegboard walls, but they also slide easily into standard magazine holders for easy
shelf storage. You can customize your containers with Class A'Peel™ Stickers and colorful
ribbons to create categories of stamps or accessories.
              

• The Thin container provides perfect storage for Cling Rubber™ and Perfectly Clear™
  Stamps. Other thin items such as Class A'Peel™ stickers can be held securely in these
  containers. You could also use the Thin container for scraps of paper, photos, or
  ephemera up to 8 1/2" X 11" X 7/16" in size.

• The Thick container is an ideal storage solution for your acrylic stamp handles, small jars
  of glitter, rolls of ribbon, markers, scissors, and other accessories. At 8 1/2" X 11" X 5/8",
  this size also makes an ideal project case for collecting the elements that will become a
  scrapbook page or card.

• The Thicker container allows you to safely store your woodmounted stamps, larger bottles
  of glitter, and accessories such as small punches and decorative scissors. These con-
  tainers also make a darling shadow box when decorated with Class A'Peel Stickers and
  an 8 1/2" X 11" scrapbook page. They are 1" thick.

There are several ways to "paint" your impression:

1. Stamp your impression using an ink that is water resistant. We recommend using Onyx
Black Versafine ink. Allow it to dry thoroughly.

2. To use water color pencils, start by applying a damp brush to the paper. Use the brush to
pick up color from the pencil tip itself, or scribble on scrap paper and then pick up colors from
this "palette". Paint in your design using a damp brush only.
You can also use waterbased markers by scribbling color on a plastic lid or palette. Then,
simply lift marker color from palette with a damp brush and paint in your design.

If you select a watercolor weight paper, it is less likely to warp. For other papers, use less
water. It is best to apply little water in the beginning. Usually a damp brush is all you need. If
you get too much water on your card, dab it off with a paper towel right away.

If you still have warping, you can use an iron to dry and press your finished image layer
between two clean blotter papers. Unprinted kraft paper grocery bags will do. Put your iron on
a warm setting without steam.

For a watercolor suitable for framing, try taping your paper to a board. Apply strips of white
artist's tape evenly along all four sides. Stamp and watercolor and allow it to dry completely
before removing tape. The white edge looks great and gives an area for matting. A deckled
edge piece is beautiful to mount on a dark background.