“Rubber” Stamps You Can Make Without Carving

Recently I needed a specific size and subject of stamp and didn’t have one and didn’t have time to hunt one down. I did have some bags of foam stickers and I decided to cut out what I needed and mount it to a block of wood.

 

I used a pen to enhance a few details

It turned out so well that I had my husband cut some more blocks, and I stuck some geometric shapes onto them to see what kinds of repeat designs I could make.

 

This was done super-fast and I haven’t had time to go back and work on the idea, but you can see from the images that there are endless possibilities. Craft stores, dollar stores, Target bargain sections, many variety stores (Rite Aide, etc.) and even places like Office Max and Staples usually offer bags of pre-cut foam stickers in animal, letter, number, geometric, dinosaur, and other shapes. You could cut off parts of animals and recombine to create new creatures, combine geometric shapes, and cut out images from larger stickers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can “enhance” your handcut images with pen or paint to add fine details and smooth edges if you wish.

 

The paper I used makes
these appear a bit waffley
in the scan

You can also purchase sheet foam with or without sticker backs to make your own larger creations.

 

You can print an image from the stamp and then glue it to the other side of the block and cover it with varnish or clear tape so you can easily see what the image is when the stamps are stored.



This was actually printed sideways
and vertically to test varieties

You can cut blocks yourself if you buy a little hand saw and some lengths of trim material. (Mine are cut from a piece of leftover particle board shelving.)

 

 These won’t last forever but they are so inexpensive who cares? Be sure to clean your stamp well after each use and they will be useable for a long time.