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From: Al
Date: 01 Jul 2004
Time: 01:54:42 -0500
Remote Name: 216.192.3.8
If the erasers prove difficult, you can always try out one of those kits for making your own stamps. They come with a little chisel and a couple of wood blocks with several layers of rubber you can carve out. I used one way back in my misspent youth to try and make a stamp of a school mascot (a bulldog with a spiked collar no less) to create bookmarks for a funderaiser and it was really easy and fast to make one. A few things to note since I know you like procedural steps to follow. (and keep in mind this was 26 years ago and I only did one, plus a few letters which shall remain nameless to protect the innocent . . .err . . . school) . . . 1. Draw your image first so you know what you want. 2. Then create a b/w opposite so that you have an image that is white where you want the ink to go and black where there will be no ink. 3. Now transfer that b/w opposite image in reverse onto your eraser medium. This will give you a picture to follow where the dark parts are what you shisel out/remove and the white spaces remain to pick up the ink. (The reverse part is because you will be using your stamp chiseled side down but you are working on it chisel side up to create it.) 4. Start removing material gently in the center of your dark spaces and work slowly toawards the white areas. 5. When you think you are close, stop and ink up your stamp and try it out. You will cover up your b/w carving image but you can now use the stamp impression you just made to guide the fine tuning of your stmap. 6. Remember you are working in reverse, so you are removing color by digging out hollows where the stamp will not come into contact with the ink pad. And remember that once you remove material, you can not replace it - so work very carefully at the end. **** Once you do one with the kit, you have the chisel tool and can see how much you like using eraser rubber material vs. the rubber stamp carving medium. *** Godd Luck! - Al