Print & Stamp Lab: 52 Ideas for Handmade, Upcycled Print Tools (Lab Series) [Paperback]

Traci Bunkers (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lab Series | Publication Date: April 1, 2010

Artist and popular workshop instructor Traci Bunkers can turn just about anything into an interesting stamp, printing block, or tool. In this book, she shows readers how to see overlooked, everyday objects in a new way, and how to "MacGyver" them into easy to use printing blocks and tools. Readers learn to create 52 print blocks and stamp tools, all from inexpensive, ordinary, and unexpected materials--string, spools, bandaids, flip flops, ear plugs, rubber bands, school erasers, and a slew of other repurposed and upcycled items. The book also shows how to use those simple tools to make gorgeous, multi-layered prints and patterns that can be used to enhance journal covers, stationery, fabrics, accessories, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bunkers calls her work “alternative printmaking” and tells readers how to turn everyday materials and objects into custom stamps and printmaking tools.  …The graphics are colorful and inspiring, the instructions concise and easy to follow.  Your probably already have everything you need to get started. - Barbara Delaney “In the Mix”, Cloth Paper Scissors, July/August 2010

About the Author

Traci Bunkers is a passionate and quirky self-employed mixed-media and fiber artist living in Lawrence, Kansas. Through her one-woman business Bonkers Handmade Originals, she sells her nifty creations such as hand-dyed spinning fibers and yarns, original rubber stamps, handmade books, kits and original artwork. She also creates an artzine called Tub Legs, designs knitwear, and is a knitting, spinning, and crochet technical editor. She has been teaching workshops across the US since the early 90s and her visual journal pages, artwork, and knit designs have been published in numerous books and magazines. To learn more about her work, visit her web site at www.TraciBunkers.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (April 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592535984
• ISBN-13: 978-1592535989
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Traci Bunkers is a passionate and quirky self-employed mixed-media & fiber artist living in Lawrence, Kansas. "I love rusty things, glitter glue, old books to cut up and cheap cameras. I'm smiling when my hands are dirty with paint or when I've altered a camera or something to use as a printing tool. It means I'm doing what I love--making art and doing things with my hands. Lucky for me, I do what I love for a living." Even though the DIY and repurposing life styles are now in vogue, for this self-proclaimed love child of MacGyver, reusing and repurposing have always been her way of life as a creative way to problem solve and make ends meet. Through her one-woman business Bonkers Handmade Originals, she sells her nifty creations such as hand-dyed spinning fibers and yarns, original rubber stamps, handmade books, kits and original artwork. She also creates an artzine called Tub Legs, designs knitwear, and is a knitting, spinning and crochet technical editor. She has been teaching workshops across the US since the early 90s and her visual journal pages, artwork and knit designs have been published in numerous books and magazines. To learn more about her work, visit her web site at www.TraciBunkers.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Versatile and innovative, March 24, 2010

By 

S. J. Bockett (Wellington New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Print & Stamp Lab: 52 Ideas for Handmade, Upcycled Print Tools (Lab Series) (Paperback)

Don't judge this book by its simple cover. It's not as elementary as it appears. Certainly, the techniques can be adapted for use in children's art, but the book could be useful also for collage artists wanting to create 2 dimensional texture and even art quilters, using different paint mediums, but applying the same techniques. The instructions are simple, but the applications can be as comlicated as you like.

While Traci Bunkers selects her materials from common household and office products (some of them quite unexpected) it would be possible to venture into using materials from nature such as leaves, seeds and grasses. The author confines her examples largely to small blocks, but it is also possible to apply her ideas to larger formats such as collagraphs.

As the author says, "The gallery is meant to be an inspirational jumping off point to show how everything you have learned can be put together and used artistically on just about any surface imaginable." Her gallery includes examples of printmaking used with stationary, candle holders, book covers, shoes, purses and totes. But you could also use the same printmaking techniques for place mats, cushion covers, floorcloths and mixed media wall hangings.

As an abstract artist, I will be adapting the techniques to create three dimensional effects by stamping various textures into modeling paste.

As Traci says, "The sky is the limit."

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Printmaking Ninja Shares Her Awesome Powers, April 16, 2010

By 

L. A. Smith "jetcitycoyote" (Bothell, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Print & Stamp Lab: 52 Ideas for Handmade, Upcycled Print Tools (Lab Series) (Paperback)

"One of my superpowers is that I can turn just about anything into an interesting stamp, printing block, or tool," writes Traci Bunkers, author of this thoroughly enjoyable and highly creative how-to manual that lays out cool printmaking projects for every week in the year. Each project comes with clear instructions, detailed materials lists, well photographed examples, and expert tips. Perhaps the most important thing that Traci brings to this book is a spirit of adventure, an artistic license that offers the reader permission to have fun and get funky with colors, textures, and patterns.

As an experienced printmaker, I was a bit skeptical whether this book was right for me, but I find Traci's projects engaging, her instructions clear and precise, and there's a little something on every page to inspire me to kick it up a notch and have some fun. She offers practical tips about foraging for materials in every unlikely "art supply" store you can imagine --from Home Depot to the Dollar Store-- and provides excellent suggestions for upcycling tired, old items into beloved art pieces.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Both inspiring and practical, March 27, 2010

By 

Robin Olson Mayberry (Ellensburg WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Print & Stamp Lab: 52 Ideas for Handmade, Upcycled Print Tools (Lab Series) (Paperback)

I have bought a fair number of how-to books on the topics of mixed media and paper art, and I have to say that this is one that I will be using on a regular basis. The ideas are simple enough to implement in minimum time and with everyday materials (mostly), but lend themselves to endless invention and creative twists.

This is not a book about how to make complicated, single-purpose artistic inventions, nor does it focus on a printed gallery of artwork. Instead you can think of Print and Stamp Lab as a manual, one that you can grab from the shelf to be creating awesome layers in your artwork in no time flat.