Ahoy, There! Stamp blocks as Stamps

I have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I want to blog and regularly think of things to share--but when it comes to sitting down & doing it...I don't want to.

I've got a nice long break for summer, and I challenged myself to make something using a different stamp set each day. Maybe this will get me to post some more here, too!

My husband & I love going to Barnes & Noble once a month to check out the magazine selection. I am definitely doing my part to keep print magazines afloat! There are a number of craft magazines from the UK, and they tend to include so-called freebies (of course they raise the cost of the magazine, too). 

Simply Cards & Papercraft is one of those magazines, as is their sister publication, Die-Cutting Essentials. I always have to see what their freebies are! 

The recent issue I got featured a nautical/beach theme--just my style! The free kit included a stamp set, papers, stickers, and more. The magazine includes several ideas of things to do with the items in the kit.

I made this card based on one of those ideas, and tried out a technique I had heard about years ago, but never used.

Ahoy, There stamp set from Simply Cards & Papercrafts magazine

Since it's a British magazine and they typically use different card sizes, I had to see if the technique would work on a standard US 4 1/4"x5 1/2" card--and it did!

I used one of my clear stamping blocks as a stamp. I inked the surface with an ink pad, then stamped it onto the paper. After cleaning it off, I repeated it with other colors of ink. I believe I used the same ink & colors that they had used in the magazine. I was so pleased that all 6 were able to fit.

After that, I used the stamps from the stamp set with black ink in each of the colored areas.

They went on to color in the images but I decided to leave mine as is. I know that 2 of the sections are the same--I could have added a sentiment in one, but decided not to do so this time.

Next time I do this, I might try using a watercolor brush to smooth out the colored ink sections after stamping them. 

The image of waves was actually longer--I just inked up enough to fit that space. For the anchors--it was just one anchor in the stamp set--I inked up portions of it  several times to fill it the red area.

One thing I will note: The stamps in these magazine kits seem to be of lesser quality for stamping than I"m used to using. It might be the way they formulate stamps in the UK (?) or maybe it's because they are just being made as free gifts. It seems as though they adhere really firmly to their carrier sheet when you first get them & try to pry them loose. After that, though, they don't stick well to blocks nor to that same carrier sheet. I've tried washing them well, but with no luck. I didn't really have an issue with using them, but for long-term use, I might run a tape runner with removable dots along the back of the stamp before trying to use it.

So there you go--use your blocks (any size/shape) as stamps themselves!

*Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.