It's a Creative World: Creating with digital collage stamps

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Creating with digital collage stamps

Today I am going to share a couple of cards I have created using digital collage stamps. The ones I have used are by Hero Arts and are available at Two Peas in a Bucket. At 99 cents each I think they offer pretty good value and a super easy way to get a layered stamped look without having to buy lots of different rubber stamps. The one I used in my first example is the Season's Greeting collage.

After purchasing, downloading and unzipping the stamps, open them up in your Image Editor. I use Photoshop Elements 5. Open the stamp file (the Season's Greetings one comes black or white, choose the black stamp). Press Alt+Ctrl+I to resize the image. I chose 8cm wide and the height automatically adjusted. Save this with a new name as a jpeg file at the largest file size option.

I then prepared my A4 sheet of smooth cardstock for printing on. I coloured it using a variety of Distress Inks (Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Victorian Velvet and Faded Jeans). Working on a non-stick craft mat will make blending onto the cardstock much smoother. The one I use is a non-stick baking sheet from one of the Pound style shops.

Put this sheet into your printer and print out a full page of your resized collage stamps (methods for printing will vary depending on the software you use for printing).

Cut the images apart and soften the edges with Distress Inks to match.

You now have a batch of images ready to play with as the mood takes you. I took two and for one I simply added a Sakura Glaze pen in purple to highlight certain portions of the image. The other I triple embossed with clear UTEE, adding a sprinkling of holographic glitter embossing powder in the third coat. After cooling, I further distressed the piece by cracking the glaze by bending it backwards and forwards in different directions. A more pronounced effect can be gained by placing the piece in the freezer for a few minutes prior to cracking.

I created my final card using this second piece, mounted onto cardstock and then added to a piece of stamped acetate from my scrap pile. It was simply embellished with some die cut cardstock, punched snowflakes, bling and ribbon.

Here is another example I made previously, using the Hero Arts Vintage Skyland Birds digital collage, using the same principle of adding the distress inks to the cardstock prior to printing. Note that this stamp comes coloured so you will have to change it black and white first before resizing and printing.

If you know of any other good sites for digital collage stamps I would love to know!

Thanks, Suzanne.

Posted at 12:37 AM in Card Making, Digital, Hybrid, Papercraft, UTEE | Permalink

Comments

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Beautiful cards! Great explaination of how to do the digital on inked paper.

Posted by: stampersuzz | August 05, 2010 at 12:46 AM

Really pretty, Suzanne! I have that first one as a real stamp, and it's one of my favorites.....I love your finished card on acetate using it! And I really like your coloring of the skyland birds, too. Lovely work!

Posted by: Lin | August 05, 2010 at 02:36 AM

Beautiful cards!

Posted by: Sue McRae | August 05, 2010 at 02:42 AM