Suspending Stamp Saturday, Sort Of

I just found out that I got a table (actually, a half table) at the Dartmouth Comic Arts Festival in August. Yay! It's only a half day thing on a Sunday, but I have so very much to get done by then. Add to that the fact that I just started a part-time retail job, and retail is extra-exhausting for an introvert like me, and I just don't have time to do everything.

So, sadly, for now, I'm going to suspend my Stamp Saturday posts. Probably not entirely -- I am going to try to work on them a little at a time between other things, but those other things have to take priority for now. Rest assured, though, that I will get back to stamp stuff. I have all that wonderful material to play with, after all!

Just as a taste of the length of my to-do list, here are some of the main things on it:

• write 8+ reviews and articles each month for Young Adult Books site, plus site maintenance and other odds and ends, and reading the books I review
• work two or three shifts a week at video game store
• teach letter press one evening a week (until the end of June) -- this usually takes up most of the day as I also run errands and print some things of my own while I'm in the city
• make corrections to Fey chapter one digital files and re-print
• scan, touch up, and letter Fey chapter two pages for posting on the web
• lay out Fey chapter two in book form, order a proof, correct, and print
• finish as much of Fey chapter three as possible
• finish Art Nouveau satyr illustration and print as poster (and maybe other things)
• make prints of dragons (first test different sizes)
• text for Monsters mini-comic
• scan and touch up images for Monsters mini-comic
• make cover (possibly letterpress printed) for Monsters mini-comic
• make fairy stickers
• make Fey business cards and flyers
• wrangle Wordpress so Fey site looks better
• make myself a Fey t-shirt to wear at DCAF
• figure out table set up and buy/make necessary stands, etc

So yeah. Whole lot to do and no time to waste. Plus, in order to be able to do my video game store job well, I need to read video gaming news and reviews so I can better help customers. And I need to decide if I'll have my novels to sell at DCAF, too, and if so, I'll have to lay out several of them for print, get and check proofs, and order copies. Probably I'll just get a few more copies of the ones I already have available in print (though one needs a cover change to match the new e-book version cover).

I think the rest of today may very well be spent scanning. I may also drop dead before I even get to August. Heh.

Stamp Saturday: Machine Cutting

I don't have a proper Stamp Saturday post done, and it's being one of those days when I get the minimum of work done so I can enjoy the sun outside and/or do something silly instead (like today, I have done yard work (!) and next I'm going to start working on a minicomic). So instead of the cutting techniques post I was intending to have ready today, here's an image of another product I'm going to be evaluating at some point in this series:

It's the Stamping Starter Kit, from Silhouette, intended for use with their desktop die cutters. I have a Silhouette Cameo. I'm hoping the latest software version will work with my computer (for some reason, I could never get the last version running, so I've been using the next-to-last version, which does not include the presets for cutting stamp materials) (which is why this box has been kicking around my workspace for months instead of being used).

Anyway, assuming the software all works, I'll be giving this stuff a spin to see how fine it can cut, how cleanly it cuts, how easy it is to set up with the software, and how well it stamps. Exciting! If it works well, I'll be buying lots more of the stamp material (and probably more cutting mats, too, as they do wear out) and mounting them permanently rather than using the reusable acrylic blocks that come with the kit (well, I'll use those, too, but for ones I don't want to mount permanently).

This isn't going to be a material I'll use to replace hand-cut stamps. They're not likely to have the same look, and I enjoy cutting my own. But I'm hoping it will be a good addition to my arsenal of printmaking/stamping supplies.

Stamp Saturday, on Sunday

I'm planning on getting back to regular Stamp Saturday posts soon, but in the meantime, here's a little bit about some rubber stamp stickers I made recently. 

Everything starts as sketches, of course. In this case, I needed to make some one inch round stickers, so I drew a few pages of one inch circles to doodle in.

Once I picked the designs I liked, I cut the stamps from white rubber erasers (in this case I got them all out of one eraser).

I tested the final stamps with a couple of different stamp pads to see which would work better. Then I stamped them on some sticker paper that I had already letterpress printed a wood grain background on and cut the circles from on my die-cutter.

I ended up with quite a few extra, so I packaged some up for sale. 20 stickers per sheet, three different designs.

Oops, Missed a Post

Yeah, I missed my Stamp Saturday post yesterday. Apologies to anyone who was waiting for it. I'm in the middle of prepping for a craft fair with mostly-new merchandise, so I'm a bit swamped. But never fear, Stamp Saturday will return shortly. 

Stamp Saturday: A Few Materials to Avoid

Until I test all the various things from my first post, most of which are specifically sold for rubber stamping and/or easy printmaking, I wanted to point out a few materials that might seem like good choices, but are probably best avoided (unless you're going for a specific effect, in which case you may want to experiment anyway).

Linoleum

If you read the other posts on this blog, or follow my Twitter or Instagram (both @anagramforink), you probably know I do a lot of linocuts. So it may seem odd that I'm now telling you not to use it. The thing is, though, lino is great for relief printmaking, but terrible for stamping.

