How to Make a Stamp

Yesterday, in preparation for the Peach Festival, I spent some time carving a stamp to print onto paper bags. The effect of the image is rather handmade, which is precisely what I wanted.

I bought a rubber stamp making kit at Michael's that included:
(1) one rubber pad
(2) a carving kit that included two blades, shown in the photo.
(3) Separately, I bought a brayer (shown in photo), which is a tool that is used to spread paint evenly onto a surface.

You may also want to purchase:
(4) graphite paper for tracing an image onto the rubber pad
(5) various inks for stamps (useful if you're cutting a smaller stamp)

I started by freehand drawing onto the rubber pad with a color pencil, though a regular pencil will work too. The parts of the rubber pad that are not drawn on (referred to as negative space) should be cut away. What's left will be a relief of your image.

*Note: If you are including wording on your stamp, be sure to draw it backwards. If it reads correctly in the mirror, you've drawn it right.

After I carved away all of the negative space, I used the brayer to spread acrylic paint across newsprint. Then, I rolled the paint evenly onto the stamp and applied it with even pressure to my page.

As you can see in the top print, there were still parts of the stamp that needed to be cut down further. And in the bottom image, I had pressed the stamp onto the inked paper rather than applying the paint with the brayer, resulting in uneven coverage and not enough paint.

This is the result of the finished product. It's a pretty simple process. I suggest, if you have a choice between the white or pink rubber pads, to go for the white. They are more pliable and easier to work with.