Make a personal stamp
This project is inspired by Chinese seals (or ‘chops’), used in ancient times to mark anything from official documents to artwork with a personal symbol. Yours can be used to stamp envelopes, artwork and whatever else would benefit from your inky hallmark.
You will need:
Cardboard squares Pencil Craft foam with adhesive backing Bone folder (or back of a spoon) Scissors Ink pads or acrylic paint/brush 1 With a pencil, sketch stamp designs on scrap paper or in your journal. To transfer your favourite design onto craft foam, place the drawing face down on the foam and rub the back of the paper with your bone folder (or spoon).
2 Cut the transferred design out of the foam – either one single shape or several shapes grouped together.
3 Peel the paper off the back of the foam and stick onto a cardboard square (if using multiple shapes, arrange on a single square). Trim the cardboard away, so you are left with the shape of your chop, leaving a thin border.
4 Coat the chop with ink using a stamp pad, or apply a thin layer of acrylic paint using a paintbrush.
5 Press stamp firmly onto a piece of paper, then carefully pull it away. Leave to dry. * Nothing orthopaedic, a bone folder is a craft tool used to create precise folds. Taken from Journal Sparks: Fire up your Creativity with Spontaneous Art, Wild Writing and Creative Thinking by Emily K Neuburger (Storey Publishing). The Simple Things readers can buy it for £11.50 with free UK p&p from efcbookshop.com