Lets Use Up Scraps Of Rubber!

So what do you do with all of the scraps of rubber that come with your Stampin' Up! stamp sets? 

Do you:

1. bin them

2. hoard them away as ONE day they might be useful

3. use them as Dimensionals (take the paper & rubber off and the gray foam makes a great Dimensional)

4. make them into new rubber stamps.........

Well this is what we did at a party workshop recently - used up scraps of rubber & card stock (but that's a different blog post!). My wonderful husband used up some scrap wood in his workshop and made me some wooden blocks for mounting the rubber onto and I cut up my scrap rubber and made these:

Pretty cool hey! Ohh and if the rubber won't stick on one side due to it either coming from a clear mount stamp set or just being stored for way too long - adhere it down with the awesomely versatile and strong Crystal Effects - it's definitely more than just a paper lacquer! IPersonal experience does lead me to comment that I don't use normal scissors for this or it will be a labour of love - the Stampin Up! craft & rubber scissors really do make life easier as they cut rubber like butter.

You will never get the crisp precision details of a commercial stamp, but you can make some terrific background stamps (also a wonderful school holiday activity for children - just be careful of the scissors!). Now these are NOT for hoarding either - the fun is to do something with them. Here's one quick idea I did:

How cute is that giraffe - this one is from the new hostess set It's The Thought from the Summer Mini, but it would also look fantastic with the giraffe from Animal Stories.

Stamps: It's The Thought & handmade background stamp
Ink: More Mustard, Early Expresso
Card Stock: More Mustard, Early Expresso & Whisper White
Accessories: Early Expresso 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, sponges, Aqua painter, SNAIL, corner rounder punch.

I'd love to see what you make with scrap rubber - or better still what other uses you have for it, leave me a comment and let me know. Of course if you would like to learn a technique or get ideas around a theme, why not get together with a couple of friends and book your own workshop and I'd be happy to come and show you some different ideas!