First Eight

I've recently begun carving my own stamps for my new letterboxing hobby. I didn't think I'd have the patience to do it, but so far I've really enjoyed it. Shown above are the first eight stamps I carved (Annie carved the Italy, I guess, but I carved it too. It's just that mine turned out backwards...)

I'm completely and totally amazed that what you see above is a result of something I did. That seems really strange to me.

Anyway, if you'd like to carve your own stamps, you can order the rubber stuff here. I've also been putting foam on the back, then gluing them to a wooden block. It works pretty well. There are certainly many other ways to do it, though. In fact, most of the boxes we've found just have a rubber stamp not mounted to anything (mostly for size reasons).

It's been a lot more fun to carve these things than I thought it would be. It's almost like being artistic and creative, but without having to come up with the ideas. The only downside is all the deep cuts on my fingertips; those Xacto knives are sharp!

Anyway, let me know what you think. Do they look okay? Should I make more? Do you have any requests?

If you'd like to do some carving of your own, it's pretty easy to get started. Check out the links above for the supplies (it's currently 3.75 for 45 square inches of the rubber, and 69 cents for 54 square inches of the foam). They can ship up to five sheets (of whatever) in a single envelope. I bought 3 sheets of the rubber, 2 of the foam, and with shipping it was still under $20.

Not too bad a price for a fun new hobby.