Death Star Fun Foam Impression Stamp


Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary last week, and I wanted to make a geeky gift bag to put a few gifts into as a heartfelt gesture.  I also thought it would be cool.  So I decided I should try to make a Death Star stamp.  I mean, really, who doesn't love the Death Star (you know, except the people of Alderaan and pretty much all of the Rebels, but why split hairs)?

I figured the easiest way to make a Death Star stamp would be to make an impression stamp with fun foam. I tested this concept awhile back and made some very basic stamps, but nothing quite this large.  I started by finding a coloring book outline of the Death Star online.  


I put my cut out Death Star on top of my foam and drew around it with a ballpoint pen.  I then cut the circle out of the fun foam.


Next I drew over the most prominent lines on the Death Star with my ballpoint pen to get a general impression.  The pen doesn't sink in much when drawing on top of the paper, so just get the basics.  Then I removed the paper and filled in and drew over the big parts.  I also took a little artistic license and just tried to make it look as good as I could for a basic free-handed Death Star.


Then I grabbed a piece of cardboard and trimmed it so it was the same size as my Death Star circle.  Then I used the leftover cardboard to smear some E6000 glue over the back of it.  I firmly pressed the Death Star down, and then put the stamp under something heavy and flat until it dried (a book would work great).


After it dried, I used some gray pigment ink to make a stamp on my craft paper gift bag.  It turned out very light and a bit blotchy.  I used a lot of ink, but it still didn't make a good impression, so I ended up going around the design with a black Sharpie to make my gift bag (not what I imagined, but hubby still loved it).


Since that didn't work out quite the way I intended, I grabbed some craft paint and a brayer to give this stamp another try.  I mixed together white, black, and silver paint to make a charcoal gray (since I was printing on white, I went a bit on the darker gray side).


I covered the stamp in a thin layer of paint and then gently set the cardstock on top and rolled over it with my brayer.  The stamp came out much more clearly, still a bit rustic looking, but much better than with ink. Of course since this is a cardboard and fun foam stamp, you'll probably only get a few print sessions out of it before the fun foam gets dinged or the cardboard bends, but it's a cheap and fun way to make a completely customizable stamp.


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