I am just thrilled to be telling you about the amazing images from the Stampsmith. These stamps are a joy to work with! These remarkable stamps have an amazing amount of detail; they look just like photos.

Their stamps come in a whole range of sizes. The larger ones are ideal for cards, the midsized ones are great for scrapbook pages, and they even have some petite sizes perfect for jewelry. They are available as sheets of rubber, or as individual unmounted or mounted stamps on selected images.

Their plates are all themed, and what a wonderful selection they have, such as Asian, Arabian, Mexican, Playing Cards, Fruit Label, Movie Stars, Art Nouveau, the list goes on and on. Scrapbookers and stampers alike will love the beautiful text and alphabets selection, in which every letter is a work of art. I could not pass up a chance to play with the beautiful ladies of the Shakespeare Heroines stamps - you can see a story in each of their faces. I also was delighted to work with were the Italian Tarot Cards. These attention-grabbing designs convey such emotion. With 50 categories of stamp sheets to choice from, you can be sure to find one that fits your artistic desires. Each category contains wonderful examples to inspire you. Be sure to check out the Blessed Are plate for your Christmas card needs. Each plate measures a generous 8.5 x 11 inches and are made of deeply etched, high quality rubber. With the price per unmounted plate at $18 each this is a great deal. The Stampsmith is an angle company with fast and friendly service. You can view their entire catalog online at http://www.stampsmith.net.

With these wonderful stamps you don't want to lose any detail, so I found that if I place my stamp face up and positioned the paper on top, rubbing it gently with my fingers I could get a superior image. My preferred ink for stamping these detailed images is Brilliance ink.

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Art Nouveau Alphabet - The Stampsmith
• White cardstock 8 ½ 5 ½ folded
• Black cardstock 5 ¼ x 4
• Vellum 5 x 3 ¾
• Alcohol inks - Terra Cotta, Pesto, Raisin
• Gold metallic pen
• Wood block with felt attached by Velcro
• Brilliance inkpad - Graphite Black
• Clear embossing powder
• Gelly Roll pens - gold, green - Sakura
• Heat gun
• Vellum tape
• Double sided tape
  
  Directions

1. Apply alcohol inks to felt, push some gold metallic ink from pen onto pad. Dab this onto vellum until paper is completely covered.
2. Stamp letters into corner with brilliance ink and emboss. Color with Gelly Roll pens.
3. Mount vellum onto white cardstock with vellum tape. Trim close (white cardstock will not show). Then mount onto black cardstock, then mount to folded card

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Shakespeare Heroines - Julia - The Stampsmith
• Light brown cardstock 8 ½ x 5 ½ folded
• Specialty paper 5 ¼ x 4
• Corrugated brown paper 4 ¼ x 2 ½
• Dark brown cardstock 4 x 3
• White cardstock 4 x 3
• Brilliance inkpad - Coffee Bean
• Distress ink - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
• Acetate
• Spray bottle with water
• Paintbrush
• Corner punch - EK success
• Heart charm
• Glue dots
  
  
  Directions

1. Take acetate and rub color from distress inkpads onto it. Spray with water. Place white cardstock onto acetate moving it until covered with ink. Heat set or let dry.
2. Stamp Julia in Brilliance ink. With paintbrush add shading with distress inks.
3. Punch corners in dark brown cardstock.
4. Cover raised area of corrugated cardstock with brilliance ink by applying ink direct to paper from inkpad. Assemble as shown using double stick tape. Attach charm with glue dots.
   

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Shakespeare Heroines - Beatrice - The Stampsmith
• White cardstock 3 ½ x 4 ½
• Gold cardstock 3 ½ x 4 ½
• Black cardstock 5 ½ x 8 ½ folded
• Brilliance inkpad - Graphite Black
• Distress Ink - Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
• Acetate
• Spray bottle with water
• Paintbrush
• Cosmetic sponge
• Vellum tape
• Double stick tape
  
  Directions

1. Take acetate and rub color from distress inkpads onto it. Spray with water. Place vellum onto acetate moving it until it's covered with ink. Heat set or let dry.
2. Stamp Beatrice in Brilliance Ink. Tear around edges. With paintbrush add shading with distress inks and paint edges with Vintage Photo.
3. Tear white cardstock to fit. Sponge with Antique Linen and paint edge with Vintage Photo.
4. Mount stamped image on cardstock with vellum tape. Mount other panels as shown using double stick tape.

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Italian Tarot Cards - The Stampsmith
• Black cardstock 8 ½ 5 ½ folded &3 x 4 ½
• Vellum 2 x 3 ½
• White card stock 2 x 3 ½
• Gold cardstock -2 ½ x 4 & 3 ½ x 5
• Alcohol inks -Espresso, Pesto, Raisin
• Gold metallic pen
• Wood block with felt attached by Velcro
• Brilliance inkpad - Graphite Black
• Vellum tape
• Double stick tape
  
  Directions

1. Apply alcohol inks to felt, push some gold metallic ink from pen onto pad. Dab this onto vellum until paper is completely covered.
2. Stamp image with Brilliance ink on vellum, turn over and color in negative space (area around the person) with gold pen.
3. Mount vellum onto white cardstock with vellum tape. Trim close (white cardstock will not show), mount on gold, then black, then gold, then folded card.

