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