Stamp Carving

One of my blogging friends inquired about the tools I used to carve the stamps I've been creating. I started with just an exacto knife. Since those first few stamps, I also added this set of carving tools from Staedtler:



I found them at my local "big box" hobby and craft store and used my 40% off coupon which made the whole set very reasonable. As it turns out, with practice, I'm discovering that I really only use 2 of the 3 tools in conjuntion with my handy little knife.

The other tool, which has enabled me to carve more intricate designs was a tip I got from one of the several web tutorials I used: the highest powered reading glasses I could find at the dollar store. (I think mine are +3.50.) My normal readers are +1.75, but for seeing minute details in the pattern, the mega-magnifiers do the trick.

One of the best websites I used for tutorials (which also led me to other on-line information) was on Atlas Quest, one of the two main letterboxing sites.

Hope this helps for anyone else who wants to join the addic...I mean fun!