How to Achieve Full Color Rubber Stamping Designs

Rubber stamping is a hobby that allows you to become an artist, even if you never considered yourself one before. With the huge variety of decorative rubber stamps and clear acrylic art stamps that are available, you can always find designs that will suit your project and personality. Rubber stamping on scrapbook pages and card making crafts can help you take the tension out of your day and unwind. But, what if you want more than a stamped outline? What if you truly want your stamping images to be in full color? Today you will learn how to achieve different styles of full color stamped designs.

Adding color, whether vibrant or subtle, can draw the eye where you want it in seconds. Coloring the details on the rubber stamp itself is one of the first steps you will take to achieving a full color image in your hobby stamping projects. Try any of the following techniques to add color to your creative ideas.

STAMPING AN IMAGE IN COLOR

1. Use a multi color ink pad. Often you will find these available in colored stripes ranging from a rainbow of different colors to complementary colors in different shades. You may even find pie shaped multicolor ink pads that will give you even more colors in your stamping art. Regardless of the ink pad, number of colors, or shape, you will end up with a multicolored stamped image that will add great interest and appeal to your scrapbooks and card making crafts. This can add particular interest to solid images that do not need colored in. Clear rubber stamps are ideal for this technique as you can see how well the ink covers the design as well as the blend color you will end up with before you even stamp the image.

2. Another way you can add color before you stamp, is to use water based colored markers. You can do this easily by simply coloring the stamp details in your choice of color. Depending on the size of the image you are stamping, you may choose to stamp between colors. Clean the stamp and then stamp the next color separately so that the ink doesn't dry on the stamp before you get it on paper. This is very easy to do with your clear rubber stamps as you can see where to place the stamp keeping your images precisely lined up. If you find the ink dries too much before you are done coloring the stamp, simply give it a gently huff - the kind that will fog up your glasses - before you stamp.

3. The third way to add color to a stamped image is simply to choose a color of ink other than black or brown. Then you can ink the entire image and stamp it on your paper craft ideas. With that done, you are ready to begin filling in the spaces with fun coloring techniques.

Once you have finished stamping your image with the technique of your choice, you may choose to add resplendant color or you may wish to use it as it is. If you choose to add more color, keep reading for more great ideas.

COLORING IN STAMPED IMAGES

1. You may use chalks or pastels to color in an image. Chalks are available in a wide range of colors and shades. They are ideal for adding delicate color to rubber stamping projects. You can apply chalks with a stiff paint brush, Q-tip, eye make up applicator, or simply use them like a crayon and then brushed away the excess powder. The best idea is to experiment with the different application tools to find your preference. You may find that one brand of pastels is harder than others. The softer they are the easier you will find it is to use a brush to apply color to your stamping crafts.

2. Coloring with pencil crayons can give bold vivid color to your rubber stamping crafts or subtle pastel shades on your card making or scrapbooking ideas. Choose good quality crayons and colors that suit your craft. With colored pencils your can simply add shadow, fine detail or a background aura. The trick to coloring rubber stamped images with pencil crayons is the amount of pressure you put on the crayon as you color. Always color in the same direction. For pastel shades or to blend colors together apply only light pressure. Likewise, for vibrant color, you should press harder as you color. Smooth papers will color differently than textured paper. Experiment with this technique if you are unsure of the effect you will achieve.

3. Stamping additional color is a fun option. Many rubber stamp sets offer a solid background stamp which, you can ink then stamp to fill in objects such as flowers or leaves. Watch for these types of rubber stamps as you create your stamping ideas. They are fun to use and work with. When using these shadow stamps, be sure you choose a color lighter than the outline color so that your details still show up after you stamp the solid image.

4. Add vibrant color with the use of markers. You can use water base colored markers to easily color in details on your rubber stamped designs. Try to use this technique on smaller areas as the ink sometimes leaves overlap lines from coloring over dry ink.

5. Pigment inks are a quick and easy way for you to add color to your rubber stamped images. You can always be sure that the colors you use will match all your stamped elements with this technique. Ink can be applied a couple of ways. Trial and error will help you choose your favorite method. Ink a make-up applicator, and then mist it lightly with water and color in as if you were using a paint brush. You may also use the corner of a make up sponge dabbed in the ink, and color in the rubber stamped image using it dry or moist for different results.