Lino is a lot harder to cut than rubber stamp materials, it'll dull your tools a lot faster (and you *really* need sharp tools to cut it in the first place), and you probably won't be happy with the results unless you're printing on a press or using a hand-printing rub technique. For simple stamping, it's just not soft enough to make a nice clean image.

So, unless you plan to take up printmaking proper, save yourself some aggravation and steer clear of linoleum.

Erasers

One of the things on my list for stamp making materials is white plastic erasers, and they're excellent for rubber stamping. But they're pretty much the only kind of eraser worth spending money on. Personally they're also the only kind I use for erasing, too (except, very occasionally, kneaded rubber).

Most other kinds of erasers are too hard, too crumbly, or too textured to give good results (though, possibly, they might be useful for specific effects if you want to spend a lot of time experimenting). Those horrible pink erasers are among the worst, though different brands have different properties and a few of them might be worth trying if you're in the experimenting mood.

Also, there are some white erasers that are not the good kind -- they're pretty much just white versions of the pink ones, and nearly as bad to work with. They're usually the same shape as the pink ones, and often sold with ink erasers attached to one end.

Some coloured erasers, like novelty kinds, are very similar material to the good white plastic ones and would probably work, so if you find them really cheap it might be worth trying them, but in general I'd just say just get the white ones. You can even find them at the dollar store in a pinch.

Foam

Those sheets of craft foam might be tempting, and so might styrofoam trays and that sort of thing. They certainly could be fun to play with, but won't give very good results for rubber stamps you actually want to keep and re-use.

If you've got any more materials to avoid, or have achieved interesting results with something I said was no good, please feel free to leave a comment and share your results.

Stamp Saturday: Little Prints

I was initially drawn to rubber stamping because it was like printmaking, only smaller, less messy, and less expensive. And the vast array of ink pad colours, not to mention extras like embossing powder and markers for colouring, were appealing to that same part of me that always has the urge to buy more art supplies. (I have ink -- both for fountain pens and for dip pens -- in just about every colour you can think of, just to name one example).

I never did end up buying many stamps. I have a set of Celtic designs given to me as a gift that I use from time to time, but never on something made to sell (or almost never -- I can think of one exception). I think I bought a couple of leaf stamps, and I have a office supply date stamp and a really great set of tiny alphabet stamps that can be set on a plastic holder almost like letterpress type (another gift, and one I have gotten a lot of use out of).

But, like just about any other craft I've tried, there was one thing that kept me from making rubberstamping a significant part of my art/craft making. I took up cross-stitch once, and really enjoyed the meditative aspect, but gave it up soon after. Why? Because I wasn't interested in making someone else's design, and I knew I could like never develop the skills needed to create my own designs without first spending a lot of time working from patterns.

With rubberstamping, though, I soon discovered that it wasn't that difficult to make my own stamps from my own designs. I can't remember where I saw or heard or read about it -- I won't claim it was an original idea, though I suppose it could have been -- but the Internet was relatively young and there wasn't much information to be found. But somewhere, I heard you could cut stamps from white plasitc erasers. So I did it, using an X-acto knife. I think the first thing I ever cut was my original White Raven logo. I still have it.

And though I set stamping aside for a few years while I worked on other things, I eventually came back to it, armed with more knowledge about other forms of printmaking, and with better skills for cutting print blocks that could be put to use cutting stamps, too.

For some people, rubberstamping is one of those scrapbooking crafts that are looked down on as not very original. For me, while I don't want to work from other people's designs, I'm sure as heck not going to look down on someone who isn't interested in making their own. But I see rubberstamping as a kind of small printmaking (though some stamp-making materials come in fairly large sizes and are even sold as printmaking, rather than runnerstamping, elements). And I use it for the same things as I do lino, litho, and intaglio: small art prints and greeting cards, bookmarks, gift tags, and other odds and ends.

The prints tend to be less crisp than printmaking, and I feel they're less precious, but other wise they're no different. The same skills are used to cut your own rubber stamps as to cut any other kind of printmaking surface (though rubber is rather easier to cut than lino, wood, or copper). 

Stamp Saturday: Tools

This series is about cutting your own rubber stamps, and I'm planning to test a whole bunch of different materials that are available for that purpose. If you missed the first Stamp Saturday post, which covered all (or most) of the materials I'll be covering, you can find it here.

Because I look at rubber stamping as a type of printmaking (more on that next week, probably), I tend to use a lot of the same tools I use for other relief printmaking processes. In other words, the same tools I use for linocutting.

My earliest rubber stamps, which I cut from white plastic erasers something like fifteen years ago (back in the days when Staedtler still made erasers in an extra-large size), were cut using an X-acto knife. I didn't really know what I was doing, even though I had done a small amount of linocutting before. They turned out surprisingly well, considering how difficult it is to cut efficiently and neatly with a simple knife. I'll have more on how to cut with different tools a few posts from now, so don't worry if all you have is a knife. It's possible to use one much better than I did back then.

