Stamping Fabric & Carving Stamps

This is the fabric I stamped using a stamp that I carved. I have found that I love carving my own stamps! If you click on the scanned picture to enlarge it, you may be able to see the white berries I added using the eraser end of a pencil. This is just done on some unbleached muslin and I used Jacquard Textile paints, undiluted. After several tries of painting and dabbing, I found that a sponge brush worked the best to dab onto the stamp. After one good stamp, I immediately stamped again to get a shadow effect on the fabric. Then, after it dried (and it did dry fast), I heat set it with an iron. I didn't even put a pressing cloth over it because I was in a hurry. There was no bleeding onto my ironing board cover. The picture below shows the stamp I carved using my Speedball carving tool. I won the tool in a drawing at one of my art groups one year. It has interchangeable blades in all sizes. The block I use to carve the stamp is made by Speedball, too. I buy them in a local art store or they can be ordered. They feel just like an eraser and are very easy to carve. I draw my image onto paper using a pencil. Then, just lay it on top and rub and the image is on the rubber, ready to carve. I also made some small ones using the white erasers. Fun!
After I carve the image, I use a regular ink pad to stamp it onto paper. This method shows you where you need to carve more rubber away so it won't stamp onto the fabric or paper where it shouldn't. If you look at the stamped image I did on the paper, you can see some spotty ink that shouldn't be there. After using the textile paints and the dye ink pad, my stamp was no longer a pretty pink color...it become permanently stained, but still works just fine. I mount it on a clear 1/4" acrylic block that my hubby cut from Plexiglas we bought at the Hardware store. He cut several sizes so I can use them with different stamps. The repositionable dry adhesive roller tape is great for holding the stamps onto the acrylic.
Now I have to find something to make from this fabric. I really like it and may just keep it like it is and add a border...instant art quilt. It would also make a nice pillow top.
We had a great weekend with our son and his girlfriend visiting us from Ohio. We went to DC (Metro trips) for two days and saw lots of good sights and museums. They are fun to hang out with. I don't think I cooked at all while they were here. It was a fun time!