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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.)
