After that, I spent most of the evening making a charm I have to get in the mail today. I wanted to write a quick bit about what it entailed because if anyone needs help making a fingerprint stamp using the Imagepac Stampmaking Kit (or Teresa Collins stampmaking kit), they might find it useful. If I were still searching for help, I'd have appreciated this blog post a lot.
First off, I took the original fingerprint, sharpened it, and inverted it (all using my iPhone and a free Photo Editor app):
Then I printed it on the clear paper you buy from whoever supplies your stampmaking kit stuff (I go with Metal Clay Supply because they have the best prices I've found).
Next comes the tricky part (that I haven't seen a helpful online post about ANYWHERE)...
I cut it down to size and put it in the little magnetic glass thing that comes with the stampmaking kit, then add the gel pack. At this point, I'm working really fast because the gel packs get messed up if they're exposed to light for very long. I follow the instructions provided in the kit all the way up until the times the gel pack is in the fluorescent lights. This is where I've had a lot of trial and error come into play. The times I've found that work the best for making a defined fingerprint stamp:
16 seconds on the first side
(I know, it's about 6 seconds longer than the suggested time...10 seconds longer than some suggested times!)
52 seconds on the second side
(such a random time, but I've used these two times for 4 or 5 stamps thus far without fail)
So if you're like me, and wasting gel pack after gel pack, try these times. They just might work for you!!
Sorry for any of you who read this blog and don't make jewelry (and if you DO make jewelry, you should totally look into working with Precious Metal Clay...it's freakin awesome)
This is the final product by the way...
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