I’ve known Stacy Rich, the creative mind of StacyStamps for well unto 15 years now. She was the co-founder and previous owner of Stamplistic, THE place to go for stamping/scrapbooking/mixed media supplies as well as the leader of many great classes. Along the way, Stacy started designing rubber stamps- her trademark is that most of them are triangular- but recently, she’s come up with a design so deceptively simple that it’s blowing my mind.
Meet her new line, Design Elements! The two stamps I’m going to focus on today are her new Stained Glass Waves and Stained Glass Rectangles.
They look pretty…um….. plain, right? That’s why they are so brilliant. The open areas leave you endless possibilities for texture, embellishments, and dimension. But we’ll get back to that in just a minute.
First, let me tell you more about the stamps. Both of these designs measure 4 X 5 1/4 inches- the perfect size for an A4 card. StacyStamps are made of red rubber and are deeply etched. There is a foam mounting on the top that is paper-backed and NOT adhesive. So if you want to mount these to acrylic or wood, you’ll need to do that yourself.
So these are pretty substantial in size, so I recommend that you lay the stamp down on your work surface, tap the stamp pad of your choice on top, and then lay the paper down on TOP of the stamp and lightly press the paper to transfer the design.
I got nice, crisp images. NOW… let’s talk about the cool ways you can use the stamps!
The first thing that popped into my head when I first saw them was that they would make a great basis for Zentagles. I even stamped one of these out and took it with me on a recent trip. It was great to have the “template” so to speak all ready to go. I was able to add some doodles and painting every day, just filling up the squares.
The next idea I got was to do some paper piecing. I stamped the Stained Glass Waves image onto 4 sheets of coordinating scrapbook paper. (This was Authentique.) Then I carefully cut out selected areas, and glued them down onto one I used as a base layer. I really the patchwork effect.
So then I decided to take it a step further, and make a 3-D collage using….drumroll, please…. Washi Tape! Ok, I did stamp 3 of the squares, but all the rest is just Washi Tape applied to cut-out areas. To add the dimension, I added 2 different layers of foam tape. Very artsy, right? It would look really cool in a shadowbox.
Taking my art theme a step further, I stamped and embossed the image on cardstock, and then used Koi watercolors and Twinkling H20’s to create this rainbow card. SO easy, and yet really striking, don’t you think?
After playing with these stamps all afternoon, I feel like I am just scratching the surface. Here are some other ideas I want to get to soon:
- Stamp in polymer clay an add canes, extruded ropes, and texture to create a collage
- Stamp on the back of craft foil and then tool different patterns into it
- Stamp on fused fabric, cut apart, then re-assemble and zig-zag stitch to create mini quiltlets
I could really just work with these stamps all day- after all, your own creativity is your limit.
You can buy these stamps in local, independent stores (check here for a store locator) or online here. They sell for only $8.50 each- a steal, in my opinion! I love mine, and I bet you can think of a ton of ways to use Design Elements!
Disclosure: Stacy is a friend and I received the stamps for free, but I would think that they were brilliant even if I paid for them and they were designed by a stranger. Just sayin’.
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Kat says
The possibilities are truly endless with these stamps and they would greatly feed my stamp addiction! I can almost see the Zentangle crowd going crazy over this, too. You’ve got the kind of friend that’s rare in this world! I’m jealous.
Julie H says
These are so awesome I just ordered both of them! I’ve been into “tangling” recently, and can see so many other possibilities for these stamps. Thanks for sharing them with us!
Georgette says
Oh, these are fantastic. Thanks for doing a review and showing them. Love doing the Zentangles, and they are a great starting point for that.
Carmen Lucero says
Love those stamps! I also zentangle,and I can see how great these would be for that!! Love your projects 🙂
Hugs,
Carmen L
Betsy says
I ordered them as soon as I read your post and received them very promptly. They are very high quality and I can’t wait to put them to work. Well, make that “work” — they look really fun!
Ann Marie Bazeley says
Wow suchgreat stamps. Love the card idea..so versatile! Can’t wait to order them!