Decorating

Clean your stamps straight after use, before the ink dries. First stamp a few times on scrap paper to get most of the ink off. Then wipe the stamp with a damp cloth or a stamp cleaner.

• Water-based ink (dye and pigment): lukewarm water with a little mild soap, or an alcohol-free baby wipe.
• Solvent ink: the matching cleaner, because water won't help.
• Fine details: a soft little toothbrush, without scrubbing hard.

Don't submerge a wooden block in water, and let everything dry properly before you put it away. If a clear stamp stays slightly stained after cleaning, you can still use it. That tint won't transfer to your next colour.

Read also: How to clean and store stamps so they last for years

You get a crisp impression with a thin, even layer of ink and straight, firm pressure. Tap the stamp lightly on the pad instead of pressing it in. With large stamps, lay the stamp rubber side up and tap the pad onto it. That way you can see whether everything is covered.

Put a few sheets of paper or a thin stamping mat under your work. Place the stamp down straight, press evenly without rocking or sliding, and lift it straight up. Clear stamps are softer than rubber, so even pressure works better than pushing hard. If an impression still comes out patchy, a stamp positioner helps. With it you can stamp exactly the same spot again.

Read also: Stamping for beginners: how to get a crisp impression

Start with one good black ink and perhaps a dark brown; that will take you a long way with most projects. After that, choose a few colours you'll really use often. You don't need a whole colour range.

Useful to know the difference:

• Dye ink is thin, soaks in quickly and dries fast. Lovely for fine details, but often not waterproof.
• Pigment ink is thicker and more opaque and dries more slowly. Works well on coloured paper and for embossing.
• Solvent ink also sticks to plastic, metal and photos.

If you want to colour in later, choose a black ink that's suitable for it, such as a waterproof or hybrid ink.

Read also: Which stamping ink to choose? Dye, pigment and distress explained

Washi tape is a decorative paper tape with low tack. You tear it by hand, you can write on it, and you can usually peel it off sturdy paper again. It started in Japan as a variation on masking tape.

How it differs from other tape:

• Masking tape (painter's tape) is thicker and sticks more strongly.
• Ordinary sticky tape is plastic, shiny and can't be torn by hand.

The name refers to Japanese paper (washi) made from plant fibres. So it isn't rice paper, even though you often read that. The tack is low and can weaken over the years. That's why washi tape isn't a good way to fix photos permanently. Use it as decoration and stick your photos down separately.

Read also: How to use washi tape: ten ideas for your scrapbook and journal

You use washi tape for borders, frames and small accents, and to stick something loosely onto a page. A few ideas:

• A strip along the edge or under a title.
• Over the corners of a photo or card, as decoration.
• Strips side by side as a page background.
• A tab or bookmark: fold the tape over the edge of a page.
• A label: write or stamp a word or date on it.
• Cut out little motifs and use them as mini stickers.

Narrow tape a few millimetres wide is lovely for accents, wide tape for blocks and backgrounds. Let ink on the tape dry properly before you rub over it.

Read also: How to use washi tape: ten ideas for your scrapbook and journal

You melt sealing wax, pour a puddle about the size of a large coin and press a metal seal stamp into it. Step by step:

• Melt wax beads in a melting spoon over a tealight, or use a wax stick or a glue gun with wax sticks.
• Pour the wax onto a smooth surface, where you want the seal to go.
• Wait a few seconds until the wax turns slightly syrupy.
• Press the stamp straight and firmly into the wax, hold it for a few seconds and lift it straight up.

Practise on a silicone mat first. You can stick loose seals on later with double-sided tape. If you're posting an envelope, just seal it as normal. The wax seal is then decoration, because wax can break in the post.

Rubber stamps are sturdy and give a deep, crisp impression. Clear stamps are cheaper, take up less space and are easier to position precisely.

• Rubber on wood or foam: lasts for years and is great for large solid areas and lots of detail. It does take up space, though, and you can't see exactly where you're stamping.
• Clear stamps (photopolymer or silicone): see-through, so you can see where your impression will go. You put them on an acrylic block, which you'll need as well.
• Cling stamps: rubber without a block, with a cling layer so you can also put them on an acrylic block.

Clear stamps are more sensitive to heat and light. Store them somewhere cool and dark, or they'll turn sticky or lose their shape.

Read also: Stamping for beginners: how to get a crisp impression

For variety, small pieces (samples or 'splits') are usually the smarter choice. A whole roll is many metres long and almost never runs out. With samples you find out which patterns and brands you actually use.

A whole roll is worth it for tape you reach for again and again: plain colours, a calm basic pattern or a favourite. If you already have lots of rolls, wind off pieces yourself onto a card or baking paper and swap them with other scrappers. That way you have more choice without your drawer overflowing.

Do check the price per metre with samples, though. Sometimes you end up paying more than for a whole roll.

Read also: How to use washi tape: ten ideas for your scrapbook and journal

Sort your stickers by theme or colour and store them flat, for example in plastic sleeves in a binder, in envelopes or in a flat folder. Keep what you use often in sight. Put the rest away in something closed.

