Craft Rubber Stamping - Tips and Ideas

To learn the art of stamping you need practice. Use scraps from other projects to lower the cost of learning your stamping technique. Here are a handful of practices to lessen the financial burden of stamping:

You can find end rolls of newsprint at newspaper publishers. The paper comes on a large roll, and you can use rubber stamps to make wrapping paper. These papers can also be used for drawing and murals.

You can also find paper at printing companies and quick print shops various types of color papers, adhesive-backed paper and small scraps of waste paper are available at these places and may cost you nothing or very little.

Glossy papers are not recycled commercially, so from any nearby store you can find this type of paper and use them for stamping. The slick surface of glossy papers allows you to make a sharp stamp impression.

Small scraps of extra paper and end rolls can be found at in-house printing plants or in some large industries in your community. You can collect various colored scraps of different kinds of paper that can be utilized for stamping purpose from the in-charge of the printing plant.

Small scraps of waste paper and end rolls can be found at in-house printing plants or in some large industries in your community. You can collect various colored scraps of different kinds of paper that can be utilized for stamping from the in-charge of the printing plant.

Some papers discolor or fade after sometime and they cannot be sold. So you can collect these unsaleable papers or envelopes from office supply stores and greeting card shops. Also rubber stamps can be used to recycle them to make stationery.

Wallpapers, journals, and magazine that are used in interior design studios and paint stores for reference or as a catalogue are outdated after some time and people will donate their discontinued sample books; which contain large, white or solid-colored pages that are ideal for rubber stamping. Also the printed sheets of these sample books can be used for other art projects like for collage making.

Foam and mat board can be availed from the picture frame shops. Foam board, a paper-covered polystyrene material, and mat board are used to frame pictures. When a picture is reframed, the old mat is usually thrown away, and imperfectly cut mats aren't useable. So you can employ these discarded mats and scraps of foam and mat board for stamping work.

Colored cardboards are placed behind the different kinds of greeting cards in card galleries. These cardboard are normally changed after some time or after each holiday. The shopkeeper usually throws these cardboards away after their removal from the display. These cardboards are colored at the front and white at the back, can be used for stamping to make bookmarks or gift tags.

Crumpled tissue paper provides an alternative for stamping they can be used as a layering paper with stamping. You can use them as suggested below:

1. Save the crumpled tissue paper from gifts.



2. Crush it in your hands so that it is evenly crumpled.



3. Then apply a complementary color of ink with a brayer. (A roller)



4. Use the prepared crumpled as a layering paper along with the stamping on card, gift tags etc.

Paints can be added to stamping and they give simple and beautiful effects. Tulip Paint adds new dimensions to your cards. Paint works great and doesn't bleed into the paper. You can easily practice this in the method given below: -

1. Stamp a tree on a white paper



2. After stamping the tree dab the paint onto the leaves



3. Leaves stay puffed up if you dab the leaves in proper manner with the Tulip paint.

An old national geographic magazines or are a great source of quality papers usually painted or having pictures. You can cut pictures to fit the front of a card and glue them. Stamps that complement the picture can be used to stamp some matching object on or border the picture. Thus making beautiful cards.

If you buy materials for crafts in bulk rather than in single pieces it will cost you relatively lower. For example you can buy huge rolls available for almost the same price at glass supply shops instead of buying double-stick foam tape from crafts or art supply shops.

Non-tinted embossing fluid is required for certain projects and they cost much if you buy one from the market. But you can make your own embossing fluid by mixing one part glycerin with two parts water. Glycerin is readily available at your local pharmacy or florist. Try putting it in a spray bottle and spraying it onto finished work/background paper and then embossing.

The little plastic covers that come over the make up kit can be used for stamping card as the make a great round see thru windows for your cards.

Old Christmas cards can be used for variety of stamping projects. Especially the ones with large, unprinted areas. Many Christmas cards are printed on beautiful card stock. Stamp small to medium images on the card stock, cut the images out, and then collage them on the blank cards. This is an inexpensive way of acquiring nice paper for your stamp projects.

Pantyhose have a nice texture and can be folded in half and used to make backgrounds with stamping ink. These usually come wrapped around those flat, white, plain pieces of heavier paper.

Easter egg dye kits can be used at places where you need mulberry papers. You just need to dye those used dryer sheets and use them in place of expensive mulberry paper.

You can have your own crimped cardboard and paper if you save all of the packages that light bulbs come in or from other items having this kind of packaging. To use them properly open them at the seam and fold them flat and keep them in a zip-lock bag.

Cellophane used for packaging if removed neatly can be used for card windows. Sometimes you will find clear cellophane on toy packaging.

If you remove the expiration date off with nail polish remover from the tops that come on some brands of yogurt then they serve as great picture frames, fishbowls, portholes, etc.

Save the cardboard backing from notepads. This can come in handy for sending photos or special cards that needs protection. It can also be used to for the backing of a picture frame with a stamped border, cut a triangular piece of cardboard and attach to the back for a support.

To make your rubber mounted stamps much easier to use, pull the rubber die off of the mount, and then carefully cut around the image. You can usually reapply the die to the mount without extra adhesive. This will eliminate the problem of the corners of the untrimmed die printing.

Mouse pads for stamp cushion: I have found that the free mouse pads you can get from computer companies at fairs and conventions make great stamp cushion (and they're free!) Sometimes you have to peel a plastic layer from the top before using it.

Wallpaper Books: Old wallpaper books are a great source of patterned papers to use with stamped art. You can get them by asking at a local hardware store for discontinued/old books.

Quick print shops often make small tablets from their scraps, and they sell them very reasonably. If you want to make your own for rubber stamping, you'll need lots of paper scraps for the pages and a piece of cardboard for the back. Have an adult use a paper cutter to make all of the pages and the cardboard the same size. Gather the sheets of paper and cardboard together, and brush on padding compound or adhesive on one end to make the tablet

There are many creative ways to work with rubber stamps. Use colored pencils, markers, embossing powders or glitter glue to decorate your prints. Paper punches come in a variety of designs, and you can combine them with rubber stamp impressions to recycle paper.

For a simple design press wet toilet tissue into a cookie press, press the water out and then let dry. The design can then be colored with chalks/markers and added to a card.

Take a small bit of address label and a small stamp and mark the color on this label, on the back of your pad, so you don't have to turn your pad over to see what color it is.

Before you mount the rubber on your wood stamps, either spray them with acrylic or with fingernail polish so that the ink comes right off when you clean your stamps.

Colored pencils: These pencils have a really nice soft lead and so you can get variations in color easily.

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