The Inky Flamingo | Stamp with Jen Vitek

Now that you’ve cut and scored your card bases, you may be wondering next steps.  Do I stamp directly on them?  Do I need to do anything else with them- they seem so plain!  Let me show you some different options available to you.  Note:  these images are not finished cards just examples showing how the stamps look.

You may stamp directly onto your card base.  I’ve used a lighter and darker card base color to show how it looks.  As you can see, the lighter card base shows the stamped image more brightly, but unless stamped perfectly, you can also detect imperfections in the stamped image more easily.  You can see this on the white card base, where the middle of the hedgehog seems to be missing some ink.  With this method, you have to hope that it gets stamped perfectly.

A second option is to create a card front.  You can use one layer or multiple layers, and the size of these layers will depend on what size card base you have, and how much border you would like showing.

For this card, the base is white, with alternating green, white, green, and then white with the stamped hedgehog.  I don’t measure out the layers, I just trim until I like how it looks on the card.  This technique provides a more finished look, and the layers add weight to the card.  There is also the huge benefit of being able to free stamp on a piece of paper and not having to worry about if it’s perfect.  If it’s not, just restamp on a different piece of paper before adding it to your card.

for this card, I used a green base with one white layer and a stamped hedgehog in the same color as the card base.  Just a side note, the ink color I used is Wild Wasabi, bought years ago, and is no longer available.  You’ll notice it’s a a lot lighter in shade as compared to the above card.  It should be darker than it is, but over time the ink had faded.   This is why you should always buy an ink refill when you purchase a new stamp pad.  This will ensure that you have your color for years to come.  Lesson learned!

For the inside of this card, I cut another piece of white cardstock to fit inside.  This gives you a nice space to write or stamp your message, and you don’t need to worry about it being visible against the color of the card base.