Making Jewellery - August 2016

TIPS & TECHNIQUES

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makingjewellery.com 73

7 8 9

10 11 12

0.8mm copper blanks, although the packaging

states it’s for 24 gauge (0.4mm) maximum,

which is a lot thinner.

8. These are as easy to use and cut a precise and
   clean hole.

Stamping

9. Letter stamps can be a bit of a minefi eld.
   There is a wide range in the quality and price
   of these kinds of stamps. The more expensive
   ones are a better quality and will last longer,
   but if you don’t have a lot to spend it’s worth
   looking out for a cheap set to start with and
   move up to a more expensive range if you like
   the technique. You will fi nd that font styles are
   more restricted with the cheaper stamps. You
   will also need to consider the size of the letters
   that you want. I have 2mm and 3mm stamps
   and fi nd I mostly use the 3mm, whether I’m
   doing one line or multiple lines of text. The
   fi nished size of the letter is also diff erent; I
   have a set of capitals and lower case in the same
   font that are both 3mm in size but the capitals
   look bigger when stamped. ImpressArt do the
   biggest range of stamps and have a budget
   range as well as higher priced ones.


10. The higher priced sets have the letters
    marked on the sides of the stamps so you can
    easily see which side should be facing you.

The cheaper ones don’t, so you will need to

mark them up. It’s not hard to do and is worth

doing with all your stamps before you start.

You need to make a mark with a fi ne point

permanent marker on the letter end of the

stamp at the bottom of the letter. This is the

mark you will use to line up the letter on the

blank. So it needs to be central to the letter

and visible on the column of the stamp.

11. On the opposite end of the stamps, mark an
    arrow facing the way you would hold the stamp.
    When you hold the stamp the arrow should
    be facing you. Mark the letter that the stamp

makes on the side below the arrow. The one in

the picture is a lowercase ‘d’.

12. Now you should be ready to stamp! Take
    your blank, a ruler and the fi ne-point marker
    pen. If using aluminium, take the protective
    coat off. You will need to work out where to
    put your marks depending on where you want
    the letters to sit on the blank. You need to
    mark where the bottom of the letters will sit as
    this is where you’ll put the electrical tape for
    the stamps to push up against. Make at least
    three little marks.

Inspirational piece

Dream bracelets, Sian Hamilton p56

MJ96_P71-75_Blanks and Stamping SHSF.indd 73 23/06/2016 11:23