Printing Plates

A couple of months ago, I purchased some print foam for block printing from Aileen at Outside the Margins. I hadn't had time to play with it until now - and since I'm redoing my Funky Art Journal I decided this was a great time to experiment with it. My goal was to make up a couple of designs I can use in the book. I've used some unmounted stamps in the Journal already - but have felt stifled because I'm limited in the designs I can use to what I have on-hand. I want to add something bigger and more "me" to the Journal...so I sat down with my embossing stylus and the print foam and began doodling.

ONE SMALL BORDER & TWO LARGE DOODLED IMAGES

The idea is simple - the foam is similar to a foam "paper" plate or a Styrofoam meat tray. It is easily carved and Aileen (owner of Outside the Margins) suggests using a pencil, lollipop stick or ballpoint pen for "cutting" design into the foam. I thought using an embossing stylus may provide for crisper lines and a more defined outcome - but we'll see.

I was a little surprised at the amount of pressure I had to use to get the deep impression I wanted. Since I've never worked with this before, I may have gone way too deep and it might not produce the results I'm hoping for. My elbow is sore and my finger has a blister from the hours of pressing the design into the foam and then tracing over it again and again. I do love the versatility of this stuff and will definitely order more. I love that you don't have to lug out the carving equipment or rubber carving blocks in order to create an image. I also love how inexpensive it is - three 6x9 sheets for $4.00. (And Aileen is very reasonable with her shipping prices.) Not only is the foam a lot cheaper than the blocks of rubber ($1.25 per 6"x9" sheet for the foam vs Hobby Lobby's price of $2.29 for a 4"x4"x1/2" Staedtler Master Carve block), using a common household object to "cut" is much more convenient and cheaper than a set of carving tools.

Another positive I see for using the foam is that it's much easier to cut in a different shape/size than rubber...and it's a whole lot easier and safer to work with. Carving tools must be sharp in order to work properly - you won't cut, stab, jab or scrape yourself with an embossing tool, lollipop stick or pencil. I also like that if you make a mistake, throwing it out isn't as heartbreaking as throwing out a rubber block. You can get "dozens" of prints from one piece of foam - which is perfect for me since I tend to tire of an image after using it a few times. I also like this better than Pen Score because it IS permanent. (Aileen also offers Pen Score through Outside the Margins - just click here.)

If you have never carved your own stamps before - and aren't sure it's something you'll want to do more than once, can't afford the investment, only need one image or want to practice on something cheaper than rubber - this is a great product. Print foam will give you good idea of the work involved in carving your own stamps - and save you some loot, too.

THESE ARE RANDOM DOODLES DONE ON ONE SHEET - I STILL HAVE
A LOT OF ROOM FOR BUNCHES OF DOODLES

It is almost impossible to get a decent scan of these - since the foam is white and the doodles are just carved into it, you can hardly see it in a picture. It's very easy to see the images in person - I was surprised at how well they stood out. I will post a sample project once I have a chance to move onto that part so you can see the designs more clearly.

TWO SMALL PLATES - I DOODLED TWO DIFFERENT IMAGES ON ONE PIECE
OF PRINT FOAM AND CUT THEM APART