I have been carving rubber stamps for years and was thrilled to find some extra rubber in my craft cupboards so I could make a special stamp (and prints!) for MAKE&GIVE30. It took about four seconds to figure out what I would carve. (Predictable is my middle name.)
For this stamp I used this rubber but here's a kit that includes what you'll need.
If you're making your own text stamp (which I highly recommend!), trace the rubber on paper to give yourself a guide for how much space you have to work with. Then draw your design with pen. I used a Sharpie to write my message and then increased the letter thickness.
When working with text, we have to carve the image backwards. To transfer to the rubber, I went over my letters with pencil and then pressed the paper against the rubber and rubbed the backside with my fingers. This left a faint impression that I was able to make more bold with pencil.
The next step is to carve! This is the best part of the whole thing and so therapeutic. I like to go around the letters first and then work out the larger sections of rubber. When you think you're done, cover your stamp with ink (using a brayer) and make a practice stamp. You'll usually notice that there are additional sections you need to keep carving (like the center of the "e" in the case above).
I experimented with different inks for this project (some craft paint, some oil based block printing ink and finally some water based printing ink). The best impression by far came from the water based block printing ink. I also found that because my stamp was so large, it was hard to get a really clean impression. I stuck it to a wooden stamp that I had on hand (using double sided tape) and I loved the impression that resulted. If you don't have a large stamp on hand, you could purchase a small piece of balsa wood from a craft store for cheap.
Today, I would like to give away five of these 5x7 prints. Leave a comment telling me what you are working on this week and I'll pick 5 random winners by 5pm tonight. Open to anyone, anywhere.
Thanks for entering! Winners are #41 - Mac, #73 - Jess A, #127 - Julie Coffman, #243 - Jeni, #324 - Tiffany...please email me (elise.blahaATgmail.com) with your mailing addresses!
Didn't win this giveaway? There are two other ways to get a print.
- All physical purchases from my shop through March 31 will ship with a print as a free gift. No coupon code needed.
- After March 31, I'll be selling them in the shop for $10 plus shipping.
See more MAKE&GIVE30 projects here and more paper projects here!
