- Charms and Embellishment - Putting an embellishment on a card or piece of artwork is fun and easy to do. Along with 12 pieces of sample artwork, stampers share tips on glues and other ways to attach these trinkets. This article first appeared in the March/April 2006 issue of RubberStampMadness.
- Magic Markers - You can achieve beautiful results using brush markers to color directly on stamps. Put a dab of red in one spot, a bit of yellow in another, or mix the two colors directly on your stamp.
- Photo Stamp Tips - Judy Cantrell tells how to make a good impression with photostamps. Extra care is needed because of the fine detail in the rubber. She also shares tips on how to color photostamps.
- Stamping on Clay- You can make an impression in clay with a rubber stamp. Why not! The impressions can be made in polymer clay, Fifo, Culpey, Paperclay® and even Crayola Model Magic. You'll find a resource section, as well as colorful examples of a box, bookmark, card embellishments and coaster.
- Stamping on Magazines - This is a quick and great technique for beginners, as well as a challenge for veteran stampers. Stamp images on magazine pages, considering how the artwork or color on the page will work with your stamp design. Examples include a lighthouse on a sunset paper; a pot and leaf on a muffin ad; a door frame on paper from a calendar. Easy and fun to do! Endless possibilities.
- Unmounted Stamps - Veteran stamper Diana Sample describes how she changed her wooden-mounted stamps into unmounteds. She also shares her catalog system for the 8,000 images in her collection. And she wrote the story a while ago. No telling how many stamps she has now.
- Chalks - Stamp company owner Yvonne Albritton takes you through steps for adding color with chalk to your stamp art. She describes simple tools needed for this technique and how to achieve beautiful results.
- Carving Your Own Stamps - Many stampers enjoy the challenge of making their own images by carving erasers. You can do this, too! It's easier than you think! Web-based groups devoted to carving include the Carving Consortium. A story in RSM #176, Summer 2012, described fun projects by a Consortium subgroup called Carvonia Myrth. This group exchanges artwork, often on a specific theme. Meanwhile, read how you, too, can make your own rubber stamps.
Simple Image Transfer Technique
It's easy to turn rubber-stamped images around, creating a "mirror effect" quite easily. Shirley Rainman of Make An Impression shows how. The magic material is packing tape.
Making a "Comfort Journal"
Relax and enjoy creating a journal that "accentuates the positive." Inspired by The Woman's Comfort Book, artist Mary Meyer made sure her journal included things that relate to "ideas of self-nurturing." She included images and quotes that brought comfort or pleasure. Mary encourages others to do the same and enjoy the experience of making a comfort journal.
Masking: Two talented stampers share tips and techniques for masking--an essential tool for scenic stamping. Beverly Shupp provides step-by-step instructions for paper-masking, placing a woman in front of trees and a flowering shrub. Terri Sproul shares her liquid masking technique, placing a fairy image on top of a field of daisies.
Copic Markers
Diana Sample describes her technique for coloring with Copics to achieve vibrant results. Her step-by-step instructions take you though coloring a scene that includes a building, trees and wishing well. Along with these steps, Sample provides tips and suggestions for storing your Copics, when to use a colorless blender, how to achieve highlights, as well as basic ideas for improving your artwork.
Letterboxing
Letterboxing is a mix of hiking, treasure hunting and rubber stamp artistry. The 'treasure' is typically a hand-carved rubber stamp, which can be stamped into a journal, in exchange for a signature image left in the logbook. Renee Devine, an avid Letterboxing and stamper describers her own treasure hunting, as well as adventures others have had searching for "letterboxes" hidden in all parts of the world. There may be a letterbox near you now!
Stamping on Candles
You can easily place stamped, seasonal decorations on candles. Pamela Clark, former owner of Firecracker Designs, describes how it's done. All that's needed is white tissue paper, waxed paper, a heat tool or craft iron, dye ink pads and something to color in your image. Oh yes, a candle!
Rainbow Ink Pads
An easy way to have multi-color stamping is by using rainbow pads. Ideas for how to use these pads for simple backgrounds, soft textures and water color effects are shown. The author, Viveca Eliscu, also shares tips for accenting your artwork. Two beautiful examples by the author are included.
