Whether it’s stamping, painting, sewing or writing poetry, time and again the benefits of being creative are confirmed by scientific studies. As children we can’t help but create things, it’s how we learn. But as we grow older being creative is seen as less important than other forms of education or relaxation. Whether you think you’re ‘good’ or not, try to find some time every day to exercise your personal brand of creativity. You don’t even have to share it with anyone else, it’s the doing that counts!

I CAN’T DRAW OR PAINT

I’ve never been very good at drawing or painting, and I really admire those that can. But what I can do is stamp an image someone else has drawn. I’ve found a way of being creative that works for me, and you can too.

Today’s project started with a layer of Very Vanilla Card and a Tuxedo Black ink pad. First I stamped the paintbrush pot image from the Crafting Forever Stamp Set onto the card. Then I stamped it onto a Full-Adhesive Post-It Note®. Next I used Paper Snips to cut the image from the Post-It Note to create a mask and placed it over the image on the card.

With that done I used my Stamparatus to help me stamp the Crackle Paint Stamp onto the layer using Gray Granite ink. The mask protected the main image, and once I’d stamped I simply peeled off the Post-It Note. Then I set to work colouring in the image using Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.

For the pot I began with dark Cajun Craze coming in from the left and right edges. Then with light Cajun Craze I coloured from the left and right edges again, but this time coming a little further towards the centre. Finally I coloured over the whole pot with the light Calypso Coral.

For the brushes I used light Poppy Parade and light and dark combos in Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate, Seaside Spray and Night of Navy. The single pencil stands out from the rest in dark Mango Melody.

DO SOMETHING CREATIVE

Now I was ready for the “Do something creative every day” sentiment from the Crafting Forever Stamp Set.

First I stamped it onto a piece of Very Vanilla Card using Tuxedo Black ink. Then I cut out the sentiment using the label die from the Smooth Sailing Dies. While I was there I used the same die to cut out two more pieces from Very Vanilla Card.

Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I glued the three pieces together with the sentiment on top. Then fixed them to the stamped and coloured layer.

ALTERING THE DESIGN

At this point I realised that my pot of brushes appeared to be ‘floating’ in midair. I needed to ‘ground’ it and went looking for something to use. I found exactly what I needed in the 12″ x 12″ Come To Gather Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack, a wood plank design.

First I cut a 3/4″ strip of the DSP and laid it at the bottom of my stamped layer. This covered up the bottom of my paint pot, and that wouldn’t do at all. So I went back to my Post-It Note and once again placed it over my stamped image. This time I lifted up the bottom edge so I could tuck the DSP strip underneath it and pressed it down.

I now knew the exact position of the bottom of the pot and cut around the mask using my Paper Snips. Then it was a simple task to fix the DSP strip onto the layer with liquid glue. That was much better and I simply added a rough shadow effect with a light Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends.

To complete the project I masked off all but a 3/4″ strip on another layer of Very Vanilla Card. Then I used Gray Granite ink to stamp the Crackle Paint image in the strip. I also stamped the Crackle Paint image on the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope.

All that was left was to create a card base from Cajun Craze Card then use liquid glue to fix the main layer on the front and the extra layer inside. Job done.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Smooth Sailing Dies as part of a bundle with the coordinating Sailing Home Stamp Set. This saved me 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I didn’t use the Sailing Home Stamp Set on today’s project but have included a link to the bundle in case you want to look at this further.