• Stick loose leftovers onto the backing paper of old sticker sheets or onto reusable sticky sheets. Then they won't get tangled up.
• Sheets with holes can go on a binder ring.
• Keep washi tape in a drawer or a box with a lid. Otherwise dust and fluff stick to the edges of the roll.
• A swatch book with a strip of every tape shows you at a glance what you have.

Keep everything out of the sun.

Read also: How to store scrapbook supplies: paper, stickers and washi tape

A brad is a split pin with a decorative head. You push it through the paper and flatten the two prongs at the back. Here's how to fix it:

• Put your work on a cutting mat and make a small hole with an awl or a hole punch.
• Push the brad through.
• Turn the paper over and press the prongs flat, outwards.

With brads you can join layers together, make a part that spins, or give a page a metal accent. They come in sizes from about half a centimetre to just over a centimetre. Cover the prongs with a piece of tape or an extra layer of paper, so they don't scratch the facing page.

Read also: Scrapbooking terms explained, from brads to vellum

Stamp ink bleeds through when the paper is thin and the ink is wet. Juicy dye inks in particular soak through to the back quickly. The answer is less moisture and more protection:

• Choose a drier ink, such as pigment ink, and tap only a little ink onto the stamp.
• Press lightly and don't stamp the same spot twice.
• Put a piece of card behind the page.
• Stamp on loose paper or tracing paper, cut it out and stick it in.

If it's already happened, cover the back with washi tape or a piece of paper. Always test a new ink on one of the back pages first.

Read also: How to choose a notebook that ink won't bleed through

On photos, plastic, acetate, metal and glass you use solvent ink, such as StazOn. Ordinary stamp ink doesn't soak in there and stays wet or smudges.

Solvent ink dries quickly and is permanent once dry. Work in a well-ventilated room and clean your stamp with the matching cleaner, because water won't remove this ink. It isn't meant for fabric.

On glossy photo paper or coated card you can also use pigment ink if you heat emboss it straight away. The melted powder sets the impression. Without embossing, pigment ink stays tacky on a glossy surface for a long time.

Read also: Which stamping ink to choose? Dye, pigment and distress explained

Store stamps clean, dry and flat, out of the sun and away from heat. Clear stamps especially are sensitive. In a warm room or on a sunny windowsill they turn sticky, discolour or lose their shape.

• Put clear stamps back on their original backing sheet and store each set in a sleeve or folder, with nothing heavy on top.
• Store rubber stamps on wood or foam lying flat in a box or drawer, dry and dark.
• Always clean stamps before you put them away. Dried ink makes the rubber stiff.

The loft can get very hot in summer. A cool spot in the house is a better choice.

Read also: How to clean and store stamps so they last for years

On fabric you stamp with fabric ink or a special fabric ink pad. Ordinary stamp ink bleeds into the fibres or disappears in the first wash.

Here's how to go about it:

• Wash new fabric first, without fabric softener, so there's no finish left on it.
• Put card or paper under or between the fabric, because the ink can soak through.
• Stamp and let the ink dry properly.
• Heat set the impression with an iron, following the instructions on the packaging.

After that the impression is usually washable. The temperature and how often you can wash it vary by brand. A smooth, tightly woven fabric such as cotton gives the crispest impression.

That's usually down to the tape or the surface. Tack varies a lot from brand to brand. Cheap unbranded tape often sticks weakly or leaves residue behind, and old rolls lose their tack over the years.

Washi tape also sticks poorly to textured paper, to coated or glossy surfaces and to anything dusty.

What helps:

• Rub the tape down firmly with your fingernail or a bone folder.
• Fix it more securely with a thin layer of glue or a strip of double-sided tape underneath.
• Keep rolls in a closed box, so the edges stay clean.

If something really needs to stay put, use glue and treat the tape as decoration.

Read also: How to use washi tape: ten ideas for your scrapbook and journal

Distress Ink is a dye ink that soaks into the paper. Distress Oxide is a blend of dye and pigment that sits more on top of the paper.

• Distress Ink reacts with water: drops or splatters make the colour move. Lovely for a weathered, vintage look and soft transitions, but you won't see much of it on dark paper.
• Distress Oxide gives a matt, slightly chalky colour, also covers dark paper and blends very smoothly. Add water and you get the typical oxidised effect.

If you want to start with one colour for an aged look, choose a mid brown. Both are easiest to apply with a blending tool or a sponge.

Read also: Distress ink and ink blending without blotches

You need a heat tool, a hot air gun for crafting, because a hairdryer doesn't get hot enough and blows the powder away. A heat tool gets so hot that you need to handle it carefully.

• Work on a heat-resistant surface, such as a ceramic tile or a cutting mat that can take heat.
• Hold the tool a few centimetres above the paper and move it calmly back and forth.
• Don't touch the nozzle, not even shortly after use. It stays hot for a while.
• Keep paper you don't want to heat, children and pets away.
• Put the heat tool down somewhere stable, with the nozzle pointing away from you.

Wait until the paper has cooled before you touch it, because only then is the powder hard. For your first one you can buy a small tool. You don't need an expensive one.