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Italian Tarot Cards - The Stampsmith
• Vellum 2 x 3 ½
• White cardstock 2 x 3 ½
• Gold tag 4 ½ x 2 ¼
• Black tag 4 ¼ x 3 ¼
• Alcohol inks - Terra Cotta, Pesto, Raisin
• Gold metallic pen
• Wood block with felt attached by Velcro
• Brilliance inkpad - Graphite Black
• Fibers
• Corner rounder
• Vellum tape
• Double stick tape
  
  Directions

1. Apply alcohol inks to felt, push some gold metallic ink from pen onto pad. Dab this onto vellum until paper is completely covered. Repeat on gold tag, edge tag with pen.
2. Stamp image with brilliance ink on vellum, turn over and color in negative space (area around the person). Mount vellum onto white cardstock with vellum tape. Trim with a ¼ " border around all sides (white cardstock will not show). Round corners and edge with pen.
3. Mount on gold tag, then on black tag. Wrap fiber through hole.

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Italian Tarot Cards - The Stampsmith
• White cardstock 5 ½ x 4 ¼ & 2 x 3 ½
• Black cardstock 1 ¾ x 3 ¼ & 8 ½ x 5 ½ folded
• Distress ink - Vintage photo & Antique Linen
• Brilliance inkpad - Graphite Black
• Colored pencils - Primacolor
• Scrabble tiles
• Recycled broken piece of jewelry
• Cosmetic sponge
• Spray bottle of water
• Glossy accents
  
  Directions

1. Stamp Reg Di Bastoni onto white cardstock, color as shown with colored pencils. Dab Antique Linen with a sponge onto image to age it. Trim leaving a 1/8 border around all side. Rub edges of image on Vintage Photo inkpad.
2. Background paper is made by crumpling up the large white cardstock and rubbing the Antique Linen inkpad over it. Spray with water and crumple it again. Rub with inkpad again, spray with water and crumple it again, repeat until desired effect is achieved. (Paper is very easy to tear so be gentle). Let air dry or iron if a smother look is desired. Tear edge of paper then sponge edges with vintage photo.
3. Assemble as shown using glossy accents as glue.

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Italian Tarot Cards - The Stampsmith
• White heavy wt cardstock 5 ½ x 4 ¼ & 2 x 3 ½
• Black heavy wt cardstock 1 ¾ x 3 ¼ & 8 ½ x 5 ½ folded
• Corrugated paper 3 ½ x 2 ½, edge torn
• Distress ink - Vintage photo & Antique Linen
• Brilliance inkpad - Graphite Black
• Colored pencils - Primacolor
• Metal-rimed vellum tag
• Glaze pen
• Acetate
• Fiber
• Glossy accents
• Heart charm

Directions

1. Stamp IL SOLE onto white cardstock, color as shown with colored pencils. Dab antique linen with a sponge onto image to age it. Trim leaving a 1/8 border around all side. Rub edges of image on vintage photo inkpad.
2. Background paper is made by crumpling up the large white cardstock and rubbing the Vintage Photo inkpad over it. Spray with water and crumple it again. Rub with Antique Linen inkpad, spray with water and crumple it again repeat until desired effect is achieved. (Paper is very easy to tear so be gentle). Let air dry or iron if a smother look is desired. Sponge Vintage Photo around edge of paper. Mount on black card.
3. Cover raised area of corrugated cardstock with Vintage Photo by applying ink direct to paper from inkpad. Mount image on black cardstock then onto corrugated paper.
4. Write True Love on metal-rimed vellum tag with Glaze pen, let dry. Take acetate and rub color from distress inkpads onto it. Spray with water. Place vellum tag onto acetate moving it until covered with ink. Let dry.
5. Wrap fiber through hole. Attach tag and charm to card with glossy accents.

Supplies

• Rubber Stamps - Italian Tarot Cards - The Stampsmith
• Black cardstock 2 - 8 ½ x 11
• Gray linen paper 8 ½ x 11
• White cardstock 8 ½ x 11
• Vellum 8 ½ x 11
• Alcohol inks - espresso, butterscotch, pesto
• Gold metallic pen
• Colored pencils - Primacolor
• Wood block with felt attached by Velcro
• Brilliance inkpad - graphite black
• Xyron
• Sizzix - shadow box letter die cuts
• Double sided tape

Directions

1. Apply alcohol inks to felt, push some gold metallic ink from pen onto pad. Dab this onto vellum until paper is completely covered. Run through Xyron.
2. Cut letters from the vellum and gray paper using die cuts.
3. Mount photos on gray paper. Then large photo on vellum, mount vellum on white paper, trim so white dose not show.
4. Stamp Italian tarot cards on white cardstock with brilliance ink and color with colored pencils. Trim close and mount on vellum.
5. Print journaling out on gray cardstock.
6. Arrange as shown. Attach with double sided tape.