Stamped Puzzle & Bag
Stamped Puzzle & Bag
- March 23, 2021
- by Rebecca Walton
I'll show you how to create a sided sided puzzle each side featuring a scene with animals. We will also stamp a bag to hold the puzzle. This is a great gift idea for kids and adults alike!
Stamps Used
Supplies Used
Additional Supplies
- Mod Podge
- Sharpie Marker – Black
- Colored Pencils
- Die – Spellbinders Nestabilities Small Standard Circles (S4-116)
- Cotton Drawstring Bag (Hobby Lobby)
- Die – Spellbinders Nestabilities Small Standard Circles (S4-116)
- Rubber Band
- Acrylic Paint – White, Matte
- Cardboard Piece
- Tulip Bright Graffiti Fabric Markers
Instructions
The first thing that we will do is prepare our wooden blocks by painting them in white acrylic paint on all sides.
Place the 16 blocks together and secure with a rubber band. We are going to stamp a scene on each side of the blocks, then flip the blocks in the same direction until all the blocks are white and stamp another scene.
Keep in mind that to make the puzzle easier to put together you’ll want to stamp on two or more blocks any time you can.
Once all the scenes are completed we will paint all sides with Mod Podge. We will be using Archival Ink as it will not smear or run when we apply Mod Podge. The only other ink that I would recommend is Staz-On. Since the blocks are likely to get knocked around I would suggested sealing them, but if you don’t want to then you should be able to use other inks. Be sure anytime you’re stamping and it’s a bit uneven to rock the stamp slightly and also to press firmly when using an unmounted stamp.
Here are the scenes and how to create them:
African Safari Scene
Place the Hillside Stencil so that the bottom of the project can be colored. Using a black blending brush, brush on Jet Black Archival ink.
With a circle die, cut out a piece of Masking Magic for the sun and apply it toward the top left of the project. Brush on Tiger Lily ink at the top of the project covering some of the sun. Next brush on Fossilized Amber ink. Remove the mask and dab a little bit of yellow through the center of the sun. Stamp the Acacia Tree (from Trees Unmounted Set) on the top of the hill in Jet Black ink – we will peg stamp everything in this scene in Jet Black Archival ink. Fill in any bare areas where the stamp didn’t take with a Sharpie Marker.
Stamp the Zebra on the right of the project on the hill. Then stamp the Mini Elephant and Tiny Elephant on the left of the project. Stamp the Tiny Monkey in the top of the tree. Stamp the Giraffe under and toward the right of the tree.
Using a ruler and a Sharpie Marker color a thin border on the left, top, and right of the project. This will make it easier to put the puzzle together later as there is so much sky of the same color.
Bunny Garden Scene
Place the Cloudy Stencil a bit down from the top of the project. Brush on Bluebird ink. Rotate the stencil and brush again without re-inking the brush – just use what’s on it. Rotate the stencil and apply Sky Blue ink.
Mount the large Budding Tree from the unmounted set and apply Coffee ink to it. Stamp it in the center of the project, pressing firmly and rocking a bit to get a nice transfer. Stamp the Tiny Chief Leaf in Leaf Green ink on most of the branches. Apply the Hillside Stencil to the bottom of the project so that the open part comes just behind the trunk of the tree and brush on Leaf Green ink.
Stamp the Big Bunny in Coffee ink on the left of the tree in the valley of the hill. Stamp the Mini Bunny Grass in Leaf Green all over the hillside. Stamp the Tiny Forget-Me-Nots in Vibrant Fuchsia ink, clean and stamp again in Plum ink, and again in Majestic Violet. Stamp the Tiny Sprig in Coffee ink.
Woodland Bears Scene
We will use all three Hillside Stencils in the set for this scene.
To create the blue of the sky flip the U shaped stencil so that the plastic is more toward you and it goes from nearly the side of the top left block to almost the bottom side of the second block on the right. Then, place the swooping stencil over that with most of the plastic toward you and running from about the middle side of the top right block to the middle side of the second block on the left. Color this area using the blending brush with Forget-Me-Not ink.
