Good Mail Day

Lately I don't seem able to catch my breath...  
life seems to be moving at such a pace.
And I am doing far too much of this:

               .......... and not enough of this!







And so imagine my delight when I arrived home from work and found this amazing envelope on my doorstep! 
I was lucky to receive it, because Deb was desperately rather sad to part with it!! This is part of the Pass the Book exchange, created by the very talented and generous Sian.

I hope Deb is not tooooo... sad though.
  Because I have just looked at her
latest post and she has also

received a Pass the Book.  And what is more, it is one that I also received  and reluctantly passed on.  So this is a coincidence and time for celebration, and a reminder that what goes round comes round.

I am still dashing and have a hall pcked with boxes and bags.  I am off on a 3 day creative retreat, you see.  I am making books about Me, Me, Me!!!  Ideally it should include photos and I tend to delete more of myself than I save, so this should be an interesting project.  I am packing my Explore album,  there is barely 2 pages done and this fits in well with the residential theme.  Hopefully I will come home relaxed and creatively challenged satisfied.

INK ON MY FINGERS.....

Last week saw me at my monthly crop and feeling extra excited because Sue Plymton came to show us how to use Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  While I have started to collect a range of colours I have never learnt how to use them properly or how to create the layers. So, I was all attention and eager to experiment, this is how: 
 
1.  I inked a small piece of card using two complimentary colours, in this example I used Frayed Burlap and Dried Marigold:

2.  Using white acrylic paint, I stamped a scroll design.

3.  Then the next layer.
Now... this is where my learning took a leap, because although I have a large collection of inks and stamps I have never learnt techniques or how to be creative with them.  So learning about 'second generation' of inking was new to me.  If it is new to you too, here is a quick explanation:

First generation - Ink your stamp and stamp onto your project. 
Second Generation - Ink your stamp, but this time stamp onto scrap paper, and then onto your project without re-inking.  This creates a lighter image and you can use the first stamp for another project so nothing goes to waste!
You can go on to create Third or Fourth generation images by stamping multiple times on a scrap piece of paper before stamping it on your project. Each will give you a lighter image, and this is a great way of adding depth to your project.  It means you can use one colour ink but create different shades, brilliant!  Trying to match my colours was always a problem, but no longer.  From now on, just one ink will do!

So getting back to my project....  I added a Second Generation background stamp:

And to finish, a First Generation stamp.  You can see here how it is a little darker than the background image, using the same colour ink:

To finish I added a little ink around the edges.........  and I got the bug for more:








This may be a stamping technique that you are familiar with, but it was new and exciting to me, so I thought it worth sharing.


And while browsing the internet I found another stamping technique I thought I'd pass on.  It again uses generation stamping and involves inking the back and the front of an acrylic stamp.

Go here for the tutorial and if you have any stamping tips and ideas of your own, please do share!