Blog: Foam Stamp

LAST DAY – Foam Stamp Sale

Today is the LAST DAY for my Foam Stamp Sale in my Online Shop! All my foam stamps are 20% off through tonight, June 14th at 11:59pm EST. 

Just use the coupon code FOAM20 when you check out to save. 

You’ll find lots of old favorites like…

Grove Street Positive Negative set – love these two bold circle patterns, apart or together :)

 

Space Oddity – a hex shape that pulses with energy…

…and Far Out – your new favorite stamp for mark making or visual texture!

 

Also in there are 2 NEW sizes for my Midtown stamp set. This 4 piece set of buildings is my go to for a funky cityscape. The Midtown Set is now in a new size and I’m happy to also announce there is now a Midtown Mini set too!!! Super cute little buildings. Check it out below:

Both sizes are going to be a lot of fun to play with.

Hurry into the Online Shop and use the coupon code FOAM20 to save 20% off your foam stamp order. Sale ends tonight, June 14th at 11:59pm EST.

Nat

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Foam Stamplifier Challenge Prompts 22-24

Day 22 – Plastic

Printing on top of plastic sheets or overhead foils is a fun way to create transparent elements for your work or nice dividers for your art journal but my favorite of all must be using Shrink Plastic. From wine charms, to embellishments to earrings. Using the foam stamps with inkpads of your choice, stamp your desired images.

Then heat the shrink film up as the manufacturer recommends and you will get a tiny version of your stamped image. Too cute! Here is a sample where I used the shrink film to create myself some new fancy earrings.

Day 23 – Scratch!

Another fun way to use Foam Stamps is to stamp onto some Ampersand Clayboard to create some great textured designs.

 

Stamp on top of the clay board with acrylic paint or spray ink or inks and then start scratching into the design. It is like doodling by scratching- better then coloring books- trust me!

Day 24 – Bits & Pieces

How about using bits and pieces of foam stamped paper to create something new?

You could create a tangram which is a puzzle which consists of 7 flat geographic shapes which put together can create a new shape.

 

Simply google tangram, print out the template, glue it on some white or black paper, start stamping with your foam stamps and cut it.

And then go and play …

Here are the different foam stamps I used for these prompts


In case you missed the prompt list  here you go:

Nat

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Foam Stamplifier Challenge Prompts 16-21

Day 16 – Ghost

No, no, don’t be scared- this is a friendly Ghost prompt. I love to apply paint on top of a dried paint layer and while the second layer is still wet, I take my slightly wet foam stamp and press it into the paint and lift it.

This will remove the second layer paint partly and create texture making for a subtle and nice imprint and revealing the color underneath. My favorite second color for this is white- it just gives a nice antique plaster effect.

Day 17 – Shape

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I thought this would be a great day to amplifier your stamps using them to stamp out a shape…like a shamrock. Although …I guess I messed it up since a shamrock is a three-leaf clover ….oh well…you can tell I am not Irish- LOL – but hey, I tried.

Anyway you can use any shape of course and  you can cut it out of a piece of paper or like I do out of a piece of deli paper. Basically you are creating a stencil.

Then just fill in the opening with either one or more foam stamp patterns, and lift the stencil- the filled in area defining the actual shape.

Day 18 – Mask

Now of course you can also mask an area off and then define that area by stamping over the mask. Here I used one of my beloved Elephant Masks and my Downtown positive and negative Foam stamps.

You can easily cut out your own mask of course. And voila …there you have a it – love the background. So many options with this.

Day 19 – Spray

Another one of my super favorite foam stamplifier techniques is to use dye or ink sprays with my foam stamps.

Spray onto the stamps and print – I love the super vibrant watercolor effect this gives. So easy and yet so effective!

Day 20 – Texture

Another one of my old foam stamplify favorites. Use the spray paint we used yesterday as an embossing agent and create some nice grungy texture.

Spray your foam stamp with dye ink and stamp and while the ink is still wet sprinkle some UTEE or ultra thick embossing powder on top and then heat emboss it.

I love the raised water drop like texture this creates.

Day 21 – Brush

Using a brush to color in certain areas of a foam stamp is also a cool way to amplify the stamps.

When working with acrylic paint  you either have to work fairly quick in order to prevent the paints from drying to fast or you can use a little bit of retarder with your paints to extend the drying time a bit.

