En Fuego

Just in case the world had ended on Saturday, I didn't make any long term blog plans but since it seems to be spinning around just fine I guess I have to come up with something. I don't think I've done this fire tutorial before but if I have, just pretend you've never seen it, ok? Stamping fire comes in handy - you know, just in case you want to send a card from the depths of hell...

or invite someone to a barbeque...

or tell someone they're hot...

or suggest that they have too many candles on their birthday cake.

You'll notice that the fire stamp has two sides. For the first and second layers you'll be using the longer flames. I used Memento pads because I really think they are the best but any dye-based pad will work almost as well. I think pigment pads look funny when you stamp a color on top of another color - not funny 'ha ha' either.

Start with yellow - go across the card and don't worry too much about getting it just perfect since the next three layers will hide any imperfections. As you can see, mine aren't aligned perfectly but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Next, add some orange but move the stamp down a little. Also it looks better to avoid stamping directly under the first layer. Move it over a little so the flames don't look like they are on top of each other.

For the red and purple layers, you'll flip the stamp over and use the short flames. Why mot just keep using the long flames? Well, you've paid for the whole stamp so you might as well use it! Again. move the stamp down a little and line the flames up across the card.

Finally the purple layer is really just barely there but makes a big difference. You can also use a dark blue but I think purple is the way to go. But purple is almost always the way to go if you ask me.

If you want to stamp something on fire, you can either mask some of the yellow flames or just lightly ink the bottom of whatever you are stamping so that it looks like it fades out.

Then again, I dug this out of a box of old samples and I clearly didn't bother fading or masking at all. The alphabet if from the late, great Curtis Uyeda. I don't really remember making this and I don't even know what you'd do with it - clearly, since it's been in a box for several years.

... and I put it right back in the box after it's photo shoot.

Comments

[Patti J.]

Great stamp and fire technique, Mark! Thanks for sharing. As for what to do with your very unique card, guess you could add a smaller "O", placing it at the guys elbow area, like it's fallen from the fiery sign? Then you could send it to anyone...for what it's worth, I like the card as is, but I'm a bit strange! Take care, and have a good day.

[Renee M.]

I like your tutorial style--helps me remember how-to's when the steps are in photos like that along w/ supplies used. As far as what to do w/ the "hell" card, my first thought was hey, I could put that on my desk at work. But then I don't really need a reminder that it's hellish, and it would probably just tick the boss off. Then I thought I should make a similar card saying "welcome to hell" because our coworkers pretty much think we proofreaders are trolls anyway and keep us stuck in a dungeonlike, windowless office in the farthest corner of the building.

[Dee]

I try to never copy the original idea exactly, so when I bought the flames and dancers in 1998 (I always write the purchase year on my stamps) I stamped JULY instead of HELL and added in very small letters at the bottom "in Texas". At the time it seemed quite clever....not so much now! I still use the flame stamp every summer though.

Dee