End of the Week Technique #33 - Clear Block Background Stamping #2/ Let's Try Again

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you've had a great week and are looking forward to a spectacular 3 day weekend. :)

For those of you that are new here, or for some reason missed last weeks EWT, I'm giving this technique a second try. How could others get such pretty results and projects and mine stink!?! (Ok so that's just my opinion and I'm told it didn't really stink, but by now most of us know I'm a little hyper-critical of my own short-comings and last week made me want to tuck my little Scaredy Cat tail between my legs and I just couldn't have that!)

Here's today's card-

Clear Block Background Technique with Easy Events/ Clean and Simple

Can I just say I am sooooo much happier with this card!

There are two new elements to this weeks card, but I believe I would have been happy even if I had not added them.

Here's last weeks card-

 For this weeks card, instead of making it a one-layer card I added a base of Bashful Blue, still C&S though. I also added a few extra hearts floating above the tree. Looking now, as I just added the second picture, I also see I changed the orientation on the blocks, however that was un-intentional.

If you look back at last weeks post, you can check it out HERE, my biggest complaint with this technique was my inability to get even coverage on the blocks, especially the accent colors, and being unable to mask the center one to make it appear to be layered above the other two blocks of color. Every time I tried the mask, even as thin as it was seemed to make it even harder for me to get decent coverage. :(

After I posted last week and thought about what could have been causing my problems, I thought I remembered reading somewhere to use a soft mat to stamp on instead of a hard surface. That the mat would have some give and allow for more even coverage. So I decided to try again. I got my computer mouse-pad and used it under my c/s and the difference was Unbelievable! The coverage was nice and even and I got beautiful edges around my masked center piece.

SCORE!!!!!! Ok , so now this won't have to be considered my Least Favorite Technique any longer.

Here's the inside of my card-

I inked up the little heart from a new stamp-set I got as a bonus for recruiting during SAB. (And for the love of me, I can't remember the name of it right now!) Any-whoo - its a sweet little solid heart image, the one that's all red above. For the other two hearts, I simply used my Stampin Write Marker's brush tip and outlined just the edge of the stamp by holding my marker almost parallel to the stamp and lightly stroking it over just the edge of the stamp. I think it's the first time I've tried this and I have to say it gives the look of two stamps from one. Love that! I then let Tink have her way for just a moment. I'm a firm believer that the inside of a card should be pretty too. Why should the outside have all the fun?!? :D

Here's how to do this technique-

1- Start with a clean block and tap it on your ink pad until you get it covered completely.
2- Lay your cardstock over a soft surface- this could be your Mat-Pack pad or computer mouse pad or something similar just so long as it has some give. This is definitely the key to consistent coverage with this technique! It made all the difference!!! :)
3- Stamp on your cardstock with your block, applying firm pressure and lift straight up.
4- If you want to add multiple layers of colors, stamp your first section again on a post-it style note and use that to "mask" your stamped area so no new ink gets on it.
5- Ink up your chosen image, either by inking it in all one color with a pad or by coloring it in with your Stampin Write markers (like I did) and stamp your image.
6- Smile and be happy when you think of the smile your card is going to bring to someones face


That's all I have for you today. Hopefully you thought it was worthy of a re-do. Now I feel like this is a technique I will try again. Thanks to those of you that encouraged me to not give up after last weeks attempt!


If you liked today's card, please feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from you! Also, if you liked it and would like to +1 or Pin it, I've put those buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)


I hope you all have a safe holiday weekend and come back to check out more projects soon. May you have a weekend full of Family, Friends and of course plenty of time for creativity!


Till next time-


Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain..


Be Safe,
Shan

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