The Stamping Critique......: "Messin With the Big Boys!!"

At times, we just need to grab that big boy stamp and use it!!! Easier said than done right? I've got my own box of over the size limit stamps that I start to pick up and then back away from, retreating from their enormity. I was reading an article the other day about sampling smaller parts of bigger things and thought to my self "Self, this can be done with stamps!" I rolled up my sleeves, tucked in my shirt (ok, no shirt tucking....but it goes with the whole delivery of the message thing...) and grabbed a stamp of larger size to work with.

StampinUp has a stamp called "From the Garden" which is very large as well as bold. It is too large for my typical 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" cards and also the bigger ones I do on occasion. It's a beautiful stamp which makes it even more difficult as I don't want to eliminate anything on the stamp by cutting it down, I think it takes away form the beauty of it. I have to make a choice.....do an exceptionally large card, or sample a small part fo the stamp. I chose to go with the latter as I don't enjoy making large cards (especially with the cost of mailing things nowadays).

This is a 4 1/4 X 5 1/2" featuring a sampled section of the "From the Garden" stamp. I stamped on watercolor paper and used a blender pen to create a soft look on the petals and the flower. not enough of a focus on the flower made me stamp the flower image again, cut it out and pop it up with dimensional just to stand it out a bit. (Are you noticing that you can't see the flower popped up?? Well...this is because I took "before pop up" pictures and forgot to take the "after pop up" pictures! The cards have been sent out to Maine Mom so you'll have to sue your imagination!)It's lacking in sentiment as I believe my "Maine Mom" will be able to make that decision on her own when she chooses her "card worthy" recipient!

I'm still not a big fan of large stamps but I'll not hesitate quite as much the next time I pick one up....I just have to remember that it's all about the sampling!

Hope you enjoy! Until next time.

Theresa