Stamp surgery

I meant to make several Halloween cards this past weekend but that didn't happen.  I looked at the Halloween-themed supplies on my desk but they just didn't speak to me.  When that happens I normally walk away from my craft desk to clear my mind, then come back to see if the mojo also returns.  If that doesn't work out I'll start playing with my supplies without any pressure to complete any project.  Fun should be the main focus, right?

It turned out no Halloween cards were made.  But I cleaned up my craft desk, rearranged my finished layouts into a D-ring album, and did some organization in my craft area (decided to donate some items that have not been receiving enough attention from me).

I then started to play with my Christmas supplies.  Christmas cards remain the type of cards that I make the most and love to make the most.  For the very special person I tend to put in a lot of thoughts but more often, I just want to play with my supplies.  Sometimes it's testing out a color combo, sometimes it's trying out a new technique.  I can't explain why Christmas cards seem to be the best place for me to play.  If you find you've made far more Christmas cards than you need, look for places such as senior homes, hospitals or orphanage to send your cards to.  Your cards will definitely bring a big smile to people.

So while I was cleaning up, I wanted to see if I could use the stamp in the White Pines Workshop on the Go Scrapbooking kit differently.  The stamp says "In the air there is a feeling of Christmas."  It's nice and I wanted to use it differently only for fun, there's nothing wrong with that sentiment.  So I've cut the sentiment out from the stamp (Ouch!) and replaced it with a sentiment "Happy Holidays" from Holly Jolly Christmas.

No you don't need to do a stamp surgery if you don't want to.  You could first stamp it on a piece of post-it sticky note, then cut out the sentiment part and when you stamp it, you'll only have the frame left.  You'll then remove the mask and stamp whatever sentiment you like.

Stamp surgery does not involve that "Ouch!" and there was no pain involved.  It helps me get a lot more mileage out of my stamps.  I was hesitant when I first did it couple of years ago but I never look back.  For one, it helps me save quite a bit of post-it sticky notes, and it's less time-consuming than masking.  If you plan on mass-producing, the mask will wear out after a few uses and re-creating a mask can be quite annoying.  Stamp surgery will save you a lot of time!  If you haven't performed stamp surgery on acrylic stamps, try it out.  Still not sure?  Next time when you de-stash, pick one that you are about to donate and try that one.  Did I mention that because of the flexibility these acrylic stamps offer, you could mount the cut pieces back easily and no one will ever know of the stamp surgery (oh except you, and the stamp, because of the "wounds", LOL).

I'm entering my card to the following challenges:
Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
Polkadoodles Craft - Use a die cut
Christmas Stampin' all year long - Lots of layers
Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
Christmas Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!