Cut it Out
Between making pieces of jewelry, I squeezed in a little time to carve a few stamps for Michelle Ward's latest challenge on her Green Pepper Press Street Team blog. Her March challenge (is March really almost over?!) is hand carved stamps which is one of my favorite things to do. Not that I get much time to do it! I carved both of these using photocopies as my pattern.
This was the scrap paper I used to test my stamps as I carved. I added a little extra paint to punch things up a bit.
Here, you can see the cherub stamp I carved (above) and a transfer of the photocopy I used (below). This was a challenging stamp to carve but I think it may have been the material. The "lips" stamp was carved on some pink carving material I had laying around and it was easier to cut.
I've got a small deco that I started a few years ago for hand carved stamp art so I took this opportunity to add a few more pages to it using my new stamps.
Here's the deco cover. Notice the wrapped beads I used to bind the spine. I got these about five or six years ago from a bead swap I was in. They're made of some kind of fabric and embellished with metal leaf...gorgeous!
I also have some beads from that swap that were made of fabric and wrapped with wire. And look at those awesome knitted beads. Sorry, I can't say who came up with the ideas for these beads and created them...my memory just isn't that good! Now I'm completely off my subject. My mind wandered to beads. Ahem...back to stamps...
These last two are pages from the deco. I've posted them before so you may have seen them already. I made these pages using one of the first stamps I carved...the flaming heart.
I also used the flaming heart stamp as a pattern for the cover of this tiny journal:
Thanks for another fun challenge Michelle!
that turned out great! Love the cherub. I have wanted a cherub stamp but haven't found one I like... maybe I'll do my own! I like how yours turned out... lots of detail. The mouth is great, too. Mouths are hard to do well I think, yours rocks!
Keep going, can't wait to see what else you come up with.
Posted by: Pam | Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 01:45 PM
What an inspiration! I am loving all of these pages! You should keep at it, you are on a roll!
Posted by: forcryeye | Tuesday, April 01, 2008 at 06:55 PM
How fun is that page with the cherub and lips together!?! Love it....and the little journals are incredible. Beautiful.
Posted by: Martina | Tuesday, April 01, 2008 at 09:22 AM
Deryn, love the stamps! The flaming heart is wicked!
Posted by: Christine | Monday, March 31, 2008 at 10:17 PM
WOW those lips and cherub are so artistic looking!!! But I really love that flaming heart... to die for!
Posted by: carin.c | Monday, March 31, 2008 at 04:30 PM
Deryn!
i am a huge fan of all of your art and I especially love this cherub stamp! You do wonderful work!!
Elizabeth
Posted by: Elizabeth Woodford | Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 07:47 PM
Your stamps are awesome! The flaming heart kind of reminds me of the style of art in the House of Blues restaurants.
I'm definitely going to have to look up how to knit beads. I loved how you incorporated the beads into your journal spine. I think I'm going to have to explore the rest of your blog to see more of your art journals. Thank you for sharing!!
Posted by: Cindy | Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 03:00 PM
Wow, wow, wow!!! I am so impressed by all of them. Thanks for sharing
Posted by: Julie | Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 02:33 PM
Fantastic work and fantastic stamps you made...
Hugs
Nicole
Posted by: Nicole | Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 05:32 AM
i can´t believe how well you managed to carve that cherub! i surely wouldn´t have taken the challenge of that image! and the flaming heart is great, too.
well, you remind me that these fabric beads are on my to-do-list also...
Posted by: johanna | Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 04:24 AM
I love how the cherub stamp turned out, reminds me a little of those gesture drawings we did in school -- a lot of life in that one. -Kim
Posted by: Kim Tedrow | Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 08:49 PM
wow- love all of it!!
Posted by: Lee W. | Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 09:53 AM
Oh my, the cherub stamp is amazing!
Posted by: Fiona | Saturday, March 29, 2008 at 04:05 AM
Your carvings are incredible, as is the little journal you have for them! Love your deco page and would love to steal your journal with the flaming heart cover. Awesome art!
chris p
Posted by: Chris Peden | Friday, March 28, 2008 at 10:18 PM
Your carvings are incredible-love them and your carving journal. Beautiful deco page, and would love to steal your journal with the flaming heart!
chris p
Posted by: Chris Peden | Friday, March 28, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Great carved stamps, new and old! And your so-called "scrap paper" is wonderful! :)
Posted by: ArtKat | Friday, March 28, 2008 at 07:25 PM
Your stamps are great. My dh made me some last year. I have never attempted to make my own. I'm sure it would be a good laugh though. :-)
K
Posted by: Karla | Friday, March 28, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Deryn, your carved stamps are wonderful! I'm inspired to try this myself and join the Street Team! :)
Posted by: Dan | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 09:37 PM
These are all great but I'm especially fond of the lips. I never thought of doing part of a face. So cool! Thanks for the inspiration. Something new to try when I've gotten all the birds out of my system.
Posted by: JeriAnn | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 09:37 PM
These carvings are great. I love the scrap paper, it's a work of art in itself!
Thanks for your comment on my blog.
Posted by: Ursula C | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 09:07 PM
Love the deco cover~~~ and the shots of the cool beads. Thanks for keeping the creative eye happy :-)
Posted by: Chris | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 07:08 PM
Deryn,
I'm falling in love with all sorts of flaming-heart incarnations. Yours would make an excellent tattoo, which I'm sure you're planning to get on your shoulder, right? ;o)
About the cover of the deco: is that Anaglypta wallpaper painted with bronze paint and patina'd? Awesome.
Posted by: Lisa MB | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 04:40 PM
I LOVE THAT HEART!!! Whew, these are all terrific. That cherub was certainly a challenge but you pulled it off. These all look so great being used in your work, and I'm loving that test page too! Thanks for playing Deryn.
Posted by: michelle ward | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Fabulous stamps! Really amazing. And I can see why you'd get distracted by those beads, they're fantastic!
Laurie
Posted by: Laurie Blau-Marshall | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 02:34 AM
Deryn, your carved stamps are great. The one for the journal cover is particularly awesome!
Posted by: Marie | Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 01:15 AM
Deryn ...... where do i start??? all so amazing!!! Love the deco cover with the beads, beautiful colours and those beads go with it perfectly!!! Your stamps are fantastic, so many ideas are possible :))
xx JO
Posted by: Jo Wholohan | Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 08:40 PM
I love that flaming heart stamp! I've seen the top image before, but not the one below it. It looks great on both pages and so different.
Posted by: Dawn | Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 07:56 PM
Deryn...i love all your stamps, especially the cherub one. That one is awesome. The flaming heart is very cool :)
Posted by: audrey h. | Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 07:47 PM