Put your stamp on decorating kitchens to bedrooms

If your home lacks that special touch and you're looking for creative, unique decorating ideas, look no further.

Create your own pattern, one that complements your existing decor, on fabric, wood, tile, laminates, using rubber stamps.

Rubber stamps? Those things that stamp the bank's name on the back of cheques? Yes, but in any image, from Winnie the Pooh to beautiful botanicals, even names. And the stamps are used not just with ink pads, but with dyes, fabric markers, embossing and flocking powders, glitter and foils.

This craft has been popular in the United States for more than a decade. Recently, Stampers' Studio opened its doors in the Ottawa area.

So, what can you do with a stamp? In a bedroom, choose a stamp or a combination of stamps that complements your bedspread or duvet cover

Stamp small pillows or lamp shades or create your own wall border. You can even stamp your furniture. In a child's room, use a favorite Disney character, cars or dolls, whatever your child fancies.

Stamp a toy chest, a bedside table, the moulding around the window, even baseboards. Buy a plain bedspread and create your own pattern or stamp your child's name.

In a dining room or kitchen eating area, stamp the corner of a placemat and make a napkin to match. Add to the design by creating your own tablecloth, perhaps in a contrasting color to make a statement.

In the kitchen, enliven your plain tile backsplash by stamping it. Be sure to use fabric ink when stamping tiles because pigment ink will never dry.

In the living room, create a stamp to match a pattern in the fabric of your sofa, loveseat or chair.

Simply take a clear photograph, have it scanned into a computer and output a black and white laser copy of the pattern. All that's left is to get the stamp made at any rubber stamp outlet.

Use it on curtains, pillows, as a border near the ceiling, around windows and doors, even on hardwood floors.

For more information about stamping, visit Stampers' Studio, 250 Greenbank Rd. in Nepean. It's offering beginner stamping workshops throughout October. If you've never stamped before, take a workshop and you'll be an instant artist. Call 596-6000 for dates.