Cute animal stamps

If you visit my Etsy store, you may see that I don't really have a trademark style. I like to think I use different styles for my cards. But one recurring theme you may begin to observe is the use of cute cartoon style stamps, like these animal designs. They are too adorable. And I love how easy they are to make pretty by simply adding color.

They look particularly great when colored with a watercolor style technique. This is achieved by scribbling a brush marker or stamping an ink pad onto an acrylic block and then mixing with a wet paintbrush to produce a watercolor. When using this technique, it is best to use a permanent ink to stamp your image.

Another of my favorite ways to color in these type of stamps is with stardust pens from Sakura. They give a shimmering effect, and come in bright colors. Perfect for the cheery chick in the "you rock" card.

Medallion Cards

There are many medallion design rubberstamps out there. And I love pretty much all of them. I think they are so majestic looking, but best of all they are very versatile. Here I have made three very different cards by simply changing the color scheme, coloring medium and medium stamped on. They can be used to make cards for any occasion.

Another reason I love them is their ability to be decoupaged. This is shown in the Christmas card. The medallion is stamped several times, each time cutting out only one layer of the design and then assembling them with foam pads to make a 3D design. Looks fabulous.

The red and white medallion was stamped onto clear vellum and embossed with white embossing powder. It was then colored with red Sakura glaze pens which dry to a glossy finish.

The purple medallion was stamped onto black card and embossed with white embossing powder. It was then painted with purple Twinkling H2O paint. When these paints are used on black card they produce intense, almost glowing color, very different to when used on white card.

The Christmas medallion was stamped several times onto ivory card and embossed with gold embossing powder. Each layer was cut out separately. I then used a quicky glue pen from Sakura to apply glue to the areas where I wanted glitter. I applied green and red glitter to alternating layers. I then assembled each layer. On this occasion I simply glued each layer together, but foam pads can also be used to acheive more dimension.
**Please note** The Christmas medallion card is currently not available on my Etsy store. I plan to make a new one soon for when I start listing Christmas cards.