Here are some handy stamping tips that may help you with your projects... Shake up your embossing powder Shake up your jar of Embossing Powder before use. The contents can settle and separate thereby reducing effectiveness. This is especially true with glittery Embossing Powders. Use Tin Foil when embossing on vellum To help prevent vellum from warping while embossing, paper clip it to a piece of cardboard covered in tin foil. The foil absorbs much of the heat and your vellum stays smooth! Cheap Shrink Plastic Plastic containers or bottles marked with the number 6 surrounded by a triangle will work as shrink plastic. The green plastic from soda bottles is especially nice. Just cut out your image, sand and shrink in the usual manner. Artistic Wire Run your wire through a paper crimper and make your own crimped wire. Shrink Plastic To prevent Shrink Plastic from sticking together while heating, dust both sides lightly with baby powder. Dry Embossing An acrylic cookbook stand makes a GREAT lightbox! Just turn it over, run a low wattage lightbulb in a socket through it and emboss away. Save your dirty water Save dirty water from painting with Lumieres, metallic acryllics, PearlEx mixed with Gum arabic for water colors (keep them in seperate containers). Let the water settle and pour out the clean water and save the sediment in a baby food jar. Keep doing this and you have a wonderful metallic mixture to paint, stipple, fine mist spray, etc as a background paper or to paint with. Halloween Paint Try something new for embossing!  Apply Halloween face paint with a finger or cotton swab, then sprinkle with clear embossing powder. The paint is slow drying and even a tiny bit works great. Recipe tag Add a special touch when giving someone a home baked gift. Attach a decorated tag - putting the recipe on one side of the tag. Keep Your Scissors Clean When your scissors become sticky or gooey after cutting out mounting foam or double-stick tape, use Embossing Ink, Goo Gone or Glycerine to easily remove the unwanted stickiness. Brag Book Take a photo of cards you make and compile them into an "Idea Book". Under the photo, write any special techniques or materials you used. You can also write the occasion it was made for and who it was sent to. That way you won't have to worry about sending the same card to someone more than once,plus you will have a book of ideas ready when you need to make a quick card. Create a Record Book Keep track of the stamps, inks, pens, etc. that you own in a notebook that you can carry with you to stores. You can also attach safety pins to the binding to hold eyelets you have as well. That way you won't have to worry about buying the same thing twice. No more moving ribbon To secure ribbon around the fold of a card, use a corner rounder or Fiskar's fancy edge scissors to do a decorative cut to the corners of the card. Then wrap the ribbon around the fold and tie it. The corner cuts help keep the ribbon in place and prevent it from sliding off the card. Embossing powder clean-up made easy When shaking off excess embossing powder, use a creased sheet of paper ... that way the excess embossing powder slides right down the crease in the paper and straight back into the jar. Scented cardstock Scent your cardstock and paper by storing a container of popourri with them. People will love receiving your wonderfully scented cards! Trim and Fit Keep a container near your paper trimmer to store small scraps of paper instead of discarding them. These scraps are the perfect size for small punches, paper weaving and paper quilling. Kid Friendly Let your kids watercolour on very wet coffee filters. Not only does it get the kids involved in crafts, but you get amazing background paper at the same time. Something Fishy Save the little scraps of bubble wrap you get with packages, and use them to add texture to your underwater scenes. Stamp your scene onto card stock, then layer the clear bubble wrap on top for a virtual aquarium. The Water’s Fine For a soft, muted background, apply a watercolour wash to your paper. While the paper is still wet, stamp your images with a darker dye - water based ink over the wash. The images will appear to be embedded in the paper. Double Word Score Don’t have spare scrabble tile lying around to use as embellishments? Make your own. Stamp alphabet letters onto squares of tan cardstock, then use a pen to write in the numbers next to the letters. You can even trim the squares to the size you need. Hot Board To hold your artwork securely while heat embossing and not risk burned fingers, cover a masonite™ clipboard with aluminum foil - shiny side out. The embossing powder will also heat faster and more evenly. Masonite clipboard is a wet process fiberboard. Masking the Mask Don’t just make a new mask everytime you stamp an image. Stamp your image on scrap