Stamping And Adultifying A Kids' Sticker Book From Goodwill

There is very little in the craft world that makes me happier than stickers. I've had this delight since I was a little girl - there was nothing that motivated me faster than the promise of stickers as my reward for doing chores and practicing music after school. The huge stack of sticker books I still have from my growing-up years.

Maybe that's why this sticker book stood out like a blinking neon sign the moment I walked into Goodwill last week. Our store has a new display rack for kids' books - which I also love - and the cover of the book definitely caught my eye. Stickers!

Blank stickers. Pages and pages of pre-cut shapes on white sticker paper. I might as well have left the building right then. I had found the hidden treasure I needed for that visit.

I was already picturing which stamp sets I wanted to use with each page of stickers. While some people would draw or sketch or something with pen or charcoal or something equally artsy, I was leaning toward ink and stamps.

I'm very sad to say that it took me a few minutes to find my stamping supplies. I've been too busy to stamp lately, so I had to do some digging to find everything I needed. They're all together now, so that won't be a problem as I work my way through this book.

To stamp on pages like this, where the sticker images are right next to each other, you just need to use a masking technique. I use old telephone books for my stamping surface, so I rip out a page to use for a mask, covering up all the stickers except the one I'm working on.

The result is sharp edges, like when you use painter's tape around a room. It also keeps the other stickers clean, especially when you're using larger stamps, only want part of the image or want to make a border.

Just make sure that your stamp edges are clean, even when using the mask technique. There's a practice page with every sheet of stickers, so I'll be able to test the quirks of each stamp and set and avoid these extra marks on the real stickers.

I can't resist showing you this emoticon explosion sticker. This stamp set has about 20 separate little faces and cool little words, so I chose three of my favorites. Clear stamps and stamps this size are perfect for stamping multiple colors at one time.

I finished it by adding colored pencil to each point of the explosion sticker in a rainbow of colors. Now I just have to find a very special place to display them! And then get creative with the other 550 stickers in the book - sounds like a challenge to me!