Introduction: Fabric Paint Ink Pad

I recently purchased a stamp in the hopes that I could use it to help speed up my production times. I had lots of fabric paints and was excited to get started. Unfortunately once I sat down I had no idea how to get the paint into the stamp. I tried a few different methods(brush, rollers, foam) and none of them worked but I was loathed to go out and spend money on ink pads. Then I had a bright idea of making my own ink pads with materials I had on hand and I am pleased to say it worked perfectly. Here is my final method.

Step 1: What You Will Need!

What you will need to make your own fabric paint ink pads. (I imagine this could be used with other paints as well.)

Fabric paint, (do NOT use puff paint this will not work with that type of paint)

A piece of felt the same size of your stamp

A tiny bit of salt

A tray or plate

A Popsicle stick or anything else to stir and spread your paint

Now let's get started.

Step 2: Add Paint

Put a good dollop of paint into your tray.

Step 3: Add Salt

Add a few grains of salt. It does not take much at all it is better to add not enough then to add too much. Begin stirring the paint and salt together, this will make the paint looser and spread out. My husband is an artist and assures me this is the best method. The salt also has an added bonus of being a colour setter.

Step 4: Adding the Felt

Once your paint is loose enough spread it out to roughly the same size of your felt piece.

Allow the paint to soak into the felt use your stick to push it around. Once it has soaked through the felt turn your felt over. You will now have a great ink pad to use with your stamps.

Step 5: Ready to Stamp

Stamp away.

Step 6: Set Your Ink

Set your paint as per insurrections on your paint. For example mine says to allow paint to dry for 24 hours and then iron on reverse side to set. This is a VERY important step if you do not wish the paint to just wash off first time your project hits water.

Step 7: Final Notes

Some things to note, if you want more coverage for your stamp add more paint in the beginning. I prefer mine to not be as dark so I use less paint. There also seems to be little way to save the paint after this method. I've tried Ziploc baggies, air tight containers and plastic wrap and none of it seem to work for more than a couple of days so I suggest you do a large amount of stamping at once to make the most of it. For the amount of paint used I got 30 to 40 3 inch stamps.

I hope you found this method useful and happy stamping to you.