Letterboxing is a type of treasure hunt/ hiking activity involving hidden boxes, journals, and rubber stamps. Each person needs his or her own personal rubber stamp (called a signature stamp) to leave his mark on the letterbox's journal. In return you take an image of the box's stamp for your own journal. It's like treasure that is art and proof of your find. You can use these skills to create an artistic stamp for yourself and for when you are ready to hide a letterbox. Here are simple instructions for making a hand carved rubber stamp.
Step 1
Purchase the materials at local craft chains. The rubber pad and the lino cutter tools may be found near the rubber stamping supplies but often they are found in the calligraphy or carving supplies. If you do not find them at your local craft store you may check in college book stores or there are sources online. You can also carve erasers. They are cheaper, but smaller.
Step 2
Choose an image about the size of a business card or wallet size photo. For inspiration, use Google's image search and choose black and white images. If you draw your own, draw a simple line drawing (think of what you see in children's coloring books).
Step 3
Cover the back of your image with pencil.
Step 4
Trace it onto the rubber pad. Pen works well.
Step 5
Use the pen to write directly onto the rubber.
Step 6
Carefully carve your stamp using the tools. Start with small tools, and start in the tight areas. Remove the pink and leave the ink. Do not go too deep. Go straight down into the rubber, not at an angle. Make strokes that start near ink and move away from it. Let up pressure just before arriving at another ink mark. Remove tool and start from opposite side. When making curves, turn the pad, not the tool.
Step 7
Leave the area around the image for last:
Remove the stamp with the knife-like tool. Leave rubber around the edges. - Once removed, clean the edges area around the stamp with the largest tool.
Step 8
Ink your stamp and practice. Use your tools to carefully remove any unwanted or stray marks.
Step 9
Image:Blocks_538.JPG Mount your stamps on children's blocks with Gorilla glue or Craft Goop.
Tips
Trace a wallet-size profile photo for a stamp with real likeness. - Write letters in mirror images.
- If you are artistic, draw directly on the rubber pad. Nothing is permanent until you bring out the carving tools.
- Tranferring images by ironing, heat transfer, or iron-on paper has not been demonstrated to work, although it is frequently suggested.
- Mount your stamps on children's blocks with Gorilla glue or Craft Goop.
Warnings
Children's artwork naturally lends itself to fantastic rubber stamps! But tools are sharp, so adults should do the carving. - Consider the size of your ink pad when making a stamp. You can ink a large stamp on a small pad, but it is MESSY!
Things You'll Need
- Carving tools (the ones used in this tutorial is the Lino Cutter Assortment by www.speedballart.com)
- Rubber pad for carving.
- Ink pad.