To create the yellow of the sky, move the U shaped stencil downward so that it creates a V at the 2nd block over from the left and down from the top and ends on the left just above the third block. Brush on Sunflower ink, making sure not to mix it with the blue ink already applied.
To create the green hillside, place the swooping stencil with the hump part upward starting about in the middle of the third block on the left to below half way on the block on the left side. Brush on Leaf Green ink being sure not to get into the other colors already applied. You can use one of the other stencils to mask off this area or a piece of paper will work too.
To create the brown ground. Place the U stencil, but flip it so that most of the plastic is up above, covering what you’ve already brushed on. Place the hilly stencil under that – both of these are meeting on the far right block the third block down and goes across to the third block on the left. Brush on Coffee ink.
To create the river, just move the hilly stencil down a bit and brush on Bluebird ink. Brush on Leaf Green ink on the bottom portion of the project.
Stamp the Mini Bear in Jet Black ink in the green area at the bottom of the project and then stamp the Tiny Bear to the right of the other bear. Stamp the Mini Trees in Leaf Green behind the top green hill (mask off the green hill before you stamp). Stamp a grouping in the yellow sky area and down the green hill on the left. Stamp again in Coffee ink beside the other trees.
Farmyard Animals Scene
Place the Cloudy Stencil so that most of it is toward you and brushed on Sky Blue ink. Use this color to make the blue a bit different from previous sky colors so that it’s not too confusing when putting the puzzle together. Rotate the stencil and apply what’s in the brush.
Using the hilly stencil place it so that the majority of the plastic is toward the top (it’s about 1/2 way of the send block from the bottom on the right and near the top of the 2nd block from the bottom on the left) and apply Leaf Green ink to the bottom of the project.
Stamp the Mini Sun low in the sky in Sunflower ink. Stamp the Tiny Pig three times in Vibrant Fuchsia along the hill. Stamp the Mini Hen in Coffee ink three times along the bottom of the project. Stamp the Mini Chicks in Coffee ink and Sunflower ink behind each of the Hens. Stamp the Tiny Grass Sprig all over the hillside.
Deer Family Scene
Place the Cloudy Stencil as you have before and brush on Sunflower ink. Rotate it and use what’s left in the brush once more.
Using the U shaped stencil place it so that it will give you a round hill at the bottom of the project and brush on Leaf Green ink. Place the stencil in the same way, but tilt it on the left so it makes a slice of white. Brush on Fossilized Amber and do the same thing on the right side, meeting in the middle and brush on whatever is left on the brush for the last hill. Now, prepare the Oak Tree (from Trees Unmounted Set) by inking up the trunk in Coffee and the leaves in Leaf Green ink. Stamp it in the center where the hills meet.
Stamp the Mini Doe in Coffee ink in the green area to the right of the tree and a Tiny Deer on her left and the other Tiny Deer on her right. Stamp the Mini Buck on the top yellow hill left of the tree in Vintage Photo ink.
Penguin Scene
Using the U shaped stencil with the plastic part masking off a hill (that covers the slight bottom portion of the second row of blocks from the bottom and about half of the left bottom block), apply what ever is left in the blue blending brush to everything not covered by the stencil. Stamp the Mini Penguin along the snowy hill and on the hill 5 times, twice only part of the body as it came onto and off of the project. Stamp the Tiny Penguin behind some of the adults. Stamp the Mini and Tiny Snowflakes in Sky Blue and Forget Me Not.
Sealing the Project
Paint Mod Podge on all sides of the blocks. You can do 4 sides at a time then do the last 2 after the first dry.
Making the Bag
To decorate the drawstring bag, place a piece of cardboard inside and smooth it out. Draw in pencil at the top, “PUZZLE.” Stamp the bag just like we did (minus the clouds and hillside) with the same colors and stamps as the Bunny Garden scene. You’ll stamp the Tree just under the word puzzle and be mindful of the drawstring as it may make placing the stamp difficult (do a dry run first). Using fabric markers trace over the letters you penciled out.
