Canberra Brown Owls - 20 August - eraser stamp carving

Hello Canberra owls!

It's only just over a week until our next Brown Owls meeting, on 20 August, and I am very excited to tell you we are revisiting an old favourite this month - eraser stamp carving!



If you haven't tried it before carving your own stamp from an eraser might sound a bit mad, but its really lots of fun, super simple, and the results you get can be quite amazing!



There are loads of tutorials out there - here are just a couple of links to get you started:

• http://www.wardi.dk/2009/05/eraser-stamp-tutorial-part-5.html
• http://www.atlasquest.com/tutorials/carving/
• http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/search/label/handcarvedstampstutorial
• http://almastoller.typepad.com/almastoller/2007/09/carved-your-own.html
• http://www.iuoma.org/eraser.html
• http://twocheeseplease.livejournal.com/19678.html
• http://zenheart.livejournal.com/26395.html

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The tricky thing here is deciding what design you want to carve! This can be anything you want, but keep in mind that this is a bit like stencil making - you want to start with a pretty simple design that's easy to cut around. As always you can find also loads of inspiration over at flickr, or have a look at the stamps our owls carved up last time, or even just do a google image search for eraser stamp. And remember you don't have to be limited to designs especially for stamps! Any simple line drawing can be carved - so check out things like free embroidery patterns too! Interesting computer fonts would be fun too!

sourceWe'll have two sets of carving tools to share, but we could use a couple of extra if anyone has any. You can pick them up at craft shops for about $15 if you're really keen.

Other things you'll need are:

• erasers for carving - just any will do, but make sure they are big enough for the design you want to carve. You can pick them up super cheap at $2 shop type places - my favourite are the HUGE ones you can get at hot dollar.
• the design for your stamp
• a pencil for drawing your design onto your stamp
• tracing paper to transfer your design to your stamp if you aren't confident drawing it on by hand. (greaseproof paper like Glad Bake works really well for this!)
• a stamp pad and paper for testing your stamp when you're done with the carving!

We will have kits available - each one will contain two regular size erasers, some tracing paper and a blank card to stamp on. Please let us know in the comments below if you need a kit so we can make sure we have enough for everyone!. You'll need $2 for the kit and use of the ink pads and carving tools, or just $1 if you want to use the ink pads and carving tools. Or you can bring your own!

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Of course if you don't think stamp carving is quite your thing we'd still love you to come along!!! Please bring what ever you are working on, and we'd love to see show-and-tell from last meeting too!

Phew! That was a lot of typing! Here's the important bits for you, just in case you don't want to read it all again! ;o)

The next meeting is on Saturday 20 August at the Downer Community Centre from 2-4pm.
Don't forget to bring:

• $5 for room hire,
• $2 for a kit if you would like one, or $1 to use the tools and ink pads if you need and
• any nibbles you might want to bring to share for arvo tea.

And please remember to RSVP in the comments - especially if you need a kit!

Can't wait to see you!

Canberra prefects x