30 January 2010

How to make a stamp from a photo


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1. Scan your object and bring up the jpeg on your photo manager or copy and paste it into a text program and adjust the size of the image to the size stamp you want to make.


2. Print the image. 
3. Using a very soft artist pencil, I used a 4B, draw the outline and details of the image simply tracing around the printed image.
  Make sure you get a good amount of graphite from the pencil onto the image.



 

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  1. Place the image face (graphite) side down on the carving medium. I used Speedy Carve. Rub the back of the paper firmly with the back of a spoon while holding the paper in place.

  

  

 
 5. 
-->Go over the graphite lines with a permanent fine point ink pen.


 

  
 6. I start with the thinnest blade in my carving set. I have a very inexpensive 5 blade set. I do the fine details first then increase the blade size and cut more and more of the background away leaving the image behind. I call this a positive image because when I stamp this the stamped image will be of the image on the jpeg. You could also cut away the image leaving the background. I call this a negative because when you stamp the image, the background will have color and the jpeg image will be a void.
 
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--> 7. When I have cut away all of the background leaving the image, I test stamp it on paper with ink. I can touch up the stamp image if I need to at this time. 




8. If I am happy with the stamp, I trim away all but a 1/2-5/8” boarder around the image. I stamp the image with ink onto a piece of wood then using GOOP attach the stamp to the other side of the wood. I usually do this for images I am planning to keep and reuse many times. Some stamps I carve for a one time use like my friends dog picture. I will probably not use this stamp again. Most of my stamps I reuse over and over. The wooden mounting gives the Speedy Carve material a firm support making goopy mistakes less probable.

 9. Here is the feather and its image in pearl acrylic paint on black fabric.


 
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--> I learned these techniques from Lyric Kinards "Surface Design Sampler Platter" DVD. I bought my Speedy Carve and carving tool from Dick Blick
 
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18 January 2010

quilt-a-rama

I have just uploaded all the journal quilts I have been working on over the past two weeks. If you click on Flickr photostream and do a slide show you can select full screen and really see them in detail. The felted one was done on my friend Rosalita's new needle felting machine, the cute kid one was a solvent transfer embellished with paint, floss, free motion quilting and markers. The seascape postcard was done in a class I took from Pamela Allen, a famous Canadian fiber artist. I have 5 more quilts I did while in her class. I am machine quilting the largest of them and hope to have it on Flickr soon. It was done almost exclusively with thrift store clothing. The one in purple "rugs" was an exercise in thread painting and it's called, "You're the one" I did have a ball making it.
I am working on a blog entry about a documentary. It was overwhelming for me to watch. I watched it a second time and took notes and will try to write about my feeling surrounding this documentary and the concepts presented.

09 January 2010

Getting smarter about time spent

I am finding myself less and less willing to waste (in my opinion)time dealing with whiners. I have done my share of whining in my life and occasionally I'll catch myself whining still. I am losing patience when I whine too.

As each year goes by, it seems to do so at a faster and faster pace. Maybe the closer you get to the end of the chute, the higher the speed. At any rate, I think I've finished spending much of my remaining time on earth listening to or participating in whining.

I want to play more and love more and try to enhance to some degree the time others have here. I want to take responsibility for what I do and get on with it. Times a wastin'.