Simply Sophisticated

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” said Leonardo da Vinci, and who could argue with that great artist? The seeming simplicity of the My Acrylix® Fill In the Blanks stamp set (D1465) is what makes it such a perfect—and perfectly versatile—addition to any stamper’s toolbox!

The words and outline images that make up this set really lend themselves to a variety of looks and techniques. Let’s take a peek at some artwork!

The butterflies on this card are stamped tone-on-tone using the small butterfly image from the Fill In the Blank set, and then we took word stamps and stamped them in first and second generation to create our own patterned paper.

I've also used the small butterfly stamp on this layout, but can you guess what other stamp I used from the set? If you guessed “flower,” you’re right! Since our My Acrylix stamps are flexible, I’ve scrunched up the flower stamp in different ways to get these cute cloud images. I stamped them on B&T Duos® paper to give them a subtle pattern.

For this card, I cut out the large butterfly stamp image a few times and then layered it to make it dimensional. Here are the steps so you can make it yourself:

1. Stamp butterfly with Desert Sand ink on Colonial White cardstock. Using a craft knife, cut along wings, leaving body intact. Mount cardstock piece on Cocoa cardstock and Bamboo B&T paper. Pop up wings using 3-D foam tape.



2. Stamp butterfly again on Crystal Blue B&T paper. Cut out entire image, omitting body. Mount on Colonial White butterfly using 3-D foam tape.



3. Stamp butterfly a third time on Sweet Leaf B&T paper. Cut out entire image, including body, and mount on Crystal Blue butterfly with 3-D foam tape.



4. Accent body with Opaques Mocha adhesive gems.
   
   

This card, featured in the Spring/Summer 2011 Idea Book on page 96, also shows the stamping on B&T paper technique. This time I used the bird stamp, and the background pattern is much stronger. To give visual variety, I stamped the bird’s wing on a complementary piece of Grey Wool cardstock. Then, I stamped three different sentiments with Grey Wool ink, then highlighted one of them by stamping over it in Goldrush ink. This brings in a third color and makes the “friends always” sentiment stand out as the main message of the card.

Does this card look familiar, too? It’s also from the Spring/Summer 2011 Idea Book on page 96. Check out the Hollyhock cardstock on the sides. I stamped the flower on it in a repeating pattern to make an abstract, subtle patterned paper. Notice how the petals overlap in various spots? This gives the flower image a whole new look!

And here’s a final technique for you: using the stamp set as a cutting guide for negative space then filling it with a patterned paper to give visual interest. To create the stars you see in this layout, follow these steps:

1. Stamp three stars on top of your layout, overlapping paper pieces and photos.



2. Use a craft knife to cut out the center, leaving a 1/8" border, and distress the edges with a stipple brush dipped in Desert Sand re-inker.



3. Stamp three 2 1/2" × 2 1/2" pieces of Colonial White cardstock with words or phrases, using Cocoa ink and first, second, and third generation.



4. Attach the cardstock pieces to the back of your layout so the sentiments show through.



5. Accent each star with a pair of Opaques Mocha adhesive gems to give them even more zing!