Something More Advanced

This is a complete lesson in carving a more intricate stamp. The image below is from the terrific ArtToday graphic resource Web site. I reduced the heart so that the final stamp will be about 3 x 3 inches.

I transferred the image to PZ KUT using the acetone transfer method. Below is the carving material with the transferred image. At this point you have the choice of carving either the white part away or the black part away. I always carve the white away. This carving took under one hour, from image transfer to stamping and painting the final image.

Below is the carving block after I did the "gross" carving around the edges and the open part inside the outer heart lines using blade number 5. I also trimmed away the excess block using regular scissors.

Below is the final carving. I did all inner carving using blade 1.

Here is the test image. During and after carving I always do a quick test using a light color of water-based stamp ink. This enables me to see if any clean-up needs to be done. I didn't have to do any clean-up on this carving (which is rare!).

Here is the final stamped image. I stamped onto white card stock using black Speedball water-based Block Printing Ink, and I heat embossed with clear detail powder. I painted the image with Lumiere paint by Jacquard.