Tutorial-Rub-On’s – Make your own!
Rub-on’s – Did you know you can make your own. (You probably did) I didn’t. I wanted to make some milestone 3×5 note cards to record my kids little milestones. I like to keep them in my kitchen drawer where they are easy to get to. I wanted to make them cute, consistant, and customizable. So I needed my own rub-0ns. They turned out perfect for my project. They look a little more stamped then a manufactured rub-on but I love the look. Note: I also tried them out on little canvas bags I had lying around. I am not sure how well the ink will stay on the canvas, but they would be perfect for little gift bags, or whatever.
What you need:
Ink Jet Printer (Or you can use a copy machine)
Transparency paper. (Ones that can go through an ink jet printer)
Craft Stick or Coin. (Or some kind of tool to rub the ink on with)
These are very easy to make.
First gather your images, I created my own and also used some .png digital elements.
If you are using an image that has words or lettering you will need to mirror the image so that when you rub it onto your surface it will read correctly. I did this in photoshop by going to Edit – Transform – Flip Horizontal.
Next print out your image. IMPORTANT: The transparency will have a rough side and a slick/smooth side. Print the image onto the slick side of the transparency. Be careful not to touch the ink once it’s printed. It stays wet and will smear very easily.
Finally simply place the rub on where you wish, slick image side down, hold it firmly then rub with your craft stick.
You can reuse your sheets of transparency. If you want to reuse them you may want to only print one or two images onto the transparency at at time so that you don’t smear all the images as you try to place them. I just cut each image out as I used it.
Also, I tried out color and it worked wonderfully as well.
I was so excited to learn I could make my own rub-ons. Even though I am probably late to the game… I thought I would share this fun technique with you in case it’s new for you as well.
