Insider Tips

Hey everyone! Kinsey here with a few insider tips on using Studio Calico wooden veneers as stamps...I used this technique on one of my January (County Fair) kit layouts with the wood veneer alphabet that came in the main kit:

Here's what you'll need to recreate this effect...

I started out by measuring the height of the letters (just under 3/4 inch) and then made pencil marks on the edges of my cardstock. You could draw light lines if you'd prefer but they are kind of tough to erase after embossing so I opted to use a straight edge as a guide.

I arranged my alphas on my table to play around with the spacing and settled on 5 lines of text for the example card and drew my guide marks at 3/4 inch intervals down both the right and left sides of the card.

The stamping part is pretty straight forward- I just pressed the backside of each letter onto the versamark pad with my fingers and then stamped the letter onto my cardstock using my ruler/ pencil guidelines to keep things straight. If I'm trying to center things, I always start at the center point and work my way out- for this row, I started with the 'c'. In my layout (above) I right aligned the text so I worked from right to left. Also, I found that using a foam pad for a stamping surface helps a ton when stamping with veneers because the cushion allows for a better, more even impression.

After each row of letters, I used Zing embossing powder (and because I use my fingers to stamp, there were a few smudges of versamark around the letters so I just used a small dry paintbrush to dust the excess powder away) and then heat set- I'm always nervous that the versamark will dry up, ha!

For finishing touches on the card, I used my craft knife to cut out the 'i' and 'u' and then backed it with patterned paper...

Supplies used: county fair wood veneer alphabet, more kraft, classic calico woodgrain one, autumn press scarf, rouge zing, blush zing, versamark, craft knife.

Not only do I love how this technique looks, but I'm also pretty jazzed that I can still use the wood veneer letters on other projects...double duty yeah! 

Thanks so much for stopping by today and hanging out with me for bit!

Comments

[Linda]

I'm thinking triple duty!! Thanks Kinsey for such a clever tip!

[Rockermorsan]

Thank you for this tutorial. And for giving the exact answers I was looking for. Such a great idea.

[Memoriesbymanda]

What a fantastic idea and I love both the layout and the card - totally love the layout journalling! :) Thanks for sharing

[Kimberly]

I love Versamark as well. I think I need to buy stock in the company! Love what you did here.

[{vicki}]

OMG!

Love the layout and I love the card so much ---i'm gonna do something similar for my Valentines!
TFS

[Patricia Roebuck]

Very cool idea!

[lindsay]

what a wonderful idea kinsey! thanks for sharing!!!

[MichelleGB]

Very, very creative idea! Love it!

[Renee VanEpps]

OMG I love this hilarious LO!!! Such a creative use of alphas and looks so gorgeous! This is a great technique, thanks for sharing this with us!

[Francine]

LOL I love your layout title. It has the right amount of "catitude". hehehe

[Ali TS]

Wow you have patience :)

[Barb in AK]

WoooHooo! I know what Valentine's Day card I'll be making for dh this year :-)
Thanks for helping me out!

[judi glidden]

What creativtivity! I love the designs. Thanks for sharing.