WOYWW #452: Foam stamps made with stencils

I'm writing this blog post on Tuesday as I'll be at work tomorrow morning but I didn't want to miss this week's WOYWW. Here's the obligatory shot of my desk in all its messy glory earlier this week:

I was trying out some new paints and happened to have a cardboard envelope sitting on my desk, so I just grabbed that and smudged some paint on it in a random fashion. Then I remembered my home-made foam stamps, so I used one of those as well. I ended up with this upcycled envelope, which I'm sure will come in handy one day. 

These are the new paints I used. I bought them at Crafter's Companion who have an outlet near me. This shop together with The Range definitely make up for the lack of a Hobby Craft around here and satisfy my cravings for real-life shopping experience of arts & crafts products! 

In case you're wondering how I made the foam stamp, here's the set-up:

The photo shows a Big Shot, but I expect it would work just the same with all other similar die-cutting machines. I used the main platform with all tabs closed + cutting pad + kraft card + foam sheet + stencil + cutting pad.  The kraft card was added for extra resistance, but it could be anything else - just experiment to see what thickness works best. Run this sandwich through slowly a couple of times to make sure you get a good impression of the stencil pattern on the foam. It works remarkably well - much better than my previous experiment without a die-cutting/embossing machine which involved a hot iron with disastrous consequences!

Here are some more foam stamps I made this way. They work great on the gelli plate or you can roll some paint on them directly with a brayer to create some lovely, distressed textures..

Finally, I'd like to share something I received in the post yesterday all the way from the US from my very dear friend, Jackie. She sent me this beautiful tag wrapped in some lovely mulberry paper, which I will be using in collages. I'll even reuse the washi tape she sealed the envelope with! Thanks you so much, Jackie, for your kindness and thoughtfulness! It really made me happy and brightened my day!

Big thanks to everyone who have visited and commented - I promise to get back to every one of you some time in the next few days when time allows! Happy WOYWW!