Custom Stamp

Let your creativity flow on this step! You can choose to freehand a design directly onto your stamp block or transfer a printed image. We found many ways to transfer images online. Atlas Quest's tips were helpful! If you're printing from an inkjet printer as we did, we found the wax paper transfer worked best. If you are printing from a laser printer, we found the acetone method of transfer to be easiest. Once you select your image, adjust the size to fit onto your stamp block. Speedball blocks come in various pre-cut sizes. Next, we cut a piece of wax paper to the size of computer paper (8.5 x 11) and fed it into our printer. Once the image printed on our wax paper, we carefully laid it on top of our block to prevent any smudging. Next, we used a brayer roller to transfer the image onto the block. You can use a rolling pin, apply pressure by hand, etc.

Next, we used the 3000 tool equipped with the 106 Engraving Cutter bit (perfect for engraving in softer material) to carve along our design. Remember the areas you carve will be the non-inked sections of your design. So for our design we carved out all of the areas that we wanted to remain white. Set your tool at medium to high speed and remove the outer then inner portions of the design. The actual stamped image will appear "raised" after this process is complete. We made our outline around 1/8" wide for a clean, legible stamp.

Finally, for easiest stamping we glued our block to a 1/4" thick piece of plywood and cut the stamp & wood to size using the Dremel Saw-Max tool with the SM500 wheel. Since the SM500 wheel has an abrasive finish as opposed to a tooth blade, the wheel smoothly cut through both the stamp and the plywood in one quick cut!

Now let the fun begin! We liked the idea of a new-take on the photo Christmas Card. You can also pick up a wide roll of craft paper from your favorite hobby store and make custom-designed wrapping paper year-round!