Ack! I keep getting distracted! The weather was hot and humid today, and work had my brains boiling up inside my skull after the hundredth frappicino. Came home and melted into a chair to relax and read fanfics -- ahh, yes. I rarely bring that up here (as I have a LiveJournal for all that!), but the new Star Trek's eaten my brain, and I can't get enough! So, I'm taking a break from reading and writing to post! *laughs*
I've never really been a rubber stamper. I think I can count with two hands the number of stamps I own, and in the last year, have used only my set of alphabet stamps in any of my artwork.
HOWEVER --
Last week or so, I was working in my journal, drawing more raindrops (as they're on my mind art-wise lately), and didn't like how un-uniform they were coming out. I don't mean little things here and there, but they just...didn't look right. So I decided to toy with the idea of making a stamp out of a nice, big, white eraser.
A trip to the dollar store later, I drew out my drop and, using my craft knife, cut around the shape, then down into the rubber. It's not the most practical way of doing it, but it's what I knew. I created a large drop, a small drop, and the cute little house there.
With my craft acrylics, I painted on the stamps and, well, stamped away!
A closed shop and an alternate, exploratory route took me to a beautiful new Michael's the day before Mother's Day, where I made a make-and-take and found the Speedball Easy Start Carving Set. It came with a piece of that, well, stamp carvin' material, the handle, and two tips with which to carve. Now, I thought it was going to be hard to do, all this drawing and carving, but let me tell you --
It's really, really easy!!
In fact, it's, well, addictive! After I made a practice star, I made several more fun shapes, carving until the light had faded and I had to turn on the overhead lamp. And then the next day, more shapes again. It's so easy and fun and calming! And then, when you use the right material instead of cheap dollar store erasers, you can even use 'em with regular stamp pads!
I love the look of a hand-carved stamp. It's solid and blocky and, with paint, looks...well...I just love how it looks! I use these wherever I can in my journal and in paintings, and am always on the look-out for new shapes to carve! *G* I'll be teaching a basic stamp-carving class during the summer journal workshop, but am free to answer any questions!
love, kira
P.S. Thank you for all your emails regarding yesterday's post! I'm gettin' to them as soon as I can, that is, when I'm taking reading breaks!