Tuesday, March 25

Rubber Fun

We had three people at Third Friday carving rubber stamps; Laurie, Lena and moi. First time for both if the other "L"s. Lena made a pretty little flower pot and left it behind at the studio. (If you don't come next time I'll bring it to you.) Laurie carved an image of birds...very cool. Reminds me of the Bremen Town Musicians. She has already posted a link to Michelle Ward's blog; rubber stamps is the theme project for the month of March. (I'll be going over there in a minute.)













I carved something I've been wanting/needing for a while: a fancy corner stamp. It turned out to be best to do it in two parts, that way I could cut the first side freehand and then stamp it on the rubber to get the other half. Does that make sense? The two halves can be stamped next to each other too, to get an interesting decorative element. Does that make sense? Well, the picture may help. Then I did a simple border that looks like little smiling Shmoos. My favorite thing to carve is heads/faces so I had to do another (shown here with some colored pencil embellishment), and then I carved up a few of the scraps that were left. Those turned out to be almost the best...they go together in all sorts of surprising ways. Typical. All in all a good evening, although the less said about the little bird, the better.

The rubber we used is called Safety-Kut ( yeah, I know, dumb name) and it's available online from the manufacturer. It's heavy stuff and the shipping really drives the price up, so if you can find it retail in your area you're better off getting it that way. In Seattle it's cheapest at the University Bookstore, but Daniel Smith has a better selection of sizes that I like, so I usually go there.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

These turned out great. Love the swirly one and the one that looks like waves is very cool. And of course i love anything birds so the birdie is great :)

Dawn said...

I like them all. That's a neat way to do the scrolly one. I often find the little scrap stamps are the ones I use the most often too.

Anonymous said...

When I saw your blog banner and the title of the entry "Rubber Fun" - I misread it all together as "The Rubber Room" ! - how appropriate for the craze this has become among the Crusaders. Outstanding composition of all the stamp elements in to one image!

Loudlife said...

The head looks great! Following your lead, I carved some little border-y things. I'm so behind on projects that I can't do much more than that right now - and I'm dying to! (Yes, I went out and bought a little Speedball kit - they carry them at The Paper Zone, but not at Aaron Bro's?)

Thanks again for a great time and your generosity in providing all the stuff.

xoxo
Laurie

michelle ward said...

Liisa - thanks for playing along - fun to see your carvings. That head is amazing. I'm too chicken to try a face. They all look great - reminds me of Disney's Hercules.

Ursula Clamer said...

You have done a wonderful job carving these, especially with the thin lines and intriate details... WOW!

Anonymous said...

One woman's shmoos is another's waves! I saw the stamp and thought, "what cool waves." Your stamps are great and I especially like your simple little bird. The Street Team seems to have hatched quite a few of them!

Kat W said...

All your stamps are terrific, you do an excellent job with the fine details! :)

Chris said...

WHY are all the best things in Seattle? HUH? I mean, except I'm not there, but that's another story. Anyway...
These are fabulous. I love that face! You're right about corner stamps and this is a great idea. It's really inspirational what you've done and I'm eager to try it. Thanks for sharing!

Kim Tedrow said...

I love all of them but the face is my favorite. Such a personality. :) -Kim

Julie said...

These are fabulous, I especially like the corner one. I have been thinking of doing one of these as I think they will be so useful. Thanks for sharing your tips!

Cindy said...

Cool stamps. I love the Greek-style waves.

carin.c said...

Love how you decided to make the fancy corner stamp in 2 parts - very cool!

forcryeye said...

She is so cute! I love the sea feeling it brings...like a summer at coney island in 1940.