I’m late to the party for a technique called “Split 4”. I belong to a demonstrator group that recently had a challenge for this technique, which is how I came to learn of it. But, when I did a Google search I found videos and posts from 2020 so it’s clearly been around for a while. The great thing about this technique is that it is super-versatile and can be used to create a quick batch of 4 cards for any season or occasion. I’ve seen some examples for Christmas, and I can easily envision using leaf stamps in Autumn colors for Thanksgiving. The key is to have stamps that go well together that can overlap without looking messy. I encourage you to try it out for yourself using stamps you have on hand. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Cut a piece of neutral cardstock to 8″ x 10 1/2″ (I used Basic White). Score at the half-way point in both directions at 4″ and 5 1/4″; the score lines give you a guide for your stamping. Stamp images along the score lines in multiple shades of ink. I like the look of having the largest images near the center with smaller sizes working outward. I did try to have as little overlap as possible and then filled in with the small dots.
Step 2: Cut apart the stamped paper along the score lines so the sections are 4″ x 5 1/4″. Many of the samples that I saw online used those layers as they were. I found that the score lines caused some gaps in the stamping so I trimmed them a little more to 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″. Doing this trimmed off the gaps and allowed me to add in a mat layer (which I love to do).
Step 3: Stamp a greeting, and then add to the card base (in my case I attached it to the mat and then to the card base). Add any embellishments that you want to zhuzh it up.
Alternative Creations
I used another stamp set called Translucent Florals to create another 4 cards. This stamp set will be in the September – December mini catalog. I received it early because it was featured in a Demonstrator creative event held in June. I really like this stamp set and wanted to see how it would work for this technique. Note that I used the tiny dots and the greeting from the Artistically Inked stamp set that I used for the other set of 4 cards.
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