Mail Art Envelope: Hand-Carved Rubber Stamp

Stamp carving is easier than it sounds!! Or you can buy or borrow a hand-carved stamp. But, for this swap, you just can't use a mass-produced stamp as your main art element.

The short version: Decorate an envelope for your TWO partners, using a hand-carved rubber stamp. Put a note inside, telling about the stamp (who carved it, the inspiration for it, etc.) and/or supplies or techniques you used on the envelope. You can use other things besides hand-carved stamps on your envelope, but carved images* should be predominant. The theme is up to you. (As long as you have all the stuff out on your table, you may as well make two, and then you'll get two, right?) *Could be from multiple stamps, or multiple images from one stamp

Information on stamp carving can be found in books as well as online. I recommend Making an Impression by Geninne D. Zlatkis and Rubber Stamp Carving by Luann Udell, in that order. YouTube has some nice tutorials, too. It's not that difficult, and you don't have to be able to draw free-hand. As for material, I recommend "the pink stuff" by Speedball. It's available at Michael's and other art suppliers. The cream-colored stuff just crumbles. But if you're an experienced carver, you can make your own choices based on what works for you. New to carving? It's a wonderful and addictive art form. I hope you will give it a try.

This swap is open to folks with a ratings average of 3.9 and above, with at least three Type 3 swaps under their belts. Do you think you should be an exception to that? Message me!

I hope to encourage folks to try stamp carving, so I'm going to give a pretty long lead time for this. Come on, try it! (Unless you're afraid you'll chicken out and flake. No flakers, please. I don't have time to do your work, too.)