After playing with Stampin’ Up Symbols of Fortune DSP, I need a ginkgo leaf die. This Impression Obsession Ginkgo Leaf die, at just US$4.99, is the perfect companion piece to go with the papers.
The Die Embosses Too!
By the way, this die embosses too! The finished size measures 2.5″x2″. The etched impression makes each leaf so elegant!
Here is the first card I’ve made:
DIY Rubber Stamp
For the second ginkgo leaf papercraft project, I also used the same DSP from Stampin’ UP. I had hand carved a rubber stamp with the Chinese word “blessing”, heat embossed it in gold, and arranged the leaves to the left of the word. A few gold sequins in two different sizes accented the piece.
Oomono: The Best (Two-) Dollar Store
If you live in the Greater Toronto Area, Oomomo, the popular Japanese dollar store, sells a lot of good quality materials for papercrafting. This 4×6″ soft rubber block retails for just CAD$2.50 and you can make many small stamps with it.
The quality of the rubber is good. It’s soft, but it holds its shape. The rubber sheet has two different colours–the light brown part is where your carved image should be. If you use a foam mounting sheet, you can adhere the rubber to any acrylic block.
I don’t expect the rubber to last forever, as it is rather soft and easy to over carve. However, if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on one stamp you need from a set, this rubber sheet is a very good idea. Sometimes, there is simply no pre-made stamp for what I need, so I do carve my own stamps for some specific papercraft projects.
Frame it!
I used the Hovsta frame from Ikea for this piece. The finished size within the mat is 4×6″.
This Ginkgo Leaf die from Impression Obsession is such a nice accent to the Stampin’ Up Symbols of Fortune designer series paper. Impression Obsession also makes single dies which I find very convenient, as the die sets from Stampin’ Up are expensive and sometimes you really just need one piece to work with what you already have.
