How to Make Stamps with Latex Caulk

It seems that I never stop looking for new ways to create my own stamps for printing on fabric.  What follows is how I created stamps using latex caulking.  Here are a few that I made yesterday.

And here is how I made them.

I started with wood blocks that I cut from stock lumber.

 Then I pulled out a caulking gun and some caulking that was in the garage.

 I squeezed caulking material onto the blocks and spread it smoothly over the blocks with one of those mock-up credit cards that litter our mail almost weekly.  Once I had a smooth surface of caulking, I used a letter opener to scribe a pattern into the caulking material.

Once again, here is what the blocks looked like after I had scribed designs into them.  The edges of the scribed lines tended to pull up but I set the blocks aside to dry anyway.

Although the directions on the caulking material indicate that the product is paintable within 30 minutes, I let the blocks dry for a couple of hour just to make sure they were good and dry. 

I knew that the surface needed to be flat in order to achieve good prints from the blocks, so I laid parchment paper over them and rolled the surfaces flat with a brayer.

I had a swath of canvas lying around and decided to try out the stamps using Setacolor fabric paint.  Here are a couple of closeups of the result.

I like the somewhat uneven nature of each print that resulted from the slightly uneven surface of each stamp.  Unlike store bought stamps that always produce the same printed image, these stamps take on a character all their own with each and every printing.

Here is the entire long, narrow swath of canvas printed.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved

 

 

Block Printing with Craft Foam #2

This post is a continuation from yesterday's post.  Here I have made multiple printings from the three blocks cut from sticky backed craft foam.  To see the process for cutting the blocks click HERE.

These are the tools used in printing the blocks.

 

In the past I have used a brayer to apply the paint, but recently I have been using a foam roller from a home improvement store with good results.  The tray onto which I poured the paint is a hard plastic one that I salvaged from a food product package.  The paint is contained within its raised edges and it rinses off very easily.  

I marked off a grid pattern with soft pencil lines on a large swath of white fabric. Then I printed multiples of the circles block with Cardinal Red Setacolor fabric paint.

Next I printed the broad striped block over the circle block with Black Lake Setacolor fabric paint.

When that printing was dry, I printed over the circle and broad striped blocks with the narrower, diagonal strip block with Light Green Setacolor fabric paint.

I then cut rows of blocks apart, lined up the prints and sewed the rows together.  Because I am creating a work to address the challenge theme of "Crossings", I cut a 3/4" wide and long stencil  from card stock and stenciled the horizontal lines with  the same Lake Black Setacolor fabric paint that I had used  for the broad striped block prints.

Tomorrow I will post about auditioning colors to use in over-painting.  These posts are the beginnings of my participation in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  If you, too, would like to participate, link to http://muppin.com/…/inde…/the-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/

Until tomorrow...

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2015.  All rights reserved