Carving Your Own Rubber Stamps
by Der Mad Stamper
That's right... you can carve YOUR OWN rubber stamps! And you don't need a sharp knife to do it. All you need is: - an ordinary butter knife |  |
| You can buy
art gum erasers in almost any store that sells art supplies or office
supplies. You might even be able to find them in the store where you
get your school supplies.
They are tan in color and are more crumbly than ordinary rubber erasers. |  |
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They are also a lot softer than other erasers. You can easily cut the basic outlines of your stamp with an ordinary butter knife.
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You can draw the design you want to carve onto the eraser with a marker. If you have your drawing on a piece of paper, darken it in with a lead pencil. Then place the paper on the eraser, face down, and rub the back of it. The picture will rub off onto the eraser. |
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For fine details that can't be carved with the butter knife, you can make a special carving tool out of a pencil. Use a pair of pliers to pull the eraser off the end of the pencil. Leave the metal casing that held the eraser attached to the end of the pencil. |
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Use this metal casing to carve your design into the gum eraser. You can scrape pieces off the edges of the eraser with this tool, or push the pencil straight into the eraser and scoop out a nice round hole. |
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For even finer details, you may want to make another tool. Pull the eraser off another pencil. This time, use the pliers to flatten the metal casing a little bit. You can use this tool to make oval shaped holes, or to remove material from tight corners. |
| If you need to make really small holes, you can use a toothpick. Spin the toothpick in your fingers like a drill while you push it into the eraser. It will form a small, round hole. |  |
| That's all you need to do to make your own rubber stamp! Here's a picture of the one I made. It has been pressed onto an inked stamp pad, and is ready to make a print. |
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And here's the print it makes... a cute little bat! Click on the bat to see more pictures you can use to make your rubber stamps.
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