Welcome!

Hi there,

I'm so excited to be part of this wonderful blog started by the talented Kim Prince! Kim and I will work together to make this blog an inspiring place to get new ideas, share and have fun. Kim will be running the blog and I will pop in often to add. We hope this will be an inspiring place for all.

Thanks, Estelle ~ The Stampsmith

www.stampsmith.net

Aww, aren’t they cute?

Omgosh, this is so adorable! Val sent this card to me last night, and I just had to get it up on the blog! Can you see the bling on the little girls finger? How sweet! I love the black and white theme. This stamp is a single UM.

Thank you for sharing Val!!

:)
Kim

Cards by Flower

Flower is the person that designed this blog!  She is amazingly talented, thank you so much Flower!!  Here are a few of her Stampsmith Cards!

 

Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz.

This image is a single UM called Holly.

Thank you so much for sharing some of your cards with us Flowers!  Can’t wait to see more!

:)
Kim

Cards by Kim Prince

For all the photo stamped cards below, I have used Ancient Page ink, and used Phototwin markers with a watercolour brush to colour the images in. 

 Annabella is a single UM stamp. 

 

Bling is a single UM stamp.

 

 

Lucy

 

 

This image is from the Thank Heaven for Little Girls plate #2 as shown below.

 

This image is from the Darling Boys plate as shown below.

 

This image is from the Flappers #3 plate, as shown below.

 

 

Serena is from a single UM stamp.

The Supremes are from the Fabulous Faces plate.

 

Again, thank you so much for stopping by our new blog!!  Have a fabulous evening!

:)
Kim

Cards by Valerie Wilson

Banjo Sisters

Lily

Marilyn

Isn’t Ophelia so pretty! I love how Valerie has made this card. You open the window to see Ophelia.

This is also a single stamp, called Opening Night.

This image is from the Wedding Bells plate pictured below. If you are interested in any of the above stamps, please contact Estelle at estelle@stampsmith.net.

Thank you Valerie, for sharing some of your cards! We can’t wait to see more!

Audrey Hepburn Profile

Have you ever seen such a classic beauty?  Audrey Hepburn was such a classy woman.  For this image I stamped in Chocolate Ancient Page ink, then distressed with Tim Holtz inks.  I added a touch of red on her lips.  I didn’t want to take away from the image by adding to much colour.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Kim

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

 

Aren’t these sisters adorable?  They were stamped with Chocolate Ancient Page ink.  They were then coloured in with Phototwin Markers in places, then distressed with Tim Holtz Distress inks.

If you are interested in purchasing this plate, please contact estelle@stampsmith.net

 

Have a beautiful day,

Kim

Marilyn Monroe

I have to say, Marilyn Monroe is one of my favorites!  She is just so glamorous!  I didn’t do much with this image, just stamped with Ancient Page Black, then distressed with Tim Holtz Distress inks.  I did add a tinge of red to her lips.

Have a wonderful day,

Kim

My Beloved

 

This photo stamped image on this card comes from the Kiss Me you Fool plate.  The image was stamped with Chocolate Brown Ancient Page ink on glossy cardstock.  I added a bit of red to her lips, then used Tim Holtz Distress inks to make it look a bit more vintage.

Thank you for stopping by!
:)
Kim

Audrey Hepburn

 

 

This image was stamped with Black Ancient Page ink on glossy card stock, then I used Phototwin markers and a watercolour brush to add a bit of colour.  The edges were distressed with Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

 

Thank you for stopping by,

Kim

Instructions for using Stampsmith Photo Stamps

 

I decided to write these instructions, as I still get so many emails asking how to use the Photo Stamps! I know everyone has a different way of doing things, but this is what works best for me, and how I have been teaching people in classes. I hope this helps anyone that is having troubles!

Supplies needed:
Glossy Cardstock
Ancient Page Inks
Phototwin Markers
Tombow Markers
Watercolor Brush
Foam Pad to stamp on
D/S Tape (double sided tape)
Masking Tape
Distress Inks

First and foremost, I wash my UM photo stamps in the sink with dish soap. I then lay them on a lint free towel to dry. When they are dry and I am going to use an image, I use masking tape to remove any little pieces of lint or glitter that have managed to get on the stamp. I mount the stamp on an acrylic block, using d/s tape. I also check my ink pad, and if there is lint on it, I use the masking tape to remove it as well.

I have 2 ancient page black ink pads, one is about 4 years old and doesn't have much ink. The other is new so it's well inked. I first go over the image with the old pad, if I don't have enough ink, I go over it with the new pad. Then I take the old pad, and it's like I am inking the stamp, but I am actually removing some of the excess ink. If you have to much ink the image will be splotchy. The nice part about using the 2 inks pads, is that the old one removes a bit of ink, and will probably have a perfect amount of ink for the next time I ink up a photo stamp image! If you just have the 1 ancient page ink pad, just swipe some of the ink off over a piece of paper. Too much ink is not a good thing!

I put my glossy paper on top of a foam stamping pad. I then press the image down on the glossy, firmly. I make sure I press on all the corners, as well as the middle of the stamp. I do this for about 20 seconds, then leave it sitting on the paper for about 30 seconds. Then I give it another firm press and slowly remove the stamp from the glossy paper. If you are still getting splotches, you may have a bit too much ink on your stamp, so try a bit less next time.

I then heat set the image with the heat gun. Then I swipe a few colors of markers on a piece of plastic. Get my watercolor brush damp, and pick up a bit of color with the brush, and paint the image in. The phototwin markers are so soft, and lend themselves so nicely to photo stamped images. But for any darker colors I use the Tombow markers. But any water based markers will do the trick. Just make sure you are removing most of the water from your brush before you start painting the image in or your paper will warp. I just use a napkin and press my watercolor brush lightly onto the napkin before I pick up some of the colour from the markers.

If you aren't up to trying the watercolor technique, you can use the distress inks and a stipple brush or sponge to add some colour to your image! Or even just rub the distress inks on the edges to give them a more vintage type look.

I have been using The Stampsmith Photo Stamps for many years, and have taken everyone’s advice and kind of mixed it all together to get the results I am looking for. This seems to work for me!

If you have any problems or questions, please message me and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Good Luck!!

:)
Kim