An Old Technique Brought Back Big

When I first started stamping the only stamps I really owned were Stampin Up! because I became a hobby demonstrator to get that discount.  Clear stamps were around at craft stores mostly and not rally great because they were mostly acrylic and the ink would pool up on the stamp.  The best stamping way to get a dimensional image was to use a stamp positioner (like the stamp a ma jig) and a two or three step stamp.  I loved the idea, but I did't but many of them because I could never seem to get them lined up just right.  

Fast forward a few years, add a few new stamp companies and the photo-polymer stamp. Yeah!  Now we can get that layered, dimensional look a little easier.  One of the stamp sets that I have fallen in love with for this is the Peony Bouquet by Altenew.

As you can see I have already loved this stamp up and it's awesome.  There are a number of layers to create as detailed a flower as you want.  Check out the Altenew blog for a diagram on how to line up the stamps.

I forgot to take a photo of the steps but here is a close up of one of the peonies I stamped.

 Isn't that lushes! Even though I did't quite line them up exactly, they look marvelous!  So any way, I stamped three outlines and added all the layers in yellows, pinks and oranges.  Of course because I'm that kind of crafter (the one who needs to have to all) I bought the matching dies. Hehe.

I used the die to cut a mask for the flowers so I could add a layer of leaves around the peonies.  I also left the center of the card mat open so that I could add a sentiment.  

Another great thing about clear stamps is that I could pull out my sentiment sets and hold them over the blank space and see which one fits best.  For this card I pulled out the Simon Says Stamp Big Scripty Greetings.

I chose the birthday stamp for this card.  

Once I had it all stamped out I layered it on a black mat with a very small layer because I didn't want to cut the flowers down too much.  Then I added the mats to a yellow card base, because yellow is happy like these awesome flowers.

I really liked how this turned out in the end.  It was not a quick card, but now that I have used the stamp set I think it will be quicker next time.

Have a crafty day!