Carve Your Own Rubber Stamps
When you carve your own rubber stamps , it’s a great way to create a custom stamp! Did you know you could make your own rubber stamps at home? You can make everything from logo stamps to fun images. For instance, I couldn’t find the owl stamp I wanted, so I decided to go way back to my 8th grade roots and do some stamp carving. Have you ever wanted to learn how to carve your own stamps from scratch? This is so easy and fun you will wish you had done it sooner! The full tutorial is below with some tips and instructions.
Did you ever do lino carving in art class at school? I remember we used these really hard linoleum blocks and the teacher warned every one to keep there hand behind their tool. There was always one kid that didn’t listen and ended up with stitches after they jabbed the blade into their hand. Those little cutters are sharp and the actual linoleum blocks can be hard to carve.
How much does it cost to make a rubber stamp at home?
Initial investment is about $6 for the stamp blank to carve and $12 for a carving kit. Once the kit is purchased, the stamp carving material is the main expense.It’s till cheaper than buying a custom stamp on Etsy or another platform.
Choose the new, softer carving blocks for your stamp
Luckily, they make these really soft blocks now that are super easy to cut through. They cut like butter….You can find the Speedball supplies here to carve your own rubber stamps including stamp carving tools, stamp pads with lots of ink colors and more. You can also look at your local craft stores… I also found mine at Micheal’s . No stamp material? You can always go old school and use a potato for potato printing.
When carving your own rubber stamps, it’s ideal to choose bold graphics as images and fonts with clear lines
It’s easiest to start with a graphic image like a simple letter or silhouette. Remember you want to do the opposite image of how you want your stamp to turn out. I free-handed my image, but you can transfer an image with transfer paper from clip art.
Decide what areas you want to come up in your stamp. If need be, color the areas you DON’T want to carve with a red marker. Such as how I carved this sardine stamp. Once, I did carve a signature stamp. It turned our pretty well, but it took a long time and I had to be so careful due to the details. If it’s your first time, try a design that’s easy.
You’ll have different blade choices. Use the tight v’s for smaller areas and the large scooped blades to remove a lot at once.
Once you pick your tip, start carving! Just make sure you keep your hand behind your tool. Sometimes it works better to make small scoops instead of large long ones.
Once you pick your tip, start carving! Just make sure you keep your hand behind your tool. Sometimes it works better to make small scoops instead of large long ones.
Remove all of the excess material around the image so you don’t end up with stray lines when printing your custom stamp.
I used the really skinny blade for around the eyes and carving out fine detail. Go slow, and enjoy the zen experience of carving. I find when I rush is when I mess it up. Slow is better and safer. Rushing can lead to accidents.
Then your image is finished, you can do a practice stamp with an ink pad to see if there are any high spots to remove or anything you want to tweek it a bit. If you love it, take a wood block and stamp your image on the back. Then when you mount it, you’ll know what your stamp is and how to line up your image when stamping.
Glue it onto the wood block with permanent glue and it is ready to go! You can use this like a regular stamp, and depending on the ink you use, can be used on paper, fabric, lamp shades or even glass. Or, what a great way to make holiday cards and matching envelopes. I used an ordinary stamp ink pad to make my prints on paper.
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Would you believe, I am 41 and I still have those original lino cutters from school here in Australia, I LOVED them so much they must have come home with me…eek…they are old I guess now, ( cough cough) and are the wooden handle type…I probably hid them from mum and they stayed hidden all that time since in my memory box…lol…
Jen what a cute owl! I did not do this in high school.Wish we did.But I may have to give this a try now!Thank you for sharing this easy tutorial!
xx
Anne
Very cute. We did this in 5th grade with pocket knives. If course, my knife closed on my little finger almost cutting it off. What was that teacher thinking. Yikes.
Your owl is adorable, Jen. I’ve cut images before, but I always pick insanely complicated images that take all day to cut. Great tutorial.
Adorable owl stamp!
I do remember the really hard linoleum blocks in Art class 🙁
Great tutorial.
Hello Jennifer! What a wonderful idea! I had it also at school, I remember … The owl is very beautiful! Best wishes for you! Geli
Love it! No I never did this in art class but seems very easy to do.
What a great idea. I know exactly how you feel not finding the right stamps. I thought making my own would be too hard but after reading this I might have to give it a try!
I love it…What an awesome stamp..
Darling Stamp! I remember my Mom always had owls in our house and now they are returning with a modern twist~Cheers Kim
I have never seen that done, before! How cool! Oh, dear – something else for me to purchase and start trying. and right before Christmas – oh, my!
-Trish
I still have the original linoleum block I carved back in 1977…. its crazy but I didn’t start back up until this past winter! SiMPLY love making my own stamps!! Your owl is adorable!
Thank hou so much Jen, so cool, I’m going to have to give it try. Oh yeah, I was the kid with the stitches who didn’t listen, it cut “like buttah! ” lol.