I have a love/hate relationship with rubber stamps. As with die-cuts, I hate to use them because they’re not mine, and I feel like it takes away from the personalization of my cards. On the other hand, stamps are terribly convenient and frequently adorable. That’s why I decided to try making some of my own.
Stamp making is ridiculously simple when you get right down to it. You take a block of rubber (possibly just an old eraser), draw a picture on it, and then use what is essentially a tiny spoon with a sharp end to carve out your drawing. Once you’ve got the tools (and they’re not especially expensive) you can make a whole library of your own rubber stamps. Which is handy, because “I <3 Ninja Stars” stamps are really tough to find in the store, and they probably won’t be allowed in your luggage, even if you’re Steve Jobs.
The process of making rubber stamps is pretty simple and self-explanatory – the main trick is just having all the right materials.
What you’ll need:
1) Rubber. Or “easy cut” as I believe it’s actually called. It’s rubbery and comes in various sized blocks about 1/4 inch thick. You can get this at craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, or at more specialized art supply stores. It may be pink, or it may be white or gray. It’s not terribly expensive, though it’s not terribly cheap, either. You can also use old erasers, if they’re big enough for the stamps you want to make.
2) Cutting tools. These are the same tools used for lino carving. They’re like little scoops with differently sized and shaped ends, the ends being the sharp bits for cutting and carving. You can get them at craft stores or art supply stores, and you can get a kit with a bunch of different bits in it, or just buy the handle and all the bits you want separately. I’d recommend starting out with 1 to 3 different bits:
- a larger “scooping” bit for carving out big areas – this will have a squared off bottom and sides
- a smaller, narrower bit, V shaped, for carving more precise and detailed areas
- possibly another, even smaller V-shaped bit if you’ll be trying stamps with really fine detail
3) Cutting tool holder. This goes with #2, but you need a handle piece for your cutting bits. You really don’t need anything fancy: I’ve got the cheap wooden one that came with a stamp making kit from Michael’s, and it works just fine. The red one is the same brand, and I bought it simply because the end pops off and gives me a place to store the cutting bits, which is really useful. It was about $5 at the art supply store.
4) Paper and pencil. You can use normal paper or tracing paper for this. Tracing paper is nice because you can trace a drawing you did somewhere else and then transfer it onto the stamp, but normal paper will also work. You can always draw straight onto the rubber, too.
5) Exacto knife. You’ll need this to cut your rubber into smaller pieces for your individual stamps. You’ll also want a cutting mat or other appropriate surface, and a thick plastic ruler or straight edge to cut along.
6) Stamp pad. For, y’know, actually using the stamp. And for testing it out to make sure it looks the way you want it to. Or you can use washable markers to colour your stamps – which allows you to use multiple colours on one stamp. A fun trick to experiment with.
For a cost-cutting method of getting supplied, I recommend getting one of those 40% off any item in the store coupons for Michael’s, and buying one of their stamp making kits. It’s a good way to start out – the kit comes with rubber, a cutting tool with 2 different bits, a piece of tracing paper and all kinds of instructions and ideas that I didn’t actually bother reading because it’s more fun to figure these things out on one’s own.
You can get these coupon’s by buying something at Michael’s (you’ll get a receipt with one of these coupons for the following week), subscribing to their e-newsletter and printing the coupons they send you, or by finding them in the local paper.
Putting it all together:
When you’ve got all your materials together, decide what you want to put on your first stamp. I recommend starting out with small and simple images to get some practice with the tools and materials. All you have to do is draw the image you want on a piece of paper (or trace it), then flip the paper over on top of your rubber and “erase” all over it. Basically, just use a pencil eraser to press down hard enough on all parts of the image that the graphite transfers to the rubber.
I like to cut my rubber down to size at this point around the edges of the image. Just use an exacto knife and a nice solid ruler or other straight edge.
Then all you have to do is carve. Decide whether you want a stamp with a solid block of colour and lines/shapes cut out of that, or an object made up of lines with everything around it cut away. The first option is probably the easiest to start with.
Practice with your tools, and make as many crazy stamps as you can come up with. Then use them to make other cool stuff!
I made an attempt at a rolling stamp, but I had trouble cutting the rubber in half (it needed to be thinner) evenly enough, and it was not a stellar first attempt. Perhaps I will try again and post better results as their own tutorial later on.
You should definitely check out this ingenious tutorial on how to make a rolling pennant stamp out of a wallpaper tool from the hardware store and a wide rubber band. Brilliant!
King Kool
/ September 18, 2010You should make an EXIM face for Alex…
MoosePhysh
/ September 18, 2010Have you thought of mounting your stamps? Or have you tried these?
MoosePhysh
/ September 18, 2010Sorry, these: http://sundayint.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=57
admin
/ September 18, 2010Thought about, yes, gotten around to, no. :) I was just going to use some wood blocks, but this stuff you’ve linked to looks interesting. I’ll try to check it out. Thanks!
admin
/ September 18, 2010@King Kool: I like it. I had been thinking about making special stamps for various people… and that design would lend itself well to stamp making.
Sol
/ September 19, 2010I looooove your stamps!!!! I tried to make some on my own, but I didn’t have the right tools, I only use a cutter and it was very difficult to cut round parts. But it turn out very well. I will definetely buy these tools!!! Love your work!
anna
/ October 5, 2010they look like teenage mutant ninja turtles ;)
Alicia
/ October 9, 2011do you remember the name of the brand for the rubber? I would like to try this out myself, as I am trying to create my own designs.thanks!
admin
/ October 9, 2011Alicia: I believe it’s called Easy Cut (or possibly it’s spelled EZ Cut – I’m not certain), and it can be obtained in most craft and art supply stores. I know Michael’s carries stamp making kits that have it, and likely Hobby Lobby does as well, if you’re in the States. I got mine from Opus, a BC art supply store chain. It’s relatively inexpensive and usually comes in pink or white. You can also carve stamps from simple erasers – Easy Cut is a very similar material.
Liz
/ March 26, 2012LOVE this! Will start making my own asap, thanks!
brian
/ March 27, 2012Great job, I found this to be very helpful! thank you
ashlyn
/ August 10, 2013uh how about NO!!
Call Washington Plumber
/ April 28, 2017Interesting post! I really impressed to read the great information that you have shared.