RubberStamping

Rubber Stamping

Rubber Stamping on wood is the BEST SHORTCUT to come along in decorative painting!!! Unless you have unlimited time to spend, you might want to read on. If you have a large group of friends and family that you would like to give "a little something" to, read on. If you sell your work...you will definately want to read on!

Drawing has always been #1 with Jean, so creating the rubber stamp designs came as a real natural! Because she was a PAINTER and NOT A STAMPER first, Jean's designs are designed more for decorative painters. If you can efficiently float acrylic color, you can really speed up your painting time for smaller projects like ornaments, small plaques, pint jar votive lights etc., OR add the finishing touches to larger painted pieces. It's great for bottom box borders, outer perimeters on large pieces, etc.

WHY IS IT FASTER?

If you use the method Jean favors, which is embossing with "Gold Detail Powder", the stamping image takes only moments to be ready to paint. First prepare the surface as for regular painting. Than simply stamp/emboss/heat-set and paint! Almost any smooth, flat and level surface can be stamped, as long as it can take the heat from the embossing heat tool. The stamped image creates a bit of a wall or fence for each part of the design. The eye perceives it as a "complete picture" even before the color is added. It doesn't seem to matter if your paint covers some of the gold line or not.

CAN YOU ONLY EMBOSS WITH GOLD DETAIL POWDER?

Embossing powders come in a variety of different colors. The key is to be sure you're using "Detail" powders, as they are ground many times finer than the regular embossing powders. I prefer the "Gold Detail Powder", because it is quite suitable for almost any design. I like to use "Black Detail Powder" ONLY if the subject should/will be painted primarily black, as with a loon or Canadian goose. For animals and birds, I favor "Detail Pewter Powder" if you can find it, as it is somewhat softer in color. For fruit, flowers, Santa, snowmen, etc. the "Gold Detail Powder" twinkling through adds a touch of elegance to your painting project.

IS RUBBER STAMPING ONLY GOOD ON SMALL PROJECTS?

You can "stretch" your design with certain combinations of rubber stamps. Choosing floral or other rubber stamp combos, like the dogwood, use overlapping techniques. This allows you to cover quite large surfaces by using the same stamp/stamps over and over just by changing the angle of each impression. Using verse or snowflake stamps combined with regular painting subjects can also quickly cover an area that would otherwise be time consuming and tedious to complete.

HOW IS THE QUALITY OF THE FINISHED PIECE AFFECTED?

This card was given to me by my friend Liz (Stamp Makers) using Endless Design stamp #102. This image was on the cover of "SANTA LOVES SNOWMEN" and it's one of MY favorites. It was the first book I chanced adding snowmen to the Santas, and I'm happy to say you approved! When I came across the card, I decided to add a little more floated acrylic color and use it on my web site. Hope you'll enjoy it too.

It is my experience, that people don't really recognize the use of rubber stamps in the finished artwork until it is pointed out. The quality of the finished project is reflected in YOUR SKILL in floating color, perspective and the layout of the design. This is the tell tale sign of quality. Using rubber stamps simply gives you a faster way of completing the repetitive areas of a design. In some instances, you may have painted a subject that leaves a lot of space around it. Or you may want to add a border or add a finishing touch to a box bottom. In all of these applications, rubber stamps can add to the quality of the finished artwork.

WILL I GET ENOUGH USE OUT OF MY RUBBER STAMPS TO MAKE THEM WORTH THE INVESTMENT?

Choose wisely, according to your own needs. I find that the stamps I use the most are the little "accessory stamps" like small holly clusters, floral clusters, snowflakes and border stamps (also small santas, snowmen or animal figures). Many times stamps are designed to go together (2-3 stamps) and can be combined to create many different scenarios and cover much larger surfaces. EVERY time you change the design, or vary the main stamp by adding little extras around or with it, you have a whole new feel to the picture. This is illustrated well with 5 basic stamps on the back cover of Jean's book ATTIC TO HEIRLOOM. Some of those pieces are really stretched to cover larger projects. Because the same person designed all of these stamps, they have a certain thread of continuity. This makes them much easier to combine and keeps the same feeling throughout the project.

We hope this gives you a little insight into the fast and easy art of rubber stamping. It's great for teachers too, as it helps beginners retain control of the design while learning how to float color. With decorative painters in mind, I'll continue to design more rubber stamping. Pop in from time to time and as I get more and more familiar with "this web business" I'll try to add pictures so you can see how I might use one of the latest rubber stamp images!

To order Jean's "latest" rubber stamps contact:
STAMP MAKERS
520 Jefferson Street
Oshkosh, WI 54901

Call:(920)231-0545 OR Fax:(920)233-0975

e-mail: mikebehr@execpc.com

We hope that their web site will be up and running in the near future! That way you can view/purchase ALL of the stamp designs in their catalog "on line"!

www.stampmakers.com

All of my earlier stamps are still available. There were a lot of Santas and snowmen, along with many other subject images. You can contact ENDLESS DESIGNS by phone at 920-321-xxxx, OR view their web site at www.endlessdesigns.com

From time to time I will use one of the latest rubber stamp designs and create several different projects with it. I'll include any pertinent information you might need to duplicate the projects (rubber stamp is NOT included of course) yourself. Hope you will enjoy this "LITTLE EXTRA FEATURE" in my web site.

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