Monday, August 18, 2008

Rubber Stamp Carving: A Mini-Tutorial

I’ve been thinking about carving my own rubber stamp for my letterboxing kit and now I have. The whole carving endeavor is totally new to me, but here is a learn-as-you-go tutorial.

Supplies


  • Speedy Stamp Basic Stamp Carving Kit (includes rubber and cutting tools)
  • Design or drawing of choice
  • Iron
  • Parchment paper
  • Exacto knife
Directions


My design choice was a mermaid tail which I printed on my laser printer. I placed it face down on a piece of rubber, covered it with parchment paper, and pressed (don’t rub) with a medium-warm iron to transfer the printed design. You can also draw directly on your piece of rubber.


Using the Exacto knife, I cut out the size stamp I wanted.


Carving around the design was next. You don’t have to carve super deep—a mistake in technique I made.


Little crescent-shaped cuts evoke mermaid scales.



Ready for testing.



I made modifications in each test.



A quick bit of sewing yielded simple little pouches for the stamp and ink pad to keep ink off my new letterboxing
bag.



Here is how it will look when I stamp journals in letterboxes I find.


15 comments:

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Your rubber stamp came out adorable, June! It's perfect for you.
Hugs, Pat

Rosemary said...

Wow!
What a fun project. It came out really well.
Rosemary

dutchcomfort said...

Mermaid June, what fun to read all your underwater mermaid posts! Thanks for your tutorial!

You should pay a visit to http://tsktsk.typepad.com!!

Regina said...

Hey Junie, I just realized you are in Tucson too (saw your comment at wise craft). Why didn't I know that?

Anyway, I love your mer-tale stamp. Such a cute idea! I think you may have given me an itch to carve.

Thimbleanna said...

How fun June! You're always up to something fun and inspiring. Thanks for showing us how it's done!

Anonymous said...

Your mermaid tail will tell the tale of your letterbox travels! How sweet to have the tutorial right here.
I enjoy your blog very much, and was really happy to learn about Tasha Tudor Day and the Blog Action Day. I gathered up all our old Tasha books when I learned of her death. What a fascinating life she lived.

Thanks for sharing so much!
Jane - Jacksonville

Kristie said...

Very cool, June. We did linoleum stamps in art class when I was a kid, using the same tools you showed here. It's hard work!

meggiecat said...

Great tutorial! You are always clever and amusing with your design choices. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs

Kristi said...

Thanks for the great rubber stamp tutorial! I'd been wondering how to do this. Yours turned out perfect!!

Lena said...

Wow, that's a clever way to transfer the design June. I'll have to send Liisa over here to see it. Your stamp turned out really nice. You are so talented. Everything you do turns out well.

Joey's Dream Garden said...

Very nice! Interesting stamp design, just a mermaid's tail, very unusual. :-)

Gumbo Lily said...

So COOL! I love the stamp and the originality.

Jody

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

This is fabulous! I love how you transfered the design! I'll be linking to this in the Daily DIY as well as adding you. I don't want to miss a thing!

Anonymous said...

how coincidental, i'm in the midst of a project using self-made stamps as well! yours turned out perfect, how fun, cheers!

Notary Public Supplies said...

I like the designs and images of rubber stamp carving method. I just got bit confused while carving procedure was being carried out. The carving need to be done and deep cuts need to be avoided.
Thank you very much for this blog...