The other day, I gathered with some of my friends and we made linocut stamps together. Lino printing has its origins in the early 20th century and consists of carving into linoleum and making a relief print. We decided to carve into erasers instead because they are cheaper and easier to carve. It was really fun to make art with my friends, especially because some of them aren’t art majors. We made a variety of stamps, all representing our interests.
I’ve made stamps in the past, so I wanted to challenge myself to make a design I can stamp onto a shirt. I chose an 8 Ball design because I really like the 8 Ball. After carving and testing my stamp, which took a few tries to get just right, I made sure my shirt was laid out flat, with no creases or folds. Then, I rolled some white acrylic paint on my stamp (we didn’t have any white block printing ink) and stamped my design onto my shirt. The ink wasn’t as opaque as I wanted it to be, but it isn’t too bad and has been holding up well in the wash.
Now you may be asking, now that I made all these stamps, what do I do with them? I made a list of my top five things I like to do with my stamps,
- Use them in a zine
- Press them into stamps
- Make your own gift tags
- Stamp them on old paper bags to make your own wrapping paper
- Use them in home decor, such as napkins or tablecloths
The possibilities are endless for this fun and easy craft!