LET'S GET CREATIVE ( PART I ) : GET STAMPING !

LET'S GET STAMPING  ( PART I ) : GET STAMPING ! 

It seems like everyone has the SAME THINGS nowadays, so why not customise your own things? It may seem daunting, especially if you identify yourself as having no “artistic genes”. BUT NO, customising is all about making something uniquely yours.

My all time favourite way of customising my own things are through stamps and embroidery (part III of this series of posts, stay tuned). Stamps are great for so many things, you can get them from  any scrapbooking or craft store, and even carve them on your own!  Here are my 3 favourite ways to use stamps ...

Some materials you’ll need:

1. Plain notebooks 
2. A plain tote bag or some calico
3. Mahjong or plain wrapping paper (you can buy brown kraft paper at Popular bookstore)
4. Your stamps (here's the jump to our workshop sign-up!)
5. Ink pads (get those for fabric if you want to print on your bags and such!)

Notebooks

If you're a MUJI notebook hoarder, you'll realise all your notebooks look the same. What better way to differentiate them than this! The great thing about stamps are that you can either stamp it once and make a “centrepiece" sort of aesthetic, or you could stamp it repeatedly so it looks like a pattern. For this, I'm using my “good mood sponsored by coffee" stamp that I carved, and some black ink for my daily to-do-list notebook !

TIP: Stamp your notebooks with an image that reflects the contents of the book! This really helps with organising your things and not accidentally bring the wrong notebook out as I'm often guilty of doing D: 

When choosing an ink pad, the ones with a raised ink sponge are the best! Why? Because the best way to ink your stamp is to place your stamp face up and dab the ink on the stamp with the ink pad as seen in the pictures rather than the other way round. This actually helps you to control the amount of ink you put on your stamp, and for the more adventurous ones out there, to help create a gradient effect with different coloured ink pads.

TIP: When printing your stamp, aim to apply EVEN PRESSURE on your stamp to make sure all the ink transfers onto the paper.

Tote bag / stamping on fabric

I’m sure most are familiar with the MUJI tote bag stamping station! In fact, you can do the exact same thing with your own store-bought or handmade stamps. Before stamping, iron the bag or fabric to have an even surface to stamp on. Hey! You can use your newly stamped fabric to try out our previous drawstring bag tutorial with your very own patterned fabric.

For fabrics and tote-bags, tiling the stamp to create a pattern often results in a more aesthetically pleasing result, especially if your stamp is tiny! Here I used an assortment of gem stamps I carved to create this little gem patterned fabric.

TIP: If you're comfortable with drawing, something I like to do is draw the object meant to be stored inside the drawstring pouches on the fabric of the pouch! For this, I find that the ZIG Fabricolour is the best for a smooth fabric surface.

Making your own wrapping paper

I love making my own wrapping paper (or I decorate brown paper bags from Daiso)! It just always adds a little extra something to presents, you know? With stamps, it's pretty straightforward. You can either stamp the whole sheet of paper before gift-wrapping or do it the other way around! Here, I'm using brown kraft paper, and my ribbon and leaf stamp.

TIP: If you prefer to cover your giftware with stamps, stamping before wrapping works best, to avoid smudging the prints when turning the package this way and that D:

Now for the brown paper bags: simply stamp on the surface, add your gift ( perfect for small small things ), then fold down the top and secure with cute washi tape! Quick and easy!

Here’s another way I wrap flat presents like face masks or even use as envelopes for letters! One giant stamp in the middle does the trick.

There are so many possible ways you can use stamps! All you need now is to learn how to carve your own stamps, and you can go wild with your customising endeavours! We have weekly stamp carving videos on our blog too, and if you want to learn how to carve your own awesome stamps, sign up here!