Just finished cutting my first stamp and....

.......I'm actually quite pleased with it
It's our family stamp to put in other people books and is quite simple, a goat on a rocky outcrop that says 'Mountain goats on tor'. I know it's not really dartmoor related but I call the two boys my mountain goats because of all the leaping over rocks they do so that's where the name came from. It's certainly no artistic masterpiece like some of the stamps out there but you can tell what it is so I think that's pretty good for a first attempt!!

Planning one to go out on the moor now!!!

satisfying isn't it.
well done

Well done, and so glad you are pleasd with it - that is what matters!
Your stamp can be related to Dartmoor as here are the Higher and Lower DunnaGOATS!

UniS wrote:satisfying isn't it.
well done

That says it all!

The Wandering Artist wrote:Well done, and so glad you are pleasd with it - that is what matters!
Your stamp can be related to Dartmoor as here are the Higher and Lower DunnaGOATS!

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that!!!!

I'll put up a pic if someone could tell me how????

Upload the image to a website such as flicker and then use the Img tag to hyperlink to the image.

Colin

Thanks I'll see what I can do......

Did that work???

Nope.....

102_1493 by bogbaby, on Flickr

Got there in the end - this is the first print from the stamp, the S is very wonky and has been reworked....

Rustic lol but kind of cute?

Love it, well done!

Good effort!!
Never tried it myself - always struck me as needing far more time & patience than I can spare at the moment

Aw thanks.
The writing was the really horrible bit to do!!!

That looks like a pretty good first effort to me!
If you have access to a computer ,word processor, or such, then use a font available to do the wording - and do it to the size to fit your stamp.

Print it, and if it is not on a printer that uses toner cartridges then re copy using a printer that does. All being well you can then transfer the printed photocopy to the rubber using a warm iron!(make a few copies as this process takes a bit of skill and experience on heat and timing!)

Good luck and keep going at it!

The other way to do it is to trace the image with a soft pencil and transfer the image by rubbing it onto a rubber.
For a first attempt that isn't bad

Yes Nik that is the method I used that I found on here, I was trying to iron the image on from the tracing paper with no success doh!!! The rubber worked like magic - but good tip printing out lettering to use, thanks Wandering Artist.

I must admit to a dislike using the knife to cut out the little bits (why my lettering has no holes in the middle!!!) I much prefer the cutters that you push and they take a chunk out (did have to re space all my letters so I could do it this was though lol, that's why 'goats' is falling off the edge.)

I bought a pretty standard set of lino cutters I guess, with a knife blade and 4 or 5 other cutters. My thinest blade is a 21 linozip (if that means anything??!!) is there a thinner one for taking thinner chunks or do you have to use the knife for more intricate stuff?

Thanks!!

I have also started cutting a series of stamps over the last couple of months.

Before starting I looked online at various articles on cutting a rubber stamp and they all indicated that the only tool you really needed was the Staedtler Mastercarve 1V tool.

They were right! This is a very fine V shaped tool that allows, with a bit of practice, for intricate and precise carving.

This can be bought as one of a set, but really this is the only one you will ever need to use. Unfortunately the only place I could find just the one tool (didn't want the entire set) was in America.

I also buy the sheets of rubber from America. Again when you look into it, if you are serious about carving, they all suggest Speedy Carve rubber blocks.

Have a look at the following site:

www.polaris.net/palmk/RubberStampTools.html

bog_baby wrote:Yes Nik that is the method I used that I found on here, I was trying to iron the image on from the tracing paper with no success doh!!!

Do you not remember how you traced things at school? rub over it with the pencil... that's how I did it

If you want to iron on an image you need a photocopier with the heater bit turned off then you can iron the image onto whatever you want

Yes I managed to get some speedy carve rubber which was great - remember using lino at school. so much tougher!!! I need a steadtler 1 v gouge, I have the speedy carve tools but KK you are right I NEED the steadtler one - it's so hard to get the materials here though I think

Anyone else know where you can get a really fine gouge? Hobby craft don't seem to sell any stamp making stuff at all.

Nik yes I had a bit of a mix up with the tracing and the printing and ironing, I did get there in the end though (thanks to the stamp making tutorial) - it said rub over it with a rubber which is even easier than doing it with the pencil!!

Instead of using gouges use a very fine crafting knife
I think it gives better control over the cut

I have cut all my stamps with a surgical knife - made by Swann Morton (BS2982) Handle No.3 size, and blade No.11 (bought from Ham & Sewell in Plymouth many years ago!)
I cut about 10 to 15 stamps with one blade - will cut a lot more but I like to keep the sharpness of the cutting for fine detail.