-
Step 1
Use a ruler to draw a 3-inch-by-2-inch rectangle on the cardboard. Cut the rectangle out with scissors and trace the form onto the cardboard several times. Cut out enough cardboard rectangles so that if you stack them, the stack is about two inches tall. Glue all of them together to make a single block of cardboard.
-
Step 2
Cut a 3-inch-by-2-inch rectangle out of the sheet of styrofoam. Glue the rectangle to the top of the cardboard block. This will be the surface that you will be transferring your image to.
-
Step 3
Use a ballpoint pen to draw your chosen image or design on plain white paper. Keep the image as devoid of detail as possible because fine details are difficult to trim out of the foam, and may not reproduce well with ink.
-
Step 4
Turn the paper over. Rub the side of a pencil's sharpened graphite very firmly over the reverse side of the image, covering it completely with a heavy, even coating of the graphite.
-
Step 5
Turn the paper over, and place it right side up on the styrofoam glued to the top of the cardboard stack. Use the ballpoint pen to trace the image. You are transferring the penciled outline on the underside of the paper directly onto the foam. When you're through tracing, carefully lift the paper up, without smudging the image you have made on the styrofoam. You will see your image's outline on it. Darken the image on the foam with a pen or pencil, if needed.
-
Step 6
Use a hobby knife or box cutter to carve around the image on the foam. Remove all the foam except for the image area, which is now ready to use as an ink stamp.