paper, then laminate it. Trim excess from the edges and mask as normal. When you are through with the mask, wipe it off and store in a log or notebook for future use. Fresh air Keeping a can of electronic spray on your work surface makes clean up easier. It can be used for blowing away stray bits of embossing powder before heating, to remove excess chalks, eraser bits, and more. The straw attachment allows you to get into small areas and the air won’t smudge your work. Lovely Layers Instead of using foam centre board, which can be difficult to cut, use flexible foam sheets in between shaker card layers. Flexible foam is available in different thickness and colours so you can coordinate your card. Mismounted Have an image that’s mounted upside down, or doesn’t quite match the indexing image? Avoid confusion. Place the stamp in a microwave for five to seven seconds. This loosens the glue so the rubber can be removed and remounted properly. Magical Flocking Want a new way to use your flocking? Apply crystal lacquer to area desired, then dust with flocking of your choice. Try adding another layer of lacquer, and a different colour of flocking to create more depth to your image. How’d you do that? Keep cards made with a new technique in a scrapbook with a sticky note explaining the steps for future reference ideas. Magazine Overload Have a large collection of stamping magazines? Having a difficult time remembering which is where? Try scanning the table of contents onto your computer. It may make it easier to find the article! You can always print off this information and keep in a binder for quick easy reference. Deckled Idea Want a deckle-edge ruler but can’t bring yourself to pay the big bucks? Raid your husband's garage or visit the local hardware store. Flat saw blades of all shapes and sizes will do the same thing. It may not be as fancy but you’ll have more money for rubber stamps! Friendly Words When getting together with friends, borrow phrases or sayings that you do not have. Stamp on plain cardstock, fill a sheet up. You’ll be able to cut out these words later, and colour, or embellish as you like. Eye- deal Idea! Old eye shadow powder is the perfect substitute for colouring in an image, specially when you just don’t have the right colour! In a Rush Sample See an idea in a magazine but don’t always have the time to make it right away? Draw a quick sketch of the sample on a sticky pad. Stick this sample onto of the stamp. When you have more time, and come across this stamp again, you’ll have an instant idea on hand! Card Business Here’s a use for old business cards -- stamp samples of your ink pads, or radiant pearls colours on their backs to remind you what you have and what you don’t. Calligraphy Horror! Have you ever sent a calligraphy envelope, and been disappointed to find out that the ink smeared?! You can prevent the ink from smearing by using a heat gun to set the ink, especially for gel pens. Then rub a candle over the writing. It won’t smear in the rain or snow. Drying Time A quick way to dry leaves for embossing in just a few hours: place leaves between paper towels on top of the clothes dryer when drying several loads of clothes. Press leaves under the weight of a book. Idea Storage To keep track of tips and other how to’s, cut out or type up on to 3” x 5” recipe cards. Store in recipe box, label general headings such as; backgrounds, glitter, stencils, etc. Faux Stained Glass For a quick and easy way to adhere loose glitter to acetate, use the Write ‘N’ Rub glue pen. The pens dry on plastic, glossy, and regular paper. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle! Recycle the windows of any size business envelopes. Make sure you leave at least a ¼” border when you cut them out. Use them for shaker cards, bookmarks or any other project that requires a window. Trendy Treads Old rubber tires from discarded children’s cars, trucks and toys work as mini roller wheels for plaid or striped backgrounds. Choose flat tires with interesting tread patterns. Use a dowel rod as an axle to hold it. Don’t throw anything away until you’ve determined whether or not it can be inked and used to make an impression. Hot slice To glue embellishments to your cards and projects, use a craft knife to cut a small slice from your hot glue stick. Place the piece of glue stick on your project, hold it down with a craft knife, and apply heat from a heating tool. Once the glue is melted, place your embellishment on top. This prevents random glue strings from ruining your work. I want Candy Sweeten your Halloween cards with a candy corn background. The candy corn can be made by first pressing the bottom, and the tip of orange and yellow petal shaped pigment ink pads directly onto black card stock. Chalk it up Substitute powdered eyeshadows for chalks and pastels, when you can not find the