Monday 15 September 2014

#NotfortheFainthearted........

Hi there folks.

Right, viewers of a sensitive disposition; this is your warning....this post contains scenes of violence against stamps. If you are a member of the "Pristine Stamp Society" then you may find these images "distressing"

Okay, warnings dispensed with, shall we get on with the fun?
I'll be honest, I am not part of the #hashtag crowd, I don't do Twitter, Instagram etc which I think is where these are used.
So, when Tim's new stamps came out I looked at them in the shops and thought to myself; Yes, I like them but I'll not get the use out of them and left them there. But, I just couldn't get them out of my mind so I went back for another look a little while later. Still, no, I thought..... This process went on for a few months until I just HAD to get them last week. Why, because I had an IDEA. So, this is the tale of what happened when #hashtag met Neil.

 The first job was to separate them out. Do yourselves a favour, don't toss the waste away. (If you have already then I apologise in advance for the regret you may feel later.)
 Now we needed to some pre-surgery preparation. Take as many different colour Sharpie Markers as you have (I had 24) or other permanent marker and colour along the top edge of all the stamps like this. It is important that each stamp is coloured differently.

If you run out of markers before you run out of stamps then you need to think of a different way to differentiate. I used dots like this, again using a different colour for each stamp.

 Now we are ready for the next stage. Scalpel, ink, acrylic block, cutting mat and scrap paper at the ready.....
Stamp your stamp with black ink and stamp it onto the paper (The ink shows up the letters on the stamp clearly.) and
CAREFULLY and SLOWLY slice the words apart...... Repeat this for all the stamps and you end up with a lot of wonderful words

 Each word can be stamped together as per the original by just re assembling as per the colour coding or used separately.

 Then, look, doesn't the "waste" make a cool stamp too? I think it does. So, just to show you I made a quick little tag.
 I stamped the tag with layers of Archival ink in Black, Fern and Dandelion using the waste element. The black is kind of faded and I offset the other colours which I think gives a lovely faded screenprint feel.
Then, I selected my words from the set and stamped each one individually in the light areas. I am really pleased with the way it came out and just know I am going to use this set loads!

So, why did I do this? One of the things I love is Tim's Chit Chat Stickers, and this stamp set reminded me of this in some ways. However, because the words were all close together you could not easily stamp the words and cut them out with proper spacing. By cutting the stamps instead, I now have that option too as well as being able to stamp directly onto my project. A win win all round in my mind that really opens up the possibilities of this stamp set.
What do you think?



10 comments:

Linda (Boots) said...

Your a genious Neil. Bet Sir Tim wished he had thought if this one. He will be delighted though cos there will now be a stampede for those stamps. Will miss you and Susan at the Retreat but glad you are keeping the crafting tempo on full flame elsewhere. Xx

Sandie said...

Brilliant idea Neil and loved how you used the waste off cut too. I have been brave and cut some of my stamps too - but it is a breath holding experience!!

Sue Marrazzo Fine Art said...

I'm loving IT!

Mickie said...

You are a clever old thing! Now I have to get these stamps too!

Dorothy said...

Fantastic Idea!!!!

Karen said...

I think this is a blooming good idea Neil!!!! You have so much more versatility x

Deb said...

What a great idea! I especially love using the waste as a stamp- brilliant. I've just recent starting doing some surgical intervention on some stamps - a bit frightening, but now can use some stamps that had annoying bits before.

And love the tags you made - colors, words and that great new background stamp - ha!

Helen said...

Well I am a twitter user and do love the odd hashtag, but couldn't see the point of the stamps... however I think what you've done is just genius! I didn't realise, as I've not looked at the set in the flesh, that they don't come as separated stamps though. you obviously have a very steady hand and nerves of steel!

Karenliz Henderson said...

Fantastic idea! I didn't buy them for the same reason. Now I need them! LOL Thanks for sharing.

Shoshi said...

What do I think? I love it!! I particularly like what you've done with the "waste" piece. Great lateral thinking.

Shoshi