SECTION ONE

Get your transparency sheet or clear plastic sheet ready and Copy 1 of your printed graphics ready. The piece of plastic I used below is the "window" from the box in which a doll was packaged. The little bit of paper sticking to it is no problem, however put it to the back if you are using scrap plastic with paper left on it. To demonstrate this method I am using a graphic of a Chrysanthemum flower, which can be found in several Dover Publications. Place Copy 1 of your image, intact, underneath a piece of clear plastic or transparency, making sure the piece is big enough to cover the entire graphic. You might want to take this opportunity to draw guidelines with a Sharpie pen onto the clear plastic or transparency that you can use later to help line up your stamp if it is one that has a definate orientation.

Apply a small bit of temporary adhesive to the backside of the plastic or transparency you have cut for your image. Lay this over the top of Copy 1, so that the adhesive will keep your image from sliding around while you work on it.

Apply temporary adhesive to the backside of Copy 2 of your graphic, covering the entire area. (If your image has not been reversed, then apply the temporary adhesive to the front side of the image. Images have to be reversed for this project. You can do that when you prepare the graphics file on your computer, or if your printer has a setting that will let you print a mirror image, or if you use a copier that lets you print mirror images. If you aren't able to do that then you will just need to work with the image upside-down, applying the temporary adhesive to the topside of the image instead of the backside.)

Cut out the individual sections of Copy 2 and attach each piece to the top side of a rubber scrap, making sure the scrap is big enough for each section. (Alternatively you could piece together smaller pieces to form one piece, which would result in a mosaic type effect.) You will notice there is a smooth side and a rougher side to the rubber--YOU WANT THE SMOOTH SIDE TO BE ON THE TOP. Using these paper pieces of Copy 2 as a pattern, cut the rubber to match the pieces. Lay the cut pieces out above the plastic or transparency base, using the underlying Copy 1 as a guide. BE SURE TO HAVE ALL THE PIECES READY BEFORE GOING TO THE NEXT STEP. You want to cut the rubber as close as possible to the shape of your Copy 2 pattern pieces. You will have to be careful not to move the paper pattern pieces as you cut. For really small pieces it can help to cut the piece a bit larger and then hold the piece with tweezers while trimming it closer. Remove the paper pattern pieces and compare your cut rubber pieces to their respective sections of Copy 1 under your plastic base and modify as needed. For most designs your cut pieces will not be exact, but get them as close as you can to your cut pattern pieces. Some pieces, especially inside curves are hard to cut while keeping the pattern piece affixed. In this case, or possibly for all pieces, you might like to outline the pattern piece on the rubber and remove the paper before cutting. Some small pieces may just be cut freeform, without using a pattern, such as small dots.