DIY STAMPING FUN

Do-it!-yourself

Working with what you have

By Lu Fransen

I, like most others, have been at home during this pandemic as much as possible. I’m very fortunate that staying home is something I’m most comfortable with. However I did find myself feeling anxiety much more than usual, so I knew that I needed to keep busier than usual.

Fortunately I have a plethora of craft supplies, some of which I haven’t used in years such as: card stock, background papers and rubber stamps. What I didn’t have was ink pads; almost all of mine were dried out. What I do have is about 30 bottles of craft paints. So I decided to try painting the surface of the rubber stamps instead of inking them.

Note: if you are very particular about keeping your rubber stamps absolutely clean after using them then this is not for you. There will always be some paint left on the stamp, but not on the top of the design.

I soon learned that a very little amount of paint goes a long way. I used scrap paper as my pallet. I poured a small amount of paint on it and then spread it out with a brush so it wasn’t in a deep puddle. Next, I ran a flexible (not stiff) paint brush through the paint and then lightly ran it over the top of the rubber stamp. You want to paint just the top of the stamp as much as possible and not down into the grooves and onto the wood base.

One of the tools I liked the best was a make-up brush from a blush compact. Just try whatever you have on hand.

I tried it on scrap paper first to see if I had too little or too much paint. Then I applied the stamp to the card. So fun. This allowed me to use so many different colors.

Now, you do have to clean your brush in water before moving on to the next color. I learned to plan out what I was going to do on each of the cards so that I could try to use the same color all at one time, and then clean the brush before moving on to the next color.

You must clean the stamp as soon as you are done using it so the paint doesn’t dry on the stamp. I had a small bowl of water and I just dipped the top of the stamp in the water and then wiped it off with a rag. Do not wet the entire stamp as that may cause the rubber to detach from the wood base.

I even did a little embellishing with a small paintbrush, adding color to some of the images. This is a project in which you can be as free and creative as you want. And isn’t that what crafting is all about?

Lu follows in her mother’s footsteps of unwinding and relaxing by crafting and creating. Creativity is like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it becomes!