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The Enrichment Project
Handmade Stamps
Steps
Considerations
1. Ink and paint.
Depending on the porous nature of your stamps, some may require paint or ink to be
efective. Both come in many varieties . . . for example you can get pigment, dye, StazOn,
embossing and distress inks from hobby stores. There are even more types of paint. Read
about their uses as well as cleaning information. Then, try a few of these on your stamps.
Keep a list as you experiment to refer to as you make more stamps.
2. Test.
Always test your stamps when you are making them. If you dont like what the stamped
area looks like, adjust your stamp and try again. This is necessary even for purchased
rubber stamps which might not give a clear print.
3. Pad.
You may nd you need to get a little extra padding to get a good impression from your
handmade stamp. If you have a pad of paper or a sheet of foam under the item you are
stamping on, it will give a bit and allow you to get a better impression. Test this by
stamping with and without a pad under a sheet of paper to see the diference.
4. Cleaning.
Some inks and materials require special cleaning. For standard dye / pigment inks, you
can use baby wipes, special stamp cleaners, etc. Be sure to track which cleaners work best
with the medium / stamp you are testing. Use this for your reference.
Stamp-making materials
5. Potatoes and fruit.
When you carve stamps out of food, be aware that the stamps wont last long. You will
probably want to use paint instead of ink because of the porous nature of the stamp.
To make food stamps, slice it in half. Draw your design and carve it out using kitchen tools.
Alternatively, press down with a cookie cutter, remove all the potato outside the cutter and
remove the cutter. Food stamps do not hold detailed images. Apply paint and stamp. Find
more information online and create a food stamp.
6. Fun foam shapes.
You can place fun foam shapes on any hard at surface to make a stamp. This includes
jar lids, blocks of wood, etc. Some fun foam shapes are not stickers, so youll need glue to
attach them to the block. Dont be afraid to adjust the shapes you have . . . you dont want
yours to look like everyone elses. Make a fun foam stamp.
Handmade
Stamps
You can make
a handmade
(physical) stamp
to use as a rubber
stamp with a variety
of materials. Their
usage completely
depends on the
materials from
which they are
made.

Enrichment
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7. Foam pads.
Foam pads can be found in the pharmacy department of many stores. These include foot
cushions for corns, bunions and calluses. If you use these, make sure the plastic skin is
removed as it resists ink.
In addition, some foam material can be heated and formed into a stamp shape which it
holds when cool. Check out the available shapes and look at how you can use them to
create your own designs with them.
8. Meat trays.
Using the foam from a meat try, draw a design and cut it out. Attach the foam to a solid
base (wood, acrylic, etc.). Test your stamp.
9. Rubber bands.
Wrapping a solid piece in rubber bands gives you a textured background. This works on
brayers, acrylic/wooden rods, paper towel rolls, etc. Create a stamp this way and test it.
10. Sponges.
All sponges are not created equal. For more texture, larger holes may look cool. This wont
hold a design, however. Experiment with diferent types of sponges to see what you can
come up with.
11. Carve erasers (rubber).
For carving stamps, erasers are the easiest. Be careful to choose an eraser that doesnt
crumble. The easiest rubber to carve is the rubber eraser on a pencil. Check to make sure
the rubber is not hard / old. You can also use larger erasers from the art department at
your local store. Get at least two diferent types of erasers and see the diferences in your
stamped images.
Alternatively, you may want to watch videos of others carving stamps to see how it is
done.
12. Carve linoleum (vinyl).
Youll need Speedball linoleum carving tool for this. It is a good investment as this will
make your life a lot easier. The blades come in various shapes and sizes so you can carve
without undercutting your design. Check out videos on carving linoleum.
13. Found objects.
Sounds crazy? Grab a few toy cars, run the tires through ink and see the pattern you get.
Need more ideas, try a few of these:
Bubble wrap Its just not for stress relief
Buttons
Faux leaves and owers
Bottle ends (circles)
Plastic canvas

14. Dont stop experimenting!
Continue exploring your home, local resale shops and more for unique items to use as
stamps. Dont limit yourself stamping on paper, either. You can stamp on anything that
stays still long enough.

Enrichment
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Sites to Explore
www.mitchklink.com/letterboxing/stamps.htm
groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/CarvingConsortium/info
letterboxing.pragerfamily.net/stampmaking.html
www.carvingconsortium.com
alteredbelly.blogspot.com/2010/01/found-object-stamping.html
www.cindyderosier.com/2012/05/found-object-stamping.html
www.carlemuseum.org/studioblog/?p=1293
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to start your own adventure.