Rubber Stamping on shrink art mediums is an easy and fun way to decorate apertures (openings) in your hand made greeting cards. It is important to use the correct inks and colors when using shrink art. I prefer buying the pre-sanded, ready to decorate, shrink art. You will need a stamp pad with permanent ink, permanent ink cleaner and water or wet wipes for a final cleaning.

STEP ONE:

Ink your clear hobby rubber stamp with permanent ink. I prefer to use black and color it in with pencil crayons. Stamp the image on the sanded side of the shrink art paper. As soon as you are finished stamping the image of your choice, clean the stamp with the stamp cleaner. Be sure your cleaner is specifically made to take permanent ink off your stamps. Remove excess cleaner with your usual method of cleaning your stamps either on a stamp scrubber or wet wipes. Soapy water is another alternative to the final cleaning of your stamps. Failure to clean the stamp immediately after use can result in staining.

STEP TWO:

Color in your stamped image with ordinary pencil crayons. Once you are finished cut out the designs as desired. Be sure you are careful cutting. Turning sharp corners can tear your image and give you a less than perfect finish. Always cut in toward a point to avoid tearing. Be sure to cut excess in areas that you wish to punch holes and punch the holes before moving on to step three.

STEP THREE:

This is the fun part. Place your shrink art in the oven for as little as a minute on a clean cookie sheet with a paper between the cookie sheet and your shrink art. Allow them up to 1 ½ minutes to shrink. When you remove them from the heat you may wish to press them flat with an acrylic block or some other flat cool object. You are now ready to decorate cards or other crafts with your stamped shrink art.

The image to the right shows the difference in size from the heated and the unheated shrink art. 

I had so much fun with this technique, that I have used it over and over for many on my rubber stamping projects. Using the clear stamps I am able to place the images on my shrink art precisely where I want them and I can see the ink coverage before I lift the stamp from the plastic. The brand I have used most often with my shrink art are called Shrinky-Dinks and come in a variety of finishes.

This is a great project for kids to color and watch shrink. They will be delighted with the cute fun outcome of rubber stamping on shrink art.