Blog: Mini Foam Stamps

New ArtFoamies Stamps – Mini Motifs Set

I’m happy to announce this nice new set of Artfoamies that I designed: Mini Motifs Foam Stamp Set. It is now available HERE in my shop. 

Each of the 4 Mini Motifs stamps in the set is inspired by some of the designs on an old fireplace in my home. I love the idea of drawing inspiration from this bit of history and thinking about the craftsman who carved the designs so long ago.

The triangle shaped ones are fantastic for layering up. I also discovered that they work great with the Mini Motifs Rubber Stamp Set!

You can find my new Mini Motifs Foam Stamp Set HERE in my shop. Enjoy!!!

Nat

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Gelli Printed Card Mix

I thought it might be nice to play with my Mini Fan Set foam stamps and a Gelli plate to make a few cards.

I used Hero Arts ink pads as well as Memento inks on the gelli plate and then just stamped into the inked up plate and put the cards on top.

I used a fountain pen for my sentiments – lots of options here so I made a variety.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

And don’t forget: today is the final day to sign up for my new online workshop Artful Adventures with Andy Warhol at the Early Bird price! Early Bird Pricing ends TONIGHT, October 7th at 11:59pm EST. This workshop will show you how to interpret some of Warhol’s techniques into your own art journaling and artwork. Collage, repetition, stamp carving and more will be covered. Join us in the classroom! Class begins TODAY!

Nat

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Learn to Rest – Art Journal

“If you get tired, learn to rest not to quit.” Here’s some motivation for your day :)

I wanted to try out my new Mini Fan foam stamp set for this one, so I stamped all 4 of the designs in the set into a nice ombre-esque pyramid using acrylic paint.

I went back into the designs with a little black pen – my new fav Winsor Newton fineliners.

And my quote with some nice flourishes – little dots here and there to give it character.

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nat, that is exactly what I needed to read this afternoon!
    I especially like that the pattern is a hill…one more step.

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Foam Stamped Memory Game Tutorial

For our monthly playdate in October, Kim and I got together to make our own Memory Games. Remember those? Haha

We gathered some acrylic paint, a brayer, and enough foam stamps to do 18 different patterns (our memory set included 18 pairs of cards). The Mini Foam Stamps are perfect for this because the patterns are small enough for the little cards. You don’t necessarily need 18 different foam stamps to do this either – you could use different color paint with the same pattern foam stamp to get your sets. That might even add a level of challenge to the game!

What did we use for cards? Well…

We found some really cheap sets online (you can see the one we used in the links below) and just repurposed them into our own awesome sets :)

We just painted over the two sides with a solid color. It could take a couple coats of paint or a coat of gesso first and then a coat of paint.

Then it was time to start making pairs… Here are some that use stamps from my Mini Hex Set.

Here I’m using my Mini Versailles foam stamp and some bright red paint with a brayer.

Then I placed the painted card onto the center of the stamp.

Pressing down evenly and firmly…

And Tada! One card of the matching set done. Repeat the process on the other to make the pair – we tried to line the pattern up in the same spot on the matching card – sometimes more successfully than others ;)

Kim worked on a bright green background and stamped out different matching pairs.

Some came out a bit grungy but this is your own unique set so it definitely doesn’t need to look perfect.

In the end I used lots of different patterns and colors.

Definitely a fun and probably more challenging version of the original memory game!

Here is Kim’s set on the green.

Who is ready to play? Just find the matching pairs :)

You can find all my foam stamps in my online shop. Here are some of the other supplies that we used for this playdate:


Nat

Comments (2)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Definitely more of challenge and quite clever but you did cover up dogs from that cute Paw Patrol show.

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All Shapes and Sizes – Jennifer Gallagher

  

Happy Tuesday from the Creative Squad! Today we have a post from Jennifer Gallagher that will definitely inspire you to up your summer entertaining game! Jennifer brings us some awesome stamped and embroidered napkins using my Valley Road and Mini Batik Pattern 1 foam stamps, and inspired by this month’s theme: All Shapes and Sizes – Circles and squares, big and small, let’s mix it up and play with different shapes and sizes this month. Just because things are different doesn’t mean they can’t look great together!

