More Handmade Stamps

Seems I have developed some minor obsessions of late - needle felting and creating hand carved stamps! Here is the latest round of stamps I just did this morning.

I just quickly stamped them on a pre-washed page in my journal and layered 3 colors of distress inks on each.
I just noticed that I made two of each size though I didn't intend to do that. I didn't pay any attention to the individual size but just concentrated in the designs and patterns. I think I am still stuck on patterns from September's Sketchbook Challenge!

I really am working on this month's though....

Fall Is In the Air

October 15 prompt from A Year in the Life of an Art Journal.

We are experiencing autumn for the first time in many years and though I am homesick for the islands I am enjoying this seasonal change very much. We have a tree that is shedding it leaves and dropping pods (Sweet Gum) and you can see the pod in the photo. I carved these stamps a week or so ago and today I lined up all my fall-ish color ink dyes and began to alternate the colors one after the other. I wasn't going for a great composition - merely trying to capture the colors and feel of autumn on my page. As I worked on this our weather turned from warm and bright and to dark and thunder-storming! I am now going to enjoy my cup of hot tea and watch the action out the window.
Check out the entire prompt here.

Making stamps

Making stamps, originally uploaded by Trish Nonaka.

Something I've wanted to do for a long time but never got around to. Totally fun and addictive. I thought I would do one and before I knew it I had 10 cool shapes. Here's some examples in my journal! 

Here is the little kit I bought a while ago and used. It comes with a wooden handle, 2 carving tool bits, instructions and a piece of Speedy Carve which was big enough to do all these stamps. Let me know if you it  try it and what you think! Would love to see what you come up with. And here's a pinterest board I just found about making your own stamps you might enjoy: http://pinterest.com/arteveryday/make-your-own-stamps/