Personalized and handmade gifts are some of my favorite gifts to give and receive. I love how much meaning they have behind them. I love the look of hand stamped jewelry but I know many of you may be too intimidated to give it a try. I have an easy tutorial for you that even the most novice crafter can do.
Several years ago I bought a stamp set. The set costs you around $20 but can be used over and over again. You will also need a hammer and some blanks. Blanks are what crafters call the blank material they use to stamp. Because hand stamping is becoming more and more popular, you can find blanks at nearly every craft store or on-line.
I start by getting the letters out that I plan to use. I always have a scrap piece of wood to try my stamp out on to make sure that I am holding the stamp the right way. I'm not the most spacial person, so being able to have a test run allows me to not mess up my blank by making a mistake.
Once you know you have your stamp facing the right direction, hold your stamp firmly in place {you don't want the stamp moving} as straight as possible. Hammer hard in the center of your stamp at least 10-15 times. You want to make sure every part of your stamp transfers.
Once you are finished stamping, gather up a black sharpie, some cotton balls and some nail polish remover.
Color in your stamped letters with your sharpie getting in all the dips and grooves. Take your cotton ball and soak it in nail polish remover. Use that to remove the extra sharpie. This step allows you to make the stamped grooves stand out more. It's not necessary, but I find that it makes a big difference.
Once you are finished, you can make your stamped pieces into any jewelry item you want.
I put this small initial round on a leather cord to create a wrap bracelet.
This one has the initials of a mother's children's names. I added it to a necklace because what mom wouldn't love to have her kids hanging close to her heart.
And finally, this bar was stamped with the word grace. It's probably one of my favorite words in the history of ever because grace just about sums it all up. It's always a good reminder for me to live my life giving grace and receiving grace.
I will tell you that stamping letters in a line can be tricky. It's best to start out with initials and then work your way up to a word, name or phrase.
With practice, you should be a pro in no time! And remember, hand stamping doesn't have to be perfect. It's actually better when it's not.
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