Carving Your Own Rubber Stamps From Lino
So you’ve just laid new lino in the kitchen and you have a lot of off cuts. What do you do with it? Well if the price of rubber stamps is as high there as it is here, you’ll jump at the chance of learning how to make your own!
You will need:
- Carving tools (available from craft stores)
- Lino off cuts (no lino? Visit your local carpet shop and ask if they have any off cuts or spare samples)
- Kitchen scissors
- A pencil
- The picture you want to copy
- A cutting board
It also helps to have available some spare cling (you get it free with certain brands of unmounted rubber stamps, though you could use double sided tape temporarily) and a clear acrylic stamping block.
Mess: Minimal
Difficulty: Reasonable. Not for children.
Method:
You will first need to get used to your tools. Lets take a look at the tools I use, along with the type of cut they make in the lino.
A is a ‘V’ shaped tool and leaves a fine line in the lino. This tool is essential to lino carving.
B is a flat chisel and removes a large area of lino. I hate this tool as it is difficult to use and will avoid it at all costs!
C is a angled pointed tool and is used for fine lines. This is the tool you use to go around the outline of the stamp you will carve. You may substitute this tool for a craft knife.
D is a large curved tool and is used for removing larger areas of lino. If you are only planning on making small of intricate stamps this tool can be omitted.
E is a small curved too and again is pretty much essential. It removes a medium amount of lino.
Holding the tools:
Tool C is held and used the same way a craft knife is. For the others you should hold as such:
With the end of the tool resting in the palm of your hand. As you practice you will develop the hold that is most comfortable to you. I have found though that holding the tools as you would a pencil invariably results in a sore.
Getting started:
Take the picture that you wish to copy. This can be hand drawn or printed. Using the scissors, cut a bit of lino the approximate size of the picture.
Take your pencil and on the right side of the drawing (the printed side) draw along all of the lines. Once you have done this turn the picture over, place face down on the lino and like you learnt in school, rub over the back of the stamp with the pencil.
Your picture will be transferred onto the lino. Touch it up if needed.
Using the fine line tool (C), trace around the outline of the picture on the lino. Make sure you go both sides of the line so that when you carve, the pencil line will be left on the lino. Some people don’t do this step but I find that it leaves cleaner, less ragged lines and helps make sure your dog stamp has the right number of limbs!
Using the ‘V’ shaped tool (A), carve around the outlines to remove some of the lino. Some of the smaller areas will need to have all of the lino removed using this tool as the other tools will be too large. The best motion I have found is single fluid strokes.
Next, using the smaller curved tool (E), carve away the remaining lino. If there are larger areas that need removing, you will need to use the larger curved tool (D). You may find it best to use repeated scraping motions with this tool.
Cut the excess lino off of the stamp.
So as to better visualise the placement of the stamp you may trace the stamp onto the back using permanent marker pen. I have found the easiest way to do this is to place the stamp onto the kitchen door window. The light will show through the thinner part of the stamp and you will be able to see the outline through the back.
Attach some unmounted stamp cling to the back to enable it to be used with a clear stamping block.
I like to try my stamps at least one if they are going out to someone else. I would rather make sure that I haven’t missed anything than the stamp and that it looks as it should, but used than me send the stamp and it look nothing like the intended result.
Total time to create stamp: 20 min.
Here are all the stamps I have carved to date:
ATC Background Techniques – Part 4
This is a round up, of sorts, of all the other techniques that don’t take too much time to achieve.
Coffee Fun!
Ok so we know that dyeing paper in a bath of strong coffee gives an aged look but if you soak a sheet of paper with water, sprinkle coffee granules onto the paper and place folded paper towels around the edge to draw up the excess water like so:
Then this is the fun effect that is achieved:
Bright and Cheerful Food Colouring Dyeing:
This fab effect is achieved by soaking a sheet of paper with water, placing it on top of a few sheets of kitchen roll (paper towel) and dropping food colouring onto the paper using either an eye dropper or a straw.
The dye soaks through the paper and travels along the paper towel leaving a mark wherever it touches.
Paper Towel Printing:
Choose your colours well and you can end up with a worn look using this technique.
Take a sheep of kitchen roll (paper towel), brush on paint (slow drying, I used kids waterbased), turn over onto paper and press down firmly.
I hope to add to this ATC background techniques series again soon. I’m also hoping to start a ‘Fun with ATC’s’ Series too so keep an eye out!
ATC Background Techniques – part 3
This time we’re looking at bubble wrap printing.
Thank you Rachel (aka tiaragoth) for bringing this one to my attention!
You will need:
- Paint (I used tempera but I’m sure any will do)
- A paintbrush
- Bubble wrap
- Ordinary printer paper
Mess: Not too much but applying paint to bubble wrap can cause splatter so be sure to protect clothes and surrounding area.
Difficulty: Low, good for kids.
