Have you ever tried......

Hello. Have you ever tried to make your own stamps? Yes? Well please, please let me know the secret. No? Well, let me tell you, it's not as easy as I imagined in my head. It's all the fault of this lovely book I picked up in Paperchase. 

And, of course, you buy the bits and bobs that you need. Which very cleverly the shop have on display beside the book. I didn't know which would be best - the Lino or the Soft Cut (now there's a name that should be reported to trading standards, nothing soft about it!) so I bought both.

Mmmmm, what do you think? I'm not impressed! And, this took me a whole afternoon.
And, I'm very lucky not to have ended up in A&E!!

Now, a rubber is listed in the book as something you need. I thought it was just to rub out any mistakes you might make while tracing your chosen image. Noooo, that's not what the rubber is for. 

It took a while for the penny to drop - you carve the rubber! 

Much easier, but still not entirely successful. 

So, here is the end result. Lines cut to make a background and a little flower carved from the rubber.

I guess it's one of those things that takes practice. Anyone want to buy ten Lino Cutters, Lino, Soft Cut and a bag of cheap rubbers? Go on, you know you want to!!

I am not entering my card into any challenges - making it was challenge enough!