Make Stamps from Corks

Someone recently gave me a rather large bag of wine corks with the thought that I would use them in art projects. They have turned out to be rather handy to use for making stamps. I had a scrap piece of craft foam with the sticky peel-off backing. I cut some simple designs out and stuck them to the end of the cork. I added acrylic paint to damp sponges to use as my "ink pads".

Stamping on Tea Towels

Creating your own stamps and printing them on tea towlels is a fairly simple project and the results are perfect to give as gifts or to add some color to your own kitchen. It's also a fun way to spend an afternoon with a friend.

 

Supplies:

 

white cotton tea towels

 

Speedball fabric ink

 

rubber brayer

 

sheets of craft foam

 

Tacky Glue

 

scissors

 

small clear plastic plates

 

I spent quite bit of time researching the best place to purchase the towels, I looked in a number of stores and at many sites online. I ultimately purcahsed the towels from Factory Direct Linen . They seemed to have the best quality and price. The Speedball fabric ink can be purchased at many places online and in some art stores.

In addition to the craft foam I also used material that is placed underneath area rugs that I purchased at the Dollar Store. I simply cut out different designs and glued them to the bottom of the plates. The reason that I chose clear plates is so that you can see where you are placing your stamps. An alternative to the plates would be sheets of plexiglass. I also used the plates as my surface for rolling out the ink with the brayer. Simply roll the ink onto the stamp and then press onto the towel. I find that a slightly padded work area, perhaps using some layers of newspaper, helps with the printing.

As you can see from the photo, I attached some of the textured material to a cork so that I could print a center for the flowers. The towels will take several hours or overnight to dry completely. Iron the back of the towel to set the ink. I have not printed the hearts yet, but will post when I do! Please feel free to contact me with questions.

Making Stamps with Plasticine

I had seen posts on Pinterest where clay was used to form printing stamps. I had some plasticine at school that I find difficult to use with children since it is stiff to manipulate. Plasticine is a trademark name for an oil-based modeling clay that was developed by art teacher in England in 1897. I decided to use the plasticine to from stamps, but was a bit worried about the children's hands being covered in ink. I realized that I could press the plasticine onto a block of wood and it would adhere. The block of wood would keep their hands away from the ink.

I gave the children different "tools" such as popsicle sticks and clothes pins that could leave impressions in the plasticine. When they made a print I encouraged them to stamp over and over again to watch the images become lighter. As they stamped, the indentations also would begin to disappear. This had two advantages. One, their stamp would be cleaned off so that another color could be used. Two, they were left with a clean slate to make new impressions. And, let's face it, they like pounding with the stamps.