Now you can fully enjoy full color rubber stamped designs. Use them on your hobby scrapbook art and card making crafts as you relax and unwind after a long day. By exploring the world of color in your rubber stamping hobby, you will more fully realize your creative potential as you design beautiful works of art.

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Rubber Stamps And Scrapbooking – Keep Kids Busy With Crafts This Summer

They’re out of school and back to torment the neighborhood this summer. You remember the days. Boredom is a common thought, even with all the stuff to do. Mow the lawn, go to baseball games, and hang out with friends. How can they be bored?

It is really not that tough to find things to do, but it seems like a lot of work just trying to find them. What could the kids do that will actually make them learn something? Just because they are out of school doesn’t mean they have to shut their minds off.

Scrapbook Your Summer

Summer is a time for having fun with friends and enjoying the finer things in life. There are trips to the beach, the amusement park, and the ballgame. Memories will be had by the minute. Preserving the memories is crucial. The boring rainy days will no longer be mind-numbing when there is scrapbooking to do. With all the pictures you are going to take, there must be a cool place to store them.

Sharing the summer memories is fun, but most importantly, it is a way to recall those memories in the future. It’s fun to look back on past summers and laugh at the fun times with friends and family.

Stamp for Fun, Stamp for Years

Incorporating rubber stamps into the scrapbook will make the project to another level. Personalizing you memories is what will make your scrapbook different from all the rest. There are rubber stamp ideas for any theme that you can think of. Baseball stamps help you preserve the ballgame memories, while fish rubber stamps will aid in the conservation of fishing trip memoirs.

Stamping is a hobby that can be enjoyed by all ages for all the years to come. Whether you are creating scrapbooks for photo memories, specialty envelopes for a cocktail party, or crafts for the grandkids. Getting your children involved in stamps and other fun hobbies will not only be fun for rainy days, but will a hobby that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.

Crafting teaches patience, problem solving, and determination. Working with your hands is not something that can be taught, it must be learned through trial and error. There are not many things that the whole family can enjoy, but stamping and crafting is fun for all.

How Self Inking Stamps Support Modern Business Practices

If you have ever worked as a receptionist, secretary or any position in an office setting, you know the most important drawer of your desk is the one that holds all the stamps. You know the one that I am talking about; it has at least seven different custom made stamps all having an integral part in the business dealings that go. There is the one to approve certain documents, the one for mailing out letters, the one that acts as the president's signature and the ones that help identify invoices. They are all important, but none as important as the self inking stamp.

In most cases one is using self inking stamps. They are taken for granted that we don't even notice them and we also don't think about the time they save us. As you press down the self inking stamp the pad rotates to the faceplate of the stamp. Then they have a brief moment of togetherness and then their affair is cut short as the faceplate slams into the paper, leaving its mark. By this means we have eliminated a step in the stamping process that saves us a valuable amount of time.

You can get custom self inking stamps at such low cost that they are more valuable to your company than most of your employees, (well, maybe only at the companies I have worked for). They are an integral part of the business world, helping to promote organization as well as efficiency. Three ways that self inking stamps can help your business:

1. Self inking stamps improve your organization. Mostly you can buy self inking stamps in at least three different colors - red, blue or black. So you can easily and quickly see where the document belongs.

2. They can reduce mess and clutter on your desk or in your drawer. Without the messy inkpad to worry about, there are no smudges or spills to clean up.

3. Self inking stamps save you a valuable amount of time. By saving the unnecessary movement with your arm to the inkpad you cut the time it takes to stamp your paper in half.

This small device can make a big impact on the professionalism of your business. It can improve your organization, your efficiency and the overall appeal that you will have with your clients. For these reasons alone, it is well worth the tiny investment in these devices.

Self inking stamps can also be used creatively.

Well, it is easier now than ever! You can have these stamps customized for whatever need you can think of. Perhaps you are a teacher and would like a new and personal way to tell your students that they have done a great job. Perhaps it is a family members birthday, and you want to tell them how much you love them. Whatever your needs are, these stamps can be customized to fit them.

