Hand-carved stamps
general journal junk
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idealog
You will need:
- material to use for stamps - rubber, linoleum, wood, foam sheets
- ink or acrylic paint
- brushes
- carving tools - any blunt tool, clay carving tools, lino cutters, woodcarving chisels and knives, etc.
- roller or brayer (optional)
- watercolour / printmaking paper
Notes:
- This is a relatively easy project to set up and do if you just want to give it a try.
- You can acquire all the materials for simple beginning try-out session at a dollar store - including the foam sheets, paper, brushes, acrylic paints, ink roller (optional), and carving tools.
- This is a technique that can be done by children and beginners, as well as adults and professionals. It is incredibly versatile and adaptable to needs, abilities, and experience.
- You can create the stamps in multiple ways, both by traditional carving and by simply engraving into the stamp blank.
- Engraving into the blank is what's normally done with foam sheets. You can use clay tools to do that, or any blunt item.
- The beauty of this whole process is that the stamps can be kept and reused - sometimes for years - depending on what they're made of and the care you take in keeping them clean and properly stored. Foam sheets don't stand up to the test of time, but wood and lino can.
- You can do negative and positive stamps that can then be inked and pressed onto a paper, or the paper pressed onto them.
- Some things work better with a press and some are just fine without it.
- Foam sheets are better for hand-stamping, since an etching press could crush them flat. If that's what you're after, no worries. But if you want to re-use the stamps then you will to keep them for hand-stamping.
- Although people use this technique for fun all the time, it is used to create fine art pieces and crafted items like greeting cards as well.
- The stamping allows you to do fun things like use the same stamp to make a series of cards or bookmarks that you can hand-colour individually, and differently, after the stamping has dried.