Sometimes we all get caught up in ideas and techniques that we know to be safe when crafting, we forget that everything can have many uses. It’s a good thing that Lou Withers is here to help us break the mould! In this fabulous stamping technique tutorial, Lou shows you how to make the most of just one of your stamps. This is not just for beginners, we recommend all stampers have a read and a watch, because you might just be reminded of a great technique you’ve forgotten about!
Creating art using just one stamp
The idea with this stamping technique is to create a background and a foreground with just one stamp. A background is achieved through the lighter second and third generation stamps, the foreground comes from a darker first generation stamp. The first thing you need is a simple stamp that you like, nothing too complicated. You will be pairing this with some ink and stamping onto a piece of card or paper. Lou chose to stick to one colour range for this particular project, just to keep it simple.
What do I need?
Lou says you can always try to use what you already have. But if you would like to replicate this project, then here are the three bits that Lou used:
Remember, you’re just experimenting here, so don’t pressure yourself! With your stamp, have a little practice on a spare bit of card or paper and try out stamping a few different times with one layer of ink. This will give you an idea of how hard you need to press your stamp to achieve either a full opaque print for your foreground or a more transparent print for your background. Below is a picture of Lou’s first step, experimenting on the thin piece of card and creating her beautiful background on the square.
From here, you now just need to stamp your foreground on! Lou recommends keeping them a little spaced apart with no overlapping. You can tell already how creating a background with the stamp really helps the foreground just ‘pop’!
This is Lou’s favourite part… colouring in! Stamp some ink down on the side and spray a little water on it. Then, lightly start to colour in your petals. See just how much of a world of difference this makes!
Finally, if you’d really like to go in and bring it to life more, you can add some detailing! Lou chose to add some darker shades to the middle of the flowers. This adds a whole new dimension to it!
We hope you’ve loved this tutorial! Take a closer look and maybe even stamp along with Lou Withers in the full video tutorial below!
Feeling inspired? Check out another insightful stamping technique tutorial from Lou Withers’ here!