Simple stamps

I had an extra wine cork or two floating around and saw a tutorial somewhere around in the blogverse about making them into stamps.  It’s pretty easy to do and doesn’t take too long to make.  A marker, x-acto knife, wine/beer cork, and cutting surface are the only supplies you’ll need to make the stamps. (Of course, some sort of pigment and surface to stamp on are also needed!)

Draw your design. Simple designs are easiest. I made a star and a heart.

Cut away the extra material.  Either inside or outside the lines. (Yes, do be careful with the sharp knife, and keep your fingers away from the edge that you’re cutting. It’s easy for the knife to slip and cut your fingers instead of cork).

cork cut from the outside of the heart

I tried to make sure that enough cork was cut away for good definition.

side view...

Stamp away! I tried some calligraphy ink, which worked ok if I used a paintbrush to apply it to the stamp.  Acrylic paint was faster and provided more intensity. I just used what I had lying around (as I’m trying to use up some of the stuff I’ve had for a long time). Have fun trying out whatever you have on hand.

heart stamp with ink (applied to stamp with paintbrush)

heart stamp with acrylic paint

star stamp with acrylic paint

As you can see, the star stamp was made by removing the cork from inside the lines, which was a bit trickier.  This left the outside as the original circle shape. Of the two, this one is my favorite. 😉

Simple autumn decoration for my staircase.

I’ve been wanting to use up my art supplies.  Some of them I’ve had for close to 10 years.  My acrylic paint has been hanging out in my art bin for around 9. Way, way too long.  So what to do? Make a paper chain of course!

TaDa! The finished product hanging in my stairway.

Hang in your chosen location.

Cut into strips and join using glue or tape. I also cut up another unpainted paper bag and used those strips between the painted strips.

I chose to use yellow, orange, and red paint for fall. Make sure you let your paint dry before you…

Get out your paint. I used acrylic since that’s what I had. Finger paint or tempera paint would also work well.

Cut or rip it open along the seams so it lays flat.

Take a paper bag. This one happens to be from trader joe’s.

Super simple and something that I haven’t done in ages (I think everyone makes these in elementary school, which was most likely the last time I made one).  Not only does it liven up my bland staircase, it did use up a fair amount of paint.  Just the results I was looking for.