Clear Stamp & Dies Storage - Monochromatic look

I'm quite new to the whole cardmaking/ scrapbooking world and as I've become more into the craft I've accumulated many stamps and decided I needed a way to store and organise them. I like the monochromatic look so you'll see there's a lot of black, white, and grey tones when it comes to my craft supplies storage.

Clear Stamp (and coordinating dies) Storage Envelopes

This post will be about how I currently store my clear stamps and coordinating dies. I do something a bit different for my die cuts which I'll cover in another blog post. Click here or below to view the video I made showing my stamp and ide storage.

As you can see I use 230 x 162mm black envelopes to store my stamps. I purchased 50 of these from AliExpress for US $19.78. I use white pigment ink to stamp the entire stamp onto the front of the envelope so I can see what is inside. In this case I used Stampin' Up craft ink in Whisper White. I use a piece of A5 sized inexpensive cardstock to add a bit of stiffness which also acts a a divider between the stamp set and any coordinating dies. To keep the dies under control in the envelope (especially once they're separated), I use a piece of magnetic sheet under the dies. If I have a mask or spare cut out images I store them in the envelope too so they're all together with the set they belong with.

I did a silly thing of throwing out the packaging without noting down the manufacturer or stamp set name so I don't know what a lot of my stamps actually are. Where I do know I use a brother letratag label making machine to print a label and stick it to the flap on the back. Unless I'm storing more than one stamp set in the envelope, then I stick the identifying label on the front near the stamp set it goes with.

Example of label for an envelope holding one stamp set

Example of labels for an envelope holding more than one stamp set

At the moment I'm storing all my crafting gear in re-purposed cardboard boxes as I wait for my partner to let me have a craft room!

Close Up of stamp storage Box

Stamps Storage in Box

For my dividers I cut a piece of core flute slightly longer than the envelopes (about 255 x 165 mm) and label the top. I organise my stamps by theme but that's just my preference.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Happy crafting!

Mel Crafting.

Seashells on the Beach - Thanks Card

Seashells on the beach - thanks cards

I found a seashells stamp set in my stash as I was rummaging through. I haven't used it much and remember buying it off trademe second hand as part of a bulk bunch of stamp sets so thought I'd make a couple of cards from it. Also came across the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - the challenge asks for cards in celebration of thanksgiving so I thought, why not create a 'Thanks' card.

You can find a link to the challenge by clicking here

And here is my card process video for this creation:

Firstly, I used Ranger Archival jet black ink to stamp seashell outlines onto 300 gsm white cardstock.

Seashells Stamp Set

Once the ink dried, (you could use a heat tool here to heat set to speed up drying time), I watercolor the shells using distress inks (tumbled glass and crushed olive). By water coloring, I mean I smooshed the pads onto plastic or non-stick paper, added a bit of water using a brush and applied 'paint' to the seashells then fussy cut them out as I didn't seem to have to the coordinating die cut.

Coloured stamped images and distress inks used

For the sentiment, I used  Simon Says Stamp! Thanks 3x4 clear stamp set (SSS101347). This also came in the bulk pack of stamps off trademe. I stamped it onto black paper (shaped like a banner) using a Tsukineko embossing stamp pad then white heat embossed the sentiment using Ranger white embossing powder.

Simon Says Stamp Thanks Stamp Set SSS101347

Note that I use a 'normal' heat gun I found in the garage - it's a Bosch PHG 500-2, it does the trick and melts the embossing powder well enough. I am very careful not to burn the paper by being careful how close the heat gun is to the paper. I probably should by a craft one before the other half finds out I've stashed it with my crafty stuff...!

Heat Embossing Tools

I found a "thanks" die-cut in my stash, which I'm not sure if it is a coordinating die-cut but it does seem to match nicely with it!. I used this die cut to cut thanks out of white cardstock twice and coloured one with my purple marker to act as a shadow.

"thanks" die cut and die cuts

For the background, I blended using distress inks from bottom to top: scattered straw, tumbled glass and shaded lilac onto water colour paper notecard. I drew some clouds on a white piece of paper and cut it out so I had a faux cloud/waves stencil. I then used my sponge dauber with white pigment ink (Stampin' Up kraft in Whisper White) to blend outlines of waves on top of the background.

Tools used to make blended background

To assemble the card, I glued the white thanks on top of purple thanks with a slight offset so the purple thanks looks like a shadow, then glued this to the top of the background. Using double-sided tape, I stuck down the black banner with heat embossed sentiment below the die-cut "thanks." Then I stuck down three of the coloured seashells where the 'sand' meets the 'sea' on the background.

After that, I stuck the notecard to the front of a silver card base, cut down any excess and the card is finished.

Seashells on the Beach - Thanks Card

Check back into this blog post in a few days and I'll have a  you tube video at the top of this blog post showing how I made another 'seashells on the beach' card with similar materials and vellum for the sentiment.

Hope you found this post useful - feel free to ask questions or leave a comment I'd love to hear what you think as I grow and learn more about this new cardmaking hobby of mine.

Happy crafting!

Mel Crafting.