Make Your Own Paper for Alcohol Inks

Yupo is a type of nonporous paper used with alcohol inks.  Unfortunately, it is costly, especially if you just want to use it for experimenting.  I've heard of using photo paper, but I had just given my stash away.  *Sigh* 

I decided to try to make my own paper out of stuff I had already bought.

I brushed some Liquitex Gloss Medium & Varnish over some cardstock.  

It didn't take very long to dry and created a nice gloss effect on the paper.  You can definitely see the brush marks, which could be used to advantage if you want more texture in your design.

It also tends to make the paper warp a bit.

Despite these possible flaws, it did work well with the alcohol inks.

Top Right:  one of the treated papers with Piñata inks.  

Bottom right: a treated paper with homemade inks.  They are a little more transparent.  

Left: a sheet that is not treated.  On the top are the Piñata inks.  On the bottom are the homemade inks.

Verdict:  They worked great!  You can't really see the brush marks once the ink is on, but that might be due to the colors I used. 

The curling paper could likely be fixed by sticking it in a heavy book when it's try to flatten it out.

Tim Holtz Travel Stamp Platform Review

When I first saw this used in a stamping video, I checked Amazon and was instantly turned off by the price.  My friend Lynn, however, bought one.  Being an art teacher, she is more justified in dropping $25 on equipment.  Even though I wasn't going to buy it, after using hers, I saw the advantage instantly.

Anyone who has ever stamped and imaged then tried to stamp over it can attest to the impossibility of getting it right.  Consider this problem:

I just received these from Amazon, but they were a bit warped.  Not a good image.

Using this tool, I could re-ink the stamps and try again without creating a weird ghost image.

Not perfect, but way better.  Again, the stamps were a little warped to begin with.

I like that the set come with two powerful magnets that hold the paper so it doesn't shift when stamping.  I didn't want to drop $25 at first, but now, I'm seriously glad I did.

I love that you can position the stamps right onto the paper, which eliminates any guess work.

Drop the little acrylic lid down and it picks up the stamps right where you want them.

Ink right on the stamp.

Easy and effective!

Organizing and Storing Clear Cling Stamps and Wood-backed Rubber Stamps

Wood stamps have many storage options, but one I like best is the Totally-Tiffany Stamp, Store, and Go Bag.  You can buy it single-sided or double-sided.  It's a great way to organize stamps because you can see through to find your stamp quickly.

But what do you do with the clear cling stamps?  With a little experimentation, we found the perfect low-cost solution.

Materials:

Cling stamps

Binder

Pocket protectors

Transparency sheets

Paper

Stamp Pad

As teachers, my art teacher friend Lynn, have all these leftover transparencies we didn't know quite what to do with.  Luckily, the cling stamps stick to them just like they do acrylic blocks.  If you don't have any, ask a teacher friend.  They might just have some sitting around.

We stamped the images onto cardstock, but any paper will do.  It's just a reference to easily determine which stamps you are storing.  It's not always easy with the clear ones!

We put the transparency and stamps on the paper and slipped them into the pocket protectors and VOILA!  Cheap organized storage!