Buying rubber stamps are expensive. Carving your own rubbers for your scrapbooking projects and decorating your journals is different, fun and economical. So, while I am organising my photos from my last beach holiday, I carved out some rubber stamps to make them extra special. =)
Carving or making your own rubber stamps is very simple. All you need to do is to invest in a linoleum cutter and some rubber blocks and you are ready to start.
This is what I use:
- A set of linoleum cutter
- Soft rubber / eraser block
- Ink pads
- 4B pencil
- Paper
This is what I do:
- Have an idea of what you want to make and draw / sketch your idea out onto a piece of paper with a 4B pencil.
- Stain your rubber block with an ink pad. This will make carving much easier as it will allow you to see that areas that you have craved out. Allow time for the ink to dry or you can stamp the stained rubber block on a piece of paper a few times to fast track the drying.
- Transfer your image from the paper to the rubber block. You do this by laying the paper faced down onto the rubber block and rub the back of the paper with your finger tip.
- When you have the whole image traced onto the rubber block, start craving with the linoleum cutter. Start with the thinnest cutter first to carve out the lines of your image. Follow with the thicker cutters to complete the rest of the carving / stamp.
- Ink your completed rubber stamp and start stamping!
Tip when buying your linoleum cutter: buy one that is comes with stainless steel blades. I bought a cutter does not come with stainless steel blades that they rusted upon contact with air. I can still use the blades but it makes the carving experience so unpleasant.
Rubber stamping is a great way to personalise your notes, bags, photos, scrapbooking projects, etc. For the materials needed for this project and detailed step-by-step instructions, tips and inspiration, check out our DIY Rubber Stamp Kit listed in our shop. Have fun!
Till the next blog post, make something with your hands! =)
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