How do I create a Rubber Stamp effect?

Hello Kelly,

Here is a method that I use:

First place a photo of a wall or floor and use "Live Trace" default

You will end up with a black and white texture like this:

Then Select all the white areas and delete them. If you have a lot of black texture, feel free to delete as much as you want. You can always copy and paste pieces wherever you want.

Now Place your design on top of the texture you have created. Then send the design to the back.

The last step is to select the outlined text and the compound shapes and apply "Subtract From Shape Area" with Pathfinder. Please note that this option does not work on CS3 from the menu (one of the hundred of bugs of this lousy version), so please use the Pathfinder Window.

And this is the end result:

This was a quick sample, but I am sure you can do something a lot better than this sample. I think the difficult part is to get a good photo. Maybe next time I will use a damaged concrete floor or wall photo.

I hope this helps!