Rubber Stamping -- Making a Good Impression

While there are an infinite number of rubber stamp designs available, there are just a few simple tips and tricks to keep in mind when making a rubber stamped impression. This article should get you up to speed.

• It is often easier, especially when working with larger stamps, to pick up the ink pad and apply it to the stamp, rather than pressing the stamp into the pad.
• Small ink pads, such as the petals in the Color Box inks, can be used to color specific parts of your stamp in order to make a multicolored image (see photo of the chili pepper stamp and Color Box petal pad at right).
• You can use felt tip brush markers to color directly on the stamp die image in one or more colors.
• When blending more than one color on a stamp, always start with the lightest color ink first and progress to the darker colors.
• Always stamp on a flat surface.
• Always test your stamp on piece of scrap paper before attempting an image on your good paper.
• Take care not to get ink on the areas of the stamp outside the design. Stamp corners often tend to want to pick up unwanted ink and these can cause unsightly blotches on your finished products.
• Take care to press down with firm, even pressure when making a print. If your image comes out uneven or too light it probably means you didn't use even pressure, or your stamp wasn't evenly or sufficiently inked.
• If your finished image is too thick or heavy you probably used too much pressure or too much in, or both.
• If your stamp has large open areas, avoid getting ink in the large open area by using the edge of your stamp pad to tap ink onto the outside of the stamp outlines, rather than directly over the top.
• Take care to lift the stamp directly up and off the page after making a print, any side to side movement can create a double or shadow image.

Rubber Stamping Projects
Click here for FabulousLiving.com's rubber stamping projects.

Rubber Stamping -- Hanukkah Greeting Cards

For these cards I challenged myself to come up with various designs using nothing more than a single rubber stamp and some basic paper crafting supplies. The results are five simple yet stunning cards that anyone would love to receive on Hanukkah.

The ornate dreidel stamp I used for these projects is made by Ruth's Jewish Rubber Stamps, but you could use any appropriate central image you like instead. In fact, use different images for different holidays -- most of the designs will still work well.

The links below will take you to detailed directions on how to make the greeting cards in the photo.

• Spinning Dreidel Card
• Silver Embossed Hanukkah Card
• Embossed Vellum Hanukkah Card
• Vellum and Stripes Hanukkah Card
  
• Multi-Matted Embossed Hanukkah Card
  

The Care and Cleaning of Rubber Stamps and Ink Pads

Care for your rubber stamps and ink pads and they will last a long, long, long time.

Storing Rubber Stamps
The most important thing to remember is to store your rubber stamps away from direct sunlight as this can eventually damage the rubber. Other than that, where you keep them is up to you. Many people like shallow boxes where the stamps can be stored in a single, easy to look at, layer. I use hanging clear shoe bags to store a lot of stamps in the closet. If you have a creative stamp storage solution, let us know!

Cleaning Rubber Stamps
It's important to keep your rubber stamps clean, otherwise the ink from one project is likely to bleed onto the prints of another. That said, some inks stain and will be impossible to get completely clean. Learn the difference between a stain, which won't effect future use of the stamp, and dried on ink, which will.

Try to clean rubber stamps as soon after using them as possible. If you clean your stamps quickly, water is often all that's necessary. You can also buy special stamp cleaning fluid from your crafts store (this is especially necessary when using solvent inks.

Another handy item available at your stamp or craft supply store is a stamp cleaning pad. This resembles a large white ink pad but instead of foam it has a fabric scrubbing surface. You spray your stamps with cleaning fluid, then scrub it back and forth on one side of the scrubber pad to get the ink off, then the other side to dry the stamp.

A couple of household items can also come in handy when cleaning rubber stamps. An old toothbrush can help to gently scrub stubborn ink out of detail areas of a stamp.

Baby wipes also do a good job of cleaning inked rubber stamps, providing they are alcohol and lint free.

Storing and Caring for Stamp Pads
Old stamp pads never die -- they just get re-inked. Don't throw out your stamp pads, you can buy bottles of refill ink and bring them back to life. Inks come in small squeeze bottles. To re-ink your pad, spread a thin layer of ink as evenly as possible over the pad, then use a stiff piece of card stock or a piece of heavy plastic (such as an old credit card) to drag across the pad and spread the ink.

There is no need to store foam pads upside down, although felt dye based ink pads can benefit from this. Be careful storing rainbow pads -- keep them level or their inks could run together.

More on Rubber Stamping

• The Different Types of Rubber Stamps
• About Inks, Paints and Markers
• How to Make a Good Impression with Rubber Stamps