I’m on
a roll with the fabulous texture stamps from Red Castle, now available
exclusively at The Queen’s Ink.
This
time around it’s all about envelopes, that humble bit of paper ephemera meant
to bring mail and then get tossed aside. Even as a child, no piece of mail left
my hands unless it was adorned. I love sending something that feels special
even before it’s opened. And like to think that the postal workers will get a
kick out of Mail Art Envelopes, too.
Envelopes
are such a good surface on which to experiment and play, a way to test color
combinations and work out design strategies for other kinds of projects. And
who cares if they’re imperfect? They’re going to get marked and bent by postal
machinery along the way, becoming fodder for collage in the hands of those who
like to keep unusual papers.
Care to join me?
You
will need little in the way of time and supplies: Some inks, stamps, and
inexpensive white envelopes; two steps, two or three minutes per envelope at
most. (Shown – A7.)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.
Choose 3 inks in colors that please your eye. Stamp texture blocks, mixing and
matching among the two sizes from Texture Plate 1 (smaller) and Texture Plate 2
(larger stamps). Overlap and combine as shown or as you please. Work on a BIG
batch of envelopes. The goal is to end up with a dozen or so, maybe more! If
you goof up, put a label over the offending area or tear it up to use for
collage. Even if it ends up in the trash, at most you’ve wasted pennies and
learned from what didn’t work.
TIP: Make sure to leave an area
for writing the address info. You can put your return address on the back flap.
Another option – decorate the back flap, too.
2.
Smudge and sponge on more ink to create some soft areas of color over and
around the stamping. Use ink straight from the inkpad at the edges of the
envelopes to add strong streaks of bright, intense color.
You’re
done! See how easy that was!
If
you’ve previously worked with un-mounted rubber stamps, skip the tips that
follow and scroll on down to the supply list.
TIPS FOR WORKING WITH
UN-MOUNTED RUBBER STAMPS:
Red
Castle stamps are sold by the sheet and need to be trimmed apart with sharp
scissors before use. I recommend KAI scissors, sold at The Queen’s Ink. They
are VERY sharp and must be kept away from children and used carefully by
adults!
When
trimming, slightly angle the scissors away from the image so you don’t
under-cut – you want to leave slanted ‘shoulders’. No need to trim too closely
because the stamps are deep etched and don’t pick up excess ink at the edges.
Next,
temporarily mount the stamp on an acrylic block that is as close to the size of
the stamp as possible. (Don’t put a 1” stamp onto a 5” block – too large a
block can wobble.) Use Scotch 3M Poster Tape or any similar low-tack
double-sided tape on the block itself. Put NOTHING on the back of the stamp.
(Blocks are sold at The Queen’s Ink by the set or as single blocks.)
For
perfect and repeat impressions, use the same tape on the ‘clear stamp’ side of
a stamp platform for temporary mounting. (The tape can be removed, stored and
re-used.)
For
the above two methods, stamps can be immersed in water for clean-up since
nothing is on the back of the rubber.
If you
prefer, back each stamp with cling foam, use acrylic blocks or the ‘rubber
stamp’ side of a stamp platform for temporary mounting.
Note:
Stamp platforms won’t work for oversized sheets of paper, cardstock or gift
wrap, or for stamping on clay or wood or tiles and other such objects, but
they’re marvelous for cards, tags, ATCs, etc.
SUPPLIES:
- Red
Castle Texture Plate 1 and 2
- Acrylic
blocks
- KAI
scissors
- 3
inkpads in coordinating colors
- White
envelopes (A7)
- Round
craft sponge
