Moving Around Your Sentiment

I have had several people reach out and ask how I use sentiment stamps without cutting them apart when I want the words arranged in a different layout.

Today I am sharing a simple technique that allows you to reposition the words in a sentiment stamp without making any permanent changes to the stamp itself. This method works with virtually any clear sentiment stamp and gives you much more flexibility when designing your cards.

The sentiment used in this tutorial is from my collection and is no longer available, but the technique can be used with any sentiment stamp you own.

Here is the original stamp design. As you can see, the sentiment is arranged in a stacked format with the words positioned one above the other.

While the original design works beautifully, I wanted the words "Sending" and "S'More" to appear side by side for my card design. Instead of cutting the stamp apart, I used masking and selective stamping to change the layout.

First, I stamp the sentiment onto a piece of acetate.

This allows me to see exactly where each word is located on the stamp so I can reposition my cardstock and stamp individual words or portions of the sentiment exactly where I want them.

Next, I position my cardstock to stamp the first portion of the sentiment. In this example, I masked off the lower portion of the sentiment and stamped only the word "Sending" onto my sentiment strip.

Next, I wanted to move the word "S'More" so that it would stamp beside the word "Sending" rather than underneath it.

To do this, I repositioned my cardstock and masked off the areas above and below the word "S'More" so that only that portion of the sentiment would stamp.

In the first photo below, you can see the sentiment strip placed beneath the acetate. This allows me to line up exactly where I want the word "S'More" to be stamped. (Please excuse the glare. Acetate can be a challenge to photograph!)

In the next photo, you can see how I masked the top and bottom portions of the stamp so that only the word "S'More" would receive ink.

After stamping, the word "S'More" is now positioned right beside "Sending," creating a completely different look from the original stacked sentiment.

Here is my finished card featuring the rearranged sentiment. By selectively masking and stamping portions of the sentiment, I was able to create a layout that worked much better for my design.

One of the things I love most about this technique is that it works with almost any sentiment stamp. You are not limited to the arrangement shown on the stamp itself. By masking and stamping individual words or portions of a sentiment, you can create layouts that fit your project perfectly without cutting the stamp apart.

I hope you will give this technique a try. If you do, I would love to hear how it worked for you and whether it helped you look at your sentiment stamps in a new way.

Thank you so much for stopping by and checking out my tutorial!