Using my Belgian stamps

I'm fond of papercrafts generally, and that includes rubber stamps. And that includes (confusingly) clear stamps, that are made of polymer, not rubber. And that includes clear stamps from Belgium. I just never knew until my recent Paris trip that there was such a thing as a Belgian stamp to like.

Well, once I found a shop called "Le Temple Du Scrap" I knew I was on the right track. There, and in a surprisingly well stocked bookshop in the Paris suburbs, is where I found by Belgian stamps (they are made by Artemio - good luck with the website). I'll dig the actual stamps our for a photo some other day, but here's what I made just now:

That rotten old grid paper I've used is actually pristine new cardstock, stamped with two paper-aging stamps - one has a grid design, and the other has aged edges that match. Sigh. There's even a hole! And the fruit comes from another set.

Do you remember when pears were the "in" thing in stamping? Now it's all birds and owls, but pears had their day, and we thought it would never end...

Ann-Marie taught me a great tip too. When I first used these clear stamps, they were stamping pretty badly. Wait, I'll show you...

Bleah, nobody would want to colour in THAT yucky berry!

When your brand new, clear polymer stamps are stamping badly, just run over the stamping surface with an eraser! Then give it a little clean and see the improvement. I've not had this problem before (but then, all my clear stamps have come from

My Stamps here in Melbourne).

Here's the strawberry after its eraser bath...

Hand me some markers, I need to colour that one!