This month we are celebrating all shapes and sizes. I am a firm believer that mixing shapes and patterns leads us to the most interesting design. With that in mind, I am making a fun set of stamped and embroidered napkins that mix some of my favorite n*Studio ArtFoamies. Although I am using different shapes and designs, you will find they compliment each other quite well.

I started with a package of four white 100% cotton dinner napkins designed for embroidery. Make sure to prewash these types of items to remove the sizing. After washing and drying them, I gave them a quick steam to knock out the majority of the wrinkles. I then laid a large piece of cardboard under the area I would be stamping to prevent the paint from soaking through to the layers underneath.

I didn’t have any textile paint on hand, but I did have some textile medium. I mixed up my paint with the medium according to the directions. This product turns your regular acrylic paint into fabric paint. I settled on a bright and cheerful yellow.

Next, I dipped my ArtFoamie onto the paint. It is important not to overload your stamp with too much paint. ArtFoamies are very high quality stamps and will hold the paint and leave a wonderful impression. There is no need to load too much paint as it will seep into the negative spaces of your stamp and leak out once pressed down. I am stamping with Nat’s Mini Batik Pattern 1 stamp and the Valley Road stamps.

Once the paint dried, I placed my napkin into a four inch embroidery hoop. After choosing a handful of colors to embroider with, I began some basic stitching. You don’t need to be an embroidery whiz to add some basic stitches to your napkins. There is a wealth of free information online about embroidery. If you have never tried it before just do a quick google search.

Each napkin has a variety of stitches and colors used. You can customize your own set by varying the n*studio artfoamies you use and the colors you coordinate.

These fun napkins are perfect for a summer picnic. I hope I have inspired you to stamp and embroider your own items. Be sure to share with us what you create! Enjoy.

Thank you Jennifer – these napkins made me so happy. What a cheery and fun project! Here are some of the supplies that Jennifer used:




And if you feel inspired to share some of your own projects with my stamps and stencils, please send them my way. I post projects almost every month in my Inspiration From Around the Globe posts!

Nat

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Vacation Mode – Josefine Fouarge

  

It’s time for a project from my Creative Squad! Today we have a sweet little art journal page that is filled with pattern and color, from Josefine Fouarge. She is using my Manhattan and Mini Chicago ArtFoamies, my Cape Cod stamp from the Stroll Around the Block set, and my Hamburg stencil. This month’s theme is: Vacation Mode – Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are slogging through winter with only one thing on our minds – vacation! Whether it’s Spring Break, a weekend getaway, or an hour with a good book, everyone needs an escape to Vacation Mode now and again.

This month’s topic got me thinking. It’s been a while since I have been on a vacation and there is none in sight either. So, I decided for myself that if you can’t go on vacation, shopping is the next best thing. And trust me, I am good at that ;)

I was at one of the big box stores the other day and couldn’t pass the paint and paper aisles without grabbing a few items. To make sure that they don’t end up in a drawer unused, I incorporated them in my new art journal page.

I covered my art journal page in the new Liquitex paint. Then I picked a few ArtFoamies (Mini Chicago and Manhattan) to stamp them with other shades on top. I used two different paints and alternated the colors between each stamping. Aren’t these colors just pretty? Do you understand why I couldn’t walk by them? :)

Next up, I used the new recycle paper and stamped the negative ArtFoamie in the same patterns, but with a contrasting color. Again, I alternated between two colors.

Now I ripped up the brown paper and adhered some of the scraps onto my art journal page. It was important for me that the patterns match and create the illusion all the shapes merging together.

I needed a border, so I used the Gel Press petites and white acrylic paint to add one. Because the border was rather boring, I added a very light pattern to it. I did that by tracing the pattern from the Hamburg stencil with a pencil.

While I was coloring in some of the stenciled shapes with the same pencil, I thought that the colorful background needs some white as well. So I added a few white shapes.

The page still was missing a focal point, but I didn’t want to stamp anything directly onto the page. Usually that doesn’t end well for me. Instead, I prefer to stamp the image (in that case the Cape Cod house from the Stroll Around the Block set) onto a piece of tissue paper. I adhered that with gel medium and colored the house with Liquitex and Montana paint pens.

