How to Make Handmade Rubber Stamps :Make your own stamps

Image by atgaiva

Stamps are a great way to decorate your stationery, cards, notes etc. They aren't to hard to make either. You can create your own designs with this tutorial.

What you'll need:

Speedball SpeedyCarve Rubber Carving Block
Speedball  Lino Cutter Kit

Laser printer
Copy paper
Iron

Acid free Stamp Ink Pad
Small wood block
Super glue


1. Print out your image onto your copy paper about the size that you would like your stamp to be. Make sure to print a high quality image using the most ink.
2. Iron the image onto the Rubber carving block for about 10 seconds making sure not to burn your block.
3. Peel off the paper. You should be able to see the image relatively clear. If not, repeat the previous steps turning the heat up slightly higher on your iron and pressing the image a bit longer.
4. Once your image has successfully transferred, Cut the image block (image and surrounding rubber) into a square.
5. Now you're ready to carve. Begin by carving the image out of the block removing all of the remaining rubber until only the image remains on the rubber. Keep in mind, any extra rubber shows up on your paper if it's not removed.
6. Once your stamp is carved, apply a small amount of wood glue over the back of the stamp and press it against the wood block.
7. Allow the glue to dry on your wood block and test the stamp with your ink pad.