Illustration Friday: Punch, Collage with DIY Stamps

Hi there! Today I'm showing you the very first stamps I carved myself! The material I used here is called Speedy-Carve. It's a soft eraser-like material that is very easy to carve.

I've had the supplies for quite some time and now was a good time to start, inspired by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's Carve December Challenge.



The lemon slice stamp I made on day 1 can be used alone or together with the one from day 2, the lemon half.

Here I've used them in a mixed media collage piece I'm submitting to Illustration Friday, theme Punch.



Speedy-Carve is a great material, but I didn't have more than the small block that I used more than half of already. I'll have to check out the best place to buy more, and in bigger blocks, too! Another thing I need is smaller carving tools. The set I've bought seems to be good quality, but even the smallest tool is very wide.

Have you ever tried making your own stamps? It's really fun, and it doesn't have to be carved from a material like this - I think even potato prints count, or stamps that you make in any other technique. Do check out Julie Balzer's site and also the hashtag #carvedecember in social media.

I hope to be posting more home made stamps soon!