Making the most of your rubber stamps

Rubber stamps are so versatile that I've decided to share with you some ideas for how you can incorporate them into your handmade cards. Though remember to always practise on scrap paper first to get the very best results.

1) As promised - design your own background papers by stamping multiple images onto plain or coloured paper. The images can be rotated to give a funkier look. Fill the spaces between your images using dots and swirls, possibly in different colours - see what you like.

2) Stamp your image using slow drying ink and then cover with embossing powder. Then use a heating tool to emboss the image onto your card design.

3) Try triple embossing to get a reverse embossed image. Ink up an area large enough for your rubber stamp and cover with embossing powder. Melt with a heating tool and then add more embossing powder. Do this once more and whilst the powder is still melted press your rubber stamp firmly onto the embossed area.

4) Stamp two or three copies of your image in different colours onto card and mount them as a set onto your card blank.

5) After stamping your image why not colour it in using either water colour pencils or gel pens to give a unique feel to the image.

6) Use slow drying brush pens to ink up your stamp. This means you can use a variety of colours in your stamped image.

7) As a final touch try stamping the same image onto the envelope.

Let me know how you get on and I'll soon get some pictures on here to show you my creations.