Rubber stamping

Techniques and ideas for rubber stamping are as varied as the number of people who design them. Many of my own techniques come with trial and error, -- you can't avoid errors, but these can lead you to interesting discoveries and new adventures! I either check out ideas in the card making magazines or I will come up with something out of my head. Taking classes has certainly helped alot.

The first thing in developing your own techniques is to understand something about the primary tools that you will use as you will see below.

Rubber stamps and clear stamps

The majority of stamps are usually made of rubber (how obvious can that be?), and typically come in the terra-cotta color such as what you see in the craft stores. The clear ones are not truly rubber but are made of photopolymer or acrylic although they have the same "rubbery" feel to them. You can purchase either type mounted or unmounted. The clear are quite popular at this time since they mostly come unmounted and can be attached to an acrylic block, taken off after use, cleaned, and stored easily since they are fairly flat and thin. Even better, you can see through the acrylic block so you know just where to place your image on the paper. There are pros and cons to using either type.

Unmounted stamps

In craft stores I find primarily, if only, the clear ones sold as unmounted stamps. Please see my page on organization to see how I store some of my rubber stamping and card making supplies. They are great to store as they aren't as bulky as the ones mounted onto the wood blocks.

Inks

Most inks are either dye-based or pigment. The long and short of it is, dye-based ink dries quickly, will not hold embossing powders, and in some ways will show detail better. The pigment inks are more juicy, dry slower than the dye inks, and can have embossing powders added to them. Some inks are designed for children to use because they are washable.

Card Stock Paper

Card stock paper seems to come in unlimited colors and hues. The important thing is that for your image to come out clearly and for more detailed stamps, usually it is best to use paper with a smooth, matte finish. How you put pressure on your stamp when applying the inked stamp to your paper will make a difference as well and takes experimentation. Many factors come into play between the types of rubber and clear stamps used along with stamp inks and card stock paper.

Go to this page for ideas on making embellishments using rubber-stamping and other techniques.