Stamping on Metal

by Starla Nelson

Learn how to stamp on metal.

Supplies

Thin mat, or piece of suede
Acrylic mat
Metal Sheet (Ten Second Studio used here)
Refiner (metal or plastic) or stylus
Paper stumps
Stamps
Stazon™ Ink (Metallic Gold used here)
Lightweight spackling or embossing metal backing paste
Strong double sided adhesive

Step-by-Step

Step 1

Stamp image onto the front of the metal using Stazon™ Ink. Let dry.

Optional:
Heat set with heat gun to speed up drying. WARNING: METAL WILL GET GET VERY HOT!
Step 2

Place metal, image side up, on acrylic mat. Using the refiner or stylus, trace around the stamped image
Step 3

Turn the metal over to the back side and place on the thin mat or piece of suede. Use the paper stump to "puff" out the metal between the outlines of your image.
Step 4

Still working on the backside of the metal on the thin mat, use the refiner or stylus to detail the outline of the image even more.
Step 5

Remove the the thin mat and replace with the acrylic mat. Working on the front side of the metal, use the paper stump to flatten the metal around the embossed image. You can use the refiner or stylus along the edges of the image to refine the detail even more.
Step 6

To prevent the puffed image from being flattened, fill the backside of the image with the spackling paste or embossing metal backing paste. If using the spackling, make sure you remove the excess spackling by sanding off the extra spackle around the outside of the image after the paste has dried.
Step 7

Apply the strong double sided adhesive to the back side of the metal.
Adhere to your project.

Video!

Your Turn

You've seen the tutorial, now you try it! We've got a section of the gallery set aside for Stamping on Metal. Try this technique, then upload your artwork to the gallery. Show us your creations!

***Please note - Internet Explorer/Edge is not a supported browser, and will not allow you to see the videos. Please use Chrome, Firefox or Safari to view our tutorial videos.

Questions and Comments

We'd love to get your feedback or questions. Leave your comment below.

I was so surprised to see the use of metal stamping. I learned this technique in Shop class at College in '66. I made scrape book covers and plaques using this technique. Bravo for sharing a very unique art form that can be very rewarding.

Nancy Burns | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 5:39 AM

Great tutorial Starla!

lydia | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 5:41 AM

Starla, this is so cool. Your video tutorial was great!
This is a must try technique, thanks so much!

Kris | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 6:09 AM

This is a great technique and so Beautiful. Thanks for teaching us this!

Jan | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 6:31 AM

Very nice, but one question. what about the sharp edges? do you need to sand it? Especially when the flower was cut out, it seems the pointed petals would really be able to poke someone.

stamps4funGin | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 8:04 AM

This is so cool....I will have to try this....thank you so much for the awesome tutorial....

Gloria Westerman | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 8:08 AM

Great question Gin--the metal I used is 40 gauge, VERY soft and pliable. Usually the metal just bends I'd you were to make contact. But! It could possibly cause a poke. You could always round the sharper edges if you wanted to lesson the chance.

Starla | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 8:21 AM

Did you you sissors to cut out the metal embossed flower?

Liz | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 10:09 AM

Liz,
Scissors work fine on the metal. I used paper snips for these flowers. Tim Holtz's Tonic scissors cut metal like butter, but don't fit into right areas as well. I have also used my regular paper cutter to cut strips of metal. The blade doesn't always slice smoothly ( of course, it could be I'm using an old blade!), but I just incorporate the edge in my design, if it works!

Starla | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 10:15 AM

Thanks for the tutorial Starla. Nice job! People can check out more videos on our site for some of the questions asked.

Cheryl Darrow | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 12:09 PM

Very interesting. I like the effect, but would have to get some metal sheets first to try it. Edna

Edna Burgess | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 1:41 PM

Hi Starla,

Thanks for sharing. I really like the effect, & it's good to know scissors will work well.

I do have a few questions, though. You mentioned the use of paper stumps & styluses. I have no idea what a paper stump is, & don't where I could get one, nor where I could get the right sort of stylus for this use.

You also mentioned filling in the back with either spackling paste or embossing metal backing paste. I have a few jars of embossing paste. Do you think these would fit the bill?

Cheryl mentioned in her comment that people could check out videos on her site for answers to FAQs, but didn't mention the site.

Finally, you mentioned Ten Second Studios for the metal & the double-sided adhesive. Once again, I'm not sure where to get products from Ten Second Studios.

Some clarification would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for sharing.

Julie Stroobants | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 6:03 PM

Julie,
Great questions. I'll do my best to answer them all!
Paper stumps can be found in most craft stores, such as Michaels, in the drawing section. They are usually used to blend chalks or pencils.

If you ever did dry embossing with a light box, you may already have a stylus that would work to trace your image. Again, craft supply stores or your LSS should also have them.

I believe your embossing paste should work to fill the back of the image. I have never used it, but, I've seen it used, and don't see why it won't work!

Lastly, eclecticPaperie sells the TenSecond Studio products.
http://eclecticpaperie.com/tenseconds.html

You can also get the products directly from TenSecond Studios
http://www.tensecondsstudio.com/index.html

Both sell the metal, mat sets, paper stumps and beginning tool sets. The TSS site also has TONS of videos that show different ideas and techniques with their metal.

I hope I answered all your questions!

Starla | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 6:30 PM

WOW!!!! HOW BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!!!!!! DEFINATELY something to try!!!!!!!!

Becky Green | Wed Aug 17, 2011 at 7:16 PM

Wow, this is beautiful and a fantastic tutorial! Thank you so much for this, Starla! I also found a site with a ton of gorgeous metal projects by a lady named Monica Weaver. Site is www.addalittledazzle.com. She's got a lot of tutorials and ideas and sells metal sheets in a variety of colors like the ones used here.

Haven't tried metal yet, but this has me excited about giving it a try. Thanks again for this nice tutorial!!!

Kathie McGuire | Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 8:28 AM

I would love to try this without buying any materials, but I only have copper colored metal. Your gold shows up great against barn red, but what color would you suggest for my copper piece? I have all the other materials to complete the project.

Thanks,
Patty

Patty | Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 6:09 PM

Hi Patty! You could try it on kraft or against white or black for high contrast! Also, you can color your metal sheets with alcohol inks or copics, sand them, etc. to get the most out of a single color.

HTH!

lydia | Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 6:11 PM

Patty,
I think black stazon ink would look striking against the copper!

Starla | Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 6:13 PM

Thanks Starla, I have that, and will try a project this weekend!!

Patty | Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 6:19 PM

Hi Patty,

I've found that copper stands out well with turquoise or aqua. You could also try it with an olive or sage green. Basically, since copper is a warm color, you want to use cool colors (blues, greens, etc.) for contrast.

Julie Stroobants | Thu Aug 18, 2011 at 10:01 PM

Page 1 of 2 pages 1 2 >

Stamping on Metal

by Starla Nelson

Supplies

Step-by-Step

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7

Video!

Your Turn

Questions and Comments

The Author

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