Craft Challenge: Rubber Stamp Carving?

a lino cut coffee cup in a coffee tumbler...
yeah I know what can I say we are coffee geeks

Vintage Violet and I were talking yesterday about printing after she took a one day printing class that wasn't her cup of tea/coffee/cider/buttons... I have done a bit of lino cutting before in High School and a few months back, and thought she should give that a go. But then I remembered that lino is tough to cut and I had heard that rubber stamps/eraser stamps are easier to cut. Cue me saying we should have a craft challenge and try to do a small stamp by the end of next week.

Is anyone else up for challenging themselves to carve their own rubber stamp?

Here are some tutorial links I have scavanged from the depths of a 5 minute google search ... and begged off of everyone I know... and I will probably annoy any stamp makers I have vaguely chatted to on flickr, etsy, or twitter.


Tutorial Links

Craft Pudding - has a fab post about tutorials and books.. I may have to order one...or two *hopes Matt isn't listening..or reading this for that matter*

Carve Your Own Rubber Stamp Tutorial by Alma Stoller - looks very nice

Two Cheese Please

Mushroommeadows (lessons 1 and 2 but I cant see a third one.. still very cute and simple)

Carina's Craftblog (5 step tutorial posts with lots of pictures)

Milliande (lots of videos to watch of carving techniques)

Looks like fun doesn't it?

Is anyone else up for challenging themselves to carve their own rubber stamp?

I think I will go look at some more stamp carving books now.

Vintage Spool Button Stamps

Vintage Spool Button Stamps

A few months ago Megan (Vintage Violet) of maximum RABBIT designs sent me a lovely parcel for my birthday, in the parcel was a little kit she had devised to make a button stamp. I kept the little kit in my desk waiting for the perfect project to use it on. Today I found that project in a plain little tea towel I bought from Ikea a few weeks back.

Vintage Violet make a button stamp kit

So after I finishes all my housework for the day I sat down to craft, putting together the stamps made from vintage spools and decorating them with some torn strips of vintage book pages. I love how the stamps turned out and they were really fun to stamp with. I have told Megan she needs to sell the kits in her etsy shop... you would buy them wouldn't you? So please put some button kits in your shop Megan!!!!

button tea towel

I stamped the tea towel with fabric inks, I only have red and espresso (OK its black but it sounds better as espresso doesn't it? I didn't name it that) coloured inks but I need to order more as I have a stack of tea towels to stamp through!

and a close up

p.s. don't forget to leave a comment on the doll giveaway post, I will draw a name on Friday!!!