100 Days of Hand-Carved Stamps: Week 7 Update

Week 7 inspired 10 newly carved stamps which include a wonderful range from the super scrappy and simple textures, to much more intricate designs that required more engineering. Read on to learn more about my design inspiration and see lots more printed patterns that emerged over the week... 

43/100: No Dice Roll-Repeat Patterns Deep Dive 1 Class

Instead of rolling the dice, I drew inspiration from session 1 of Repeat Patterns Deep Dive class with Ali Baecker of 3 Dotted Penguins. This is the first of 3 sessions which will provide a wonderful boost of carving and design tips for the remainder of my project. During the second half of class, I designed this repeating block featuring an abstract tulip. 

I think we were supposed to wait until next week's class to carve, but I couldn't wait to see it printed! 

And once I got printing, I just kept playing with all new layouts! Which is your favorite?!?

“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.”

–Abraham Maslow, American Psychologist

44/100: Triangle + Lines

“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”

– Chinese proverb

Today was a whirlwind of Zoom meetings but these connections helped energize and invigorate me for the next online gathering!

45/100: Leaf + Pattern/Repetition

“Nothing is all bad. There are very beautiful flowers in the desert amidst the spikes and thorns. Just don't let them take over. In the garden of love there is little room for prickly things.”

-Kate McGahan, American Author

Drawing design inspiration from McCallum's 4000 Flower & Plant Motifs book for this leafy design. 

The first few prints were ok...

...but this spiky leaf started to grow on me as I kept playing with different layouts. Check out the secondary designs that emerge within the negative space! 

More color combo experimentation is needed with overlapping the spikes, but I definitely see potential! They remind me of pinecones.

46/100: Circle/Arc + Repeat Patterns

"A lot of people think the path to success is a straight line, but it's not. It has got many turns and curves, and you just got to go with the ebbs and flows of it all."

-Kevin Jonas, American Singer/Songwriter

Embracing and engineering curves that connect, ebb, flow, twist, and turn! So many printed possibilities...which print is your favorite!?!

47/100: Skinny/Rectangle + Lines

"One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak."

-Gilbert K. Chesterton, English Writer/Philosopher

Playing with peaks and valleys to create today's stamp and printed patterns!

48/100: Triangle + Artist's Choice

It was a whirlwind day, but I am always thankful for my evening carving and stamping sessions! Luckily I happened to have a triangle scrap of carving block to jumpstart my carving creativity!

True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher.

-John Petit-Senn, Swiss Novelist, Poet, and Singer

49/100: Artist's Choice + Nature

"How brave a ladybug must be!

Each drop of rain is big as she.

Can you imagine what you'd do,

If raindrops fell as big as you?"

-Aileen Fisher, American Author of Children's Literature

These adorable ladybugs were fun to design, carve, and stamp using 4 scraps!

Here are the first 49 printed designs from my journal...

As I approach the midpoint in my project, it was time to figure out how to organize and store all these stamps. Thanks to a quick internet search, I discovered a variety of containers with 2" compartments for storing rolls of washi tape. This particular model has a top tier that can be removed to reveal even more storage compartments. It was on sale at time of purchase so I purchased a second one, which should provide ample space for the remainder of this 100 Day Project and beyond. So far I've organized the stamps roughly by shape: square, circle, triangles, leaves, arcs, etc. 

Stay tuned for the more weekly updates as I head into the second half of 100 Days of Hand-Carved Stamps!