To finish the page up, I added a few scribbles and some shadows. I love that the paint pens made the house look like a cartoon.

On a side note, I totally enjoyed working with the brown recycle paper. It has such a neat texture to it and added the perfect contrast for the negative/ positive foam stamps.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Don’t forget to check out all the other Creative Squad creations every Tuesday!

Thank you Josefine! I absolutely love those colors and patterns together! Here are some of the supplies that Josefine used:



Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share?  I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

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Nat

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Vacation Mode – Marsha Valk

  

Hello from the Creative Squad and a big farewell hug to stellar squad member Marsha Valk! This will be her last post with us and we thank her so much for all the inspiring, creative, and amazing projects that she has made for us. She has been on the Creative Squad since the very beginning and has always gone above and beyond with her posts and her unique way of using my stamps and stencils. We wish her all the best as her Artful Adventure continues :) So for her last post, Marsha brings us a suite of prints celebrating patterns with my Downtown foam stamp set and my Mini Chicago foam stamp set and inspired by our theme: Vacation Mode – Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are slogging through winter with only one thing on our minds – vacation! Whether it’s Spring Break, a weekend getaway, or an hour with a good book, everyone needs an escape to Vacation Mode now and again.

Vacation Mode to me means: Slowing down. Reading a lot. Perhaps doing some sketching (but only if I feel like it). Eating yummy food. Seeing the sights and visiting at least one museum. Enjoying the sun! It has been a while since my last vacation abroad.

Much like Nat does on her travels, when I’m on vacation I observe and photograph lots. And because many of Nat’s ArtFoamies are inspired by her travels, I thought about my last vacation and had a look at the photos I took.

Among them I found three of my feet. I always take ‘fromwhereIstand’ / ‘Ihavethisthingwithfloors’ type photos wherever I go. In fact, I remember taking pictures of my feet in foreign places well before hashtags and even before digital photography!

Nat’s positive/negative ArtFoamies always remind me of pavement and flooring, so that’s how I came up with the idea of recreating my #fwis pictures with collage.

I started creating the pavement with the Downtown Positive and Negative Foam Stamp and the Mini Chicago Positive and Negative Foam Stamp Set.

Because I’m not very fond of cleaning, I only used one Stamp Buddy and mixed my paint colours directly on there using an old plastic card.

For a lighter shade I added more white, and when I switched stamps, I added more grey. I stamped on regular printer paper because it’s nice and thin for collage.

I cleaned the ArtFoamies with a baby wipe in between stamping, and I rinsed them with water once I was done stamping altogether.

Once the prints were dry, I cut them into the shapes of the pavement in the photos, using the pictures as my guide. I adhered the shapes to heavyweight cardstock cut to 4.1” x 5.8” (A6) sized pieces.

I traced my feet and any relevant details in the photographs onto tissue paper to transfer them onto the collaged pieces.

I placed the tissue paper pencil side down on top of the collage and then burnished the pencil lines with a bone folder.

Then I used acrylic paint and paint markers to colour inside of the pencil lines and pastel pencils, Stabilo All pencil and a brush pen to add some shadows and depth.

Thank you Marsha!!! These are just so cool – almost like the drawings from a comic book :) Here are some of the supplies that Marsha used:


Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share?  I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

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Each Day is a New Adventure – Shilpa Nagaonkar

  

Hello and welcome to a post from the Creative Squad! Today we have some super colorful tags from Shilpa Nagaonkar to brighten your day. Shilpa used my Mini Batik Pattern 2 foam stamp and my Mesa Verde stencil for lots of layered pattern goodness. This month the Squad is working with the theme: Each Day is a New Adventure – Be adventurous this month and try something new in your art-making! Use a new tool, medium, or technique that you’ve been meaning to try for too long now. Go on a new adventure TODAY!

Hello Everyone! My teamies have shared beautiful projects with this month’s theme – “Each Day is new Adventure” and now it’s my turn today. I love to try new techniques in my mixed media work. I am using Nat’s beautiful stamps for the first time these days, and that itself is an adventure for me… but today I’m going further and using a Gelli Plate for the first time…

Here is what I did: I applied acrylic paint to the Gelli plate using a brayer.

