Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A new obsession




Michelle, what have you done to me? I can't stop carving stamps! The only reason I've put down my carving tool tonight is because I've run out of Speedball block (but Michael's has a 50% off coupon for this Friday!) Above is a sample of my stamps so far. I'll share a few tips that I've learned during my brief tenure as a stamp carver:
1. Speedball carving block is VERY soft and crumbles easily. The carving tools work much better than an xacto knife.
2. If you carve it after having a glass of wine, your figure is likely to lose an eye or a limb (good thing I started with an eraser!)
3. It is SUPER easy to transfer your designs directly from your sketchbook if you use charcoal pencil. Just draw, place a piece on carving block on top, press down a little and BOOM, you got it, sister! If you write your own text, there's no need for reversing, since it will reverse in the transfer (see sample).

I played a little more with my beloved Batboy (thanks for all of the kind comments, I truly  appreciate them, although it's kind of give him an overinflated sense of self;) and his new friend Frogpal. I doodled on this page as part of the Arty Girlz challenge for the week, although I swear the skull and tree just appeared in the ink - I only outlined them. (You can click on the picture to enlarge it) If you look really closely in the ink at the top of the tree, it looks like it has bat wings. And if you look really , really closely at the bottom left hand corner, you can see a face in the ink. And if you look at the page really, really closely, and turn it backwards, it says "Paul is Dead." ;)
Edit: I can't stop playing with them! They are featured in the next two posts, here and here.
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14 comments:

  1. UnknownMarch 20, 2008 at 12:06 AM

    Great work and I've never heard of this before so I am definitely going to investigate

    Thanks for joining in with the Arty Girlz challenge xx

    Reply
  2. Crissi HarveyMarch 20, 2008 at 12:52 AM

    wow fab doodling love your stamps i have bought some lino mats to do some stamps but think they will take me years to cut out LOL your stuff sounds much better.

    Thanks for joining in with the Arty Girlz challenge and sharing your work.

    crissi xx

    Reply
  3. Andrea,March 20, 2008 at 1:09 AM

    Fabulous, love your stamps

    Reply
  4. SandyMarch 20, 2008 at 3:23 AM

    Wow what a stunning doodling. Great design. Love this.

    Reply
  5. AnonymousMarch 21, 2008 at 6:50 AM

    Wow...more fabulous stamps. I really like the big leafy one at the top.

    Reply
  6. rebeccaharperMarch 22, 2008 at 12:54 AM

    way too cool casey!!! you at work is so inspiring!!!

    Reply
  7. UnknownMarch 26, 2008 at 5:48 PM

    Wow.. so cool.. I wanna play like you! They are fantastic!

    Reply
  8. xMarch 30, 2008 at 3:48 AM

    great work...

    Hugs
    Nicole

    Reply
  9. michelle wardMarch 30, 2008 at 1:37 PM

    ooh Casey - thanks for pointing us your way for more carvings and further adventures with batboy and frogpal. Looks like you are having great fun - I am off to see your other posts.

    Reply
  10. Kim TedrowMarch 30, 2008 at 7:46 PM

    Batboy and frogpal gave me the giggles, and I really needed that! Thank you! -Kim

    Reply
  11. AnonymousMarch 30, 2008 at 10:06 PM

    Charming, whimsical stamps. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Reply
  12. carin.cMarch 31, 2008 at 3:07 PM

    Great new additions to your carved stamp collection. You've got a FAB lineup of characters going there. Very cool!

    Reply
  13. Kat WMarch 31, 2008 at 5:09 PM

    I see Batboy has acquired some new and equally unusual friends, LOL! Great work on all the stamps! (You're right that Speedball stuff is very crumbly!) :)

    Reply
  14. forcryeyeApril 1, 2008 at 4:27 PM

    these are great! Welcome to your new obsession!

    Reply

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