Rubber stamping is a fun and simple craft that almost anyone can do. It helps to bring out the artist in those who may not have drawing or painting skills. With a little bit of information, it is possible to create exciting projects!

Getting Started

The first thing you need to know is how to stamp an image. Of course, you will first need a stamp, an ink pad, and something to stamp on - usually cardstock or paper for your first experiments. There are rubber stamp images to appeal to anyone, so choose any one to start with. Next you will need ink. For a beginner, a good dye ink would be the best place to start. Dye inks dry quickly and are pretty simple to clean. There are a wide variety of papers or cardstocks to use, and your choice will depend on your project.

1. Once you have selected your materials, take your stamp and firmly press it down onto the open ink pad. Depending on the size of the stamp, you may need to move the stamp over and press a couple of times to get ink on the entire stamping surface. You should be able to see the color or moistness on the stamp to indicate that it is inked.
2. Carefully place the stamp, rubber side down, on the surface to be stamped. Press down firmly. Be careful not to move or rock the stamp once it has contacted the paper/cardstock as this will distort the image or cause areas of the stamp that aren't part of the image to contact the paper.
3. Lift the stamp straight up off the paper. You will need to reink your stamp again before using unless you are trying for a special effect (which I'll discuss later).

Using Markers with Stamps

There are many brands of brush markers sold for stamping. Those who have never stamped before are probably not familiar with brush markers. Most come with dual tips. One is a small felt tip which is useful for coloring in stamped images. The brush tip is much longer. It can be used to color in large areas quickly, but is most often used to color directly on the stamp.

This technique allows for you to stamp an image in more than one color.

My favorite way to use them is to apply color to a brushstroke image, like a flower. In that way, the stem and leaf can be done in greens, the petals in reds or pinks (or other colors, of course!) and the center of the flower can be a yellow or other color.

1. Always start with the lightest color and work your way to the darkest color. Apply the ink with the marker to the area you want that color then move to the next color.
2. When you are done coloring, some of the ink may have dried. To fix this, take a deep breath, then slowly breath out, or 'huff' on the stamp. The moisture from your breath will revitalize the ink. Stamp as described above, and you will have a colored image!

What is Masking?

Masking is a technique where you can layer stamps or you can 'put' an image inside another. Like stamping a teddy bear in a wagon, or a flower in a pot.

When you plan a card or other project using masking, you first need to figure out the order in which to stamp the images. The simplest way to think of this is to figure out which item is the furthest in front. In other words, if you were to look at a three dimensional view of what you want to stamp, which item would be closest to you. For the bear in a wagon, because the bear is in the wagon, the wagon is the nearest item and would be stamped first. Then you would add the bear. For the flower in the pot, the same thing occurs. So you stamp the pot first.

1. Stamp the image on your project where you would like it. Then stamp that same image on a scrap piece of paper (I prefer to use a post-it note - so the image is partially on the side opposite the sticky portion). Cut out the second image (the one on the scrap).
2. Place this cut out image (the mask) over the first identical stamped image. Stamp the flower so that it is 'in' the pot. In this image, grass was also added around the pot using the technique. Remove the mask, and wherever the image overlapped the mask, it appears to be behind!

Stamping is a fun and rewarding hobby. It can be used to create cards, decorate clothing, walls and furniture, framed pictures, or for scrapbooks. Check out the stamping supplies available here on Cynderelli.com.