Every year it seems like I have  “slow start” in the studio. Tough getting back into the swing of things. Tough “messing up” my beautifully clean holiday studio. But I’ve finished reclaiming clay… I’ve put away the holiday decorations… I’ve watered the plants… I’ve procrastinated enough. So tonight I finally kicked it into gear. And what better place to start than with some new stamps for the New Year?!

So I started to make stamps the way I always do. Made a few… but then decided I should mix it up a bit. So I looked around and found this really great wooden stamp that I picked up at NCECA last spring. I haven’t used it much… and it has been sitting on the shelf for quite awhile. So why not put it to use?!

So I took a small coil of clay and squished it into a portion of the Celtic design. Pressing in, squishing around and gently pulling the clay back out. Suddenly finding that the “reverse” pattern is pretty intriguing.

And if one worked well, why not make more?!…

And then I looked around and found a few more pieces to play with. Some laser-cut pieces of wood that I had not even pulled out of the packaging yet. I bought them, but haven’t really figured out how to use them. Here we go…

And then after a little more detailing… I think I might have a great stamp?!

So again… I kept making more. My thought is always that you should make a LOT of stamps… and along the way you’ll stumble on a few that you really love!!!

So by the end of the night, I have a few double-ended stamps drying for the night. These will dry and be bisqued before I can start using them.