Rubber Stamp Madness!

Good day all. It's been a while since I've posted anything here, but I'm so happy with the way this little project came out that I just had to show it off to someone.

I have always loved rubber stamps, ever since I was a kid. When I was little, and my mother would take me to work with her, I could always be found in the copier room. It was there that I would entertain myself for hours on end using the companies collection of rubber stamps. Even if they said nothing more interesting than AIR MAIL, COPY, CONFIDENTIAL and FIRST CLASS. It was also there that I discovered you could place any object onto an ink pad and make an interesting mark of some sort. And there weren't just stamp pads in black, but a red one too. My favourite. Still my favourite!

Fast forward to last night, where I sat experimenting with cutting shapes from cardboard for a collage piece I am working on. I attempted to use one of them on an ink pad to see if I could get an impression of some sort. Well, that didn't work out so well. So, I grabbed a piece of rubber I had lying around, and my carving tools, and set about turning my cardboard cutout into a rubber stamp. (Note: at this time I had absolutely no plans whatsoever to make a scooter image. It was more of an Art Nouveau subject I was working on)

The stamp I made came out so good, that I was just fired up to make another - even though it was quickly approaching midnite!

As you all know, I love mods and scooters and 60's imagery. So it was an easy choice to make a scooter stamp. An easy choice perhaps, but as I started sketching, I found my drawing becoming a little more detailed than I had planned. No worries I thought, I can always carve a little tonight and then finish it up tomorrow. But as I started meticulously carving out the stamps many details, I became obsessed with finishing it right then and there. There was just so much anticipation to use it for the first time; press it against that ink pad and see what result I would get. This can really become an addiction, let me tell you!

An hour and 15 minutes later, I found myself with a completely carved rubber stamp, with a really detailed image of a 60's Vespa scooter on it. But would it work? Had I missed something? I made a lot of little mistakes when I was carving because I was so tired. Did I mess it up beyond repair?

I unwrapped a brand new ink pad for the occasion, a red one, and pressed my newly carved stamp against it. Then I brought it to hover over a small scrap of paper I had lying on the table. Pressing down, I hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Imagine the joy I felt as I lifted that stamp from the paper, and saw the perfect image you see in the photo above!

I was, and am quite pleased with my work. I plan on using this image on some brand new items I am making for my Etsy shop.

And imagine: I started this piece purely on a whim, with no advance thinking or planning at all! I think maybe I should start doing that with everything I do.