Method:
Brush your chosen colour of paint onto the bubble side of the bubble wrap. Make sure the paint isn’t too watery as the water can soak into the popped bubbles causing a mess when printing.
Carefully trun over the bubble wrap and align the edge with the edge of the paper. Lay the bubble wrap on the paper bubble side down. Lightly lay your hands all over the back of the bubble wrap to assist the print. Do not rub as this will smudge your print.
Carefully remove your bubble wrap and the print is left behind.
Allow to dry and your background is ready to go!
You can experiment with different colours or even print one colour then another over the top.
Here are some finished ATC’s using this background technique:
ATC Background Techniques – Part 2
This time up it’s Bubble Prints.
You will need:
- A small bowl
- A straw
- Some washing up liquid
- Some food colouring (I’ve heard tempera paint works too)
- Ordinary printer paper
Mess: Moderate, protect clothes
Difficulty: Can be difficult to gauge ratios but great for kids!
Method:
Place a small amount of water in the bowl and mix in a small amount of washing up liquid. Using the straw, gauge the consistency by blowing bubbles into the solution. You are looking to be able to blow bubbles that protrude above the rim of the bowl.
When this is achieved add a few drops of food colouring. You may need to experiment with the correct amount for the effect you require.
Making sure your clothes and the surrounding areas are protected, blow enough bubbles to protrude over the rim of the bowl.
Remove the straw, take a sheet of paper and touch it on top of the bubbles. The bubbles will pop, leaving the dye on the paper in lovely bubble prints.
Dry the paper and if it wrinkles, press under a heavy book.
You can mix food colourings to get different colours. Also you can experiment with two different colours over the top of each other to achieve a different effect.
Stay tuned for more techniques!
ATC Background Techniques – Part 1
Thanks to a recent swap in one of my groups, I have been forced to research the different ways you can produce interesting and pleasing ATC backgrounds.
Previously I have been using scrapbooking paper or using the printed or coloured cards I have as background. Since I have tried the following techniques I can honestly say I will not be going back. Using the following techniques you can tailor the colours and effect to compliment the final ATC.
Let’s get started shall we.
First up is Shaving Foam Marbling.
You will need:
- Cheap Shaving foam (not a good idea to pinch your other half’s as you go through a bit)
- Water based paints or tempera paints or food colouring.
-
Ordinary printer paper
-
A shallow dish or tray
-
An old pencil or paintbrush
-
A bit of flexible plastic (you can use card but I found it got soggy)
em>Mess: A little, make sure you protect clothes
Difficulty: Easy peasy, good for kids
Method:
Take your bowl (I used a baking sheet as I found that it was shallow enough to mean less wasted foam, but it also gave a larger surface are for the final print. If you do use a baking sheet, make sure you cover in foil as the foam may leave a residue.) and fill with foam.
Use the end of a pencil or the reverse end of a paintbrush to make the surface of the form flat.
Drop small blobs of paint in lines on the foam surface. I used pearlised water-based paint from my local supermarket kids craft section but you could try other paints and dyes.
Using the pencil/paintbrush, swirl patterns in the surface of the foam. The key here is to start in one of the paint blobs and not to go too deep into the foam. I found figure of 8 motions the best.
Place a sheet of paper onto the surface of the paint and lightly smooth your hand over the back of the paper, ensuring that the whole of the paper has come into contact with the foam. You will know when it has because you will see the paint as it dampens the paper where as the shaving foam doesn’t.
Carefully lift off the paper and transfer it to a sheet of newspaper. This is the point where it is too easy to rip the paper if you are not careful. At this point you will probably be thinking ‘Oh my what a mess!’. But don’t be tempted just to throw it away.
Take your bit of plastic/card and ‘scrape’ off the foam. The lovely marble pattern is left on the paper.
The paper dries quickly enough and if it goes crinkly, it can be pressed under a heavy book.
You may like to experiment with more than one colour paint. I found pink and purple to be a good combination.
Upon clearing away you find it hard to disperse the foam, a bit of hot water and washing up liquid should do the trick!
Here is the technique in action on ATC’s:
Stay tuned for further techniques in future posts.
To dye for….
Having researched how to make plant based dyes, I decided to put the knowledge to good use.
Using simple printer paper and the plants found in my garden I was able to create some home dyed papers in some fantastic colours:
Here’s how I did it:
Take 2 table spoons or more of plant material (see links at the bottom of this post) and place in a microwavable dish. Placed enough water in the dish to ensure all the plant material is covered. Cover the dish with the lid and microwave on full power for 2 minutes and then at 60% power for a further 20 minutes. If the dye doesn’t seem strong, try another 20 minutes at 60%.
Remove the dish from the microwave and strain the water into a washing up bowl, big enough to take a sheet of paper.
Place the paper in the water and swill so that the paper is soaked. The length of time the paper should be left in varies according to the strength of colour required. The best thing to do is experiment.
