New stamp and stamp-box

I made a new stamp! It is coming from a drawing motif I am using quite regular. Either as a flower or as a graphic element.

I used a new material. Until now I always used thick rubber mats for carving stamps. This is also rubber, but much harder and thinner. I am not sure I like it a lot. The carving is much harder, but I guess you can maybe work more precisely. The stamping isn't as easy as with the thick rubber. I think I have to glue it onto a wooden block.

The little stamp I used here for leaves had been a test, if it's possible to carve the space between the bars as precise as I can draw them. I can also use them as flames:

This is another print, I made on a water color background. The print isn't very good, but usable.

All my stamps and the stamp carving material is now tidied up in a box. My husband found this wooden case in a container to throw away at work and he rescued it for me. I had a hard time to get the rubber foam out that had been glued inside and the cover of the box is still sticky, so I glued a paper in and stamped with all of my selfmade stamps on it (only the snowflake had been bought). I divided the case in three compartments for the stamps, the ink pads and the carving material. 

A bientôt,

Jane 

Ring binder sketch book

I made a special sketch book for my mom! She likes drawing and painting with water colors. She is really good and her drawings are much more realistic than mine. She normally has little books with white paper in her car or her handbag and is drawing when she feels like it or she has to wait somewhere. As those books are usually with normal paper, I wanted to make her a book with different papers for different things. So for just doodling normal copy paper and for more advanced drawings or even water color thicker paper. I made it in a ring binder, so she can easily change the pages.

 The whole book is 17x17cm and the paper 15x15cm. The covers are made from heavy cardstock that I painted with acrylic paint and a paint roll. This was really fun to do and very quick. Later I gave it a coat of transparent varnish to harden the surface, because I saw it got easily scratches in the paint. The little flowers are stamped with a rubber stamp I made some years ago. It's the first time I tried stamping with acrylic paint and it worked so well!

Inside there are different categories: Drawing - water color - normal colored paper for whatever - tasks. 

For the tasks I started some pages and they are for my mom to finish. I glued for example some fabric scraps, or I started a pattern to finish, and much more...

I had a lot of fun doing the book and I hope my mom will have fun using it. It is maybe a bit big for her handbag, but for the car it's ok. And as the cardstock is as strong you can draw on your lap and don't need a table or other hard surface.

Maybe I should do a book for me as well?!

A bientôt,
Jane