Monday, October 10, 2011

Making A Rubber Stamp

For the fun of it, M. and I signed up for the 1-hour rubber-stamp-making workshop held at The Little Happy Shop. Led by the very talented Joseph of Monster Gallery, he took 4 of us through the basics of making a rubber stamp.

We must be quite crazy to turn up at Holland Village on the day the circle line began operations. (Actually we forgot) Like other new stations, the one right at Holland Village (finally a new station that's not misleading with its name and location) opens to 'fanfare' and a stage with a carnival of sorts marking the occasion. I was like, why? *facepalm The opening of a train station? Seriously? But hey, we had ministers grace the opening of a temporary carpark. Who am I to question what constitutes a celebration?

Anyway. We got down to learning about making a rubber stamp. There was a pack of supplies arranged and a range of designs to choose from. I picked the simplest- an image of a tree and diligently traced it onto the rubber which would be made into a stamp. I was a little wary. I'm no good at craftwork. I can paint and draw, but not wield a tool to create anything else. For the same reason, I'll never touch a knife because the only way I know how to use it, is to stab someone with it. (Though I must qualify that my infrequent Kendo classes haven't inspired me to rip out anyone's guts just yet)

M. came prepared with a design of a cupcake she wanted to make, in addition to the template provided. The cupcake design looked simple enough, but to cut out the wavy lines would be quite a tedious job! With a few tips from Joseph, she got down to work quickly, sketching the outline, tracing and transferring. I managed to dent a blade and had to have Joseph help me fix up a second. Hehehehehe. Then I gingerly tried cutting into the rubber as instructed, going really slowly.


Knowing what a klutz I am and Murphy's inclination to deem it fit to have me as his favorite child for an hour on whichever day, I came prepared with plenty of plasters, and a vial of antiseptic. Forgot about the bottle of gentian violet. Was too busy cleaning up the mess caused by it. I was placing drops of that onto ahemmm....yet another deep scratch on my thigh (parkour love) and it grandly spilled across my hands. I thought I could easily get another bottle from the pharmacy if necessary. Heehehhee. So. Midway through the workshop, I managed to puncture the finger a little. Kekekkekeek. Nothing dramatic. 2 miniscule drops of blood. Okaay. Back to work scraping out rubber.


M. worked hard on her design and the rubber stamp turned out wonderfully. She tested it and it was a pretty print of a cupcake! It's a good legible print that can possibly be put into a journal with all the bookbinding she has been doing, and turn it into a personalized handmade journal.

An hour later, ta-dahhhhh!!! I made the messiest rubber stamp EVER! There were all sorts of random lines all over. Wieeeeee!! I call it 'randomly impressionistic'. Oof. I wasn't very bothered about cutting it neatly or scraping it too thoroughly. It kinda makes a print, and that's fine by me. I certainly won't mind it going into the Christmas cards!

13 comments:

Lady J said...

How fun and a great way to spend an afternoon! I like your stamp as well as M's one. ;) Hope your finger didn't hurt too much. Ouch!

Anonymous said...

imp must stay away from sharp things. :P
like the two stamps.
your tree will look nice on cards.
-tuti

M. said...

It was a couple hours of good fun, intensive learning curve but enjoyable nonetheless. You and I, we can be crafty after all :p

yuling said...

How absolutely fun! The tree and the cupcake are nice!

I'm interested to attend the bookmaking/bookbinding workshop you tweeted on. You wanna go?

Dawn said...

Very cute! I also have two words for you : Liquid Bandage! Wonderful when you cut yourself and don't want to bleed all over the food you're making :)

notabilia said...

Totally didn't expect you to do this ;). Glad you had fun. Can't wait to see M's stamp.

Come join us for our bookmaking workshop(s)? There will be X-Acto knives ;).

lilsnooze said...

Oh this looks like a fun workshop!

sinlady said...

nothing wrong with your tree leh :)

imp said...

LadyJ: finger was fine. No pain at all. Thanks!

tuti: will try them out soon.

M.: It's quite fun to do it again! I might go bet more supplies and spend a longer time making another stamp that's hopefully neater.

Yuling: from stock templates! I suppose practically anything can be turned into a stamp if you want.

Dawn: note to self, yes. Liquid bandage is neater and more stylish than purple lotion.

notabilia: am trying to juggle schedule for the 12th! Signed up for your mailing list and will wait for your updates on how to register!

lilsnooze: quite easy really, but no time to do it perfectly. But fun enough for an hour or two.

sinlady: yay! U recognized that it's a tree! I feel all good now. :D

bookjunkie said...

your tree stamp is lovely :)

is that blood on your finger? yikes

Dawn said...

More importantly you stop bleeding on everything :)

imp said...

bookjunkie: one tiny drop. very shallow prick. not even painful.

dawn: that too, yes. but since i'll not touch food, it leaves paper and artsy stuff = drops of blood artwork. hehehehehehe.

Dawn said...

You bleed for your art ;)