Rubber Stamp Supplies Stores Locations Locator Map and Directory

Rubber Stamp Stores sell supplies related to the craft of rubber stamping.

From Wikipedia

Rubber stamping, also called stamping, is a craft in which some type of ink made of dye or pigment is applied to an image or pattern that has been carved, molded, laser engraved or vulcanized, onto a sheet of rubber. As rubber stamping increasingly gains popularity, mostly in the United States, it also gains a reputation as an art form. Some participants choose to carve their own rubber stamps, either of old-fashioned gum erasers or eraser-like rubber. Companies like Speedball or MasterCarve supply carving sets to amateurs wishing to carve their own rubber stamps, with some including linocut tools. The print from the carved rubber stamp is viewed as work of art on its own, or one or more stamps are used to embellish a work of art with other components.

Other materials besides rubber may be used to produce a stamp. Woodcut and linocut are art forms based on the same principles. Linoleum is much harder than rubber and thus requires special tools. In Europe, linocut is more popular, especially with students and hobby artists. Woodcut is mostly used by professional artists, requiring much talent and patience. Rubber carving material is available in Europe, but is marketed as a children's toy and not widely used.

There are several possibilities to vary the look of those works. Paints, pigments and dye inks create different effects, extending the use of rubber stamping from paper to fabrics, wood, metal, glass, and so on. Ink pads can be purchased that allow for embossing and there are markers that can be used to ink stamp pads with colors for a multi-color look.

The use of rubber stamps can be combined with other materials. The image may be embellished by the addition of chalks, inks, paints, fibers and a variety of other ephemera and embellishments.

Those works are often used in mail art or artist trading cards because they tend to be small and allow the making of series. The TAM Rubber Stamp Archive has a collection of prints of rubber stamps mail-artists used since 1983 . Stamping is also often used in handmade cardmaking, scrapbooking, and letterboxing.