carving a stamp!!
Shit, did I accidentally make a craft blog?? Certainly wasn’t my intention. This is just what’s making me feel like I have a little something to offer the world. CARDS! Please know, these posts aren’t meant to be tutorials – not qualified for that lol (see above photo if you don’t believe me). Maybe, though, buy yourself a rubber block and carve it. It feels pretty good.
I was in high school when I started training to become a card factory. I thought I was really talented when it came to drawing flowers and Big Ben, so I put them on cards. I made probably a dozen over the course of one weekend, and I remember my sister saying something to the effect of “she’s making so many cards – like, pooping them out.” There’s always been a very distinctive eloquence to her observations. I’ve been pooping them out for years now!!!
Sometimes I mass-produce cards, sometimes I just make one when the need arises. But up until a couple years ago, regardless of batch quantity, they were all individually drawn, painted, or collaged – a couple years ago, I was seduced in Michael’s by a Speedball stamp-carving kit. I decided to make my sister (yeah, the Poop one) a one-of-a-kind birthday card. The “22” stamp in the top photo? That’s the first one I ever made, which probably comes as no surprise to those of you who consider things, unlike me. Didn’t occur to me that the 22 would be BACKWARDS when I stamped it. I did send the card anyway, and I kept the stamp. Even though it’s backwards and age-specific and I’ll probably never use it again, I really like it.
I made sure the next stamp design I created didn’t involve letters or numbers – that’s the one with the mugs clinking together. It was the first time I actually stamped multiple cards, and those all went to family around the holidays. I didn’t know if they’d feel “personal” enough for my standards, but I was pleasantly surprised!! I’m not perfect at rolling the ink on evenly, or carving deep enough for the negative space to be 100% smooth, so each card still looks slightly different. And now I have a holiday card ready-to-go if I’m feeling low-effort next year. AMAZING.
Anyway, onto the most recent project – thank you cards. My husband and I had a very small wedding at the end of the summer, and people were so kind, sending us cards and honeymoon money and ice cream and an ice cream maker. Handmade cards felt like the appropriate response. I ordered the flat cards and envelopes and stamps, and then I sat around for a couple weeks because I knew I wanted them to literally say “thank you” (makes sense) and I was scared of a “22” repeat. When I finally sucked it up and got started, tracing paper and a no.2 pencil saved my butt. Who knew!!! Lots of people.
Aside from the red ink I ordered being oddly bubbly (?), the rest of the project was smooth sailing. Stamp, write, stick in an envelope, address, add postage. Few things bring me more joy than being a little one-gal assembly line. Just dropped the first batch in the mailbox yesterday. And now I’m trying to think of another excuse to make a bunch of cards. God I love stationery so much. And mail.
AND THAT’S IT! In summary, I highly recommend taking a sharp instrument to a block of rubber. The carving feels cathartic, and the result’s usually pretty cool. Thanks for hanging out and have a good one!!!
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