Sunday, January 15, 2012

Senior Ladies, Best Friends - A Card For Your BFF

Old Friends Card by Joe Rotella using Viva Las Vegastamps! stamps

Senior Ladies (#8671) from Viva Las Vegastamps!Until this project, I don't think I've ever used a "photo stamp." You know the kind - stamps made from photographs rather than drawings. I've seen many that have interested me, but just didn't know what to do with them or how to use them. That brings me to the pound of rubber I received from Viva Las Vegastamps! For only $25, you can buy one pound of unmounted, deeply etched red rubber stamps. Viva Las Vegastamps! will select, at random, a pound of images and sayings from their collection of over 16,000, mostly "non-cute" stamps. I got a pound and when I sat and went through them I found Senior Ladies 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" (#8671).

Every time I looked at this stamp, a story went through my head. These two woman knew each other for years. They often went to the park together. They fed the birds. They played BINGO. They were best friends.

Given how many times I stopped and looked at this stamp (yes, I go through the pound of rubber over and over again), I knew I had to use it on a project.

I started by covering some glossy photo paper with distress ink. Then I stamped Senior Ladies 3 1/2" x 4 3/4" (#8671) using black dye ink. Once trimmed, the result looked like an old photo!
Bingo Card (#8431) from Viva Las Vegastamps!I picked up some vintage BINGO cards at a flea market this summer and decided to use one as a background for this photo. If you don't have a real BINGO card, you can create your own using Bingo Card 4 3/4 x 5 3/4 (#8431).

Scrabble Alphabet (#1948) from Viva Las Vegastamps!For the sentiment, I stamped letters using Scrabble Alphabet Unmounted Regular Size (#1948) on white paper. I applied distress ink, used a Copic marker to color the edges of each tile and then embossed the letters with Ultra High Gloss Embossing Powder. Once cut out, they look like real Scrabble tiles.

The card base is made from Designer Paper (DP) that fits the vintage look I was going for.

Now that I've finally used a photo stamp, I know they will become a standard part of my stamping portfolio. I hope you'll give them a try too. In fact, why not challenge yourself? Get a pound of rubber and see how creative you can be with stamps you didn't select. I bet you'll find it as fun as I did!

Check out my blog on Create & Craft for more project ideas.
Happy crafting!
Joe

4 comments:

Lyneen said...

Love your card Joe!!! Yes, it does look like an old photo and the bingo card makes the perfect background.

Stampo said...

Great use of Viva Las Vegastamps! Joe...

Sandra Strait said...

This is totally awesome! Thank you for showing how you got the photolike effect. I've looked at those kinds of stamps and wondered how they would work.

Anonymous said...

What a perfect card and the stories those two ladies could tell...my imagination is really racing. You did a great card and told a wonderful story! Great job and thanks for inspiring.
Cindy C