It makes about 4” square. Inside there’s an accordion made of cardstock and pictures of our kids and their cousins. Here it is open:

It’s not a huge album and pictures take most of the room on each page. But there’s still enough room to stamp around! Here I used the zipper stamp from Repeat After Me and the camera from Snapshot sets.

The next page samples two stamps from one of he new sets, Pixel Perfect. Doesn’t that tape look great?

For the page with little misses, I’ve added some color. I can also share a tip with you, something I’ve discovered while working on that album. I was always dismayed by the fact that after using chalk ink, clear stamps rest tinted even after cleaning. BUT! When you condition your stamps before inking with an eraser and clean your stamp right away with stamp cleaner, the color disappear almost completely!

Here’s the last page on which I’ve used a stamp from Bold Blocks set and a photo corner from Snapshot set. This one is so beautiful and makes great border, too!

Hopefully, this will inspire you to take out your stamps and use them even on a smallest piece of paper. Because there’s always enough room for myStamp BOX!

I started by die-cutting two different sizes of hearts out of a larger piece of copy paper. You could use post-it notes too, as long as your paper is not too thick. Be sure to keep the punched out hearts as well, we will use both.

I placed one of the templates onto the card and adhered it with temporary adhesive.

I used stamps from the Funky Flowers and from the Repeat after Me set onto my card. Here you see me using one of the zipper stamps from the Repeat after Me set to stamp inside the heart.

When the heart had dried, I covered it. And then placed the template for the smaller heart partly over that one.

After stamping, uncovering shows a red heart, which appears to be tucked under the large orange one. You continue the rest of the card the exact same way. Just keep in mind that the heart that you’re stamping first, is the one that will show completely. The second one will be partly behind it.

To cover an entire heart with a long and smaller stamp likes those from the Repeat after Me set, I simply stamp in the middle of the heart first and then build my way up and down the heart.

I finished up the card with a sentiment from Programmed Robots.

I hope you liked my little tutorial and will give this masking technique a try.

(ink, a MyStampBox circle stamp from the Border Lines collection, an acrylic block and paper). First ink half of the circle:

Stamp the first half circle at the edge where you want your border to begin:

Next, re ink half the stamp and line it up next to the last image.

Continue stamping half circles until you have completed your border and you have a fun addition to your layout or card:

Thanks for stopping by!

My sister-in-law has a birthday this month so I wanted to make her a card and of course I pulled out my stamps. I’ll show you the finished card and then I will walk you through how to make it step by step.

Take the small outline flower image from the Funky Flowers stamp set and  stamp it numerous times on about 5 different patterned papers.

Then cut them all out. You could do this while watching American Idol like I did. LOL!! Lay your flowers out on the card front until they look pleasing to your eye and adhere each one. Just to let you know,  I used a standard size card which is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.

Cut a little slit in the side of the card to thread the ribbon through.

Secure the ribbon to the front of the card. Stamp the sentiment. I used the Straightforward collection for my sentiment and then cut it out with my Nestabilities and adhered it to the card front with foam squares.

You can then” bling “up your card by putting some rhinestones on the ribbon and some on the flowers.

Again here is the finished card.

Thanks for letting me share a little bit of my joy today!

Janet

What’s masking you ask? Well in art, masking is using materials to protect areas from change.  In other words you cover one area to avoid changing it by applying something over top of it.

Today I’m going to show you some fun ways to mask and create some fun patterns.  Let’s begin…

I’ve had this idea floating (no pun intended… LOL!) around in my head for weeks.  I wanted to create a fun fishy shape and stamp all of his scaly details.  So I designed a cute little fishy image in my cutting machine design software and then cut it out in pieces; a fish body, 2 fins, a large eye ball and a tail piece.

Fish have scales… it’s the first thing you think of when you think of fish and I knew the Funky Circles stamp set was PERFECT for stamping scales so I grabbed that set and some bright orange ink to start.

In order to create that scaly look, I needed some simple masks.  So I stamped a few of the circles that I was going to use as scales onto the sticky part of a Post-It Note and cut them out.

