Almost anything that has a defined shape and isn't going to soak up the ink can be used to stamp with. It's a good idea to experiment on scrap paper because different things work better with different inks - this shows up well in my first sample, where I have used a dragonfly shape that has been cut using foam sheet. I stuck it to my acrylic block with a dab of glue stick that washed off the block easily afterwards. The multi-coloured dragonflies were stamped with a Kaleidacolor pad, which is a dye ink, and some of it soaked into the foam making the images quite light - perfect for a background. The salmon pink ones use a Versacolor ink which is much thicker and "juicier", resulting in a bolder image.
My next sample uses a cardboard tube from the centre of a roll of toilet paper! I squished it into a heart shape and dabbed it on the inkpad - again, the pigment ink worked better
However if you want to use bubble wrap to stamp with, a dye based ink is a better bet because the juiciness of a pigment pad can force ink up between the bubbles, giving you a smudged finish. I used a Kaleidacolor ink for this stamping.
You may remember potato printing as a child, or with your own children, but you can carve any firm vegetable into a stamping tool - these butterflies were stamped using a parsnip
And finally how about using the eraser tip of a pencil? They never seem to be terribly good at actually erasing things, so here at last is a use for them.
We'd love to hear about what unusual objects YOU have used to stamp with!