Collecting Rare British Stamps

Collecting stamps has been a popular hobby for many years. Lots of people collect stamps. Even Queen Elizabeth herself has an enormous stamp collection and the Palace continues to build this. Getting children interested in stamp collecting is a great way to develop an interest and appreciation of history.

The first British postage stamp was the Penny Black, issued in 1840 during the reign of Queen Victoria. The Penny Black was issued as a way for people to pre-pay for their postage at a set rate. Believe it or not, the Penny Black was only printed for one year. The problem was that the stamps were cancelled (or stamped by the post office) in red ink, and the Royal Mail found that a lot of stamps were being re-used. The red ink used to cancel them was also relatively easy to remove; hence sneaky people did this and used the stamps again and again, thus depriving the Royal Mail of their revenue.

One of the best things about the Penny Black is the fact that it is historically very exciting as when you see a real Penny Black you are immediately taken back to a Dickensian Victorian London. The other great thing about it as a new stamp collector is the fact that contrary to some misconceptions, it is NOT a rare stamp. Over 68 million were made, and even through the passing of time, there are many genuine Penny Blacks about in collections, sales rooms and dealers stocks.

The important thing about collecting British stamps, as in all collecting hobbies, is the condition and the rarity of particular variations of any given stamp. To the untrained eye, you might be able to put two Penny Blacks side by side and they might look pretty much identical, but the trained stamp collector will know that one is worth $10 and the other $2000. This might be because one is used and slightly worn, the other mint and unused.

So where can you start to collect rare British stamps? If you want to get some of the legendary stamps of the Victorian era, such as a Penny Black and a Penny Red, then you will probably need to buy these from a dealer or another collector. However there have been thousands of other fascinating stamps printed by the Royal Mail over the last 170 years. All sorts of sets to commemorate important events have been issued from football world cup stamps to royal weddings and jubilees. However, just collecting the basic postage of the time is in itself quite fascinating because it gives a sense of how inflation the spending power of the UK currency has changed over time. You might be surprised to note that though a Penny Black's worth of postage now costs only 39 pence, £1 in 1840 is now equivalent to around £44 in spending power so the real cost of postage has stayed roughly the same in all those years (conversion figure of £1 in 1836 being worth £44 in 2007 from the UK National Archives government site).

The easiest place to start looking for stamps for your new British stamp collection is to ask friends and family. See if they have any old stashes of letters and correspondence that they could spare the stamps from. If you want to remove stamps from envelopes, you can usually either steam or soak them, but be careful. In some cases it might be safer to just cut them out of the envelope, making sure you don't cut the perforations. However, if the envelope or postcard the stamp is on looks historical, you might want to keep it intact and put the whole envelope in your stamp album. For example, if it was addressed to someone from your family, or to someone famous. Friends and family might also have a stamp collection that they perhaps started on and never completed that they would be willing to let you have to get you going. If you don't ask you don't get so see if you can find out! Other places worth checking are charity shops. Charities sometimes have appeals for used postage stamps and may have bags of stamps for sale at low prices.

When starting out, if you are not worrying so much about condition, you can also buy bulk lots of stamps where you buy stamps by weight from stamp dealers (or online). You essentially pay by the Kilo for stamps that will be on paper backings and these are often referred to as kiloware. These stamps are unlikely to be valuable or rare, but they will be interesting and this is a great way to start off your collection. You can always move on to rarer stamps a little later on, perhaps getting a particularly sought after British stamp as a birthday or Christmas gift.

The other popular areas of stamp collecting are the collection of first day covers (or Fad's as they are often referred). First day covers are issued by the Royal Mail on the first day that a stamp is officially issued. You can buy special first day envelopes which contain information about the stamp and its designer, and get these specially franked on the day of release. Or, of course, you can simply buy a stamp on the first day of issue and post it to yourself so you have your own first day cover. Again, it's a historically interesting thing to collect.

If you are going to collect stamps then you need to get a good stamp album to put them in as well. Even if your stamps are not particularly rare, you need to look after them and ensure that they stay in the condition they are when you get them. Stamps are easy to damage and destroy so try and keep them somewhere safe from flooding as well.

As your collection improves you may also want to consider getting some tweezers and a magnifying glass so you can start to understand and spot fine details on stamps that make them stand out from more common versions.

