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Hand Carved Stamp

Hand-Made Stamps. Super Fun!

Happy Fall!!  Time to get ready for the holidays!!

Christmas is right around the corner and I love Christmas…  

This year I am working on several new projects for my Etsy stationery shop: colburncreativstudio in preparation for the holidays.  My favorite discovery in my ventures has been the discovery of carving custom stamps.  It is really kind of simple and so much fun!  It’s a very intuitive process and mostly just about being careful and working slowly since once you carve it off it can’t go back on.

For my stamp I used Speedball Easy Carve and the Speedball Cutting Tool.  You could use woodcutting tools as well.  The materials are pretty inexpensive especially for small stamps and it makes for a fun quick project.  I discovered this while working on my Christmas designs, but I think a custom stamp will also work very well for heat embossing Thank you cards.

Instructions:

  • Trace design onto some tracing paper.  I like to create my own digital artwork, because it allows for a unique but refined design.  It allows me more control over the initial design than drawing freehand will.

  • Place tracing paper face down on Speedycut material and with edge of a soft lead pencil rub to cover entire tracing. (I used a 3b drawing pencil for this project). The design will come out in reverse, but this is correct and any text on the finished stamp will stamp on the paper in the correct orientation.
  • Start cutting out smaller v-shaped blade first to start outlining the design.  Remember only the uncut areas will show. Move onto the bigger blades as there are larger areas to remove. Be careful to start small since you can’t put it back on.
  • Once you are close to finished you can ink the stamp and then cut any extras away.  Remember that it’s the imperfections that make it look handmade so have fun and don’t worry too much. I really like how it looks when there are little extra lines surrounding a stamp design.  It gives the design a kind of rustic and hand-crafted look.

I hope you enjoyed this simple project.

Happy Crafting!

April

Fall Foraging

Findings on Fall Foraging Expedition with my 5 year old.

This month I’ve been inspired by my kindergartener. We went for a nature walk just up the street from our house and ended up collecting a little handful of interesting things. My Mikey is so interested in the small things in the world around us. He picked up moss and little hunks of asphalt. Things that I wouldn’t have given a second thought to. We came across a wild herb garden behind an old hospital up the street and found some fennel which smelled sooo yummy. We were especially captivated by a strange pokey fruit that looked like a berry but grew on a tree. We googled it and found out that it was actually a type of dogwood and is apparently edible although neither of us dared to test that theory out.

The little things that we ended up with were strangely beautiful when layed out together. For me, so much of creativity is just learning to really see what’s in front of you. There is often beauty to be found in the simple things around us. I took some pictures and I’m imagining a sort of urban botanical drawing from them. It feels like a very interesting and inspired idea.:)

I feel like we adults can learn a lot when we can switch perpectives and view the world through the eyes of a young child; turning our eyes to the small things and approaching everyday life with a sense of wonder… Happy foraging!!

Create a Little Every Day!

Last week I discussed the importance of scheduling time for creative pursuits. I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the artwork that I have created recently. I have recently returned to my drawings after a very long time of not creating any of my own artwork. I love to draw beautiful things and lately roses are one of my favorite subjects. I draw very slowly. I can sit down and only draw a single leaf in the hour I have available. I didn’t draw for several years because I would start projects and never get the big blocks of time that I thought I needed to finish them. It has since occurred to me that even if I can only find a few hours a week that with persistence it will add up and eventually you have a finished project. Waiting to be not busy never happens and in the end you are left with nothing of your own to feel good about. So even if you can only find half an hour for yourself in a day, invest that time in a creative project and in time you will have a creation of your own!

This Illustration is the result of weeks of work an hour at a time.
Remember the little bits add up!

Welcome

Hello I’m April. I’m a visual artist from western New York. Have you ever wanted to live a more creative life? Me too. Colburn Creative Life is my new blog where I will post articles exploring creative pursuits that I enjoy. I will explore subjects such as drawing, crafting, gardening, cooking, and venturing out into nature. These are the all things that help me to feel more fulfilled and well rounded. I think we all want to feel more engaged and inspired in our daily lives. Hopefully my experiences can help you to get ideas and to feel inspired too. Enjoy…