Over exposure to heat or intense sunlight can be a problem. If the rubbing plates get warm enough, the designs will “melt” away or become mis-shapen.

No. The rubbing plates are created with a thermo-forming process. The plates will lose their shape if you use them with hot materials such as melted wax.

Let me count the ways… Check out the Rubbing Plate Roundup book for a dozen techniques for creating textured treasures with rubbing plates and fabric, paper, clay, metal and paint. You’ll find ideas for using rubbing plates as a stamp, as a mold and as a rubbing plate (of course!).

Yes, you can cut rubbing plates apart quite easily. A while back, I was doing some mono-printing with a gelatin plate and had trouble with the edges of a rubbing plate making marks where I didn’t want them. I simply trimmed the edges off and had much better results. You can cut a rubbing plate […]

Rubbing plates are 7” square. The design surface of each plate is 6 ½” square.

Of course! (You can do whatever you want!) I always check both sides of a rubbing plate to see which side I like better. Sometimes I like the back side better than the “right” side!

Excellent question! Ready for Secret Weapon #3? Peel the film from the sideof your paintstik rather than the end. This will give you a long, flat surface area to paint with – and will help you glide across the top of the rubbing plate instead of dipping down into the openings. For a more detailed […]

Here’s Secret Weapon #2… Spray the top of your rubbing plate with a repositionable adhesive. (I call these sprays “Post-it Notes in a Can” because that’s exactly how they work.) Let the adhesive dry for a minute or two and then proceed to make the rubbings. The adhesive keeps your fabric from sliding around on […]

Yes, yes, yes! Get yourself a Grip-n-Grip sticky mat. Whatever you put on the mat stays exactly where you put it. (This is the first of my “secret weapons” for making good rubbings.)