I hope you enjoyed this round of prompts. Here are the stamps I used for those:

Have you missed the prompt list? Here you go

See you tomorrow for a little Kaffeeklatsch! I’m showing off my new Rubber Stamps and chatting with you on Facebook. See you at 12noon EST :)

Nat

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Foam Stamplifier Challenge with the Creative Squad – Jennifer Gallagher

  

This month my Creative Squad is playing along with my new Foam Stamplifier Challenge: All month long you can follow my daily prompts on Instagram and on the blog to amplify your foam stamps!!! Today Jennifer Gallagher is following the prompt Spray! She’s using my Circle Drive, Signals, Amsterdam, Gnarly, and Mid Century Squared foam stamps to demonstrate the art of making and using a masterboard!

All month long the Creative Squad is playing along with Nat’s Foam Stamplifier Challenge. Today’s prompt is “Spray!” So I pulled out my favorite spray inks, Dylusions ink spray by Ranger Ink, and all of my n*Studio foam stamps and got to work. This tutorial will walk you through using water-reactive spray inks and artfoamies to create a beautiful masterboard. Knowing how to create a masterboard will make quick work of backgrounds for Artist Trading Cards and Coins, greeting cards, and more.

Begin with a sheet of heavy watercolor paper. Spray a little of Ranger’s vanilla custard ink spray leaving white space here and there. Next, using Nat’s new Signals foam stamp, spray the stamp with rose quartz ink spray and press the stamp in a few places. Mist the foam stamp with a spritz of water and press it into a paper towel to remove the pink ink. Repeat the process again with laidback lilac ink spray.

Add some additional detail with Nat’s Gnarly or Mid Century Squared foam stamps by spraying it with laidback lilac and pressing it in various spots around the paper. Once dry, we can remove some of the ink to recover some white space and add additional interest by spraying the Signals foam stamp with water, gently pressing onto an area, and dabbing (don’t wipe) the water left behind with a paper towel.

Spray rose quartz ink onto Nat’s Amsterdam foam stamp and press onto the paper.

For a fun metallic flair, apply Ranger Ink Perfect Medium onto Nat’s Circle Drive stamp and Amsterdam stamp and emboss with perfect pearls in pewter and perfect bronze.

I’ve turned my masterboard into artist trading cards and coins. The possibilities are endless. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial. Be sure to play along with Nat’s Foam Stamplifier Challenge and show us what you’ve created.

Thank you Jennifer – I love imagining all the possibilities for your gorgeous masterboard! You can find my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop. Here are some of the supplies that Jennifer used:


Feel inspired? I hope you join us for the Foam Stamplifier Challenge this month. As you play along, don’t forget to tag me when you share your creations – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

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Foam Stamplifier Challenge Prompts 11-15

Day 11 – Stencil

No surprise if you know me…I also love stencils and stencils are perfect amplifying tools for your foam stamps.

You can add paint to the solid back side of your foam stamps and then stamp through a stencil.

Lift the stencil and stamp right away again to receive a second but inverted print. You can also use foamstamps which have a more solid pattern – and stamp with the pattern side through the stencil. Another favorite of mine is to roll out a color onto the foam stamp with a more solid design and then put the stencil on top and add a different color with a cosmetic sponge on top of it.

It gives you so many more and unique possibilities with your foam stamps and for that matter also for your stencil.

Now that’s what I called amplified.

 

Day 12 – Pigment Ink

Love love love using my foam stamps also with pigment inks. I love how the foam creates some soft texture in combination with the inks and you can easily clean them after use with some water and a rag or a baby wipe.

Moonlight Duos by RubberMoon are a great hybrid ink and their colors are just sooo amazing. I also love using Distress Oxides and sprinkle the stamped image with water drops to lift off some of the ink with a paper towel and create even more visual texture.

So much fun and another medium you can easily use with your foam stamps.

 

Day 13 – Fabric

Can you say perfect relationship? Foam Stamps and Fabric love each other.

You can use acrylic paint but for fabric I want to wear or when I want to keep the fabric soft I use fabric paint. Besides using the foam stamps on a solid colored piece of fabric using it on a piece that already has a pattern is my total geek out fun.

You can use the fabric many many ways- but here…I give you my heart :)

Day 14 – Embroidery

Oomphing up your foam stamped image by adding some embroidery on top of the image is super fun! You can either just add some accents with certain embroidery stitches or fill in the actually design with satin stitches.

