Rubber Stamps & Rubber Stamping

Whether you have just started in rubber stamping or are a seasoned stamper, everyone agrees that this hobby is here to stay! The ability to express your creativity with rubber stamps makes this hobby one of the fastest growing and enjoyed of all times.

From making cards, scrapbook pages, and even decorative tins-rubber stamping brings together friends, family, and memories each and every time.

Who would have thought that a "sticky substance" discovered by the Mayan Indians would later become a multi-million dollar, craft industry involving thousands of creative images, papers, and embellishments.

Long gone are the days of rubber's only use being that of pencil erasers, Charles Goodyear's most notable invention has changed many industries and products.

Quite possibly, his greatest contribution was to the hobby and craft industry for introducing this wonderful substance used today around the world. Stamping has become a favorite hobby for men and women alike and provides a rich outlet for artistic creativity and expression.

It wasn't until the mid 1990's that rubber stamping became a "craze" in America, but the evidence of that excitement continues today with the thousands of manufacturers, designers, and producers of rubber stamps.

Go ahead, pull out those rubber stamps and begin creating some incredible artwork of your own. You will be amazed with all of the fun and the ability to make truly special and unique works of art to share with others.

-Kathy Williams is a rubber stamping fanatic and runs Rubber Stamping Fun at www.rubberstampingfun.com. She also enjoys writing informative articles about the rubber stamp and stamping industry.

Are you new to scrapbooking or a seasoned expert? The following list of supplies will assist the novice rubber stamp hobbyist and scrapbooker as well as spark some interest for the advanced craft artist. There are hundreds of different supplies you can use in all of your stamping and scrapbooking projects. These are some of our favorites!

Stamp Ink: Rubber stamping ink comes in a wide variety of colors and hues. Outside of its obvious use, stamp ink can be used to tint metal accents as well a shade the edges of paper and chipboard.

Stickers: Gone are the days of a few simple sticker choices. Today's stickers come in hundreds of different designs, and there are velvet, gel, and 3-D stickers! Stickers can quickly add color and style when filling a scrapbook layout page.

Ribbon: Ribbon for scrapbooking and stamping comes in many of sizes from 1/8" to 2" or more depending on what you need for your project. Color coordinated spools of ribbon can be purchased at almost any craft and hobby store.

Buttons, paper clips, and staples: Embellishments for stamping and scrapbooking include buttons, paper clips, metal fasteners, eyelets, paper clips, colored staples, rivets, and dried flowers. Once plain items have now become necessities for any scrapbooking room. To create coordinated sets, purchase plain white embellishments and colorize with a stamp pad or acrylic paint. You'll love having embellishments that perfectly match your paper and albums.

Card stock: Today's card stock comes handmade, hand died, and there's even fabric printable paper. Look for acid free paper, which will keep your memorable albums in perfect shape for the longest time possible.

Albums: If you're going to make a scrapbook memory, you need a good album to hold all of your wonderful new scrapbooking pages. The standard album sizes are 6x 6, 12 x 12, and 8.5 x 11. They can also be found in smaller sizes, and they can even be custom-made for specific projects.

While you only need a few supplies and your creativity to have fun in stamping and scrapbooking, these supplies will make your time spent scrapbooking and rubber stamping even more enjoyable.