Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Stamping Project by Christen Hammons

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: 3 Cards



You may think the card-giving season is over, but we disagree. There’s always a special occasion to send out a thoughtful, greeting card to a friend or family member, and if there isn’t — then make one up! And don’t forget that now’s the perfect time to send out Thank You cards for all those wonderful gifts and warm wishes that you got over the holidays.

This unique card project by our Editor-in-Chief and Director of Publishing, Christen Hammons, showcases an interesting use of negative space. Even the name of the project is full of inspiration! So grab your cardstock, your stamps, and your favorite inks — and learn how to make a positive out of a negative.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project Materials:

Dina Wakley Reversed Grunge Growth Stamp
Christine Adolph’s Collage Cube
Card Stock
Stamping Ink
Pencil
-Self-Inking 7gypsies Circle Stamp

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project by Christen Hammons

Any avid rubber stamper knows that there are just some stamps you have to have. Sure, you have no idea how you’re going to use them, but they still wind up in your shopping cart. Then they sit on your art table gathering dust.

That’s how it was when I bought this “reverse” stamp by Dina Wakley. All of the other designs from the collection were stamped right away, but there were a couple I didn’t know quite what to do with. After talking with several employees here at Stampington, I realized that both stamps had large areas of negative space. Our President, Kellene Giloff, urged me to find an interesting way to spotlight the negative space.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Honeycomb design

Step 1 – I typically use stamps for texture, so the larger sections of solid color were throwing me off until I began playing around with the stamps. I started by inking the Reversed Grunge Growth stamp; then I pressed the honeycomb stamp from Christine Adolph’s Collage Cube onto the solid section. To get the desired effect, make sure you keep the honeycomb stamp dry, so that it can pull/dilute the ink that’s already on the solid section of the Reserves Grunge Growth stamp.

Step 2 – To finish, I stamped Reversed Grunge Growth onto cardstock. The honeycomb texture added a nice effect, making it appear as if I added my own collaged layer.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Different Color Ink

Step 3 – Next, I inked the Reversed Grunge Growth stamp again, but this time I stamped a self-inking 7gypsies circle stamp randomly onto the solid space. This added a different color and an extra touch of depth to my layers. When I stamped Reversed Grunge Growth, the circles appeared in the negative space, creating a nice, textured look.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Journaling

Step 4 – Finally, I simply used some of the negative space to journal on.

~*~

Please join me in thanking Christen Hammons for providing us with such a fun project. There really are so many unique ways to use stamps and more so when the stamp itself has such interesting elements. However, the most important lesson I took away from these little cards is that no matter how intimidating a new product or project might be, you should always meet challenges with curiosity and positivity! After all, who knows what wonderful new techniques you can learn or even develop on your own?

 

We Want to Hear From You

In art, it’s always fun and challenging to work with negative space. We want to know how you do it. Do you have your own method for adding a bit of interest to stamps that have large negative spaces or do you try to avoid them altogether?

 

Even More Free Projects

PROJ-0908-200x200Join us in The Studio and find countless ideas for making cards, gifts, jewelry, artful décor, and mixed-media projects, along with clear step-by-step instructions and detailed photographs for each sample shown.

Click here to visit The Studio.

 


Posted: Thursday, January 8th, 2015 @ 11:50 am
Categories: How-To Project Tutorials.
Tags: , , , , , .
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2 Responses to “Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Stamping Project by Christen Hammons”

  1. Lynne says:

    Thank You to Christen for such an inspiration post. This will make me take a second look at the stamps I own, looking for ones with areas of negative space. In fact, one stamp has immediately come to mind.
    Wishes
    Lynne

  2. Ella says:

    I love seeing this effect! I too will look at what I own with fresh eye sight~ Thank you, for sharing! This is a great way to start the New Year~

Jordan How-To Project Tutorials ,,,,,

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: 3 Cards



You may think the card-giving season is over, but we disagree. There’s always a special occasion to send out a thoughtful, greeting card to a friend or family member, and if there isn’t — then make one up! And don’t forget that now’s the perfect time to send out Thank You cards for all those wonderful gifts and warm wishes that you got over the holidays.

This unique card project by our Editor-in-Chief and Director of Publishing, Christen Hammons, showcases an interesting use of negative space. Even the name of the project is full of inspiration! So grab your cardstock, your stamps, and your favorite inks — and learn how to make a positive out of a negative.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project Materials:

Dina Wakley Reversed Grunge Growth Stamp
Christine Adolph’s Collage Cube
Card Stock
Stamping Ink
Pencil
-Self-Inking 7gypsies Circle Stamp

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project by Christen Hammons

Any avid rubber stamper knows that there are just some stamps you have to have. Sure, you have no idea how you’re going to use them, but they still wind up in your shopping cart. Then they sit on your art table gathering dust.

That’s how it was when I bought this “reverse” stamp by Dina Wakley. All of the other designs from the collection were stamped right away, but there were a couple I didn’t know quite what to do with. After talking with several employees here at Stampington, I realized that both stamps had large areas of negative space. Our President, Kellene Giloff, urged me to find an interesting way to spotlight the negative space.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Honeycomb design

Step 1 – I typically use stamps for texture, so the larger sections of solid color were throwing me off until I began playing around with the stamps. I started by inking the Reversed Grunge Growth stamp; then I pressed the honeycomb stamp from Christine Adolph’s Collage Cube onto the solid section. To get the desired effect, make sure you keep the honeycomb stamp dry, so that it can pull/dilute the ink that’s already on the solid section of the Reserves Grunge Growth stamp.

Step 2 – To finish, I stamped Reversed Grunge Growth onto cardstock. The honeycomb texture added a nice effect, making it appear as if I added my own collaged layer.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Different Color Ink

Step 3 – Next, I inked the Reversed Grunge Growth stamp again, but this time I stamped a self-inking 7gypsies circle stamp randomly onto the solid space. This added a different color and an extra touch of depth to my layers. When I stamped Reversed Grunge Growth, the circles appeared in the negative space, creating a nice, textured look.

Making a Positive Out of a Negative Project: Journaling

Step 4 – Finally, I simply used some of the negative space to journal on.

~*~

Please join me in thanking Christen Hammons for providing us with such a fun project. There really are so many unique ways to use stamps and more so when the stamp itself has such interesting elements. However, the most important lesson I took away from these little cards is that no matter how intimidating a new product or project might be, you should always meet challenges with curiosity and positivity! After all, who knows what wonderful new techniques you can learn or even develop on your own?

 

We Want to Hear From You

In art, it’s always fun and challenging to work with negative space. We want to know how you do it. Do you have your own method for adding a bit of interest to stamps that have large negative spaces or do you try to avoid them altogether?

 

Even More Free Projects

PROJ-0908-200x200Join us in The Studio and find countless ideas for making cards, gifts, jewelry, artful décor, and mixed-media projects, along with clear step-by-step instructions and detailed photographs for each sample shown.

Click here to visit The Studio.