Backporch: Technique of the Week: Stamp Kissing

Friday, February 13, 2015

Technique of the Week: Stamp Kissing

In keeping with the approaching Valentine's Day holiday, I decided to pull out the old "stamp kissing" technique. This post is in conjunction with the Art 'n Soul weekly Technique of the Week newsletter article. The steps for this technique are very easy, and the results are stunning. I experimented with this a lot, and found some things that made it work better for me.

1. First, find a solid rubber stamp to use as your main image. In this case, I chose a heart from JudiKins.

2. Next, select a second stamp with some pattern to it. I wanted to use something floral in this case, but you can use any patterned stamp you like. In my experiments, I found that if the patterned stamp has some solid surface, it will work better, because it will lift more ink. After playing with several different ones, I chose Magenta May Flowers Bold Silhouette 5979.L

3. Ink up your solid stamp. I experimented with pigment ink and dye ink, and settled on Memento Love Letter dye ink. I found it made a darker, more solid image. As with most dye based inks, the stamping looked splotchy at first, but as the ink absorbed into the paper, the color smoothed out. I wanted a color that would be very red, rather than pink-ish, and I find that dye inks are often more vibrant.