These days, while I still keep my X-acto handy for trimming edges, I do most of my cutting with lino tools. When I cut actual lino, I generally use woodcarving tools rather than the tools sold as lino tools. For not that much more money, you can get a decent set of Japanese wood carving tools that will last a lot longer, and which can be easily sharpened with a stone. I got this set from Lee Valley Tools here in Canada. 

They also sell a set with clear acrylic handles that I've heard very good things about, and that I'm tempted to buy as designated stamp cutting tools (I like to keep my tools separate as it cuts down on re-sharpening). I also have a couple of sets of those cheap Speedball lino cutters with replaceable blades that I bought to have as backup when I'm teaching. While they're not that great for actual linocutting -- they dull too quickly and don't re-sharpen as well as real woodcutting tools -- for stamp cutting, they're actually not too bad. Rubber stamp materials aren't nearly as hard as lino, so the tools don't dull as quickly, so once you get them properly sharp, they'll stay that way for a long time.

I do most of my cutting with the small v-gouge, which I find has the best shape for a good, stable cut. The small u-gouge is good if you have a lot of curves to cut (I find the u cuts curves better, though the v is fine, too), but the shape of the cut gives less support to the printing surface. I'll get into that more when I talk about cutting technique, but for now I'll just say that if you only buy a single tool, make it a small v-gouge. Larger tools are good for clearing out large blank areas and cleaning up edges, but the v is best for basic shapes and detail.

If you plan to do a lot of cutting, and get yourself a decent set of tools, you'll probably want to invest in some sharpening tools, too. For frequent use, a strop may be all you need, though it's not something a lot of people aside from woodcarvers have on hand. Lee Valley sells a two-sided strop -- put dressing on one side, and leave the other side clean, and run your tools over it from time to time as you go. Since rubber stamp materials are quite soft, it may be all you ever need if your tools are sharp enough out of the package.

If you're not sure about a strop, or don't think you know how to use one (and they are a little awkward to use on a carving tool when compared to how easy they are to use with a knife), then a fine sharpening stone is your best bet. I have a little stone I got as a gift that has fine on one side and medium on the other, and covers most of my sharpening needs. Chances are, you won't need anything coarser than that for rubber cutting. If you do lino and are hard on your tools, a coarse stone might be a good investment. 

Next week, I'm going to backtrack a bit and write what probably should have been the first post in this series: a sort of introduction and my thoughts on the whys and who cares of rubber stamping. The week after, I'll probably begin on technique.

Stamp Saturday: Materials

I'm going to try adding a second weekly post here. We'll see how I can keep up with it. Stamp Saturday is going to be notes and thoughts on a project I'm working on, to write a book on carving your own rubber stamps. It came about because I was looking to buy such a book, and the only ones I could find were either out of print (and fetching ridiculous prices on the collector's market), or had only small sections about how to make the stamps with the rest of the book taken up by projects.

There are, I think, plenty of great books already for people who want ideas of what to make once they have some stamps (and you can make the same projects with store bought stamps as you can with hand-carved ones) -- I'm more interested in the technical details of creating my own designs. So I'm going to be doing a lot of testing and experimenting, which will be the raw material for a book to share what I learn.

To get started, I pretty much ordered one of every kind of material that seemed suitable from Dick Blick Art Materials (because they have a pretty good selection, and decent prices/shipping). And I had a few things already on hand (one of which, I just realized, I left out of my photo).

The list so far:

• Blick EZ Cut
• Speedball Speedy Carve
• Moo Carve
• Inovart Eco Karve
• Inovart Smooth Cut
• Richeson Clear Carve Linoleum
• Speedball Speedy Cut Easy
• Soft Kut
• Speedball Speedy Cut
• white plastic eraser
• black rubber mat

The black rubber mat is actually sold as a non-slip surface protector for cutting lino on, but I thought I'd try cutting it as a stamp just to see how it would work. It looks like there may be a few new things at Blick that they didn't have when I ordered, so I'll probably update the list eventually.

What I will not be using (though I use it for printmaking) is linoleum. It makes an excellent relief printing surface, and I love working with it, but it's not nearly soft enough for rubber stamping. (And the Richeson Clear Carve in the list above, while called "linoleum," isn't really, so I'm going to try it). I'm also not going to use foam printing elements because while they're fun, they're too soft to produce good results, and don't stand up to heavy use.

My initial tests will simply be how well these materials cut. Then I'll compare how well they take ink (and what kinds of ink), and how well they print when used as a rubber stamp (rather than in a press like a printing plate). I'll also try them with and without a layer of foam (it adds give and can make harder materials print better in some cases).

Over time, I'll keep track of how well the materials last, and I may save some of the bits trimmed off so I can try leaving them out in the sun, leaving them in a damp area, and that sort of thing.