Arts >> Art >> Other Art

How to Design Your Own Wooden Handle Rubber Stamps

Designing your own rubber stamps allows you to create an individual image that is perfectly sized to stamp on cards, stationary, wrapping paper and notebooks. Attaching your hand carved stamps onto a wooden backing or handle will ensure that the stamp prints evenly and cleanly, as it will be easier to apply pressure to the back of a solid wood block than a flexible piece of rubber when printing the stamp.

Things You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Tracing paper
  • Pencil
  • Carving rubber
  • Craft knife
  • Lino cutters
  • Rubber stamp mounting foam sheet
  • Wood block
  • Cloth
  • Stamp pad
  • Baby wipe
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Create or print an image or design onto a piece of paper. Transfer this design onto a piece of tracing paper using a pencil. Remember to scale you design so that it will fit on your piece of wood block. Cut a piece of rubber that is slightly larger than your design.

    • 2

      Place the tracing paper on top of the rubber with the drawn-on side facing down. Adjust the placement of the tracing paper until the design is in the desired location. Use a pencil to trace over all the lines of your design. This will transfer the design onto your rubber. Remove the tracing paper.

    • 3

      Use the lino cutters to carve out the parts of the image or design that you do not want to print. Use the cutters so that the blade is in line with the surface of the rubber for the best results. You will only need to carve about 1/8 of an inch into the depth of the rubber to make sure an area doesn’t print.

    • 4

      Speed up the carving process by using a larger cutter to remove large sections of the design. For small precise details of your image, use a small cutter. Once you have finished cutting, remove any excess rubber pieces by blowing on the stamp or brushing over it with your fingers. Rinse in cool water to remove any dirt. Leave to dry.

    • 5

      Cut a piece of mounting foam sheet to the same size as the back of the stamp. One side of the foam mount is sticky, one side works through static cling. Peel off the cover on the sticky side of the mounting foam. Press the back of the stamp and the sticky side of the foam mount together.

    • 6

      Clean the wood block with a damp cloth. Leave to dry. Pull off the cover over the static cling side of the mounting foam. Press the static side of the foam onto the underside of the wood block. This creates a wooden handled stamp.

    • 7

      Press the stamp face down on a stamp pad. Print stamp in desired location on desired surface. Once you have finished printing, use an alcohol-free baby wipe to wipe the stamp clean.

Other Art

Related Categories