Stamping Vellum Like a Pro

With its translucent properties and incredible versatility, vellum has made its way back into the papercrafting limelight! We have several stamping tips and techniques to share, showing just how fun and versatile vellum can be. Keep scrolling to see some vellum-enhanced artwork and to learn something new!

Stamping on Vellum #ctmh #closetomyheart #vellum #stamping #nsm #nationalstampingmonth #stampingtechniques #stampingtips If you look carefully at this scrapbook page, you will see that the bottom layer of the mat behind the photo is a large piece of vellum. There are several things to learn from this example alone. First, take a look at the beautiful floral arrangement that was stamped directly onto the vellum. To create this muted effect, we used our regular water-based dye inks. Because vellum is less porous than other papers, ink will take longer to dry. We helped move the process along by using our trusty craft heater. For this technique, allow your heater to heat up before you use it. Once it’s hot, blow on the ink intermittently from behind the paper (which means you would need to do this step before attaching a piece like this to your page). If you blow directly onto the ink and vellum without pulling the heater away, the ink will move and the paper will warp. Once you’re done with the craft heater, blot any excess ink with a tissue to achieve a softer color as well as a completely dry image.

Card Stamping on Vellum #ctmh #closetomyheart #vellum #stamping #nsm #nationalstampingmonth #stampingtechniques #stampingtips #cardmaking #card Now, let’s talk about embossing. There are so many ways to play with stamping and embossing on vellum. Our first approach is pretty straightforward. We used an embossed sentiment on a piece of vellum as an overlay for a stamped card front. This is an effective way to tone down a busy background and bring the focus to the sentiment and any other elements that are laid on top. (When setting your embossing powder, remember to use your craft heater intermittently and from behind to avoid warping!)

We took the translucent property of vellum a step further with this card. Instead of using it as an attached overlay, we made the entire card base from vellum and used one of our base & shade stamp sets for the images. The “base” of the image is stamped on the inside of the card and the “shade”—or outline—is stamped and embossed on the outside. Tips: attach a piece of cardstock to the inside of the card base and stamp it first, then line up the “shade” from above on the outside. After stamping and embossing the outside of your card, if the color from the base isn’t showing through as much as you’d like, add some watercolor (a little goes a long way on vellum) to your embossed images from behind. Watercolor paint dries fairly quickly on vellum, but if you’d like to speed the process up the craft heater should do it.

Card Stamping on Vellum #ctmh #closetomyheart #vellum #stamping #nsm #nationalstampingmonth #stampingtechniques #stampingtips #cardmaking #card Did you spot the vellum on this card? If you guessed in those colorful autumn leaves, then you are right! To recreate this effect, emboss your images using some of the tips that we’ve already discussed. The trick to these leaves is achieving their lovely fall color. This time, instead of using watercolors or ink behind our images, we used alcohol-based markers! (Alcohol-based markers are easier to blend than others, so make sure you are using the right product.)

Vellum has been around for a long time but it’s sure making a comeback! Whether you use it in papercrafting, scrapbooking, or cardmaking, vellum can easily add depth, dimension, and texture to any of your projects.

If you’ve got a tip or some artwork with vellum that you’d like to share, please do so in our comments below!

Recipes

12″ x 12″ My Beautiful Life Layout
Z3384 Beautiful You Stamp + Thin Cuts, Z3350 Whimsy Fundamental Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, Z3367 Vellum Paper, Z2810 Blossom Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2812 Raspberry Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2819 Bashful Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2835 New England Ivy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2844 Pixie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2850 Fern Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z3355 Happy Moments Complements, Z2068 Ranger™ White Super Fine Embossing Powder, Z555 Craft Heater, Sewing Machine