Saturday 26 December 2015

Empty Box Project #34 - The Last Stamp



The fish stamp I've used here was the last stamp left in my Empty Box Project box (although there are some stamps I've used that I haven't blogged yet).

To be honest, I nearly cheated and just put the stamp back in my ordinary stamp storage. It's a nice stamp and I felt sure I would find a use for it eventually...but hold on - that was exactly why I set myself the challenge - I've had it for years and never used it!

I found a scrap of watercolour card on my desk - I'd put it through my die-cutting machine earlier to try out an embossing folder and thought the pattern might work as seaweed.  I stamped the fish in Versamark  ( as I couldn't really see where I was stamping, it's a bit more random than expected) and embossed in white pearl. Then I watercoloured it in Distress Inks - it wasn't really working  until I used the darker Chipped Sapphire colour, then the fishes popped out.

In the end, I quite liked the effect - it reminds me of batik.

On New Year's Day 2015 I blogged about my big box of unused stamps. I have used many of them, binned some of them (for failure to stamp well enough, mostly) and filled a bag for my colleague's little girl...and now, almost a year later,  my box is empty!

I'd like to enter:
Stamp Ink Paper thanks
Shopping Our Stash My precious
Less is More  not sure if it's CAS enough , but hope so, as I feel the batik effect fits the 'homespun ' theme.
That's Crafty  anything goes

15 comments:

Craftychris said...

It's really good you used the stamp because the end result is fabulous and so effective! Well done for emptying the box. Yay! xxx

Kathyk said...

FAB make and a big WELL DONE on working your way through your uninked stash

Kathyk

Tina's Crop Shop said...

Fabulous thank you card! Perhaps I should challenge myself to use my unused stamps! Great idea. Thanks so much for joining us at Stamp, Ink, Paper for our thank you card challenge!

Chana Malkah said...

Great decision to use this stamp....it is gorgeous and you have given it an outstanding presentation! Thanks so much for joining us this week at Shopping Our Stash! I love your Empty Box Challenge. I may have to take that challenge myself!
Hugz,
Chana, DT

chrissie said...

Well done for emptying the box..you have really made the best of this stamp

Love Chrissie xx

Pia S said...

Can't wait to learn what you'll plan for 2016! Surely something clever we all should be doing:)
Love the effect of the blue water and the randomly placed fish, it looks not too organized nor too random, it's perfectly balanced if you ask me...

AlisonC said...

Lovely card and background. I salute you for seeing through your challenge and I feel much better as I only have a few not used!

stampwithsandy said...

Wow, your background is just gorgeous, Marina! I love that fish stamp too, great that it finally got out to play :) Thanks so much for playing along with us at Stamp Ink Paper!

Anne said...

What a gorgeous creation Marina, well done for using your uninked stamps!
I wouldn't have thought of batik of homespun, but it looks super.
Thank you for joining our last challenge of the year and wishing you a very happy new year.
Anne
"Less is More"

Neets B said...

A lovely effect with those vibrant blues and enough white space on your border for our challenge. And well done for using all those stamps, I really need to start using and stop buying next year (but there's so many pretty things out there!)
Thanks for sharing with us.
Anita x
Less is More

customwritinglab.com said...

Looks really great. I'd like to have such stamps too. They looks super cool on this blue background.

Liz said...

Gorgeous card. I love the background - such a beautiful shade of blue. xx

Sazzle Dazzle said...

A vibrant and striking take on our homespun challenge and great work thinking outside the box. Thanks so much for playing along and a Happy New Year to you.
Sarah
Less is More

Chrissie said...

I'm sorry that I'm so late in commenting but having various visitors over the holiday period made me rather behind!
This is such a pretty card with a wonderful vibrant colour!
Thanks so much
Chrissie
"Less is more"

Donna said...

Great thank you card! Love the fishies and the wavy water background! Thanks for playing along with the SHOPPING OUR STASH crew for our "My Precious" challenge!!