March 7, 2013

Stamp Carving Tutorial - Details



I'm here again with another tutorial on stamp carving. I just want to let you know that it's been less than a year since I started carving stamps, but I think the results are best when done this way. So here we go:


This are my tips when carving small pieces, thin lines or curves:
- MOVE SLOW and use light pressure, the less you remove, the easy will glide and you can fix it (if needed) later.
- I advise to start and end one stroke at a time, when a "line" makes a 90˚ angle STOP, lift your carving tool and rotate your stamp, now continue carving.
- Curves are easy if you rotate the stamp while carving, if you move your hand while making pressure you might not control directions very well.
- If a thin line is "as thin as your tip" carve on top of the line, but if the line is wider, then your carving tool should be placed aligned with one of the borders of the line, then carve the other side.
- If your tip is too big, use a syringe needle!
- I only use an xacto knife to "divide" what I want to carve from what I don't. I lightly press the xacto into the carving block and make sure it get about 1 or 2 mm deep.



Hope this help, please let me know if you have any questions or if you have another method for stamp carving! Share your knowledge : )
The template of the stamp of this video can be found below for free! And a picture tutorial on how to carve your stamps can be found here.





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6 comments:

Marlene Lee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marlene Lee said...

oh btw...what kind of carving blocks do you use? Is it the Speedball white block? I found them to be crumbly. What would you recommend for detail cutting? And in the video, what was the clear backing you used for the buildings stamp? Thanks!

Marlene Lee said...

Great video....well explained! Also is the pink Speedball block allows for more detailed cutting?

Unknown said...

Hello Marlene, thanks for watching. Indeed, I think the pink speedball carving block is much better for detailed carving since is more sturdy (not crumbly at all) but soft and bendable so the carving tool goes smooth while carving. About the clear backing, since I don't mount my stamps (specially when they are this big) I use tape runner or any kind of adhesive that can be either wipe out or erased on my stamping block. This tape won't damage the stamp or the stamping block and can be removed easily from both surfaces.

Christine said...

Nice blog post about stamp carving. Where do you get a syringe needle?

Unknown said...

Hello Christine thanks for stopping by. I bougth mine at the pharmacy bit my guess is they might be difficult to buy elsewhere or without a prescription. Maybe you can ask in the felt section of a craftstore for felting needles that are similar.

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