Make Your Own Foam Stamp
Printmaking is a fun, open-ended process for image-making. Stamping is a kinesthetically satisfying and approachable form of printmaking, so it’s a great fit for many of our projects in the Art Studio and at home. In one of our Every Day Art Projects, we offered our guests at The Carle a chance to make their own stamp.
In this project, guests cut shapes out of 2”x2” rectangles of sticky-backed craft foam and then arranging the shapes in a single layer on a small rectangle of polystyrene foam, like the kind that is used in food packaging.
Names and initials were popular designs. E made a one with her initials. I observed as she made and printed it, interested to see her reaction as she peeled back her first print. I thought she might be upset that the E’s read backwards, so I approached her and asked what she thought of her print. She was happy with how it turned out, but for her second stamp she wanted to make her entire first name. Together we talked about how to cut and arrange the letters so they would read correctly when stamped.
Some guests chose to leave their stamp behind for others to use. We displayed a selection of them on our front wall to inspire our guests’ designs.
