My metal stamping tutorials in the past have always been popular, so I thought it’d be good to go back and teach another basics course with a fun little project! This will give you an idea of all the tools and the basic process to make lots of other metal stamping projects, too.
Materials:
- metal stamping blank
- two sizes of alphabet stamps
- light hammer
- black Sharpie
- fine sandpaper or nail file
- steel bench block
1. Begin by marking a dot dead center on your stamping blank. For this project, I used a 1″ brass circular blank. Continue by marking another dot on each side of the center mark, being sure to space them evenly.
* Your stamp should look something like the above image. It must be the sort made especially for stamping on metal. For this project, I used a 1/4″ (6mm) and 1/8″ (3mm) stamps. People are always asking me where I got my stamps, and I’ve gotten them all from Evie’s Tool Emporium on Etsy. Michelle and Dave are great to work with and always ship really quickly.
* Your stamp should look something like the above image. It must be the sort made especially for stamping on metal. For this project, I used a 1/4″ (6mm) and 1/8″ (3mm) stamps. People are always asking me where I got my stamps, and I’ve gotten them all from Evie’s Tool Emporium on Etsy. Michelle and Dave are great to work with and always ship really quickly.
2. Place your blank onto the steel bench block. The block will absorb the impact when you hammer the stamp and will make a much neater, more even impression. Use the larger stamp size for the last name initial. Line it up over the center mark, and make sure that it’s right side up! Carefully hammer the top of the stamp with one to two light strikes. Using the two smaller stamps, repeat the same process, being sure to align them properly.
* The letters will not stand out until you complete the next step. If you like the subtle look, leave it as-is. I made a little boo boo on the ‘A,’ but I kind of like the rustic, marred look a little bit.
3. Once you’ve stamped all three initials, color in the impressions with the black Sharpie. Don’t worry about marking the metal; just be sure to fill in all the grooves in the letters.
5. Give the Sharpie a moment to dry, then use your very fine sandpaper or nail file to buff away the surface ink. Use a small, circular motion, and continue to buff until you’ve removed all the Sharpie from the blank.
6. Use a lightly-dampened soft cloth or paper towel to wipe away the marker residue and any metal dust, being careful not to inhale any of the dust.
7. Although you can buy your blanks already hole-punched, I prefer to do it myself. It sometimes makes the blanks a little bit cheaper, and it allows me to put the hole wherever I want. You need a metal punch, and you can just line the hole in the punch with where you’d like it on the blank.
8. Thread a jump ring onto the blank, and string it onto a chain or ribbon. That’s it – you’re done!!!
Fun trivia – mae (with a tilda over the a) is mother in Portuguese. If my mom wore hip jewelry I’d totally make this for her 😉
Love this, Thank You!
Amazing work on this blog. Are you Canadian, if so, can you list where you buy these items please. <3
Thank you. You rule.
Thanks for this, I’d always wondered how they were done. I can see me making one for a Grandma gift soon.
where did u buy your metal hole puncher? great tutorial!
Lindsay-
Thank you so much for the shout out! Have to say I love your fingernail polish shade! You rock!
Enjoy the day,
Michelle-