Carving My Own Stamp Blocks

My personal challenge for the month was to make some stamps from scratch.  I first wrote about my plan at the beginning of the month:
http://www.storybeader.com/2012/01/januarys-bba-challenge-try-something.html

But what happened?

I had a lot of fun!  I started out with some easy shapes, to discover how it all  worked.  And I made a circle and heart.  See all of the lines near the bottom of the heart, that I didn't carve away?  Oh dear!  But then, I like how the stamped image looks and decided to keep it that way.

For making stamps, you have to invest in a carving tool of some sort.   I bought a hand chisel from Speedball, that came with various tips.  You can use stamp pads to get different colors onto your blocks.  Or color the blocks themselves, with acrylics or watercolors, like my little car below.  When you use watercolors though, you have to act fast or the color will dry.

Making my own stamps have become a regular part of my AlphabeThursday.    

This little car fit in nicely for my Letter J: Journey.  

And last week, I carved an Ice Cream Cone! 

So, I feel this challenge worked out great; 

I had fun, learned a new technique, and   

found something I can use in my journals.