Make old Stamps over into brand new Die Cuts! (Stamp on the back of schtuff)

Migraine made a new friend: Flu (or Food Poisoning?) Whoever he is, I don't like him.

Here's a pre-prepared post (that makes it sound like the instant mashed-potatoes of the stamp world, LOL but hopefully it'll be useful to ya)....

Economically, times are tough, but we get tired of the same ol' same ol' stamps, right? Well... You know me, always looking for cheap ways of trying to make old stamps do new tricks. I'm especially twitterpated about this trick 'cause it can stretch your budget BIG time! (I sound like a used car salesman,* I'm sure, but I am SO stoked! heehee)

'Backwards Stamp & Cut.' (A silly way to say: stamping on the back of paper & cutting it out.)

The only problem with this technique is that it'll make you not want to sell your old sets. But it's a snifty way to use up your scraps of patterned paper. I'm always wishing for new flower die cuts, but don't have the moulah (and die cut selection seems so limited anyhow.) It's fun with a beautiful vine stamp, and it's even easier with flowers.

Can you guess the stamp set that the flower up there was made with?
Hint, it's from Stampin' Up!

DIY die cut shapes
with old stamps

Supplies you need:

any ink
any shape stamp
any paper (great way to use scraps)
scissors
any embellishments you like

Supplies you don't need (heehee):

a die cut machine & die-cuts or templates...



Step 1) Take a piece of patterned paper (or better yet scaps!)

Of course, you can also use plain cardstock, or stamped, embossed, printed from your computer.....



Step 2) Stamp your image on the backside of the paper
(Any ink will do. You won't see it later)

Ever notice that the details in the styles of stamps seem to be the quality that does them in them trend-wise, while the shapes stay eternal. You hafta love the shape of this Doodle This flower but I've gotten bored with the details. Stamping it on the back of plain or patterned or stamped paper gives you the look of a brand new die cut.



Step 3) Cut the shape.

I like to rough cut first (at left) it makes the fine cutting easier (at right.)



Step 4) Add details.

The stuff on here is wee faux stitches in black marker, with clear gel pen over it for some fun gloss & then Copic marker around the edge.



Step 5) Add any embellishments you like.

I used white flowers from Kaiser, which I have to blab about because for $1.99 (for 50 flowers) they made me exceedingly happy... I'm very fussy about my paper flowers, and I was particularly impressed by Kaiser's brilliant packaging. Often these types of flowers arrive crumpled, but not these! They're stacked attached to each other and come pristine: Clever! Better yet, you can colour them while they're stacked and your colouring won't wreck their shape. (You will get bleed-through, potentially, but I find I can always use more than one of a colour anyhow... and preserving the pretty shape is worth it to me. There are medium sized paper flowers too.

There's a punched flower (Cornflower from Martha Stewart) and a glass bead sewn on there too. The leaves are vellum:

Potential ideas for embellishing your flowers:
(saving all that money on stamps & die-cuts means we can splurge on the essentials right? hehehe)

• More layers of different Backwards stamp & cut flowers
• Center shapes punched or cut (circles squares...)
• Regularly stamped/embossed flowers
• Punched flowers
• Felt flowers, silk flowers, or primas...
  
• Heat embossed, Cuttlebugged, or dry embossed flowers
• Beads, brads, buttons, eyelets, gemstones, pearls, fun flock, glitter, flower soft, dew drops, Stickles...
• Homemade thickers (paper glued on fun foam & die-cut)

I am all revved up for reviving all my neglected flower sets & using my DP scraps.Of course you don't have to stop at flowers. Imagine trees, animals, houses what ever... and you could doodle on them too, which is a hot look now...

In the next post: how the shaped card in this tut was made & a template...

Hope you're all doing wonderfully,
:O)
Mel

* Not that there's anything wrong with used-car-sales-people. They're good for the enviroment! :O)