Then I created another fast mask to cover the head of the fish so I didn’t ink it up.  I again, used a simple Post-It Note paper and cut a curve into into it to mimic the curve of the fish’s body.

Then I inked up my little circle stamp and began carefully stamping along the edge of the mask.  I wanted to ensure that the outer ring of the circles touched each other.

Then I took my mini circle masks and carefully placed them over top of my already stamped circles.  I took my inked up circle stamp again and carefully positioned them in between each pair of touching circles to create the scale detail.

I continued on until the end of my fishy was all scaly!   A super duper easy way to mask!

******

I also wanted another scalloped circle detail at the bottom of my focal panel on my card.  So I marked on my card front where the bottom edge of the panel was going to go using a light pencil line.  I then found the center of the focal panel and marked it on the line. I placed a Post-It Note at either end of the line to mark off the edge of the panel going up.

I then drew a light pencil line below that line to ensure I didn’t stamp any farther down on the card front.  Then stamped my first circle using the pencil marks as my guidelines.  Since the tops of the circles are hidden under the front panel I didn’t bother masking this part of the stamping off.

I continued my stamped circles all along the pencil line and down to the Post-It Note masks to create my scalloped border.

And once again… here’s my final card.

BITE ME

I also used the “ME” from the She Says – He Says stamp set, the Funky Alphabet for the word “bite”, the Funky Flowers set for his fin and tail details and the Backgrounds stamp set as a subtle back drop for my fish.

I took the same techniques again and applied it to another little fishy and came up with this card…

Got Worms?

I again used the Funky Circles to create his scale detail.

I then used the Funky Flowers set for his fin and tail detail and also the for swirly water details behind him.  The little tag is from the Road Trip set and the alphabets are from the Mini Alpha stamp set.

I hope that you too will pull out some masking supplies and create a fun and simple card the next time you’re stamping.   I hope that you’ve learned something new today and I hope you use this simple and easy masking technique soon!

Happy stamping!

On the 9th day of Christmas…

I wanted to make a quick and easy item for my son’s teacher to have on her desk but I wanted to think outside of the box.   So I decided to recover a box of Kleenex and make it fun and colourful for his Kindergarten class to enjoy for the month of December.

I started off by covering each face of the box with some fun patterned paper from Basic Grey.  I then covered the top edges of the box using some soft green coloured ribbon.

On one of the long sides I wanted to create a little snowy scene with Santa and his sleigh…

For each of these images, I stamped the Santa from the Ho Ho Ho stamp set on multiple pieces of patterned paper.  I cut out each piece to his suit out of the red paper and added it to the creamy white paper.  I added some pink Copic to cheeks to “merry” him up a little!  A tough of glitter didn’t hurt either…

The back ground of snow was creating using the mini snowflake stamps from the Tree for all Seasons stamp set.

To create Santa’s sleigh, I used the same paper piecing technique as my Santa and layered my patterned paper pieces until I got my desired image built.  This cute sleigh image is from the Ho Ho Ho set as well!

On the smaller end of the box, I paper pierced a little snowman from our Merry Mr. Snowman stamp set.  His cute little candy cane is also from this set.  I added a little Copic “rouge” to this little fella too!

For the second long side, I wanted to make the side a simple greeting side so I used the “happy” stamp from the Lots of Dots Sentiments set to start and then I stamped the word “holidays” using our Royal Flush alphabet set.  I coloured the insides of the letters with my Copic markers to make them a little more festive!  I also added some cute little trees from our O Christmas Tree! set to build a little landscape of sorts.  The double wavy line image is a fun stamp from the Christmas Garlands set.

For my final small end, I stamped a reindeer fellow from our Ho Ho Ho set for Santa.  I coloured his nose and collar red to add touch of colour.

And finally for the top of the Kleenex box, I wanted to ensure that the kids were still able to pull out the tissues so I kept it simple.

I built a simple die cut layered poinsettia and added some stamped leaves from the Floating Leaves set.

I also added a die cut red snowflake with a little tag and message from the Santa’s Tags stamp set.

Overall I just adore how this came out and I just know the kids in my son’s class are going to enjoy all the whimsical critters each side has to offer!  It may be just a Kleenex box but there’s nothing to say that it can’t be something fun to look at!

