Making a Stamp.

I have been wanting to explore lino-cutting, stamp making and printing for a little while now. It has always really interested me. But its been on my mind an awful lot lately. You might remember my birthday wishlist being very print orientated! And I'm also planning on enrolling in an evening printmaking course in a few months time over at Leeds College of Art. It's in the family after all (Dixon is a screen printer!). Whilst I wait for my course to start, I have treat myself to a few tools. And set out to practise straight away. How exciting! Here is one of my first creations;

1// Deciding on my design and sketching out my stencil on lino. 2// Testing out some tools I've never used before. 3// The fun part; carving!! 4// The final little mountain stamp 5// A few testers first. 6// Ta-da. The perfect result! I love the little rough lines around it. 7// It's messy work.

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It's amazing how much you can learn in such a short space of time. I only ever remember using/having one tool bit back in college, but man those things are useful! I've also learnt that you can't scrimp on ink and heating up your lino makes carving way easier.

This little guy is a prototype for the first instalment of a home-craft project I'll be starting on here in a week or so. I'm going to make it bigger and awesome-er! I really can't wait. Do you print? Any tips to share?