First, I cut the design away from the plate, to create a flat piece. Once I had a design I thought I’d like, I was ready to get down to printing. I also broke up the background around the heart by adding different sized dots. Not exactly the most interesting design! I decided to cross-hatch the heart, using the pencil to make lines across it diagonally in on direction, then diagonally in the other. So, if I’ve traced around my card and heart, all I’m going to get is white outlines of those shapes. This technique really lends itself to tracing around shapes, so if you have some fun paper punches around, punch out a few pieces on scrap paper, and see where that leads you.Īnd important thing to know at this point is that wherever you press down with your pencil will not be inked in the finished stamp, and wherever you don’t press will be. Next, I cut a heart shape from a scrap of paper, and centered it on my ATC tracing. I always have these plates laying around my work room, because I use them as pain palettes-I buy them in gigantic stacks at my local dollar store. I placed the base on a small styrofoam plate, and traced around it with a pencil. I started with an ATC sized base, cut in cardstock. This was infinitely faster and less stressful than carving stamps, and a great deal of fun. In my world, that’s a sign that I should abandon my original idea in favor of something that sounds like fun-so, here we are, with finished cards made by creating patterns in styrofoam plates. I found myself dreading this as the deadline grew closer, and kept putting it off. See a supply list with links at the end of the post.I recently signed up for a printmaking swap at ATCsForAll, with the intent of carving some stamps. You need some specialized supplies for this, but they are not too pricy and they can be used over and over with the exceptions of the blocks themselves. My favorite way of block printing is to use easy-cut rubber blocks that more closely mimic the process of using linoleum and wood but is still easy enough for an elementary-age student to cut (with close supervision). See the supplies list at the bottom of this post for recommendations and links. You’ll have better results with these and you don’t have to worry about chopping up the plates. ![]() I recommend using ink because the results will be much cleaner! Instead of using a plate, you can also buy packs of foam printing plates for this same purpose in a variety of sizes. Try it a few times first so you know exactly the right process before you have the kiddos do it as this can sometimes not work well if you don’t push down hard enough or use paint instead of printing ink. Then put your paper on top, press down over the whole surface of the paper with the back of a spoon or a roller, and then lift the paper off. Next, spread printing ink (or even some tempera paint thinned just a bit with some water) over the surface of the foam using a paintbrush or roller (see more tips about spreading the ink below). ![]() Make sure the lines you draw are pressed deep into the foam for the best results. One way is just taking a Styrofoam plate, cutting off the rim so you end up with a flat disk, and carving/drawing on it with a dull pencil, a stick, or a ballpoint pen. This is the cheapest way to do a block print and the safest and most accessible for young children. Foam printing involves drawing deep lines into Styrofoam and using ink or paint to transfer this image onto paper.
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