The following photo shows two colours and paper left in the dye for different times. The stronger the colour the longer you need to leave the paper in:
Remove the paper and place on an old towel to dry. When the paper is no longer soaked, but not quite dry, transfer to a flat surface to continue drying or hang on a line or radiator.
Once the paper is dry it can then be ironed flat which also makes the paper soft again.
The resulting coloured paper can be used for book making, journaling or other paper related experiments.
You can also experiment with dyeing techniques. Here is paper that has been dyed different colours on each side:
You can also try painting, splashing and other application techniques to produce great effects. I had experimented with taking the actual material and placing it on the paper to leave it’s dye imprint. This works especially well with grass as it gives a very japanese feel. Try it and see.
You can find a list of plants that make good dyes and the colours the produce at Pioneer Thinking, though this article mainly concerns cloth dyeing and it is woth noting that for paper dyeing you need not bother with fixatives and such.
And for the plants I used for my paper:
Left to right -
Grass short dye time (yellow/green)
Iris Root (gray)
Grass long dye time (vivid yellow/green)
Coffee (buff to tan depending on the length of dye time)
Blackberry & Blackcurrent (blue/gray or ‘I just washed a white shirt with jeans’ colour)
Raspberry & Redcurrent (pale pink)
Blueberry long dye time (dark blue)
Blueberry short dye time (light blue)
I also tried dock root, which gave the exact same colour as grass, and dandelion petals, which is supposed to give vivid yellow but didn’t produce anything. I suspect I didn’t use enough.
If you are going to try this project, I highly recommend starting with grass as it is the easiest to produce and gives the best results. Also let me know and send us your finished pictures at kukachoo [at] hotmail.co.uk
Storage Bag Tutorial
I recently made a bag to store my material scraps in. I loved it so much I’m planning to make more, as it has so many potential uses. The bag can be made in under an hour and in this case is made from an old curtain that I found in a charity shop for 50p!!
Here’s how I did it:
Cut out two rectangles of the required size from the material you are using. In this case I was using squared material which made the whole process much easier! If you are using a curtains as I was, remove the hams beforehand. (the side ham can be used to make the hanging loop later on.)
Place the rectangles together with the best sides facing and pin. Using your sawing machine on straight stitch, sew around three sides approximately 1-2 cm in and leaving one of the shorter sides open. Try to do a better job than I did!
Turn the edge of the open edge approximately 3 cm and pin. Using zig zag stitch, sew over the edge of the fabric to fasten and prevent fraying. This will form a tube through which the elastic will be threaded.
Turn the fabric inside out so that the best side of the bag is outside. On the inside of the bag cut a slit in the tube where the elastic is to be threaded at one of the seams. Attach the end of the elastic to a safety pin and using the push and grab technique, work the safety pin through the tube and out of the other side.
One the elastic is threaded through, attach the safety pin and elastic to the material and pull the feeding end of the elastic until the opening is ruffled.
Detach the safety pin and tie a firm knot in the elastic to secure (make sure the elastic pulls open wide enough to be able to put what you want into the bag!). Snip the ends of the elastic and tuck into the bag.
If your bag is for hanging you can take the hem from the curtain (or some other material, hemmed to prevent fraying), cut to the required length and sew it in a loop where the elastic tube opening is. Here is the finished article:
The next bag will be for storing my kiddies shoes!
If you make a bag using this tutorial, send us a photo and a short description of what it is used for to kucachoo [at] hotmail .co.uk and we’ll post an article to show off the creations!
Making Journals
An craft that I have become interested in more and more over the past few weeks is that of making your own journals. I love to journal. I have many different kinds and find that with my memory being vague as it is they are invaluable to preserving information and thoughts. Some of the journals I keep include: dreams, thought, inspiration, recipe and family history. The thought of being able to apply my own creativeness to the actual journal itself makes me want to get started right now! I’ve scoured the web to find a range of journal making techniques and tutorials to help create that extra special journal.
Here are some photos on fan books. There is no explaination to the tutorial but the idea is easy enough to pick up. These books are small and so perhaps would be best suited to a short event such as a wedding or a holiday.
A similar series of photos about tag books. Again a bit of imagination is needed on how to make these up but it shouldn’t be too difficult.
This is an interesting use of old cd’s to make a pretty little booklet to store one memory.
Here’s a page of tutorials on how to make different kinds of books.
This is the best journal making tutorial I could find. It took me forever to find one that had good pictures and looked simple enough. Give it a go and let me know how you get on!
Altered journaling is the art of taking a regular journal and adding to it to make it your own. I have yet to find a tutorial on this but I found a picture that explains it reasonably enough. Here.
If you journal at the moment of you want to journal in the future but aren’t sure where to start or even if you are interested in making journals, come and join in the discussion here at our group. We are also working on collaborative journalling projects where journals are released into the wild to collect other peoples thoughts before they return home.