So take some holiday inspiration and infuse it in your everyday!  Take something from your desk or counter and alter it to be something festive… even if it’s just a temporary decoration.

Happy Stamping!

When making cards I often use one fun technique and create several cards at once so that I have some on hand when in need. Yesterday I played with the “Neighborhoods” stamp set and came up with a fun way to “colour” part of the stamps.

First I repeatedly stamped a skyline onto white cardstock. Then I stamped the same skyline on different coloured cardstock (yellow, orange, red, green). I cut out parts of the coloured skyline, mixed the bits up and glued them onto the white skyline. One piece per card was popped up with Helmar Liquid Glue Dots.

The skylines were glued onto coloured cardstock. Some got a sentiment, some are waiting for their occasion.

Last I added a bit of stitching – and done! Very simple, but cute.

Tell me about your weapons of mass production. What techniques / embellishments do you produce in series to save time?

Happy Stamping!

Today I’m going to show you how to make some quick gift tags for your presents. Remember that christmas is just around the corner…

To do this tags you will need:

• Your favorite myStampBOX stamps. I used my Colorful Companions, Tree for all seasons and Road trip sets.
• Inking pads
• Tags
• Ribbon
• Scraps of paper

Use your Tree for all Seasons set and stamp the tree with black or brown ink. I stamped it on one side of the tag to make the design more interesting.

Use your green ink and stamp the leaves

Stamp a butterfly on white cardstock, cut it out.

Create a pattern in the green cardstock. I used one stamp from the Road Trip set.

Hand cut the grass

Stamp your sentiment on one side of the tag

And then attach all the embellishments to the tag. To attach the butterfly add one rolled glue dot under each wing to give some dimension.

Add some ribbon and maybe some circles to add a little color and summery feel.

I hope you like these tags, they are so easy to make!

Have a great day!

For most of you, there’s only a week left of summer until school begins again.  So I thought I would share with you some fun scholarly projects with you today.

My only son, Spencer, is going into Kindergarten this year and we had a variety of school supplies to get to start him off at school this year.  So instead of sending him with boring old looking supplies, I thought I’d make a few special more personal items just for him.

So I grabbed some fun school related papers from GCD Studios called “Schooled” to use as my inspiration.

I first created the cover for one of my son’s notebooks.  This is originally what it started off looking like.  I know… just not inspirational or fun looking at all!

And this what it became…

I used the Rough Copy Alphabet stamp set to create a name plate for the front.  I stamped all the letters so they touched each other and then cut it out all as one word.  I added some pizazz to it with some fun colour coordinating mists and my Copic airbrush system.

Then I created this cute little faux chalkboard piece… so very simple to make.  I stamped my little view of the school yard on smooth black cardstock using my Neighborhoods stamp set using white ink to make it look like chalk.  Then I created a brown mat and adhered it over the stamped image to appear just like a mini chalk board.

I also used my file tab punch and added a stamped “subject” element too using the word from the Snapshots stamp set.

I layered all the elements including a fun embossed ruler piece using a Cuttlebug embossing folder, mini book mark and my faux notebook across the front of my book.

Next I created a fun little back pack.  I thought it might make a cute little mini card holder to give to his teacher as a gift.

I used the GCD Studios lined papers for the back pack and they worked perfectly with the myStamp BOX Mini Alpha – Small Box stamps so I stamped a variety of fun school related words all over the lined papers on the front and back of the little back pack.

And finally I thought I’d make a cute little book mark for his reading books at home.  So I took the fun school themed paper scraps I had and made a fun book mark.

To add some school elements, on the front, I stamped the numbers using my Review Time stamp set.  I also used the star from the set and stamped a row of those in blue ink.  I had some small scraps of lined paper left and using my Mini Alphas – Small Box stamps to stamp a variety of school related words on the back to match his mini back pack.

So in the end, I have a fun notebook, a cute little back pack and a fun book mark for him for school next week.  I thought even if he wasn’t allowed to use that actual notebook, that I would keep it at home to either practice his printing at home or use it as a communication book between myself and his teacher.  One way or another, I have 3 fun school projects I just adored making.

