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I finally unpacked more of my craft supplies last week and found my little stash of washi tape and stamps! Yippie! And after almost 2 years of neat and tidy Bible journaling entries (see some of my posts HERE), I decided to do some mixed media pages (which is odd because I did more of that before taking up watercoloring in my Bible).
One of my favorite rolls of washi tape has a vintage map of the world on it, so of course I had to use it in Matthew 28 where Jesus gives us the Great Commission...
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
This page was created in minutes by swiping some craft acrylic paint on the page, drying it with my hair dryer, adding the washi tape, then stamping and doodling with my trusty PITT pen.
Then I noticed in my little supply box the stamps I carved a few years ago after being inspired by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's amazing stamps (check her out on YouTube!). I stamped a few flowers and the cross I carved on the opposite page and then thought, "hmmm, maybe there are Bible journalers out there who don't know how easy this is."
Ok, so you'll need 3 basic supplies.
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| this is what I have leftover after carving 2 stamps |
Supplies:
- a pen or sharpie marker
- a Speedball linoleum cutter. This one has an assortment of tips. *Be careful! The tips are sharp! Keep out of reach of children!
- a carving block. I used the 9 x 11 inch Speedball Speedy-carve and have a TON left over after carving 2 stamps. It carves like butter and they offer smaller sizes.
Oh, and you'll need stamping ink. I used Ranger's Archival ink pad. It is a great ink; HOWEVER, it does have major bleed through on my thin Bible pages.
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| back of Jesus loves me page |
However, when I stamped on top of the cheap craft acrylic paints, there was nearly NO bleed through.
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| back of Great Commission page |
Ok, so now on to the super easy how-to.
Instructions:
1. Figure out what you want to make a stamp of. For me it was a flower.
2. Sketch it out in a corner of your carving block. Remember images will be reversed when stamped.
3. When you're happy with your sketch, ink over it with a pen or sharpie marker.
4. Using scissors or an xacto knife, cut your soon-to-be stamp free from the block. A square or rectangle is easiest. Leave some margin around your design (to hold onto the stamp when inking and stamping).
5. Now begin carving! Basically, you're carving away everything except what is inked. The tips will cut away varying amounts of the block. The wider tip will easily carve away larger areas while the narrow tip will allow you to carve finer detail and clean up the edges of your image.
6. When you're satisfied, ink it up and stamp on a scrap piece of paper. Any high spots that need carved away will be revealed with the ink. (I still need to clean up some of my edges but I kinda like the vintage look it gives.)
That's it. Easy peasy. There are lots of YouTube videos with demonstrations (and perhaps I'll make one soon... after I unpack the rest of my craft stuff).
Above is my page pre-watercolor. See the little edges on the top right of my flower? :)
Appropriate that my cross and flowers and "He loves me" (letter stamps from Walmart - I think they were $2) are on the page detailing Jesus' arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection!
God is so good and He loves us all! Keep on creating!
:) Ann
