Howdy and Happy New Year, everyone!
THE NEW YEAR AND MY VISION FOR 2018
It's 2018, and I can hardly believe it! I am thrilled for the possibilities this new year brings. I feel like for me, it's going to be a lot of hard work, but with great rewards. What's your feeling about 2018?
One piece I am going to work on, is to be a better blogger, as well as create more online class offerings, and in-person workshops for those around the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota).
INSPIRATION TO CREATE YOUR OWN STAMPS
The following information was released yesterday on the artistcellar.com blog, as I am one of the Design Team members for artistcellar.
I hope you enjoy this post and feel inspired to make something this week!
BRIANA'S POST FOR ARTISTCELLAR
For today’s tutorial, I’d like to share an idea for carving your own stamps.
I happen to be taking two online classes that deal with astrology, so I chose to carve a set of zodiac signs, planets, and moon phase stamps to use in my art journals. (If you're curious, the classes are In the Stars 2018 with Hali Karla, and the second class is Pull Pen Paint with Kiala Givehand.)
Here’s what you’ll need:
A simple design of whatever you’d like to carve, printed or drawn on paper
A pencil
Carving material-Speedball Speedycarve
Carving tool-Speedball Lino Cutter
An ink pad-Archival Ink by Ranger
(Stamp Carving Kit on artistcellar)
Copy Paper or Art Journal-Strathmore or Canson
Steps 1-6:
- Print out your designs.
- Color in an image with your pencil.
- Flip the paper face down onto your carving material.
- Rub the back of the paper with your pencil.
- Take a peek to be sure the image is transferring.
- If so, remove the paper and get ready to carve!
Carve Your Stamps:
- Using a Speedball Lino Cutter or other stamp carving tool, carve around the dark areas you traced and rubbed onto the carving material. You cut away the white space, and keep the dark areas. (This can be tricky for my brain to process, so be patient. I recommend starting with a simple design, until you get the hang of it.)
- Make a print of your stamp, using the Archival black ink pad.
- Cut away any miscellaneous areas that you missed.
- Keep going until you need a break.
TIP: ALWAYS CUT AWAY FROM YOURSELF WHEN CARVING STAMPS. Cutting toward yourself will likely get you a bloody finger or worse! Those blades are sharp!
Enjoy your collection of hand-carved stamps!
Additional Tips:
Stay hydrated.
Use good lighting.
Get up and do some yoga stretches or shoulder rolls to keep your back and neck healthy.
Blessings to you and Cheers to a Wonderful 2018,
Briana
