Carving It Up Part 1~

 I love the challenge of drawing and carving backwards for words.  Note I said “challenge” ~ I kind of got a little lost on carving out the “l” … but I still like it!  Funky! {as in fun}. 

 I want to get better at carving words.   The “moo-carve” product is super easy to cut; I do like that.  This is what Dick Blick has to say about it:
“MOO Carve boasts a revolutionary PVC surface that’s softer and safer to use than linoleum — and also latex-free! Use MOO Carve Carving Blocks for stamp carving, printmaking, and any other applications where you’d normally use linoleum. They’re a neutral light gray color that’s easy to work with, and the thickness allows for deep-carve cutting on either one or both sides of the block.
MOO Carve readily accepts transfer designs, or you can simply draw directly on the surface. It can be cut into smaller pieces without crumbling or breaking apart.”
I think it was actually a bit crumbly, not in a major way, but I didn’t care for that feel as I was carving; kinda messy to carve, although it prints very nicely.  I also ordered another brand, an Inovart product, called “Eco-Karve” – a red-colored variety and I’m looking forward to trying it out and making a comparison.  In the meantime, here’s a few of my prints:

 Time to try it out!  I printed the stamp, making sure the inside corner matched with each printing, and  printed on a base of my gelli-printed paper:

It has a rustic, kinda native indian appeal to me ~ love the whole texture thing happening with the gelli print, and the stamp on top, letting the bright colors pop!  And I love making stamps that repeat in a four-square pattern.  They don’t really perfectly match… and that suits me… perfectly!!  Now on to fabric…  this would be a fun pattern to make into a quilted piece. {someday!}

xo
Leslie