Recent stamp carving

I have been trying some different materials for stamp carving, such as soft cut, which worked OK but was a little tough to cut with my basic lino blades.  I also tried EssDee Mastercut, which is a white material, a bit like eraser material and that cuts much more easily.  I saw some designs which I liked, so set about cutting my own stamps.  I used some mop up sheets from my acrylic paint experiments and I think they will make very nice collage papers.  Even though they haven't all printed perfectly, I like the result.  

I then had a go at a different design and after a little refining, am pleased with the second one.  I used black acrylic paint to print them and kept the paint wet until I cleaned them up properly.  I really like the way they look hand made.

Stamp carving

I have always enjoyed lino print carving and have seen books and videos where people are carving their own stamps using pencil erasers.  I had a few old ones lying about, so decided to put them to good use.  The one I am showing here is double sided as it is quite thick.  Above is the stamp I carved from it together with a page in my Care December mini journal where I used it.  It wasn't designed as a repeating pattern necessarily, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

The other side of the stamp has a simple leaf pattern on it. I was inspired by a rubber stamp set I saw from Rubber Dance Stamps, who are based in Germany.  I have ordered some stamps from them before and they are good quality rubber stamps which stamp well. I carved my own leaf and then printed it with acrylic paint onto a book page, which I shall use for collage (just as Susanne (Susanne Rose Art) has done on her Youtube video here - she is the owner of Rubber Dance Stamps).

I would like to make more of these - they are really enjoyable to make and they are my creations, even if they are inspired by others.  I also have some lino and also some softer cutting material, so I could cut that up and make some more...