Another Use for Pencils

I believe I have mentioned at least once my thing for rubber stamps, I collect them but I hardly ever use them.  I think the next step could possibly be to start making some of my own.

So when I came across this tutorial for making stamps with pencil erasers from Creature Comforts, I jumped on board.  Simple to do, plus I had plenty of pencils leftover from a Back to School sale at Wal-Mart years ago.  Just have to draw a shape on the eraser and carve it out with a craft knife.
I even actually tried them out on paper, just to test how well I carved them.  From the upper left is the star shape, heart, bubbles, and at the bottom is the basic triangle shape.  My favorite is the bubbles, they look so cute.  Also the hearts came out really well, I can’t say the same about the stars. 
Here’s the updated list:

• doll headbands
• halters
• camera
• stamps
• painting supplies
• knitting supplies
• video
• face magnets

Four down, four to go.  The next will be up in a couple of days, don’t miss it.

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Stamp-aholic

I have an obsession with rubber stamps.  I’m not sure why, I’m not really big on card making or scrapbooking.  There’s just something so appealing about those cute little images formed into a stamp and mounted to wood or foam.  

It all started one day when I was browsing at Bookman’s among the craft stuff.  They had all these stamps in a huge bowl, I spent several minutes looking through it all.  I picked out this little strawberry and bunny and one other stamp.  It has continued on since then.  It isn’t that bad of a hobby.  Bookman’s usually has a good selection, normally priced from 25 cents to 1 dollar.  And I only use trade credit for them so it isn’t costing me any money.

After the first few, I found this set of stamps for only 4 dollars (in trade).  I just imagined all the cute things I could make and embellish with them.  Mostly things like stationary and pretty shopping lists.  I still haven’t used them for anything, but I do enjoy looking at them.

This one I actually have used, the purpose should be obvious.  I made gift tags last Christmas for all my handcrafted gifts.  They went well with the handmade fabric wrappings.

Of these two, I got the first one because it made me think of my cat, plus the one that said “meow, meow” had a price I wasn’t willing to pay.  The other one I got fairly recently because I was hoping for at least some sign of Spring.  Still hoping.

These had a similar inspiration to the spring one, plus the fact that they came as a set which included an ink pad.  I think they’d work for card or maybe for a charm bracelet.  Umm.

These last three are the most recent additions to my collection.  I spotted the head of lettuce while leaving and spent the whole day thinking about it.  Something about it is just so appealing to me, although I think it’d be cuter if it was a head of cabbage.  I’ve said it before, my tastes are odd.  When I went back for it, I found the other two stamps.  The bear mail postage stamp was adorable and cheaper than a similar stamp.  I’m not sure what the last one is supposed to be, but it reminded me of fireworks.  Maybe it’d be good for Independence Day.

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