If you are interested in any form of art, there are different devices to help you build your craft. One such tool is the stamp. It will help you create handmade projects and embellish appropriate images. Below, we explore different types of seals to help you choose when you are beginning.
Digital Stamps
Technology has permeated every aspect of life, including the art industry. In the stamp sector, it allows you to produce beautiful works using digital stamps. These are downloadable images that come in black and white. Unlike traditional stamps, you can manipulate the digital ones before printing to alter their size or create a mirror effect among others.
Once you buy the stamp online, you download, save, and print them on demand. You use them like other rubber stamp images by cutting them out of the material they are printed on. With digital stamps, there are no physical stamps, and the image is attained by downloading and printing the provided file. There are different formats. Those that come as PNG files have an added advantage: You can layer them with other images since they come with a transparent background.
Foam Stamps
These lightweight stamps are ideal for children and interior decoration. They bring out bold and large images and are an alternative to conventional seals. Foam is softer than rubber and acrylic and will, therefore, produce distinctive designs better than complex ones. Although most used with paints, ink is also suitable for them. This option is cheaper and easy to use, making it ideal for beginners in stamp crafts.
Acrylic Stamps
Also referred to as clear stamps, these adhere to acrylic blocks to allow precise placement. Using them is straightforward, and they are available in different styles and sizes. You buy them by the sheet. Once you are done using them, clean up and store them away in readiness for your next project. Since they are tiny, they take up little space.
Rubber Stamps
Perhaps the most popular of them all, rubber stamps come ready to use. They come in a variety of styles, with the deeply etched ones ideal for use on fabrics or soft surfaces. The rubber part comes with the template of the image and can be mounted or not. Mounted ones bear a handle that may be wooden, metallic, or any other appropriate material. All you need to use is ink. On the other hand, the unmounted stamps only have the rubber part, and you can decide whether to give them a permanent or temporary mount. In most cases, the latter is cheaper, takes less space, and is thus easy to store.
The use of stamps in art projects keeps evolving. To build your experience with them, you can have a collection of some with general images from the different types. When you get to use them, all you will need is the stamp, its ink, art paper, and something to add color to the resulting images. Your coloring medium can be paints or pens. You can use the stamps to develop intricate works or customize existing pieces such as cards, giving them a personal touch.