Why don’t you look at your young kids school supplies and see what your stamps can do to jazz them up and make them more personal.  And get your kids to help… that will make them even more special!

Happy stampin’!

Take a piece of white cardstock and color it with three different colors of Distress inks.

Then, stamp an image over this rainbow colors with Versamark ink and heat emboss with a clear embossing powder.

Then, take another Distress ink, a dark one and cover the stamped piece in order to reveal the image and to cover other areas.

It’s like magic, don’t you think? Now, put this piece on your card and send to someone you love!

How about making another one, with three butterflies, each in a different color but on the same piece of paper?

The clear embossed area resists the dark ink but reveals what’s underneath – beautiful colors!

There’s a little variation to this technique. You can emboss your image on a cardstock that has some fine print on it. I printed some text from my computer in a light shade of green and than stamped my butterfly…

I used two shades of Distress inks to cover my piece.

And I have an extra tip for you. Having a right shade of cardstock to match your creation is a real challenge (unless you live close by a scrapbooking supplies  store!) I take a regular white card base and color the edges with some Distress inks in one of the colors I used on the embossed piece. Like so:

Hopefully you learned something new today! And you’ll be able to try this technique using our great stamps!!! Have fun!

Agata

For my layout today, I wanted to show you that you don’t have to necessarily use all of the same font to create your titles but you can create a title using a variety of different alphabets.

I first created the word “Learning” as part of the beginning of my layout title.

I stamped the word using a simple white ink on a dark blue cardstock using the Color Me alphabet set.

Next I created the word “To” as the second main word in my title.

For this word, I used a simple yellow ink on a plain white cardstock and I used the new Royal Flush alphabet stamp set.  I love this new font!

And the last word in my title was “Print”.

For this word, I used the fun alphabet stamp set “Rough Copy Alphabet” and some navy blue ink.  But I wanted to add something just a little bit fun to this word, so I grabbed the polka dots from the “Itty Bittys” stamp set and stamped the dots in red ink all across the word.

Last but not least, I wanted to create a fun alphabet related journaling block to write the journaling for my page on.

So I started by masking out the center of the journaling tag from the Just Add Notes stamp set.  I then stamped the fun brackets, both the outline and solid bracket as a decorative aspect of my tag.  Then I randomly positioned my alphabets from the Mini Alphas (small box) stamp set over top the bracket image using red ink.

So I took all of the components of my title and my completed journaling block and put them together to create my final layout…

Learning to Print

So the next time you go to create a layout title, make sure you pull out all of your fun alphabet stamps to create a unique and fun title!

Thanks for joining me on the mSB blog today!  I hope this page inspires you to do something similar on your next layout project!

Happy stampin’!

Allison Cope

You will need a tag {a card or whatever paper you are choosing to work with will do fine}, ink, myStampBOX acrylic stamps and block, and chipboard as seen here:

Begin by stamping your image on your base:

Next, place your chipboard over your stamped image {make sure this is where you want to adhere it}

Now, line up your image by looking through the acrylic block and gently apply pressure {try not to rock too much, just apply lightly because the chipboard will soak up the ink fairly easily}:

Your finished image will look like this:

Now adhere and embellish and you have a great finished product!

I always keep my holiday papers from last year along with my holiday scraps to use for the bag toppers.

I then stamped the images I wanted from the HO HO HO stamp set and used my water color pencils to color them in.  I usually make a couple for samples and then hand the kids the color pencils and let them go to work.  It’s a great Saturday project with the kids and when your making 50+ treat bags it makes it go by faster.

Once the images are colored in cut them out and adhere them to the bag toppers add a little fun saying like HO HO HO or Jingle Bells etc and staple them to the top of the filled candy bag.

The kids just love them and the teachers always think they are cute.  Plus it gets rid of that Holiday stash you have.

