Inspired Stamps New Releases & Stamping Tips

Hello and welcome here! 
It's time for some Inspired Stamps April New Releases!!  There are some great sets being released, and I am focusing on:

Solid Alphabet Upper Case  

and 

Solid Alphabet Lower Case.  

Be sure to check out the rest of the DT creations to see which new stamp sets they're using...their links are in my sidebar!

All new stamps will be in the Inspired Stamps online store by Friday afternoon!

Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

I started off making a fun card by alternating colours, and stamping the letters in a random way.  I made my own ribbon by using Spellbinders and then cutting some tails.  For embellishment I cut out little circles and stamped the star on it, I then used a black felt tip marker to add some stitching....which now that I see the photo, I want to add some stitching around the 'Happy Birthday' part too.

Inside:

Recipe:  Inspired Stamps-Solid Alphabet Uppercase & Solid Alphabet Lowercase, CTMH PP-Lucky, CTMH CS-White Daisy, Dutch Blue & Outdoor Denim, CTMH Ink-Dutch Blue, Smoothie, Pear & Creme Brulee, Spellbinders-Standard Circles Small, Big Scalloped Circles Lg. & Big Scalloped Circles Sm., Rhinestones, Foam Squares, Black Felt Pen.

Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

For my 2nd card, I thought of young girls...and the whole texting thing, hence the 'u' and 'r' for 'you are'.  They hit that pre-teen or teen age where it's wonderful to remind them just how truly special they are!  Or this could be made into a Birthday card as well.

Inside:

Recipe:  Inspired Stamps-Solid Alphabet Uppercase & Solid Alphabet Lowercase, CTMH PP-Daydream, CTMH CS-White Daisy, Bazzill CS-Mono Velvet, CTMH Ink-Black & Cotton Candy, Memory Box-Honey Blossom Frame, Copic RV00.

I love making bookmarks, they're perfect for those 'scraps' leftover from making cards.  I also used one of the other new releases called Labelmaker Verses.  I added Gold Stickles around the edges.

Bookmark Size:  1 7/8" x 5"

Recipe: Inspired Stamps-Solid Alphabet Upper Case, Solid Alphabet Lower Case & Labelmaker Verses, PP-BoBunny Weekend Market Tapestry, CTMH Ink-Black & Chocolate, Corner Rounder, Lace Ribbon, Gold Stickles.

Bookmark Size:  1 7/8" x 4.5"

Recipe: Inspired Stamps-Solid Alphabet Upper Case, Solid Alphabet Lower Case & Labelmaker Verses, PP-BoBunny Weekend Market Tapestry, CTMH Ink-Black & Chocolate, Corner Rounder, Brown Organza Ribbon, Gold Stickles.

The back of the bookmarks:

Inspired Stamps Used:
Solid Alphabet Uppercase

Solid Alphabet Lowercase

Labelmaker Verses

Inspired Stamps Blog  Link
Inspired Stamps  Store Link

TIPS when using alphabet stamps or solid images

• Antoinette produces high quality stamps, and so getting good ink coverage, and a great, crisp stamped image is not difficult.  Some stamps out there are not as high quality and no matter what you try, you will never achieve a great stamped image.  At this point it's live and learn, but before you throw them out you can try the following ideas to see if you can get a better stamped image.

 

• The bonus of clear acrylic stamps is that you can see your ink.  If it looks like it is 'beading' on the stamp, it's going to stamp like that.  You want to make sure you clean the stamp before you use it the first time.  Quite often there is a residue left over from the manufacturing process that you can't see.  To clean the stamp I use a bit of stamp cleaner and my stamp scrubber, even a sponge is good, it has a bit of texture there to give it a good cleaning.  Give it a good scrub, a little bit harder than you would if you were just cleaning ink off.

I used Inspired Stamps Solid Alphabet Uppercase & CTMH Black Ink.
The stamp on the left is inked up before cleaning it for the first time.

 

• Another problem may be your ink.  Sometimes the ink looks fine when you're stamping outlined images etc, but when you go to use it on a solid image or alphabet it doesn't cover the stamp nicely.  You may need to reink your stamp pad.  Even I tend to forget this and get frustrated when I stamp something and it's light or spotty...all because it looks fine on the stamp! With dark colours, or black ink you can see if the stamp is well covered before stamping (see photo above to see what your coverage should look like on a stamp), it's more difficult to notice using lighter colours, until you stamp your image and then you notice it didn't cover very well.

I used Inspired Stamps Solid Alphabet Upper Case & CTMH Outdoor Denim.

The 'M' on the left is before reinking my stamp pad...you can see how it's not as 'solid'.  I had a hard time trying to find a 'dry' ink pad because I tend to keep mine well inked:)  This was the best I could do.

 

• Again, some stamps are not as high quality and just won't stamp nice and crisp.  If you 'rough' up the surface of the stamp, the ink will now cling to the stamp.  Use something made from rubber...I cut a corner from my Cuttlebug tan embossing mat before I threw it out. Or I've used the gummy square that removes adhesive.  I've heard that an eraser works as well.  The stamp will look a little cloudy because of the rubber, but that's okay, just ink it up and stamp.  It returns to 'normal' after you clean off the ink.  I tend to re-rough it up for each use.

 

I used CTMH Outdoor Denim ink.
I don't keep stamps that frustrate me on hand, but this sort of shows the idea of what a stamp will look like when it doesn't hold the ink well, and I've had some stamps that have had worse coverage than that on the left, even after I cleaned it the first time.  The stamp on the right is after I 'roughed' it up with a piece of rubber.

• One last Tip that I can think of that may help your frustration when working with alphabet stamps or solid images, use a piece of foam (just like Antoinette places in her stamps) under your work while stamping.  If you stamp on a plastic table, or on an old wood desk, there are pits and grooves that are not noticeable to the eye, but they can affect how well your stamped image turns out.

I hope these Tips have been helpful!
Happy Stamping.

Enjoy,

Deneen