British stamp collecting is a great hobby that doesn't have to be expensive to be fascinating. It gives a real insight into history and the past, and your stamp collection can go wherever your interests take you. You might start off collecting British stamps but end up collecting US postage stamps or the stamps of another country that interests you.

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How Many Rubber Stamps Do You Have in the Big World of Art Stamps?

For me it all started with these rubber stamps. That's right this cute little butterfly art stamp and this set of alphabet stamps.

I can remember my first rubber stamps. My brother gave them to me for my birthday. It was a butterfly art stamp, and an alphabet stamp set, that was 15 years ago. I can remember thinking to myself "what am I going to do with these rubber stamps"? Boy did I find out what to do with them. I made cute little butterfly note cards and I remember coloring them with a colored pencil (since that is all that I had back then or crayons), then with the alphabet stamps I stamped my family and friends name and of course finished it with a butterfly. Holy crow, he is the one that created my obsession with art stamps, and I am so happy that he did, thanks Mike.

What can I say; I Love Rubber Art Stamps and all the rubber stamping supplies that go along with them. Take a look at just some of the art stamps that I have. I have labeled each drawer and bin so I kind of know what is inside. I also have a few scattered around my craft studio on shelves. I told you that I Love Art Stamps. Now do you believe me?

Rubber stamps have come a long way. There are a ton of manufacturers for Art Stamps, depending on what you are looking for. A long time ago the only kind of art stamp that was available was the red rubber stamp mounted on a wood block. Now, those stamps are still available but there are also clear un-mounted art stamps that you take off of a cling sheet and adhere to an acrylic block. When you are done you just clean the stamp and take off the acrylic block and out back on the plastic sheet or in a clear plastic CD case.

The great thing about these art stamps is that you can see exactly where your image will be stamped on your card stock. This gives you less room for error (even though there is never an error in art, it just makes a different masterpiece then you expected).

What I love about the acrylic block rubber stamps is when you are working with alphabet stamps. The reason is you can have the correct spacing between each letter and word. When I have used alphabet stamps that were wood mounted, I usually had crooked words and phrases on my card or scrapbook page.

Another cool thing about these clear un-mounted rubber stamps is that they do not take up so much room as the original wood block art stamps. So if you do not have a lot of space to store your rubber stamps then this is the ideal way to go. I have two ways that I store my clear un-mounted rubber stamps. One is in a 3 ring binder, and the other in my Crop in Style Stamp Store tote. The stamp store can hold hundreds in the drawers.

There are also red rubber un-mounted stamps that you can purchase. They are cheaper than mounted rubber stamps. You can then mount them any way that you want; either on a wood block or use the ez-mount foam system (I will explain that in a near future article)

The last kind of rubber stamps that I can think of is the pre-inked art stamps. I have some art stamps that are pre-inked wheels. They are great for backgrounds or borders. All you do is insert the small cartridge of ink into the handle of the rubber stamps wheel, insert the wheel and away you go.

Well, as you can see I have a lot of rubber stamps. And with all these art stamps I do not have any duplicates and I can honestly say that I use or have used each and every one.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joan_Koeppel

Online Photo Stamps – Print Stamps From Your Home

Most people keep a book of stamps in a drawer somewhere at home because you'll never know when you might need them! The trouble is that you often loose track of just how many stamps you have left, and its all too easy to run out of stamps at any given point in time, especially when you have a truckload of bills to send out. When you want to send by post, it's very annoying to find out that you dont have any stamps left! Especially if the post office is closed!

Thanks to the internet it is possible to get around this oversight, and Im not talking about email. The United States Postal Service has come up with a system which allows people to print their own postage stamps in the comfort of their own home!

This is the perfect solution for those people that have hectic lives!

You can buy two types of postage stamps online, regular online postage stamps and photo stamps. We will consider both of these within this article.

Regular and Online Photo Stamps

Whenever you go to the post office to buy a stamp you are buying a boring, standard postage stamp. These are normally red in color, there is no option to customize the stamp before you purchase it other than the options they may give you. This has become popular on the internet as well. You can just order a regular 1st class stamp for example and then print it off using your own printer.

You can have much more fun with your stamps these days, when you buy them online than when you just go to the post office to buy them. You can decorate, preview, and print your stamps all from the comfort of your own home. You are able to upload any photo (within reason) and then use this as part of your postage stamp as well. How convienant is that?

