Enhanced with Stamps

WOW! I was able to attend a fun class a short time ago. In it I learned how to carve a basic vinyl eraser into a rubber stamp! It was so much fun!!! This is a handy skill to have when you need a certain stamp but don’t have one. I was amazed at the detail a person can put into their carvings.

Here is what I learned. First, you need to be sure that your eraser is perfectly flat and smooth so you sand one side of it with a fine sand paper.

Next draw your design onto the eraser. This can easily be done by first drawing it onto a paper, then outlining the drawing with pencil. To transfer the image simply turn it upside down onto the eraser and rub the back with a popsicle stick or something similar. When you lift the paper you will have a fabulous image to carve.

To carve you use a craft knife. Try to keep the knife moving in one flowing motion. When you are holding the knife be sure to slant it away from the image so you have support for the stamp once your are done carving.

Carve away the edges first then begin working in the detail on the design. Remember that even a hairline scratch will leave it’s mark when stamping so you don’t have to groove out the details very deep.

Experiment with this technique and explore your creative ideas.

The down side for me, when doing this was that once I started stamping, I couldn’t see where I was placing the image. I love my clear stamps and their transparent qualities. You can’t beat being able to see where you are stamping.

Below are some photo’s of my completed erasers carved into rubber stamps.

Here is a basic card made with the above set.

Here are some miscellaneous stamps I made and the stamped results.

Because I did not have all my stamping inks with me the colors are off a little. I would have preferred a deep red for the cherries and a lighter green for the pear. However, it was a lot of fun.

Just a note about your eraser carved stamps. Erasers hold the color of the ink once they have been used. You need to clean them just as you would your clear stamps. However, the color on them will stay. As long as you clean them right after using them, you will not have colors carrying over to your next stamping project.

Happy Stamping!