Using the 'Undefined' Stampin' Up Stamp Carving Kit, and a Lucy Label Pop Up card

 Well I have just had a WHOLE heap of fun!!

I'm a Stampin' Up Demonstrator (though I don't really do a lot - just for myself and a few friends really), and I had a delivery come today, including their new stamp carving kit.

It's the kids' half-term holiday this week - the older two are reading and revising, and the younger two are den building, so I have been playing!! 

Here's a card I just made very hastily to try out one of the stamps I just designed and carved... it uses Karen Burniston's Lucy Label Pop Up die set, along with her Agatha Edges die set for the red swirls.

The papers and stickers are from the 'From me to you' collection by Pebbles.

The Stampin' Up set comes with everything you need to get going - the carving tools, and stuff to make a couple of wood mounted stamps. (If anyone from the UK is dying to get the set, or anything else Stampin' Up, just contact me, and I can arrange for it to be delivered to you. The set is £17.95, and P&P is £4.95 regardless of how much you buy.)

Anyway, I have been wanting a nice chunky arrow/chevron stamp, and within a few minutes of opening the box, had made my first stamp - very easy!! And SO satisfying!

Next I decided to make a sentiment stamp which would fit nicely inside the Lucy Label Pop Up die. I sketched round the inside of the die to get the outside stamp shape, then handwrote the 'hello', and reversed it by writing it on thin paper, then writing what I could see on the back of the paper (the reversed image), then scribbling in pencil on the first side, then leaning it on the rubber and writing over the reversed image on the back of the paper, so it left pencil markings of it on the rubber. (I spent some of the evening researching stamp carving, and have found much simpler ways to transfer the image now - just draw the image on tracing paper in soft pencil, flip the image over onto the rubber, and rub the back of the image.)

I then carefully carved round the outside edge, and carved out the lettering.

The set comes with a really fine carving tool for delicate work, and then a thicker one for speedily carving away big areas.

I stamped it a couple of times as I went along to make sure it was progressing how I wanted, then when I was happy, stuck it to one of the wooden blocks provided. (You get an adhesive foam layer too.)

I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed this!! My mind is whirring away thinking of all the possibilities... (Luckily I also bought the Stampin' Up refill kit which has extra rubber, foam and blocks!)

Here's my stamped image on the card. Not bad, I think, for a newbie carver!

Some of the products used: