Rubber Stamping Guide

A Basic Guide to Rubber Stamping

Rubber stamps provide an excellent way of transferring/printing images and text to different medium. You don’t have to be an artist to create something special such as greetings cards, gift items etc, but those of you who are artistic can take it to a different dimension, with special effects. 

How to stamp

The most common mistake that people make when using stamps is that they ink them up incorrectly. The temptation is to place the ink pad on a desk and tap the stamp onto it. It is much more effective to place the mounted stamp on the desk face up and tap the ink pad onto the image. This gives you much more control and it is therefore less likely you will have areas uninked or blotchy. 

Once the stamp is inked it is time to make your first impression.  It’s always wise to try a test stamp on some spare paper first. Place your card on a flat surface and press firmly with the stamp. Don’t tap or rock, a firm pressure is much better. Unmounted stamps don’t have a cushioning layer, this is now available separately in most craft shops or alternatively you can sometimes find a telephone directory or mouse mat helpful to use underneath when you are stamping with unmounted stamps.

Once you are happy with the impressions you are making you can move onto to stamping directly onto the surface you wish to decorate. This could be a greetings card, wooden box, tile etc.