International Photo Stamps

These stamps aren't just restricted to domestic use, they can be used to send you mail internationally. They are perfect to use for many different special occasions, such as weddings, births, anniversaries and even birthdays! Photo stamps are addictive! Once youve started using them youll never want to go back to using regular postage stamps, they're just so boring in comparison! And lets face it, they weren't that exciting before we had photo stamps!

How Can I Print Photo Stamps?

Companies that wish to sell online stamps must apply to the USPS for permission. These authorized vendors will generally provide a piece of software to users which can be used to generate stamps, this software is invaluable to customize your stamps.

You dont need any additional graphics editing software because most of these pieces of software allow editing and cropping of your images so that theyre suitable for your postage stamp.

There is normally a minimum order of one sheet of stamps, this sheet contains 20 stamps of whatever denomination you choose. You should buy the denomination of stamp that you will use the most of when sending post, for most people this will be 37 cents first class stamp.

Online postage stamps have made it so much easier to send snail mail, its very useful for businesses as they are able to keep a log of their use, plus they can buy postage as and when they need it rather than having to shell out so much for regular postage stamps and honestly....its just so much more convienant.

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Pre-Inked Rubber Stamps Work Smarter

Traditionally people have been using rubber stamps to put a seal on the important documents – marking the company name or other endorsements. These stamps have to be pressed on an inkpad first and then on the surface where the stamp is needed. Recently pre-inked stamps have made their way in the market and are highly preferred because of their neatness and superior print quality.

Pre-inked stamps can be used for marking on any surface. These stamps are fast drying and water-resistant which makes it perfect for identifying personal items, photography, industrial equipment etc. There is no need of separate inkpads because the ink is present within the stamp itself. A clean, crisp impression is obtained every time a pre-inked stamp is used. Some commonly used messages in pre-inked rubber stamps are “WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS”, “THANK YOU FOR YOUR PAYMENT”, “PLEASE VISIT US AGAIN”, “A/C PAYEE ONLY”, “SEASON’S GREETINGS”. This helps to create a favorable impression on the customers about the organization concerned.

A pre-inked rubber stamp has ink within its own ink-saturated rubber die. The ink oozes it's way out through a rubber face of the stamp. They are also available in slightly larger sizes. These also last longer. Usually the quality of the stamp die is much better than both traditional stamps and self-inking stamps. Sometimes these are titled as ‘premium' choice of rubber stamps. The advantages of pre-ink rubber stamps are that they offer a better image quality than self-inking stamps.

Tag : stamps,rubber stamps,postage stamps,photo stamps

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Self Inking Rubber Stamps

Self-inking stamps are characterized by their separate die and re-inking pad, incorporated into a convenient spring-loaded mount. Pressing down on the top of the mount makes the stamp impression. The stamp die rotates away from the pad and down on to the area to be stamped. Self-ink stamps are mid-priced, and they cost more than conventional stamps, but less than pre-inked stamps.

The number of lines and the mount size determines the prices of self-ink stamps. Usually, 6 self-ink mount sizes are available. Care should be taken to avoid banging or applying excessive pressure on these self-inking stamps. The stamps should be pressed down firmly over the area to be stamped and pressure should be applied evenly. The advent of self-ink stamps has ensured consistent impressions and allows easy alignment to information on brochures, business cards and envelopes. A single ink refill would enable the user to make thousands of impressions.

Self-inking stamps are flexible to use as they can be dismantled easily. This facilitates changing the ink color at will. Self-inkpads are available in small to large sizes varying upon the number of lines. These stamps also do away with the need to carry a separate stamp and inkpad, adding to the convenience factor. The stamps are recyclable, hence when a change of information is required on the stamp, only the rubber die needs to be changed.

Self-ink stamps are made of heavy-duty plastics designed to give years of clear, quality impressions. Other features include non-slip rubber feet, clear label window to show full stamp text, and a secure locking mechanism. The stamp has an easy access pad, which can be re-inked or changed to give you thousands of additional quality impressions.

It is a useful tool used to ease the problems of drying ink in a regular rubber stamp inkpad.

Tag : stamps,rubber stamps,postage stamps,old stamps

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