Thanks for looking

Elisa K

My Stamp Box Designer

Products used:

• My stamp box “passport to adventure” stamp set
• Glimmer Mist (coffee, Brass,Pink tattoo,Patina and KeyLime Pie)
• Distress Ink (brushed corduroy)
• tags (a few different sizes)
• library cards and pockets
• Pattern Papers
• ColorBox Inks (a couple different blues)

Step by Step Distressing

• Take your tags and wrinkle them up in your hands
• Spray Tags with Coffee Spray and dry with heat tool
• Spray Tags with Brass Spray and dry with heat tool
• Continue Spraying Tags with different colors till you get the look that you like
• Once dry take you Distress Ink and brush against tag highlighting the wrinkles you put in it.
• Stamp as desired

Using Different size tags and other items as I listed above and continue to distress to your liking to create a cute embellishment, card or mini album.   Below is my mini tag album that I made using the steps above.

Thanks for looking

Elisa Kammerdiener

My Stamp Box Designer

So today you will need:

• My stamp box  “Wishing you Sunshine” stamp set
• Ranger Dimensional Pearls in 2 colors
• Paint brush
• Clear block
• Pattern paper
• Cardstock
• Ribbon
• Ink

Instructions:

1. Trim your cardstock to 11.25×4.75 and fold in half
2. Trim your pattern paper to 5.5×4.5
3. Squeeze a little of your dimensional pearls onto a scrap piece of paper (about a dime size of each)
4. smear the 2 colors together with paint brush as seen below
5. Take  stamp and dab it into the dimensional pearls 2-3 times and then stamp on pattern paper. (continue with this step as many times as you wish till you get what your looking for)
6. Once the dimensional pearls dry it will look and feel like it was embossed onto your paper.
7. At this time continue to embellish as you wish and adhere to your cardstock card.

With all the rain we have been having in the Seattle area this card fit our weather perfectly.

Wishing you all a little more sunshine.

Elisa Kammerdiener

I love the new stamp set just released this month called “Hive of Live“:

I couldn’t resist creating a fun honeycomb back ground using some orangey-yellow ink.

I stamped my hexagon shapes using my eye as a guide.  Having a straight pattern wasn’t my goal and it makes the stamping go a lot faster too!  I only used one ink; I stamped it once to get the darker orange and then stamped again to get the lighter orange colour.

Once I created my honeycomb patterned paper, I carefully cut out and around the hexagon shapes to get a random shaped piece of paper to create my layout.  Here’s my final creation:

Just Because

I also used my Rough Copy Alphabets to create my title and my Just Add Notes stamps to create my journaling block.

Another new stamp set released this month is the super cute Wishing You Sunshine stamp set:

I couldn’t wait to create a fun pattern with the fabulous sun image in this set.

So once again, I grabbed a yellow piece of cardstock and began stamping my sun image in offset rows using a orangey-yellow ink.  I eye-balled my positioning as a stamped.

I knew I wanted to create some depth to my sun images so I stamped a single sun image into the middle of a piece of computer paper and cut out the center of the sun.  Now I have a circle mask for inking only the centers of my suns!

I took my mask and positioned it over randomly chosen sun images throughout my stamped cardstock and using my Copic airbrush system, I air brushed one of 3 different shades of orange Copic marker inside my sun images.  I placed a few orange buttons randomly inside a few of the suns too.

Here’s my final creation using my stamped cardstock…

You Are My Sunshine

You too can have fun making your own patterns!  Simply grab a fun stamp and stamp away!

Thanks for stopping in!  Stay tuned to the mSB blog for lots of great inspiration from all of our designers!

Allison.

Have you ever tried stamping on felt? I enjoy texture on my projects and love to include elements that encourage people to touch and appreciate their handmade qualities. StazOn ink works perfectly with most types of non-paper stamping projects including felt. The key to getting sharp images is making sure you have plenty of ink on your stamp. Practice on a few pieces to see how your felt and inks work together. For my thank you card I stamped the flower outline from the Kind Flower set of myStampBOX stamps on oatmeal felt with Timber Brown StazOn ink.

I carefully trimmed out the flowers with very sharp scissors and added a flocked brad to the centers for extra softness. The sentiment was stamped inside the card so it would peek out of the window opening punched from the front panel.

