Hi there

Thanks for popping in. If there are two arty things I love – apart from pottery and printmaking – it’s our Overlay stamps and our Embedders. If you’re into lino-cutting or monoprinting, then you will know just how closely related our two innovations are to the world of printmaking.

Let me do a simple little step-by-step for you, to demonstrate how they work. And I can tell you now. Any printmaker would be pretty impressed by how this works. I guess, because we make stamps for a living, and have done for decades, because we developed the transparent stamp back in the early 90’s, this kind of stamping idea feels like just another good idea that works well. I have to say, I consider our two-way and three-way stamps to be the best thing we’ve ever come up with. Just blimming lovely to use, and amazing arty artwork every time. The designs we select really lend themselves to this overlay process too.

Here’s a super simple step by step, to demonstrate how it works.

Take a 2-way stamp. Here we have the Queen Anne’s lace stamp, from our Botanicals Collection by our dear friend Mel Turner. CLICK HERE TO FIND

Stamp the No. 1 stamp, the outline, in black Archival onto a piece of 3.5 x 3.5in stencil card.

Now ink up the other stamp in a coloured ink pad. I used a blue pad. Maybe Feathered Peacock or Broken China. Either way, a die based ink pad. Stamp it onto another piece of the same card, so you can see how lovely the second stamp is too. Sits beautifully on its own too.

Now comes the clever trick. Ink up the second stamp in blue again. Hover over the black line art, focus on just two reference points. Line them up, then plant the inner image within the outline.

A 3-way overlay has a third stamp, which would infill the background too. We have loads of those designs on our website. A printmaker would be impressed by the fine line detail we are able to achieve with these stamps. But of course, the magic lies in Mel’s designs to begin with, and that’s the truth.

Next, let’s take a look at the embedding. We have come up with an inexpensive way to add that embedded effect that one gets in printmaking, when one runs a printing plate through a platen press or printing press.

Here I used the nested square set. Loads of embossing and debossing options. CLICK HERE TO FIND

Just follow the pics here, to see how it works.

• Pick the size you want, and attach it to the front of your work with low-tack tape
• Flip the work over to the back, find where the embedder is positioned by rubbing your thumb along the edge.
• Wipe the back of the card with a tumble dryer sheet for ease
• Run the No. 2 embossing tool slowly around the edge on the back.
• Flip to the front and remover the Embedder, to reveal a perfect faux relief effect frame.

We call them 2-way overlay stamps. I consider them to be precision art printing plates, which work independently and in unison.

As for the Embedders, well, they’re just an excellent framing tool, which create a super classy embossed frame, just like the relief around an expensive print.

Yes. If I had to name our two best mixed media / print ideas in recent years, it would be these two. I never tire of using either. And what’s more, it’s the pricepoint! Once you’ve travelled down the arty road of printing presses, you will quickly appreciate how inexpensive these stamps and embedders are.

Why not treat yourself to a set of 2-way or 3-way stamps. There are so many to choose from! CLICK HERE

Love always,

Barb x x x