Magic Stamp

I know the last posting said next up would be Spellbinders, but I am going to talk about a new to me tool that I wanted to let you know about.  I recently tried the Magic Stamp from Clearsnap and was pleasantly surprised to find out it truly is a "magic stamp".

The retailer description is:  
CLEARSNAP-Magic Stamp Moldable Foam Stamps. Mold and remold this foam pieces into an endless variety of textures and objects. Just Heat; Mold; Cut; and Stamp! Your molded image will remain until you reheat your shape. Great for stamping or stenciling on paper; fabric; and wood. This package contains eight 4x3x1 inch foam blocks. Made in USA.

I had the Magic Stamp in the house for less than a week when I decided I just had to try it,  My 2 sons and I decided to incorporate it into our craft time.  I grabbed my heat gun, magic stamp, a couple of different colors of ink to prepare for our activity.  I then told my sons to randomly choose a couple of items for us to try the Magic stamp on. 

We started with a seashell.  I heated the foam stamp by slowly moving the heat gun over the foam for about 30 seconds.  I then set a seashell on the table and pressed the heated side of the foam into the shell and held it firmly in place for 15-20 seconds.  The seashell impression was well detailed and when we added ink to the foam we discovered we had in fact created a beautiful stamp.  

We also used various other objects including  coins, which we discovered that when you overlap coins and put their impression in the foam they actually looked like bubbles.  With the coins we played around and I was a little disappointed to see the impression on the coins was only minimally visible.

My youngest son decided to go outside and get a leaf so we could try it,  The leaf was beautiful especially when I used both red and brown ink on the stamp.  We played around with the leaf, and saw the depth and clarity of the impression was dependant on the amount of pressure used.  The deeper the impression the longer it takes to reheat the foam to have it return to its original form.

We also tried a rock, a toy figurine, and a plastic baby fork.  The plastic baby fork worked really well but the figurine left a weak unimpressive impression.  I have read that if you make an impression of another stamp (eg a wood mounted stamp) the impression of the stamp will be different then the original impression the stamp would normally make,  I did not test this yet but plan to the next time I play with the magic stamp...tomorrow maybe,

Clearsnap was smart to not just create a block form of the foam stamp but also offers packages of sheet stock so that you can cut the size you need.  Being able to cut to size gives you endless possibilities for your stamp creations.  I must say I do love this product.  I know the Magic Stamp is not new, it has actually been on the market for a few months, but I just recently learned about it and wanted to try it,  So my opinion is that this is a really fun tool that enables your creativity to flow.  My kids loved finding different things to make impressions with and of course like all kids getting dirty is always fun.  I did not let them touch the heat gun but the rest they can do.

I have one warning for everyone...it says on the packaging to keep the heat gun moving as you can melt the foam and oh boy, they are 100% correct.  I was distracted by something happening around me and held the gun still for less than 3 seconds and sure enough the foam melted a bit.  So if you are heating the block be careful to keep the heat moving across the foam and do not accidentally get too close to the foam.

You can utilize both sides of the block  making 2 distinct stamps.  If you like the stamp you create you can leave the impression in the foam to use again.  However if you want to erase your stamp to make another you simply reheat the foam gently gliding the heat gun over the impression until it is completely removed.  Just remember to keep the heat 

The magic stamp is now available at Loonie4scrapbooking for $7.79 + tax for the 8 pack of blocks.  We also carry the foam sheets which enable you to cut the size of foam you need.  The packs of sheet stock contain three 8x10 inch foam sheets in varying thicknesses ranging from 1/8 inch to 3/8 inch.  A third form of the magic stamp is the Geometric shapes pack. This package contains ten foam blocks in assorted shapes; sizes; and colors.  The sheets and geometric shapes packs each cost $6.79 + tax.

The above video will show you the basics,  Use your imagination and have fun!  

Loonscrapper