Today my daughter G and her friend S hosted their first DIY class at Articulation in the Junction. Eight of us were treated to a well thought out and fun two hours, learning how to make our own personalized stamps. We were each presented with a small hand sewn bag filled with all the supplies we would need for the afternoon and then they were ours to take away. Everyone had their own personal station, which included a cutting mat, pencils, paper, templates of designs that we could copy if we weren’t feeling particularly creative and a thank-you card from the instructor.

Hosted by Uschi & Kay and ‘have & hold Design’.

I thought I would share with you the easy steps involved in making your own stamp.

Step 1. This is probably the most difficult step or the easiest. Draw a design that you would like or copy it from a template.

Draw your design freehand or transfer it from the drawing on the paper.

Step 2: After drawing your design on the rubber block decide whether you are going to cut away the positive or the negative image. I cut away the negative image so that the positive image would print. Using a lino cutting tool with a #2 or #4 blade carefully cut away the rubber around the image.

Step 3: Make sure that the background is cut down enough so that the ink doesn’t attach itself to the negative image. A few raised edges give it a more rustic and homemade look. If you don’t like it you can always cut away more later.

Step 4: Choose the colour printing ink you want to use and roll a small amount onto a piece of glass or plexiglass with a brayer. When you have a nice smooth, even coating on the glass your brayer is ready to lightly ‘dust’ your stamp. Apply the ink in a number of different directions.

Step 5: When the stamp is well covered turn it onto a piece of testing paper. If you are happy with the result apply more ink and print onto cards, envelopes, invitations, stationery, etc..You can also use stamp pads and experiment with many or multiple colours. Have fun! I did.