Hand-Carved Stamps Meet Stampstracts from RubberMoon By Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

 Here’s a recipe for some creative fun…

1. Gather supplies on the list below.

• Cardstock in ivory, white, pre-folded notecards with raised border
• A few hand-carved stamps (I carved these over 20 years ago!)
• A large spatter pattern background stamp or spatter pattern roller or a spatter brush plus ink (I used a vintage Fiskars roller)
• Rubber stamps, the same scale as the hand-carved stamps (I chose Stampstracts from RubberMoon)
• Two or three stamping inks (something other than black)
• An artist’s sponge for smooshing on color
• Markers, colored pencils, pens (I used Winsor & Newton ProMarkers, Prismacolor pencils, Sakura Pigma Micron and Gelly Roll White)
• Cookie fortunes, collage papers, feathers, a stapler
• Glue stick

2. Stamp some scenes and backgrounds using my samples for inspiration. Use a mix of hand-carved and purchased stamps.

3. Color, doodle, and cut up some of the pieces. Combine, layer, add collage; create cards and postcards.

Other options:

*Work directly in an art journal or on a Stampbord or canvas. (Choose inks or paints appropriate to the substrate.)

*Decorate envelopes or Artist Trading Cards.

*Instead of small scenes, stamp whole sheets of cardstock or lightweight paper to cut or tear for collage.

Care to join me?

If you haven’t carved stamps before, not to worry! I’d love to teach a class called Carve and Stamp. It takes very little time to carve small blocks like these, and a couple of hours to stamp projects like these.

Please leave a comment here or call the store if you’d enjoy a class based on this blog post. If there is enough interest, the class will be added to the calendar for late spring or early summer. (I’ve been carving stamps since childhood and my BFA is in printmaking. Or as I like to put it: Have bench hook and baren, will teach!)