I've Joined the Crusades!!

Carving Stamps and Making our Own Tools!!

Michelle Ward's Art Crusades that is!! I have been lurking around Michelle's Green Pepper Street Team for a long time and I have wanted to join in, but just never got up the nerve. What's up with that???? Not sure!! I have so admired Michelle's work ever since I discovered the book True Colors. She has such a wonderful spirit for art, life and people that she is very hard to resist!! Wonderful Monica has been after me for awhile to take the plunge. It just so happened that the last time that I cruised by the GPP site I noticed that the new crusade was all about carving one's own stamps!! i love to carve stamps and I have been trying to put aside some time to make some new ones. Synchronisity or what???? I'd say yes, most definately!!

Here you will see some stamps that I carved about a year ago. Some of them I even went so far as to mount on wood blocks. I don't do that anymore as it makes them harder to clean. I really like to use unmounted stamps as I use alot of paint with my stamps and I plunk them into a bucket of soapy water right after use and that is not good for the wood mounts.

I carved the two Goddess stamps for a specific project and learned the hard way that if you leave a sheet of carving rubber bent in any way, it will Crack and break along the bend, however slight!! Moral of this story:: Do not leave the rubber in any other manner than Flat!!!! Of these stamps the one that I use the most is the swirl (in the center of this picture). This is only a small sample of the stamps that I have carved.
The goodess was made for a Goddess Tip In Swap. For those that might not know what a Tip In is: A tip in is a page of a specific size that can be added to a book (tipped into a book) or put together with other similar sized pages to create a signature.


As many of you know by now, I must have beads and texture in all of my work! I spent quite a bit of time on each spread adding beads (stitched on) and the texture was created by adding layers of painted paper towel to the page before I stamped the Tree Goddess with Staz-On Ink.

This next stamp is the first stamp that my daughter (at age 9), drew and then carved. She has made some wonderful collages using this image as the focal point. I must have her make one for me- she has given all of the others as gifts!!


I just love this little guy!!

I did say taht I had been itching to carve some new stamps when I read about the latest crusade. Well, here they are. I have several more drawn out on the rubber and I intend to carve them as soon as I finish up some swaps that are due!!

I really want to thank Michelle for giving me just the kick that I needed at just the time that I needed it!!!! Michelle you rock!!!