One of my 1001 goals is to try Letterboxing. It combines the two elements I love most in gaming - collecting things, and quests! Letterboxes are boxes containing a unique rubber stamp and log book. Each Letterboxer carries their own unique rubber stamp and log book as well. Letterboxes are hidden all over the world, and clues to their locations are passed on to Letterboxers via the Internet or word of mouth. This hobby is a brand new discovery for me, so I am anxious to get started. One of the things I wanted to do before I began hunting for boxes is create my own rubber stamp to use on my quests. There are a lot of different ways to make your own rubber stamp. Below, I'll detail the method I used to make mine.
1. Gather materials. I used a cutting mat for my work surface, and gathered all of the materials I needed to complete the job - X-acto knife, metal ruler, soft drawing pencil, a Speedball Speedy-Cut carving block, and the drawing of my design for the stamp. You'll need a picture or a drawing of a design you want to make into your stamp. I just drew my design on a Post-It note I had at work.
2. Trace over your drawing or design. You'll be making a mirrored imprint of this drawing on your cutting block. To make the transfer of this image easy, trace over your drawing or design with a soft pencil. I used a 7B drawing pencil. You could probably get away with using a regular 2 pencil, but the imprint will probably come out very light. This will create a layer of soft, loose graphite over your design.
3. Transfer a mirrored imprint of your drawing onto the cutting block. Put your cutting block down on your surface. Carefully place your drawing face down in the area of the block you want to use. With a blunt object (I used the back end of my pencil) rub all around the back of your drawing.
4. Your mirrored imprint is ready to cut. Pull your drawing off of the block, and you should see a mirrored imprint of your drawing on the block! It should be mirrored, so when you use this as a stamp, it will stamp right-side up! If the imprint is not dark enough for you, rub some more, or re-trace over the image with a softer pencil.
5. Cut your stamp away from the block. My Speedball block is way larger than the size of my stamp. I simply cut away only the part I am using for my stamp from the rest of the block. I put the rest of the block away so it won't get dirty when I re-use it later.
6. Carve away the light parts of the block to create your stamp. Carefully use your X-acto knife to cut away the blank portions of your image. Everything colored in should not be cut away. Take your time. Speedball blocks are designed so that they are very easy to cut. It is easy to accidentally cut away parts of your stamp that you don't mean to. You do not need to cut that deep into the block, just deep enough so that the dark portions of your image are the only parts to hit the paper when you are stamping.
7. Continue cutting away until all light portions are cut away. You should have something like this. You'll make kind of a mess, but that is part of the fun.
8. Clean your stamp. After I was happy with the cutting, I ran the stamp under some water to wash away loose graphite dust and carving block bits. Dry it thoroughly.
9. Test out your stamp! Now's the time to get out some paper and an ink pad and try out your new stamp! If you are not happy with your cutting job, you can always go back and cut more of the block away until you get the effect you are looking for. If you like the way your stamp looks, you are done! I may add a wood backing or something to this stamp at some point, but it is ready to go!
I want to venture out today to find my first letterbox, but we've been experiencing a nice "Wintery Mix" all day, so I may have to postpone my adventure until tomorrow. I am so anxious to start finding letterboxes, and making more stamps for my own letterboxes in the future!