Read also: Heat and dry embossing: how to add raised texture to your pages

The easiest way is to print your design on self-adhesive sticker paper and cut it out. That paper comes in matt, glossy and transparent, for inkjet and laser printers.

Other ways:

• Stick double-sided tape or a sheet of double-sided adhesive film behind a picture and cut it out.
• Use a sticker maker, a little device that puts an adhesive layer on the back of paper.
• Draw or stamp on label paper and cover it with clear adhesive film. That also makes your sticker more resistant to moisture.
• With a cutting machine you can cut stickers precisely along the outline.

Don't enlarge your pictures too much, or they'll go blurry. With other people's images, keep copyright in mind.

Read also: How to make your own stickers, with or without a printer

Stick the seal down with double-sided tape or a strong, acid-free glue, because wax itself only sticks moderately well to smooth paper. Set wax is hard and brittle, and a seal sitting loose on a page can break off.

• Make the seal on baking paper or a silicone mat. It comes off easily afterwards and you can place it in the best spot.
• For an album, a flat seal is better than a tall one, because thick seals press on the facing page.
• Don't put the seal on a fold or on the edge of a page.
• There's also flexible wax that breaks less easily, made for post.

If you want the seal on an envelope you're sending, choose flexible wax and seal the envelope first.

That depends on the maker's terms, so read them. Many stamp brands allow you to sell hand-stamped cards, sometimes on condition that you credit the designer. Having cards printed on a large scale usually isn't covered.

Printables, digital stickers and stamp files are often for personal use only. Reselling them, sharing them or having products printed from them is then not allowed.

Images from Pinterest or other sites aren't automatically free to use: the person who posts them often isn't the owner. Look for images with a free licence or from the public domain, and credit the maker if the licence asks for it.

Read also: Can you use this? Copyright for scrapbookers

That depends on what you're colouring with. For alcohol markers you need ink that doesn't run with alcohol; for watercolour, a waterproof ink.

• Alcohol markers: choose an ink sold as suitable for alcohol markers. Some water-based dye inks, such as Memento, work well with them.
• Watercolour, watercolour pencils or brush pens: choose an ink sold as waterproof or archival.
• Hybrid inks are often suitable for both.

Let the impression dry completely first. You can also heat emboss the lines, so they don't run. Always test a new combination on a scrap of the same paper first.

Read also: Which stamping ink to choose? Dye, pigment and distress explained

Use them outside your pages too: as a label, to seal an envelope or on wrapping paper. With a few tricks, dull or duplicate stickers become useful again:

• Add colour with a little watercolour or ink on a sponge. Build up the colour in thin layers.
• Group small stickers into a cluster, so they form one whole.
• Cut out part of one, for example just a flower or a word.
• Use letter and number stickers for dates and titles.
• Swap them with other scrappers or give them to children.

Only buy new stickers when you know what you need them for. Small labels and borders usually run out first.

Embellishments are all the little decorations you stick on a page to finish it. You can also just call them decorations.

• paper: die cuts (punched-out shapes), labels, tags and paper flowers
• stickers: in all sizes, including letters and numbers
• flat materials: washi tape, ribbon, string and lace
• with volume: buttons, brads, enamel dots (glossy little dots), chipboard, small wooden shapes and sequins
• found things: tickets, receipts, dried flowers and scraps of fabric

You don't have to buy anything new. Paper scraps and things from your own drawer work just as well. With anything thick, keep the thickness of your album in mind, because it presses against the facing page.

Read also: How to choose and place embellishments without the clutter

On dark paper you need opaque ink, such as pigment ink or Distress Oxide. Dye ink soaks in and is then almost invisible. Even opaque white ink often comes out faint on black paper, though.

The most opaque result comes from embossing ink with white, gold or silver embossing powder that you melt. Other options:

• Stamp on white or light paper, cut it out and stick it on your dark page.
• Write or draw with an opaque white gel pen or paint pen.

The same goes the other way round: very light colours, such as soft pink, barely show on white paper. Stamp those on coloured paper instead.

Read also: Which stamping ink to choose? Dye, pigment and distress explained

Yes, refill bottles in the same colour are available for many ink pads. Drip a little ink spread across the pad, smooth it out with the back of a teaspoon or a flat spatula and let it soak in for a moment before you stamp.

Too little is better than too much, because an overly wet pad gives blotchy, smudged impressions. Always use the same type of ink, so dye with dye and pigment with pigment. Self-inking stamps can often be refilled with ink from the manufacturer.

Close pads properly after use. Many scrappers store them upside down, so the ink stays at the top.

Read also: Which stamping ink to choose? Dye, pigment and distress explained

An eyelet is a small metal ring that reinforces and decorates a hole in paper. You use it for a ribbon, string or ring, or simply as a small accent.

• A tag or label with a ribbon or string through it.
• A border of several eyelets along a title or photo.
• A hole in a page that mustn't tear, for example for a ring or a cord.
• A frame or corner on a photo or card.

Eyelets come in different colours, shapes and sizes, usually about 3 to 6 mm. They need a hole that matches their size. A brad is something else: it closes the hole and holds layers together. How to set an eyelet is explained with the tool.

Read also: Scrapbooking terms explained, from brads to vellum