Sympathy card

I have needed an unusual number of sympathy cards recently.  I hope it slows down soon!

I found this two-step stamp at the Mesa Stamp Show beginning of March.  It is a cling-rubber stamp - so in my opinion, very difficult to line up properly.  I got it right with this one attempt, but not with the next 500.  More on that later.

What I did to get the coloring on this was I used my Derwent Inktense pencils and colored directly onto the rubber for the "flower" part.  With the stamp laying face up on the work mat, I used a small fine-mist spritzer to wet the rubber and placed my Neehan Solar White smooth cardstock onto the face of the stamp.  I held it there a few seconds to allow the color to soak in a little, then lifted it straight up.  I dried it with the heat gun, stamped the stems/stamens in black.  The look is enchanting in many color combinations!!  The cardstock used is CTMH's new Heather (in Basics) with the two sides.  

Now, let me tell you about the lesson I learned during Open Stamping on Sunday.  I put down the flower part of the two-piece stamp set, using basic die ink.  I drew the outline of that part of the stamp onto the paper.  I put the second half of the stamp set on the block and with trial and error kept stamping until it was where I really wanted it to be. Then I drew a line around that stamp right over the flower part.  I keep this guide in the folder with the stamps for a reference.  Once I found the right spot - it is pretty easy to line it up.  You should expect more from this stamp set in the future!