Techniques

[Jan-Willem Doornenbal]

I really like stamps, have bought or been given some, but I'd like to cut then myself as well.
Eraser stamping looks a good chance to me, I'll try.
I also tried some thing with rubber, but in fact I do not know where to buy the good stuff (how thick should it be) and I wondered: should it be sticked on top of a wood block?
I did make some linoleum cuttings already and sticked them on top of woodblocks; this works well. But they're quite rough and work best with linoleum inks (which take a day to dry).
I think people who cut their own fonts or really small stamps must be specialists? or do you order them from a factory?
And anybody uses potato stamps or such like?

[Carla Cryptic]

Yes, I've done that as well for line drawings of mine. I don't know why I've never thought of doing it with my own photos since I'm a photographer, for goodness sake! LOLOL Thanks for your comment Holly - nice to know who does that now. I haven't done one of these for maybe 20 years and I sent my images to someone with a vulcanizer. Will check Jackson Products out. :)

[Carla Cryptic]

Yep, I agree. Also, I like to put a large stamp down on a flat sturdy surface face up, ink it, and then place the paper on top. I then use a large flat book or something like that to press down evenly on the paper and it creates a gorgeously even print. It takes a little bit of practice to get this right every time but it's well worth it.

[muriel]

Amazing! I've read almost every post in the group today and can't believe all the info you're sharing. And also comparing, is a pity that here in Argentina most of the rubber erasers are too small. The bigger one you could find is a Staedtler one with a juggler drawn in one side. Another thing I should get is the Speedball set for linoleum, specially the thin V. I use Stassen carving tools but they are too big for carving in tiny surfaces. Too bad there's no way to keep the potato stamps because, so far is my favourite to carve!

[Mao Huan (lazybunny)]

i usd to carve stamp on radish when i was a kid, really fun but when it dry it will be ruin, now i carve rubber stamps, it really fun! i think we do not need to think about too much of the techniques, i like some rough ones, make it not that the same, http://www.flickr.com/photos/cooldesign_lazybunny/ i put some that carved by myself on my page:)
have fun!

[Carolyn Hasenfratz]

I wrote a tutorial on stamp carving many years ago. The information is still good, though as you can see some of the links need to be repaired. I hope it helps!

http://www.limegreennews.com/howcarv.html