Technique--3 Easy Ways to Use Acrylic Stamps by Chrystal Riddell

Every time I see new acrylic stamps released, I want to rush out and buy every last one. Then I remind myself of how many I already have and how I need to use them more. I think being a perfectionist and scared to mess up the layout is what often holds many of us back from using them. So I'm here to tell you that it's ok to let go and get stamping...practice makes perfect.

1. Using border stamps--Border stamps are an easy way to fill up white space on your page. I always arrange all the elements of the page (but don't glue down yet), then stamp my background borders. This way, if I mess up, I can just start over with a new background sheet. If you have a hard time stamping in a straight line, lightly draw one first with pencil, then gently erase with a WHITE eraser after your ink dries. (Examples of this are the far left brown border on All Dressed Up and flourish borders on Summer Vacation)

If this is still too hard to do, stamp on a separate sheet of cardstock, then cut out and use like you would patterned paper (see red strip on bottom of All Dressed Up)

2. Use as part of your journaling--For a fun, freestyle look, pick certain word stamps to get you jump-started on your journaling, then start writing. Again for this, I stamped on a separate sheet of paper in case I messed up. I also stamped and embellished the square first, which forced me to make my journaling fit. Lined "notebook" style paper works great for this and is a sneaky way to get your kids involved on the page! (see Summer Vacation journaling block)

3. Stamping directly on your page with corners--Ok,this is scary to me, big time. I've just spent time, energy, and precious supplies to build this page, and now I might mess the whole thing up. Have courage. You can do it! This is the beauty of acrylic--you can always re-stamp over the image if necessary. I love that you can  see through your block to figure out exactly where to place the stamp. Don't forget that you need Staz-on if your stamp will cover a picture. To make a clean, crisp image, place a magazine under the layout, then stand up when you stamp to apply good pressure. (See Summer Vacation right page flourish corner and All Dressed Up big flourish corners) If all else fails, and you don't like the look, you can always cover it up with a big flower! 

All stamps used here are from Close To My Heart