Repeat After Me

We’ve had a wonderful whirlwind week of New Releases in our Grow Everyday collection!  Today I’m going to bring you some fabulous ways to use these new sets with the theme of Repeat Stamping.   It’s a really fun way to see your stamps differently.

There are so many ways you can use repeated elements in your stamping emphasizing colour, medium, background and focal point.  Let’s take a look at a few ideas!

First I’m starting off with the use of colour and repeated stamping.  Here I’m playing with the milagro in our Folk Heart stamp set.  In Spanish milagro actually translates to “miracle”.  It’s a folk art piece created in Mexican culture to decorate - but also to represent a person’s need they are asking for God to meet.  They are usually very colourful, often made of shiny coloured tin, like I’ve shown below.  

(source)

On this card I took 3 Memento Ink colours, Bahama Blue, Rose Bud and Pear Tart and stamped the milago going in different directions, then I added a little bit of Wink of Stella pen onto the hearts to make them shine, just like they do in tin form.   It creates a fun colourful statement for the card.  

Simple accents include the popped up sentiment from the set, a stitched heart and some fun baker’s twine wound underneath.  

Next I wanted to show you how repeat stamping can also be used with different mediums.  I love the messages in the new Small But Mighty Affirmations set.  There are so many times in this life that we need to be reminded of core truths that anchor and inspire us.  

On this design I took several of the messages that are meaningful to me and stamped them onto watercolour paper.  Then I took several re-inkers and a palette and after spritzing the paper with water, I let the reinkers bleed onto the paper and then washed in the colour as well.  It makes a great ‘galaxy-like’ background where these little messages look like they are floating.  I did the same treatment for the sentiment that I think anchors the card.  (If all those background messages are true - “I can do hard things, all is well and I am fearless”, then I can Go Rock This Day!).  I think it would be a fantastic reminder to a friend.  

Vellum behind the sentiment with a kapowee sort of spashy feel (I’m sort of making up my own words here), and some twine and a button.  I also added some glitter pen to the tiny stars stamped throughout.  Go rock this day girlfriend!  

Next I have a design that showcases how repeat stamping can give you a toile effect.  Super easy to do!  On this card I’m showing off My English Rose.  

Here are some supplies you’ll need, waterbased inks, a little bit of water, your stamp and a paint brush.  

To begin with, slightly dampen the watercolour paper, sweeping the brush with water over the page.  Let that dry  - or more so - soak in just slightly.  Then stamp your image one by one onto the watercolour paper.  After you’ve stamped each rose, using a damp brush, slightly move the colour around a bit on the petals.  The stamped lines will “let go” slightly and you’ll be able to add a soft, subtle watercolouring effect.  I only did the petals on each flower, but the softness you can get is so lovely!  Once you’ve stamped and watercoloured one, you can move on and stamp the next flower and do the same.  Doesn’t it make a great background for this gorgeous rose?  

To finish off this one I surrounded the stitched oval with cotton lace in cream, added a vellum sentiment from the set that I had embossed and some sweet pearls. Honestly this design was probably the quickest of the whole lot.  

Next up is my favourite magnolia from our Planning for Magnolias set.  I was thinking about another card I had done a couple of years ago with the Azaleas set and I wanted to see if I could make it work with this set too.  I absolutely love how white prismacolour pencil looks on Kraft cardstock.  Throw that in with my favourite magnolia variety - the tulip magnolia, who’s petals go from white to deep pink in each bloom, and this medium is perfect to create that effect.  

I stamped the magnolias onto Kraft paper and then coloured all my petals with white prismacolour pencils.  The white of the pencil coats the paper and it’s really easy then to blend other colour into that.  Next I came in with a deep pink pencil and added some soft strokes of colour into the flowers blending with a blending stump.  You don’t even need any OMS or baby oil to blend, the colour moves beautifully, and it echos the beauty of a tulip magnolia perfectly!  

On the finished design I embossed over the background magnolias to give it some texture and also added a focal magnolia branch that I had added a little bit deeper colour to.  I fussy cut that out to add on the focal circle.  

On this last card I wanted to show you that repeat stamping doesn’t just have to be for a background, it can be center stage too!  It’s perfect for showing off smaller stamps to their best potential.  

On this adorable little card I’ve stamped three of the little sunflower-type blooms from the Folk Heart set, coloured them, cut them out and then popped them up onto some Kraft cardstock.  They are so sweet!  And I love the simple message from our Bloomin’ Wonderful set.  It seemed the perfect touch to this little card.  

I’ve also used other repeated elements on this card too - the scored lines on each side of the design also help anchor it and tie it all together. 

So...repeat after me!  Try it today!  

Thanks for joining me friends!  Christine