Welcome to day one of what will (hopefully) be an awesome series of stamping inspiration and giveaways! For seven days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday -- we're skipping the weekend & there's a special unrelated post on Friday night coming at you) I will be giving away one of my brand new stamp sets! But let me back up for a moment.
In case you missed the announcement I have teamed up with Canadian stamp manufacturer, Stamping Bella, to release some really cool stamps specifically aimed at art journaling. Of course you can use them for lots of different things, but my intention was for you to use them when you art journal!
Each day this week I will be featuring one of the seven stamp sets that have just been released. If you'd like to win the featured stamp, leave a comment on that day's post answering the question of the day. You must answer the question of the day if you want to win! On Thursday, May 12 I will post all seven winners!
And, of course, if you want to buy any of the featured stamps, you can find them all here.
So, which stamp set to feature first? I thought we'd slide into things gently with "Julie's Perfect Circles."
Yeah, so they pretty much just look like circles. What's the big deal, right? Well, I am super passionate about circles! Obsessed, even. I think the simplest shapes can create the most wonderful designs! As art journalers we are always trying to create our own backgrounds and this set of four circles lets you create so many background designs:
Plus the circles are so awesome for journaling inside of!
Emily, who owns Stamping Bella, and I chatted for a while about whether the circles should be sketchy or "perfect." I was an advocate of perfect. Why? There are so many ways for me to get imperfect circles (toilet paper tube, pill bottle, doodling them myself, etc.), but very few ways to get perfect ones. And one of the things that really works for me and my style is the mixture of perfect and imperfect. I love geometric stamps and stencils because then I can be all messy and free form. It's the push and pull that creates an interesting contrast and is visually stimulating!
Here's a quick video of me playing in my art journal (I had a little camera glitch towards the end, so you'll see the cut) and creating a pattern with the circle stamps:
Supplies used:
- Mister Huey Spray Ink from Studio Calico
- Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger
- Julie's Perfect Circles Stamp Set from Stamping Bella
- Gesso by Golden
- Koi Watercolors by Sakura
- China Marker (black and white)
- Psychedelik Patterned Paper from Sultane/InfoCrea
- Pitt Pen from Faber-Castell
- Ranger Heat It Craft Tool
- Claudine Hellmuth Studio Acrylic Paint from Ranger
- miscellaneous: toilet paper tube, paint brushes, water, pencil eraser, tag, fortune cookie fortune
And here's a peek at the journal page:
I also wanted to point out that the circle that is the second from the smallest circle creates a perfect scalloped frame around a 4x6 photos.
And two versions of what to do with that scalloped frame:
(By the way, I'll be featuring that paint splat stamp later in the week!)
So what do you think? Are you excited about circles?
If you'd like to win a set of the circle stamps, here's the question of the day:
What do you like most about stamps?
Leave your answer in the comments section of this post!
Thanks for stopping by!