Not a fussy cutter? Simply stamp onto a premade felt shape or one you die cut at home. I used a sentiment from the Your Story set of stamps stamped with Jet Black StazOn ink onto a precut Fancy Pants felt star. The clear nature of myStampBOX stamps allows you to accurately position your stamping wherever you want! Consider stamping a layout title onto felt or even a beautiful border. Be sure to stop by the myStampBOX store to see which stamps you’d like to try using with felt. Happy stamping!  – Jolene

I have a huge pile of leftover metal in my scrap room that I just didn’t know what to do with.  I had used some as front and back covers for mini albums, but wanted to try something different with them so I decided to use them to make a card.

Supplies needed:

2 pieces of 4×4 metal(rounded corners are preferred because then you don’t have to worry about sharp edges)

Assortment of my Stamp BOX stamps… I used Neighborhoods, She says-He says & Colorful Companions

acrylic block

crop-a-dile

fiber/ribbon

Assortment of inks…I used staz on, Tim Holtz distress ink & Ranger  ***Note to self…Only use Staz on when working with metal, because I discovered that the other inks will NOT dry on the metal, so anytime it gets touched the ink will smear.

The first thing I did with the 2 pieces of metal was use my crop-a-dile to punch a hole in each(centered along the top)

I used a piece of Basic Grey fiber to tie the 2 metal pieces together, so that when you open it you will have the inside of the card.

For the front of the card, I used Ranger ink to stamp a neighborhood scene along the middle of the metal piece.

I stamped “welcome to the neighborhood” using Tim Holtz distress ink underneath the neighborhood scene, but because it wasn’t very visible over the metal I also stamped it onto a piece of Cosmo Cricket patterned paper(which I adhered underneath)

Because I made this for a new female neighbor, I stamped the girl figurine(She says-he says) in hot pink staz on over one of the houses.

For the inside of the card:

I added an October Afternoon journaling sticker to the center of the metal piece, so I would have a place to write my message and contact information.

I also randomly stamped buterflies(using timber brown staz on) along the inside of the card.

Thanks for looking!

I would love to see what you create using metal!!

Have you ever played with flocking fibers? Flocking is the process of adding millions of individual cut particle fibers (called flock) onto adhesive to create a soft, fuzzy texture. Flocking is often found inside jewelry boxes. You can also add flocking to your craft projects when you want to achieve that same fuzzy texture. Here are the materials I used:

myStampBOX stamps: He Loves Me, Birthday Numbers

Clear Scraps 4 inch acrylic circle

Helmar Premium Craft Glue

CraftFlocking.com flock: Black

Tsukineko The Essential Glue Pad

QuicKutz embossing folder

Colorbox fluid chalk ink

Zig Writer

Basic Grey Bittersweet 6 x 6 paper pad and Precision Files

American Crafts cardstock

Flocking is a simple process. Stamp your images using an “inkpad” that’s covered with glue. Dump or spoon flocking fibers onto the stamped area and allow to dry fully. Once dry, gently brush excess fibers back into the bag or jar for use on other projects. The hardest thing about flocking is the wait! I stamped the flower petals and flower center and flocked with black.

You can see how much texture and softness the flocking adds to this flower. Change out the flocking and paper colors to match just about any project. Consider flocking spiderwebs, baby booties, Santa’s beard or animal fur. You can also stamp an image and “color” the image by applying glue with a small paintbrush. Add flocking as described above.

Here are a few extra notes about my card. I embossed the Clear Scraps circle with a QuicKutz embossing folder and sanded the back (smooth) side of the circle. This allowed the raised circles to remain perfectly clear.

I stamped the “Happy” sentiment from the Birthday Numbers set by coloring in only the word with a marker.

Flocking is available in the stamping section of many craft and scrapbook stores. Check it out!           - Jolene

I cut the sentiment off and matted the picture. To the heart I added part of the sentiment.

I used a black marker to colour the snowman and jack o’ lantern and framed it. A mini piece of orange card stock makes a pretty snowman’s nose.

Some more matting and use of little paper dots. They look great with Helmar liquid scrap dots, popping up for dimension.

Here I used dimensional glaze (for the bunny’s tail and rattle) and glitter to make it sparkle.

Hope you feel inspired to make some tag sets. Make a whole bunch of sets ahead. They really come in handy when you suddenly have to come up with a small gift.

Happy stamping,

love, Bettina