right color. A wide colour selection can be found on sale or in clearance bins at your local cosmetic counter. They are cheap, handy and disposable! Envelopes! Envelopes! Need an envelope for an odd size card? A quick method for figuring out what size square you will need to make an envelope for a card is this: Take the length of the longest direction on your card, added to half its width plus an extra ¼”. This number is the size your beginning square should be in inches. Cornered When the right colour of photo corner is not available, try using your ink pad to “colour” the white photo corner to coordinate with the colour scheme of the card. Eye See You! Having trouble getting your fibers through the eye of a needle? Try using a tooth flosser - the plastic device with a large loop you can thread fiber through without any difficulty. There is a long thin end that can actually pierce through a number of materials just as a needle would. Flyers help! Use a thick, glossy advertising section from the newspaper to protect countertops when gluing and embossing. When the top page gets too sticky, just throw it away, and there is a fresh sheet underneath. No more painted fingers Wear rubber gloves when working with inks to prevent ink from staining your hands. Glassy Choice Add excitement to your work with an added touch from the beach. Glue a piece of sea glass to the front of your card. If the piece is large enough, you can add a stamped image layered on top. Not only does this look great on the card, but you are also helping to keep our beaches clean! Charge it! Not only are credit cards handy for buying stamps and supplies, they can also be used in place of a bone folder to score and fold card stock. Pressed for a new idea? Terra cotta cookie molds are useful for more than making cookies. Use them as a mold for polymer clay creations. Once your clay has dried, try pressing it into moldable foam, inking the foam, and stamping for images that match your clay creations. Cover Up Cover marred folds by tying a ½” wide ribbon around the fold. Slide the ribbon around the crease and secure. This covers imperfections and adds an interesting touch to the card. Scrap Art Keep a large sheet of scrap paper under your card stock when working to catch the stray ink marks. When your work is complete, add stamped images and paint the scrap paper and use in future projects. Window Treatment To create the look of a stained glass window, brayer glossy paper with rainbow ink, then stamp and emboss your image in black. This works especially well with open images. Mosaic Magic Salvage your stamping scraps, wrapping paper, used cards and more to create a decorative mosaic ornament. Adhere various pieces of recycled paper to a strip of double sided tape. Mount several strips side by side on a piece of card-stock, then trim to form a shape like a Christmas ornament. Clear Coating Laminators add a nice finishing touch to stamped work, but may be beyond your budget. An inexpensive alternative is to cover your work with clear wrapping tape. Simply cut a strip of clear tape twice the size of your stamped image. Lay the image on top, and fold the edges around to coat both front and back of your cardstock. Trim the edges closely for a laminated look. This trick is very useful for gift tags, bookmarks and small images. All Polished up! To seal small projects, such as pins, in a hurry, use clear nail polish. Place a drop of two in the center of the project and spread with a brush. Let dry and you have a glossy finish that does not dull or bleed colored markers. Back aches? For a unique background use a piece of non skidded shelf/drawer liner. With a small piece, apply ink and touch to the background of your card. You can manipulate the rubber in different shapes for distinct looks. Scored! To make scoring an 8 ½” x 11” cardstock quick and easy, make a scoring template out of cardboard. Cut it to exactly 5 ½” x 8 ½”. Lay it on the cardstock, matching two sides, and score. This also makes it easier for cutting cards to this size as well Kodak Moments Recycle your old photographs to create realistic backgrounds. Mount an old glossy photo to the front of your card, then cover the entire card with lightweight vellum. Stamp your image and mount to the center of the vellum. This trick works well with sky or cloud photos to create a floating effect. Say it isn’t so! If you receive catalogs in the mail, cut out the witty sayings and pin them to a bulletin board, as inspiration for future stamped cards. These sayings are helpful when you need to come up with just the right words. Slippery Situation If your scissors slip while trimming close to an embossed edge, reheat the embossed portion which was cut. This will re-melt the powder and reseal the damaged section, resulting in no flaking of the embossed area. Shiny days ahead