Stamp Carving 101
So you've decided to start hand carving your stamps. Congratulations! Not only do letterboxers prefer hand-carved stamps, but it's a great hobby to work on late at night or while it's pouring rain and you just don't feel like getting up to actually look for a letterbox.
Carving a stamp is almost as easy as tracing around your hand, and even sophisticated-looking stamps can be carved with minimal artistic abilities. This tutorial will show you how it's done, and after just a session or two of carving stamps, you'll be staring at your very own hand-carved stamps in awe.
Carving a signature stamp was more difficult than Marjorie had imagined!
- This section covers the tools you'll need to carve your first stamps.
- Nobody expects you to be an artist able to draw breath-taking pictures. Nope, but there is a whole world of images out there that are free and legal to use! We'll show you some techniques here.
- It seems like everyone has a different way of transferring images to a carving block. We'll explore a few of the most common options here.
- This section discusses the nitty-gritty details of how to actually carve a stamp. Mostly, it's just a matter of practice, but some of these tips might help you avoid pitfalls common to new carvers.
- You've carved your first stamp! Congratulations! To give it that extra professional look, you can mount your stamp. This section will give you a few helpful tips.
- Sneak a look at some of the carvings other Atlas Quest members have carved—including a page with some of our first carvings!