Tip #1
Use Filters. Sure, you can layer a brush image anywhere on your layout and it will look good. But make it look great by applying a layer filter, such as Overlay, Linear burn or Screen.
[example] in the layout below, an overlay filter was applied to the bird stamps to give them a faded appearance, slightly blending them with the paper and letting the paper's texture show through. This is similar to how a real stamped image will have a slight difference in appearance depending on what material you stamp it on.
Tip #2
Dodge & Burn it. You can also set the color variation/fade/hue jitter settings from the brush tool options but I think using the dodge and burn tools after 'stamping' gives a better result.
[example] in the layout below, specifically look at the butterfly and flower on the left. They have been selectively dodged which made it appear as if some of the color was worn away. This is an effect similar to how an unevenly inked stamp would look on paper.
Tip #3
Add Dimension. This is an easy trick when stamping over more than one layer, take the extra time to stamp each layer. Remember that we use shadowing to emphasize layers in digital scrapbooking and a stamp most often will not have a shadow because it becomes part of whatever layer it is stamped on.
[example] in the layout below, the leafy vine at the top was stamped once on the photo and again on the paper underneath the photo. Do this by duplicating the original stamped layer and moving it below the layer that the original was stamped on. Then Group the original stamped image with the layer it was stamped on, in order to "trim" off any hangover excess. For added effect, use the arrow keys to nudge the second stamped image, moving it slightly horizontally and vertically to give it an appearance of being offset from the original.
