Stamps and stencils, as you may have noticed, can be an invaluable tool in your art journal kit. When I started out, I used to scoff at the HUGE variety of stamps and stencils that are available in the market. In fact, I still think that if a design is special use only, it is a waste of money to buy a stamp or stencil – it’s far better to learn how to draw that design, or better yet, create a custom design for your personal use.
All you need to invest in is one tool – an X-Acto knife
Stamp carving 101
You can carve beautiful, complex designs on linoleum blocks
The easiest way to carve a stamp is to get your hands on a ubiquitous white eraser. Draw your design on the eraser and cut away the negative areas. Just remember that the stamp will give you a mirror image of your design, which is of particular relevance if you’re cutting alphabet stamps.
Hand carved fox stamp. Image courtesy
Don’t have an X-acto knife yet? Don’t worry. Just grab your scissors and a sheet of craft foam
Want something even quicker? Take your sheet of craft foam and draw your design on it with a pen. You’ll have to press down as you draw – ink it up and stamp away!
Stencil cutting 101
Cut your own stencils Image courtesy
You can splurge on a silhouette die cut machine that can also cut out stencils. Or spend a little elbow grease and cut out your own stencils. You’ll need an X-Acto knife and a piece of cardboard or a clear transparency sheet
Put this lesson to work: Try carving a stamp or cutting a stencil and use it as a main element in your art journal.
I will cut form ones ??
Have fun!!
Aha, great tricks and this X-acto knife I gotta check. You get a lot of foam stamps ready-made too. But it is cool making your own!
@KalaRavi16 from
Relax-N-Rave
Yup, do check it out. I’ve linked it to the best knife on Amazon – so it’s easy for you to click on the link & buy if you like. 🙂
All of these are lovely ideas for creating stencils. I’ll try and use some of these before I lay out all that money for the X-Acto knife 🙂
🙂 Have fun!