I stamped on the Gelli plate several times with the Mini Batik Pattern 2 stamp.

Then I pressed copy paper onto it and I got my monoprint/ Gelli print.

I did this same procedure using 3 different colors – Lemon, Cheddar and Magenta.

You will find in the pictures, I got several backgrounds.

After that, I cut out tags from the gelli printed papers and adhered them on white card tags. For my next layer, I applied blacksoot distress ink through Nat’s Mesa Verde Stencil randomly on the tag.

I also cut out hearts from the same gelli prints and adhered them on the tag. and they are ready :)

Nat’s ArtFoamies and Gelli plate are a perfect match! I am sure going to make more monoprints with them…

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Thank you Shilpa for a fun combination of color and pattern! In addition to some white copy paper and glue, Shilpa used the following supplies (some are affiliate links):


Play along with us too: I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

And join me tomorrow, Wednesday November 29th for a little gossip from my studio! I’ll be on Facebook Live chatting about all sorts of fun NEW stuff. You’ll have to join us to see what all the excitement is about ;)

 

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Nat

Comments (1)

  • Deleted User

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    These are beautiful, Shilpa!

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Each Day is a New Adventure – Jennifer Gallagher

  

Hello from the Creative Squad this fine Tuesday! Today we have a super creative way to dress up some storage boxes with Jennifer Gallagher. Jennifer is using my Mini Batik Pattern 1 foam stamp and my Batik stencil, as well as this month’s theme: Each Day is a New Adventure – Be adventurous this month and try something new in your art-making! Use a new tool, medium, or technique that you’ve been meaning to try for too long now. Go on a new adventure TODAY!

I am so excited to be back with you again this month for another creative squad post. This month our team is focusing on new artistic adventures. Each day really is a new adventure! Keeping that theme in mind, I decided to try something I have always wanted to try. I have always wanted to decorate a few pre-made paper mache boxes for some decorative storage. I figured this was the perfect time.

I began this project on my 8×10 inch gelli printing plate. After selecting several shades of blues, greens, and oranges, I decided to go with a Batik design. (Color list: Sunbeam, Nectarine, Laguna, Key West, Cool Blue, Parakeet, Black) Lucky for me, Nat has a great Batik stencil and set of Batik foam stamps. I used my 9×12 inch Batik stencil and gelli printed multiple pages on white paper.

I picked through my gelli-printed papers and chose my favorites. I then used my large Dylusions journal block and a black fine tip sharpie and drew alongside the outside edge of the journal block. I saved a few sheets of batik paper for another step.

Then I cut along the drawn lines. These strips will eventually be glued down the paper mache box in alternating strips.

While I had my gelli plate out, I thought it would be quicker to use it instead of a stamp buddy. I brayered the black paint out in a small spot. I then pressed my Mini Batik Pattern 1 foam stamp onto the black paint and pressed the design on the paper I had reserved earlier. I continued this design all along the paper. I then cut the papers into strips.

I painted the inside of both containers and their lids with Dylusions paint. One box I painted with cut grass and the other with vanilla custard. Let the acrylic paint dry before moving on.

Using matte finish mod podge, I glued the strips down to both of my boxes while alternating the colors and patterns. Patience during this step is the key to a nice finished piece. Do not try to glue too many at once and allow sections to dry before moving on. I also glued down strips to the top of the small box. Using the leftover paper, I cut out all of the x’s. I then arranged them on top of the large box top. Once I had them arranged how I wanted, I glued them down too.

After gluing down all of the strips to the containers and their lids, and allowing them to thoroughly dry, I decided to add some final details. Using black Dylusions paint I added some fun designs to the interior of each container. I also did some dashed lines alongside the strips on the outside.

I hope this post has inspired you to try something new. I am very happy that I did! Be sure to comment and let us know how you intend to try something new. See you next time.

Thank you Jennifer – I love your colors! In addition to white paper, Jennifer used the following supplies (some are affiliate links):




Play along with us too: I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

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