Production of the Art Stamps at Qwikart
Our Art Stamps start from a line drawing which is scanned, cleaned up and then printed. It is then cut out and placed in a layout for the theme sheet. The paste up is then scanned again, cleaned up and printed. Two sheets are laid out next to one another. The layout of the two sheets is sent to our plate/matrix supplier. Above is what the plate looks like. It was made from the layout I sent to them.
Above is what the matrix looks like. The matrix is the part that the rubber
is pressed into forming the rubber-stamp images.
Here at Qwikart Art Stamps our rubber arrives in 50 pound rolls. Sally usually
cuts the rubber into pieces that fit half (approximately 6"x8")
our matrix. It looks like she is also cutting out some images in this photo.
Our sheets of rubber are approximately 6" x 8".
After that the matrix is sprayed with a release agent. The orange plastic is peeled off the rubber. The powdered side of the rubber goes down on the matrix. A release paper is placed on top. The stack if then placed on the tray and put into the vulcanizer to press the images. The vulcanizer has been preheated. You jack the platen up and increase the pressure to the desired amount. Set the timer. When the timer goes off you burp the rubber and reset the timer for the remainder of the pressing.
We usually sell our rubber by the theme sheet. However, we do sell individual
images which is labor intensive. The images are cut apart and then labeled
with the filing numbers on the back. Since we have two plates per matrix
there is always a few partial images that get trimmed off and go into the
junk rubber basket. We trim the uncooked rubber off and package the blems
and partials into grab bags for collage or unusual assemblages of the images.
After the images hereafter known as unmounteds are cut apart, they are coded on the back and filed. Many of our artist friends take an active part in our business. Many of them have their designs in our line of Art Stamps. You will find the designer listed on the index sheet that comes with your Theme Sheet of Art Stamps. Any images that are not designated as belonging to an artist are by myself, Sandra Luck or might even be clip art. Our artists retain their copyright, but agree not to sell or lease their image(s) to another rubber stamp company while we are in business.
Here is Sandy Cerra filing some unmounteds.
