Magnificent March LTC Fiscar Stamp Press Tool

Stamp and embossing with clear embossing powder and Versafine Onyx Black Ink

Top image stamped using the Fiscar Stamp Press

Bottom image stamped just using my hand for pressure (not as even and smudged on the right)

Adding sparkle to the cards

Sparkle up close

Final finished LTC original image trimmed and mounted on second sheet of cardstock

Finished cards and original stamp

Fiscar Stamp Press

Sometimes you just need a mental break from event carving and planning.  I signed up for an LTC Desk Calendar Tracker hosted by nosox.  The deadline is in November but I just needed to escape the Faery realm for a bit.  I picked March as my month and decided to combine several images that remind me personally of March thus this Magnificent March LTC was created.  Because the images are in silhouette I decided to stick with straight out stamping and embossing.  The Ram represents Aries (my zodiac sign), the Irish dancer and four leaf clovers represent St. Patrick's Day and part of my mixed heritage.  The green background represents luck.

What I wanted to share here tonight specifically is a tool by Fiscars that I use a lot especially when working with large images or images that are in silhouette form.  Often when I am pressing down on an image to get a good clean imprint large stamps and those that are silhouette will pull away from the paper with uneven stamping, patches of color missing or I may end up with multiple images as the stamp has jumped a bit in my efforts to get a good impression.

With the Fiscars Stamp Press I ink up, set the stamp on the paper and then lay the press on top and do exactly what the name implies - I press.  I carefully lift it off in case the rubber slightly sticks to the press and almost without fail I end up with a perfectly distributed inked image on my paper.  When I don't use the press I end up stamping over and over again to get enough that are evenly stamped and decent.  This becomes especially important when you have limited paper to use for your LTC's.  Maybe I am down to one 12 x 12 sheet of paper and it is the perfect paper for the LTC's I want to make.  That sheet of paper will give me twelve cards and if I mess just one up I am out of luck.  And depending on how store paper stocks turn over with the seasons I may not be able to get another sheet of what I need.  Even if that is not the case there is nothing more frustrating than stamping an image multiple times to have it not turn out over and over again.  This simple tool has saved me quite a bit of frustration and tossed out paper because of poor results.  I can also use it with my store purchased acrylic/clear stamps.  It was inexpensive too at around $10.00 and I have had it for quite a few years.