Stamping Tutorial for Beginners Part One: Rubber Stamps

By Request, today we are going to talk about Rubber Stamps.  The different options available, how to stamp with them, mount them, unmount them as well as clean and care for them.  Rubber stamps come in three different forms when you purchase them; Wood Mounted, Cling Foam Mounted and Unmounted.  I’ll go over those in more detail below but first a helpful tip:

I encourage you, when stamping with any rubber stamp, to use a stamp positioner  when stamping with rubber.  (I use and recommend the EK Success Stamp a ma Jig) .  Although this requires an extra tool and a few more steps when stamping, you can still get perfect placement and won’t waste supplies by ruining projects with crooked or misplaced stamped images/sentiments.

Here is a short video tutorial showing how to use a stamp a ma jig.

Now let’s talk about the three options available when purchasing rubber stamps.

Wood Mounted – The rubber stamp is mounted on foam for cushion and then attached to a wood block for stamping. Some stampers prefer this method of stamping but many opt for more modern methods because it’s easier for placement when stamping. If you see a wood mounted stamp that you would like but do not want the wood mount, you can always unmount them the way I do.  Here is a video and blog post tutorial showing how to do just that.

Cling Mounted – The rubber stamp comes mounted on Cling Foam which is a cushion which is covered with adhesive on one side to stick to the rubber stamp and the other side is “clingy” which allows you to temporarily mount your stamp to an acrylic block so you can stamp without it falling off. This is the most widely used form of rubber stamping today and what I personally prefer.

Unmounted – This is when you purchase just the plain rubber stamp with no cling foam or mounting block. I personally prefer to mount these on cling foam (I use EZ Mount Foam)  because I find that it stamps better for me with the cushion and it’s way less messy than using an adhesive with my blocks.

If you do want to keep them unmounted, you can do one of two things to stamp with them.  You can use a removable adhesive such as Aleene’s Tack it Over and Over, on your acrylic block and it will stick to the block (can be messy and sticky)  OR you can buy something called “Tack n Peel” which is a double sided adhesive made for stamping with unmounted rubber stamps.

How to Care For and clean Your Rubber Stamps

I recently posted a video and blog demonstration – you can view/read all about it here.

Part Two:  I also have a tutorial about clear stamps, the difference between acrylic and photopolymer as well as how to care for and store them here.

If you have any questions about this post, please feel free to leave a comment and I will respond to you asap.