The Business Of Stamping
Carol Duvall Show : Episode CDS-134 -- More Projects » On their tour of the Rubber Stampede factory, Carol and her crew see how stamps are really made, from start to finish. The initial phase is for the company's art department to generate rough drawings, which are then given to outside illustrators to produce the final design. Members of the art department then scan these professional drawings into a computer to make a final copy which will be made into a negative. The molded rubber that is eventually cut and attached to the stamp block is produced from these negatives, and copies of the stamped picture are then inked on top of the block for easy viewing.
Grace Taormina, who conducts research and assists with product development for Rubber Stampede, says that her department uses the stamps to make gift wraps, greeting cards, wearable art, accessories and other items. In fact, she says, it's possible to put stamps on "anything that doesn't move."
According to Grace, the stamp determines what type and color of ink should be used. For example, if a stamp contains a lot of detail and shading, stamp first with black ink and then color in the design with a translucent marker. This way, the stamped design will retain some shadow and definition.
Stamping on fabric, whether it be clothing or canvas bags, offers opportunities for creating three-dimensional stamped effects through the use of embossing powder on slow-drying fabric ink. All that's needed to raise the image is a heat source such as a heat gun, which is the easiest and most traditional tool, but a 100-watt light bulb will work just as well.
Grace also encourages the application of rubber stamps to quilts. She recommends selecting the image first, then the fabric, and then the paint.
