Stamp Construction

I just spent the last hour laying out, cutting and mounting my first block.  I Photoshopped an image I found online, turning it into this simple black and white. One copy was taped beneath a sheet of  Plexiglas and set aside. The second was placed over a sheet of carbon paper and the foam side of a full sheet of adhesive back craft foam. Then I traced the whole thing with ball point pen.

 The carbon transfer was too light to photograph but dark enough to see, so I retraced the lines with ball point and cut away the extra foam. My cutting mat was the May 2012 issue of Money Magazine. I don't know why I get this publication. I don't have money and rarely sit still long enough to read a magazine. Either way, it was small enough to fit on my desk and spin, which turned out to be useful.

Using an Exacto knife with a newish blade, I cut along the lines and through the paper back. My first cut, the little curly on the top right was awkward and yielded a seriously back-beveled stamp. You can see it in the 4th image. Stamps with inward beveled edges are weak and won't leave a strong impression. Holding and spinning the foam with the blade pressed into the magazine gave me cleaner cuts and made it easier to follow the curves. However, my edges were still beveled.

On the fourth cut, I angled the blade toward the image and ended up with a really nice edge with a slight outward bevel. Now the pressure placed on the plexi back will transfer to all surfaces of the front of the stamp, resulting in a clean impression.

I peeled off the paper back and placed each section on the Plexiglas pattern. This is so cool - I'm making my first print block. I showed The Women in the studio and they said "Really? How come we didn't think of this!" We've had several such epiphanies in the last years.

Here's the mounted stamp. I wasn't particular about the details, this is a rough prototype good enough to test the concept. I'll need to re-carve all of the sections marked with an x. The cool thing about craft foam material is that when you screw up a section, you just cut another one. First print sample, coming soon.