Stamping with Style: Sensational Ways to Decorate Paper, Fabric, Polymer Clay and More

Arts & Activities, Nov, 2003 by Jerome J. Hausman

(2002; $14.95), by Katherine Duncan Aimone. Lark Books, 50 College St., Asheville, NC 28801.

This is a book that opens wide the possibilities for the use of stamping techniques. It outlines ways for using readymade stamps as well as creating new forms using simple or found materials such as vegetables, leaves, and household materials.

The book contains 40 stamping projects from simple to complex. Each project is well illustrated with clear instructions as well as materials and techniques required for completion. Projects include leaf prints, embossed notebooks, wrapping paper designs, accordion books, paper boxes, and decorated velvet hats. There is a concluding "gallery" of examples of work by fine artists that incorporate stamping in many different ways. Overall, this is a publication that would be useful for secondary school and college students interested in exploring less conventional means for surface decoration. For information about this publication, circle No. 393 on the Reader Service Card.