My Creative Squad Member Jennifer did a wonderful job creating some napkins with embroidered foam stamping and they are so beautiful. So many possibilities by combining foam stamping and embroidery.

Day 15 – Hugs & Kisses

I think the right term is stampkissing but I think Hugs & Kissing is perfectly adequate for this foam stamplifier technique. Use two different foam stamps- one that is more solid and one with a small pattern, apply different colors to each of them and then stamp them on top of each other – lift and stamp the more solid patterned foam stamp.

You can stamp off the other stamp on a different paper and get a nice color scheme. Make sure to use colors that mix well together.

I hope you enjoyed these prompts- here are the foam stamps I used for them:

In case you missed the prompt list and want to follow along – here you go:

Nat

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Foam Stamplifier Challenge Prompts 8-10

Day 8 – Emboss

I love to emboss with my foam stamps. The foam surface creates some added texture even if you use super fine embossing powder.

Simply press the clear embossing pad onto the foam stamp and then stamp on paper. You can add just one solid color of embossing powder to your image and then heat emboss.

Or for even more fun, add several different colors of embossing powder and heat emboss one after the other.

Another fun way to use embossing powder is to use the positive and negative sets and layer the embossing. I hope you try it

Day 9 – Resist

I am a huge fan of resist techniques and this has always been one of my favorite ones.

Apply clear embossing ink to your foam stamp. Stamp onto paper. Sprinkle UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder) on top and heat emboss. Let cool and then apply a very thin layer of acrylic paint or acrylic ink over the surface.

The paint or ink will dry slower on top of the UTEE as that area will resist the paint. Use a moist rag or a baby wipe and gently wipe over the raised UTEE pattern to remove the paint.

What remains is a wonderfully textured clear pattern.

Day 10 – Pastel

I love using Pastels with my foam stamps. In order to make the pigments stick you need a little trick though. I usually use a clear embossing ink pad and apply it to the stamp, then I stamp onto paper.

My favorite pastels are PanPastels but you can use over pastels as well.

I apply the pastel with a tool over the stamped surface and wherever the embossing ink is on the paper the pastel will accumulate more and collect more of the pastel.

The stamped design will appear darker.

Here are the foam stamps I used for those prompts. Hope you enjoying the Foam Stamplifier Challenge!


In case you missed the prompt list  here you go:

Nat

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Foam Stamplifier Challenge Prompts 3-7

So much fun to see what everyone is doing with the Foam Stamplifier Challenge. Here are my posts for Prompt 3-7

Day 3 – Gradient

Now I hope this one makes you as happy as me- because I am a total color junkie and having the possibility to easily apply some color oomph with my stamp makes me just all smiles :)

I love to use 3 colors that either mix well or are in the same color family. Using the length of my brayer as a guideline I add three colors in stripes next to each other on the top of a palette.

Then I roll the colors out downwards – lifting the brayer and going back up until the brayer is evenly covered. At the same time I also shift the brayer slightly to the left and right (really just a tiny bit) to blend the colors and mix them as well.

 

And then I just apply the paint to the stamp and make sure that with every new stamped image I apply the paint to the same area of the stamp. So much fun!

Day 4 – Positive & Negative

I love how having sets of positive and negative stamp designs can totally amplify your designs. You can use each stamp individually – you can use the back and front as I showed in Prompt 2 but you can also stamp them with different colors on top of each other.

And as you can see the outline of the foam stamp from the side- it is so easy to line them up :) My favorite is when they are not perfectly lined up on top of each other – so they add a bit of dimension as well. Super fun!

Day 5 – Print!⁣

So much fun to use foam stamps for Monoprinting techniques.

I love the ghostlike image they leave on the prints.

Simply roll out a thin layer of one, two or more colors onto your Gel Plate and stamp into the paint.

 

I usually print off to another sheet of paper and then go back into the paint on the plate. If you paint already dried on the plate, don’t worry, just add a layer of white paint on top and print – you will peel off the dried layer as well and get a nice grungy effect. ⁣

Day 6 – Tape

I love including my own printed tape into my artwork whether it be in my artjournals or on canvas.There are two ways I love to create tape.

