Stamping "hints & tips" to get the most from our stamps

July 11, 2021

Stamping "hints & tips" to get the most from our stamps - Cleverprints Tribal Collection

Recently I did a Facebook Live where the focus was looking at our stamps with fresh eyes by changing both colour & composition plus ignoring the collections name! The stamp collection I worked with is from a company called Cleverprints & their collection called "Tribal".

Here's an overview of the projects I made during the Facebook Live. You can find loads more details further down in this post.

Overview

Sometimes we get in a "funk" with our stamps & feel that they have done as much as they can for us, so then we neglect them. For this live, I want to show that by changing colour or the mediums we used, the stamps took on a whole new vibe. Also, if we took away the stamp packaging and then just looked at the stamps without being influenced by the packaging or collections name, suddenly we could see beyond the obvious.

I'm as guilty as the next person of doing this and really should do this more often too ...! Okay enough waffle but what did I actually do - see below.

Link to the Facebook Live - which is now uploaded to my YouTube channel - can be found at the bottom of this post.

No Beauty Shines

For this card, I have chosen elements from different stamp sets from the Cleverprints Tribal Collection which had specific names: Tribal Luck, Tribal Blooms, All Seeing, Wings & Arrows. By changing up their colours & bringing in brighter colours, suddenly the stamps used no longer have a tribal vibe.

Tribal Collection by Cleverprints - cards designs by Lou Sims/Louise Sims

I wanted to go for a real eclectic floral look with this card but also embrace the "white space" - something I personally really struggle with. Side note (lol) .... I'm actually working on a cream card but you get what I mean 😀 By colouring up each element in bright floral colours, I think (fingers crossed), I've changed the whole vibe.

Also, I wanted to demonstrate that if you ignore all the design elements and colour the image as a block, suddenly the image changes too. Using 3D foam pads to raise elements, cutting designs in half too, again changes the look.

Happy, Happy, Happy

This is another card, where all the things I discussed in the card above, I put in to practice. The tribal mask & flowers have again been coloured brightly, layered on to tags this time & a few die cuts added for extra detail.

Again, I deliberately chose stamp sets from the Cleverprints Tribal Collection that have tribal names: Tribal Blooms, Tribal Luck, All Seeing, Thinking Tribal but again went for a bright colour palate rather than colours the stamp set names might have influenced me to use.

I think just by colouring the mask in different colours, again the vibe totally changes. I've also used part of the sentiment from "A Happy Heart" edging with colours that matched the pens I had used.

All Seeing

For this card, I have kept a sort of-ish Tribal theme but have stamped & embossed lots of the images with gold embossing powder. Again, this changes the look & textural feel to me. The All Seeing bird, I have coloured softly with pinks & golds and now she has the look of a hummingbird.

Tribal Collection from Cleverprints - card designs by Lou sims / Louise Sims

Layering up the centre part of the bird & adding the flower, keeps a softer feel but I've used the stamps a little bit as intended by the artist, Emma Blake. Also added a bit of my secret bling - sequins!

I'm happiest when I'm with you

For this card, I have focussed on using the dies from the Tribal Collection to create a textural background. The die cuts have been cut in the same card as my card base so they merge together tonely but still have a "touchy feely" feel - hope that makes sense (lol).

Using one other die cut and a few stamped images, I created the main focal piece to my card. Now this really is a minimalistic card for me!

Love our Tribe

The last of my cards I didn't share on the Facebook Live but actually created afterwards. I wanted to pay homage to the collection and use the images in probably the way the intended ... but ... try & keep to colours still being bright.

I decided to colour the Totem elements with a wood/brown background but then add pops of colour in the designs. I thought it would be cute (?) to offset the pieces to add a little quirkiness.