Follow Your Bliss…

TGIF!! And a long holiday weekend, to boot!! What could be better? I have several things planned, (gardening, stamping, cleaning/organizing my stamping space, etc) and I hope I can complete them all so that I can go shopping on Monday with my friend Cindy! What are y’all doin’ this weekend?

Today’s favorite will probably come as no surprise: the Stamp-a-ma-jig! I have created a little tutorial on how to use it, for those of you that are not familiar with it. I simply cannot live without mine!! For a shortcut, I will now refer to it as a SAMJ, OK?

The SAMJ is 2 pieces: the handle and the clear plastic imaging sheet. It can be used for both left handed and right handed stampers (I am right handed). The smooth side of sheet is ideal for water based inks and textured side for pigment and dye inks. I always use the textured side. I have several extra imaging sheets that have some of my most used images/sentiments stamped on them in black ink, so that they are always ready when I need them. To remove the ink, just swipe it with a baby wipe. If it’s dried on and you have used Stazon, use a little UltraClean or Stampin’ Mist.

Step 1: place imaging sheet into the “L” shaped corner of the handle. *note* This is how I use mine. You can also flip the handle so that the long end is facing up. I just prefer to use it this way:

Step 2: While holding the handle in place, stamp your image on the imaging sheet, butting the block into the “L” shaped corner of the handle:

Step 3: When you remove your block it looks like this:

Step 4: Take you imaging sheet, and position it where you want it on your card:

Step 5: While holding the imaging sheet in place, butt the “L” shaped handle up against the imaging sheet:

Step 6: While holding the handle in place, remove the imaging sheet. Be sure that the handle does not move. If it does,you will just have to repeat the previous step:

Step 7: Ink your stamp, butt the block into the “L” shaped corner of the SAMJ handle, and stamp your image:

Step 8: You’re finished! A perfectly aligned sentiment!

Now you can finish your card!

I was commissioned to make a baby boy card for a friend. I have been *dying* to use this stamp!

I stamped the Hero Arts giraffe with Memories black ink on PaperTrey’s white cardstock, and colored him with Prismacolored pencils and Gamsol. I also shaded him a bit with the saffron marker.

Then, I used my Sakura quickie glue pen, and filled in his spots, mane, tail, and antlers. I poured on a bit of this FunFlock (snow cone blue), and tapped off the excess. Wallah! a cute little fuzzy giraffe!

I matted him with celery cardstock, added saffron brads using the paper piercing template, and added a strip of SU! Sarah designer paper to the cool caribbean card base. Then I adhered two strips of white May Arts rickrack with fabri-tac glue. I mounted the focal image on dimensionals, and called it done!

Stamps: giraffe (hero arts), curvy verses

Paper: sarah, cool caribbean, celery, papertrey white

Ink: memories black, saffron marker

Accessories: may arts rickrack, fabri-tac glue, saffron brads, mat pack, paper piercer, dimensionals, fun flock, gamsol, prismacolored pencils, stumps, sakura quickie glue pen