1.5 chipboard squares

1.5 chipboard squares are from stuff4atc.com - http://www.stuff4atc.com/
stamps used from Diva Impressions Rubber Stamps - http://www.divarubberstamps.com/

I did these squares for a swap that I am having in another group that I
own. We are swapping the squares and then creating art quilts with the
swapped squares.
Supply list:
*Bazzill 1.5" chipboard squares - I got them from the Quilting Arts
website. You can find them online on eBay and at some scrapbook stores.
stuff4atc.com carries it now. You can email her and she
can probably cut some for you.
* Tim Holtz Distress Inks in various colors
* Blending tool - optional
* Diva Impressions Rubber Stamps - I used various stamps. Email me
if you are interested in a particular one.
The trick here is to go from light to dark with the Distress Inks. They
don't have to be in the same color family when you layer but you don't
want to go dark to light or you won't see the images. I tried some in
the same color family and I did not like them as much as when I used
some contrasting colors. You want only your main image (focal point) to
be really dark. If you do too much dark, then the focal point is lost.
1. Take a square and swipe a light color across the square. You don't
have to cover the whole square, but the majority of it should be covered.
If you think the color is too dark, then you can do the reverse and you
can use an opaque white ink pad with the focal image. You can also use
a gel pen or white pen doing the bandanna thing to offset the darkness.
You can also paint over it with a light colored paint.
If you like, you can swipe more than one light color onto the square
as the background color.
2. What I did next was look at the DI stamps and used interesting parts
of the stamp as background. I used a darker shade of the background
color or a slightly darker contrasting color and stamped that on
randomly. You will see harlequin diamonds and text in a lot of the
backgrounds. I like the contrast against the final background that
comes with the focal point stamp.
3. What I like about the DI stamps is that there is already a background
that comes with a lot of the stamps. With larger stamps, you don't always
have to use the whole stamp. Parts of it is more interesting to me.
Use a dark color for the final stamped image like black, brown, dark blue,
etc...I also like to do my final images slightly off center.
4. I used vintage photo Distress Inks to edge my sides. I like that look.
The green and dark blue works well, too.
5. Let dry completely. When dry and you don't think the final image
contrasts enough, then use a gel or opaque pen to outline the image
so it "pops" more. I might use a glitter gel pen or white poster paint
pen.
6. Embellish, if desired.