AN ADVENTURE IN MAKING STAMPS

These are notes from our October Stamp-Making evening...

Your kit contains…

2 DICK BLICK soap erasers
1 3 x 4 piece Soft Kut printing plate from Dick Blick
1 3 x 4 piece EZ Cut printing plate from Dick Blick
1 4 x 6 piece Richeson’s Easy-to-Cut linoleum
2 sheets Darice self-adhesive fun foam
Foam core board to support the foam

TIPS

• The first three items can be carved with an X-Acto knife. Linoleum, being thinner, requires linoleum cutting tools. Self-adhesive foam is fun and “instant gratification”—cut shapes with scissors and stick them to the foam core board. We learned that EZ Cut is fragile, and designs shouldn't be too complex. Soft Kut is delightfully easy to work with.
• Eraser Carving: Make the first cut up and down. Make the second cut at an angle to the first cut, touching the bottom of the first cut but not passing through, as if the first cut is a wall. Passing through the “wall” too much will weaken the stamp.
• E6000 adhesive can be used to mount stamps to Plexiglas or wood. But we learned that EZ Cut doens't glue well with this stuff.
• Really quick stamps: Glue string or found objects to a substrate (even cardboard works for short-life stamps). Let it dry and you’re ready to print.
• Apply paint or thickened dye to your stamps with a brayer, spread the dye onto a smooth surface and tap the stamp to it, or use a foam brush as a stamp pad (pat the surface of the stamp with the brush).
• You can cut simple shapes from compressed sponge and stamp with that. It will expand when it gets wet.
• An iron will often transfer photocopied images to a rubber block.