Do you recall your teachers using rubber stamps to add words of encouragement to your papers, such as “Great job!”? Rubber stamping has evolved, but you can still enjoy it as much as before.
Rubber stamping is primarily used in paper crafts, decorations, cards, invitations, gift tags, scrapbooking, and other similar projects. However, as with other crafts, the possibilities for stamping surfaces are only limited your imagination.
The rubber stamps are made up of only a portion of rubber. The image that will be stamped onto surfaces is imprinted into the rubber, with raised surfaces serving as the image’s outline. The rubber is attached to a base that allows it to be held easily. There is a thin layer of foam between the rubber and the base on all but the lowest quality stamps so that the base does not touch the surface and leave a mark when the stamp is used. Rubber stamp bases are commonly made of wood, but they can also be made of plastic or foam. The stamp image is usually printed on a sticker that is placed on top of the base so that you can easily identify the stamp you want to use. Rubber stamps range in size from a single half-inch (1 cm) wide heart or star to intricate invitation outlines or floral scenes that can cover an entire sheet of paper.
Inkpads are commonly used stampers to color their rubber stamps. Inkpads can be one color or segmented, allowing two or more colors to appear on the same pad. There are also various types of ink, ranging from general-purpose industrial black inkpads to fine sponges soaked in paint, which a library might use to stamp books. The more paint-like inks you use, the better the image quality will be, but you’ll have to be careful with them because they’re more likely to smear when stamping. Some stampers prefer to color with markers instead of inks, which they apply directly to the stamp.
Stampers aren’t usually satisfied with just printing one image on a piece of paper. They may layer and combine multiple stamped images to create a larger image or theme. They frequently color the outlined image provided a rubber stamp. They’ll sometimes add glitter to the ink before it dries to give the outline a gleam. Embossing is another popular choice. To emboss a stamped image, sprinkle embossing powder on wet ink and heat it, causing the embossing powder areas to become slightly raised and shiny. Hand-drawing additional details to an image is another option for embellishment.
Rubber stamping is a versatile and unrestricted art form. Consider trying rubber stamping, whether you want to decorate a single letter or make your own greeting cards and gift bags.