Want to add some sparkle to your “flat” watercolours? Add an over all shimmer to your cards by mixing Pearl-Ex with your watercolour wash. Flip you for it Working with extra thick embossing powder can be difficult if you need to add another layer before it cools. Instead of picking up your work with tweezers (that may leave an impression in the warm glaze), place your work on a heavy weight pancake turner. Then you can add the next coat by flipping your work into a container of embossing powder, and pull the coated piece out with tweezers. Smooth Operator A sheet of wax paper placed between your stencil and card stock makes dry embossing easier. The stylus glides smoothly over the wax paper and helps prevent the tip from poking through the card stock. Visions of Vellum When you can not find the “right” colour of vellum, create your own. Dampen a small sea sponge then tap it on a dye based ink pad and rub the sponge in circles across your vellum. You now have custom coloured vellum to accent your card. Lippy pads Should the foam pad come away from the box, you can re-adhere it with a few dabs of rubber cement or super glue. Mail bag Use blank 4 x 6 index cards as postcards. Stamp a few images, add a little colour, leave room for address on one side and write the message on the other. Create four of five cards at a time, and you’ll always have some available, at a cost you can’t beat! The Envelope, Please Take advantage of your old envelopes. Decorate a separate piece of paper and insert it into the envelope with your card so that your message and your image show through the window. You don’t have to worry about your card lining up perfectly, and you liven up your envelope. Paper Chase Keep your paper scraps organized with a file box and hanging folder. Label the folders then file the scraps by colour. This makes finding scraps to be reused so much easier than storing in a big basket. Unusual Embellishments Look beyond your stamping room for the perfect embellishments. Be creative and use items that match your theme, like bandages and rubber gloves for a get well card. Hard to Handle If you have trouble getting a good grip on your foam stamps, create your own handle. Purchase a bag of wooden spools at the craft store and hot glue gun them onto the back of your foam stamps. They make a great easy to manage handle. Material World Save the scraps of material you have from sewing and use them as pre-designed backgrounds for your cards. Layer on matching images, sentiments, and other embellishments for a quick and easy design. Bleach baby bleach “Burn” the image of your stamp into the paper using bleach instead of ink. Make a “stamp pad” out of layered paper towel. Saturate with bleach “ink” your stamp, and stamp the image onto your paper. Just watch the results! Dotty idea! Use the eraser from a new pencil as a rubber stamp. The ¼” circle can be used as bubbles or confetti. Masking When using the masking technique, use a post it note for the mask shape. Stamp the image so some of the sticky area is under the shape that you will be cutting out. This way you can use the mask over and over. Who’s in the shadows? To create a perfect shadow underneath your stamped image, stamp your image in the middle of a post it note to create a mask. Cut it out, flip mask upside down, place under stamped image and sponge in cut out area. You’ll get a perfect shadow every time! Weighed down by too much paper? If you like to layer lots of different papers onto your card but don’t like the added weight of cardstock, try using origami papers. They are lightweight and come in a variety of colours and patterns. Got a gooey mess when gluing?  When gluing layers together, put a clean sheet of scrap paper over your project and then rub. Not only does this prevent smearing when stamping, but also assures you the page is smooth. What’s under the bed? To store some of my rubber stamps, I use Rubbermaid wrap’n craft totes. This method of storage is great for big things (like wrapping paper) and you can place these containers under the bed (and out of the way). The two trays on top are also handy for storing accessories or more stamps! Wrap it up! I love to recycle various materials in my stamping - it’s both economical and fun. For example, the pattern gift bags and gift wrap from boutiques can be reused to make wonderful background paper. Don’t throw away that evidence! Keep that metallic paper wrap from your (oops) chocolate bar! You can use it later on a card. Flatten it out or crinkle it up, for a weathered look. @?*?#*@ Punches! That paper punch giving you some trouble? Try punching into a piece of wax paper to lubricate the punch. Why? This will make the punch less likely to stick. If the punch continues to mash a particular type of paper, try an alternate paper with less or no visible fibers for a cleaner cut.