Plaid Maker Background Stamps
by Karen Oliver
Bear with me as this is my first step by step post...ever. Fran has recently added some amazing background stamps to the Frantic Stamper family and they really are so very versatile.
Today I am sharing some ideas using the Plaid Maker. It consists of 7 separate stamps that can be used in limitless combinations to create your own plaid backgrounds. I am showing some basic stamping tips and at the end there are some card samples showing some of the results you can achieve.
Its a little photo heavy so sit back with your favourite beverage and enjoy.
I used a stamp press to get the best results and I chose 3 bright colours just for the purpose of this demonstration. You could use a long acrylic block or your favourite stamping technique to get the same results. Here are my supplies ready to go. I placed a piece of paper under my card to prevent ink getting onto my stamp press.
Now turn the piece of card around and repeat the process until you have formed a grid pattern. If you have a large stamp press you probably won't need to turn your card. Depending on how fussy you want to be you could also use a spacer, made from scrap cardstock, to make sure your gaps are even. Obviously I didn't, but that's ok too.
Repeat the above process with the next colour in this case green and I chose another stamp to go in between the pink.
This is what we have so far using horizontal and vertical stamping, you could still keep going and add another stamp in-between.
You can also stamp diagonally to create a different pattern using the exact same process as above. This time I chose purple and another stamp. Stamp across the pattern one way then turn the card and stamp the other to form a diagonal grid.
Hopefully you can see the horizontal, vertical and diagonal stamping lines. I only used three colours and 3 stamps in these samples but you really are only limited by your imagination.
There are loads and loads of variations and colour combinations that allow you to custom make your own background papers. You can use the stamps to simply stamp stripes onto a solid coloured background to add some interest. You can use them to stamp an edge or border around your project. They can also be used to stamp a line. Truly the uses for this set is limitless.
Here are a few card samples to give you some more ideas. The first card used 3 colours and stamps in a more open pattern. Card number two I used 1 colour and 2 stamps and in the third card I used 1 stamp in several colours on the diagonal.
Thanks so much for sitting through this and I hope I have inspired you to add this wonderful stamp set to your collection. I'm sure its one you would use over and over again.
*** Materials for this project available at www.franticstamper.com.