Carve your own rubber stamps

Do you have some of your own design ideas that you think would make cool rubber stamps? You could use them just about anywhere, adding a personal touch to gift cards and thank you notes, or even for labeling your notebooks.

In this tutorial, Alma Stoller shows us how to carve rubber stamps. All the supplies should be available at your local craft store.

What you'll need

1. Speedball Speedy Stamp carving block - pink is firmer and easier to work with
2. Carving tools - linolium, various sizes
3. Craft knife and cutting mat
4. Original drawing
5. Tracing paper
6. Pencil

How to carve your stamp

1. Draw your design on tracing paper.
2. Put the paper over your carving block, design side down. Rub the pencil marks onto the carving block.
3. Cut the image out on the block, using your craft knife
4. Fill in the detail with your carving tools
5. Ink it, and test
6. If you're not satisfied, keep going back and perfecting the carving until you like the inked result

Once you're done, you could glue the rubber stamp to a wooden block. This might make it easier to work with. Have a look through Alma's site for some great inspirations. She has posted many of her own hand carved stamps, including those at various stages of completion.

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