Hand Carving stamps!

I have been creating lots of hand carved stamps lately! They are for use in letterboxing. A friend and I hosted a letterboxing event a few weeks ago (I'll have to share some pictures soon!) and it kind of re-lit my fire for carving stamps. Here are some examples of what I've done recently!

This was an "event box"- a letterbox made especially for the event. I decoupaged the "Treasure Island" photo onto a large (12"x14") old book about cats. Then, I turned it into a Secret Hollow Book!


This is the inside of the book. I glued all the pages together, and used an exacto knife to carve out two openings to house the stamp and the logbook.


This is a closeup of the logbook I made. It's completely hand bound! I used a great tutorial, it only took about 45 minutes total, and was pretty easy!


Here is a closeup of what the stamped image looks like! Click on the photo if you want to see it larger. This stamp is about 4"x5".


Here are the three letterboxes I carved to be "one day only boxes" - available only for the day of the event.

This is what is inside my letterboxes: a nice logbook, for you to stamp your own signature stamp into, a fun little prize for the first finder to keep, and the stamp, in it's own little felt pouch.




This is my "signature stamp"- what I use to stamp into the logbooks found inside letterboxes.


I also carved a signature stamp for Jeremy (this one one especially challenging!):


This is a new stamp for a letterbox that has not been planted yet. I have always loved the Claddagh symbol!


This celtic knot-work shamrock will be a bonus stamp for the above letterbox. It's small, only about 1.5" across:


And lastly, my Seattle Mariners stamp:


There you have it! My favorite place to buy the carving material is currently out of stock or something. So, you could say I'm going through carving withdrawals! Jeremy even got into the spirit and carved some stamps himself. It's addicting! And, anyone can do it- really! You do not have to be artistic and know how to draw! You basically just have to be able to trace lines. With a little practice, you can carve anything! You can carve onto erasers using an exacto knife, you don't need to go out and buy anything special. Here are some tutorials, if you'd like to try it out:

~ Geninne's tutorial (start at the bottom)
~ The Monkey Basket tutorial (shows the transfer method I use)
~ Two Cheese Please tutorial (using erasers and chisel tools)
~ Atlas Quest tutorial (one more...for good measure!)

10 things I do for fun...

...which may or may not be considered fun by anyone else:

1. Sew. Doesn't matter if it's a project for me, for my shop, for a customer... it's fun to have something to work on!


2. Listen to music. Right now, I LOVE Regina Spektor!



3. Scrapbook. I like to go slow (hmm maybe that's why I haven't even completed my wedding album yet...). I take a long time looking at all my pictures, finding ones that inspire me to scrapbook at that particular moment, look through hundreds of saved files of layouts to glean ideas, go through all my papers to find just the right ones, re-position all my photos again and again... it's like therapy for me!



4. Drive. Sometimes when I've had a long day I like to go for a quick drive by myself. I turn my music way up, drive down to the park less than a mile away from my house, maybe take a sketchbook or cell phone, and hang out by myself for a while.

5. LOLcats. http://icanhascheezburger.com/ ... I'm probably too addicted to that site.



6. Call a friend. 'Nuff said.

7. Surf the internet. I am a pro! I usually like to read craft sites, other blogs, news, helpful "tips" websites about sewing, parenting, cooking, etc.

8. Play with my kid. Just yesterday I went down the slide 4 times :) I also think it's a riot to play puppets with him- he can carry on 3 characters all on his own- talent. Building tinker-toys, train tracks, marble tracks, and watching Peter Pan... it's fun to be a kid.


9. Letterbox. Have you ever heard of it? Stamps, treasure hunts, navigation, clues, secret hiding spots, sneakiness, adrenaline, determination... you must try it!


10. Sleep. Yes, this is fun to me! Sleep isn't something I take for granted. It's a real treat when I get a good block of sleep in. (Maybe this means I'm just lazy? No, I would be lazy if I slept all the time. WANTING to sleep, and rarely getting to do so, is not lazy at all! Just... pathetic!) So comfy, so warm, and I feel so great when I wake up! Sounds like a pretty good idea right now... goodnight!