ABC Wednesday - M and WOYWW

At ABC Wednesday, the letter of the week is M.

M is for Mouth.

Here is my carved stamp and tag I created for the challenge.

Be sure to check here to see what others around the world did for M.





WOYWW

Each week we are encouraged to share what we are working on and what our work spaces look like, for WOYWW, hosted by Julia Dunnit at "Stamping Ground"

I thought I'd share some of the steps to creating the carved mouth stamp and tag shown above.
I carve my stamps at my dining room table, with a thick board covering the table.

1. First comes the  drawing of the design and then putting it on the speedy-carve ( rubber block for carving). I make sure my design has been pencilled in darkly. I lay it face down on the block and then rub it completely, fairly firmly, so the pencil design comes off on the block

2. I use a speedball carving set with different size tips to carve into the block. I usually carve the outline and then work on the inside.
(There are lots of resources online, videos and courses.I took Stamp Carving 101 at Balzer Designs and enjoyed it.)

3. Then I test the stamp for missed parts and how it looks stamped.

4. Finally I created the tag with the stamp.

I had to share the state of my art table in the basement in my craft room. I am always amazed at how neat and organized others keep their spaces.
I have been working on a background with inks - and when I went to check for something I was a wee bit shocked at how I had left it.
It is time for a thorough sprucing up - new cover for the table and putting things away! Spring cleaning desperately needed!