One is to print with different patterned foam stamps and colors onto my gel printing plate leaving some areas clear and letting the paint totally dry on the plate. Then I just add stripes of clear packing tape on top  of the plate and burnish the tape carefully to the plate. When you lift the packing tape of you will also lift off the pattern – your plate will be clean again. Depending on how tacky it still is, either apply as is to a paper surface or by add a thin layer of Gel Medium underneath.

I also love to create my own masking tape by adding strips of tape to a Teflon or craft sheet. Then I stamp over the masking tape strips with different foam stamps and leave the tape strips on the sheet until I actually need them in a project. It is a great way to use up some left over paint with your foam stamps as well.

Day 7 – Stick

 

The fact that foam stamps can be used with all kinds of paint media is for me the true amplifier effect. One of my favorite paint media to use with them are all kinds of paint sticks- like Scribble Sticks, or water-soluble wax crayons.

For best results spray a little bit of water onto the foam stamp so that the foam is moist. Then apply the paint sticks and rub them over the raised pattern area. I love that you have a lot of control to blend different colors or create certain color fields to different parts of the stamps. Then simply mist the foam stamp again so that the pigments get reactivated and stamp onto your surface.

Often times the paint sticks are so highly pigmented that you can even stamp more than once. The result is a beautiful watercolor-like stamped image. To clean the stamp use a baby wipe or wet cloth and gently rub the remaining color off.

Hope you had fun with those prompts- more are coming daily this month. Here are all the foam stamps I used for these prompts:


In case you missed the prompt list here -you go:

Nat

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Foam Stamplifier Challenge Prompts 1-2

Are you in with me for the Foam-Stampflier Challenge to make the most of your Foam Stamps? Here are the first two days:

Day 1 – Acrylic Paint

Yeahhh easy one- but hey- the reason why I am so in Love with foam stamps. I do love acrylic paint and I do love stamps. I usually just roll out some acrylic paint on a palette with a rubber brayer.

 

Making sure I cover the whole role of the brayer with my paint. I then transfer the paint on my brayer onto my foam stamp making sure that I cover the whole design evenly.

 

And then I start stamping.

I love the texture that the foam stamps due to their softness create with the paint and that not every single image is the exact same.

Now do I clean my foam stamps? Nope …I gave up. But do I recommend for you to clean them? Yep :)Here is a little video where I talk about it. But in short:  Just rinse them under some water – in between steps “park them on a piece of wet cloth a or a moist baby wipe and if you want to a be a bit more thorough, use a super soft veggie brush. Why? you ask! Fair question, well you know they are foam stamps and they can be amplified in so many ways do to their softness and structure but if you just keep adding acrylic paint on top over and over again and gunk them up with basicially sheets of plastic, the get harder and harder and loose they properties of a foam stamp. It also gets harder to stamp good images as they “smoosh” easier over the paper if they are covered with acrylic paint. But …hey up to you – you are the Boss Applesauce!

Day 2 – Back & Forth

I love to amplify my Foam Stamps by also using the backs of the stamps.

I apply the acrylic paint to the solid back side of the stamp – often choosing a nice corresponding color –

stamp and then flip the stamp to the pattern side, apply the paint there and stamp over the previously solid stamped shape.

This works with all the rectangles, squares,

hexagons but even with other shapes like the oddly shaped Amsterdam Stamp as long as the shape is symmetric.

 

Here are the Foam Stamps that I used in the prompts:

Have you missed the prompt sheet? Here you go – I hope you will play along:

Nat

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Come Play Along: Foam Stamplifier Challenge

Come and join me in the Foam Stamplifier Challenge throughout the Month of March to amplify your foam stamps and make the most of them.

I love the versatility of foam stamps – one of the reasons why having my own line of foam stamps was always a big dream of mine and I am so stoked that for several years this dream became reality with ArtFoamies. In 2012 I offered an Online Class called  “Foam Stamplifier” and I thought I should pick up the theme and name of my workshop and push it even further in this Challenge.

I hope you will play along! I will show each day on my instagram account  (and every couple days on this blog) how you can amplify your foam stamps prompted by the key words in the prompt sheet. You can either try the same things or just try and do your own approaches  following along with the prompts. I so hope you will share what you do and if you post on instagram, I hope you will use the hashtags #natkalbachfoamstamplifier and/or #nstudioartfoamies .

I hope you are in with me in March to amplify your Foam Stamps!

Nat

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