Monday, November 14, 2011

Hand Carved Stamps

 I have been making hand carved stamps lately. I love the quality of the lines, especially the 'shadow' lines that form in the spots where not enough material has been removed. The process is relaxing and requires me to slow down; if I work quickly, I make mistakes.

I've looked at a few tutorials online that suggest tracing a design, then transferring it to the eraser or stamping compound. I do think that works well, but my favorite stamps have been the ones I draw directly, then carve. My very favorite was a cupcake that my daughter drew onto an eraser, and I cut out. She was delighted to have a stamp of her drawing. So delighted that the stamp immediately disappeared into her room never to be seen again.

 I was able to pick up a linocutter at Michaels with one of those omnipresent 40% off coupons. Now I just need to invest in an actual stamp pad, as my kiddos play stamp pad tends to run and smear...or maybe I am just a poor stamper!

The linocutter is a handy little gadget, if someone of a unitasker. As I've carved, I've been thinking of the linoleum prints we made back in high school art class. I can still hear the sound of the brayer as we rolled the sticky paint onto the block. I'd love to try that again sometime. In the meantime, I'm loving these little eraser stamps and am planning to give a few as gifts.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...