Stamping on cardboard with Karen Ellis

Hi everyone, Karen Ellis here… I thought I’d show you a little something that I’ve been playing with in the studio recently. Stamping on cardboard! I absolutely LOVE doing this.

I use flat corrugated cardboard sheets for this so that it’s a hard, flat, not creased surface but you can use recycled cardboard too – just be sure to use a smooth piece. First, you’ll need to GESSO the front of your cardboard. This does two things: makes a white surface to stamp on so, however you colour it later, the colour will be bright and vivid. It will also make the cardboard less porous so you’ll use less paint/ink and you’ll have a little more playtime with it! Then go ahead and stamp your favourite images using a permanent stamping ink (I use Ranger’s Archival Inks). Be sure heat set the ink or let it completely dry to avoid any smudging!

Next, go ahead and colour your stamp. The Butterfly image (Butterfly – Catherine Scanlon Designs) was coloured with Tombow markers.

Once it’s coloured… start exposing the corrugation:

I hope to try this too… I know you have some cardboard kicking around your house! They make AWESOME cards and would also be great embellishments for your scrapbook pages.