Hello, Tiffany here! I have a confession to make…I am brand new to stamping! Sure, I’ve used stamps on occasion before, but it has been a very long time. When I received my first Illustrated Faith devotional and kit, I was excited! But I was also a little confused as to what to do with the sheet of clear stamps. Any stamps that I had used in the past were the ones that were already mounted on wooden blocks, so this was a new concept to me for sure.
After doing some googling, researching, and trial and error, I finally figured out the basics of stamping. So, I thought I would share my findings with you here! Keep in mind, I am not a pro. I’m sure many of you reading this have much more experience in this area, so please feel free to leave your tips and suggestions in the comments below!
To start out, you’ll need a set of stamps (these are the 4×6 stamp set from the Illustrated Faith “Bloom” kit), acrylic stamping blocks, ink pad, and something to stamp on (in this case, my bible).
Once you know what stamp you want to use first, choose an acrylic stamping block that is somewhat close in size to your stamp. (Until recently, I had no clue what an acrylic stamping block was!)
Then, peel off the stamp…
And stick it on the block!
The cool thing about the clear acrylic stamping blocks is that you can see the page beneath. This will help you be able to figure out the best placement for your stamp.
Next, press your stamp onto the ink pad. (I’ve found that pressing gently is okay! A couple of times I pressed down too hard, and that resulted in too much ink being transferred onto my page.)
Then stamp it down on the page! Make sure to press down firmly and evenly.
Now you’re ready to do it all over again!
Once your ink has dried, you are then free to color in the designs, etc. I used my Faber-Castell PITT Artist pens for this. (I can’t recommend them enough!)
You guys…this is so simple, I feel almost silly making a tutorial about it. But honestly, I had a hard time figuring out the basics of how to use these kinds of stamps, so if that’s you right now…I hope this helps you out! :)
And I must say, I am so happy that I now know this basic skill. It’s such a fun, quick, and easy way to add illustrations to the margins of my bible. I also love that these 4×6 stamp sets are small and easy to store! They take up a LOT less space than if they were all individual wooden rubber stamps. Yay!
Happy stamping, friends!
– Tiffany
