a few of you asked how i carved the peep, so i took some pics tonight so i could show you. this picture shows what i used: tracing paper, speedball small v-shaped carving blade, and a speedy stamp block. all of this was in a small kit i bought a while back at michael's when my stamp club had a day devoted to carving our own stamps and it's been nice to have on hand for occasions like this.
i wanted an exact image without too much effort, so instead of trying to draw it myself, i found a coloring sheet in the fan club section of the official peeps website (there's some fun stuff there--my girls loved the peepsicles recipe!!) and traced over the bunny peep with the tracing paper. you could do a chick one, too if he's your fave.
i placed that upside down on the carving block and traced over the back to transfer the image where i wanted it. i cut that section off of the block, leaving some space to hold it--i trimmed it more later.
using the carving tool, i first carved around the edge of the bunny, trying to keep my strokes as long and smooth as possible. the point of the tool was especially handy for between the ears. once i had my basic shape, i carved more of the block away and smoothed any bumpy lines. during this part of the carving it's good to test stamp it periodically to make sure the image is coming out how you want it. i used my piercing tool to poke small holes for the eyes and nose. then i trimmed the edges a bit and added ez-mount to the back so i could use it on an acrylic block. and voila! a peep! the finished size of the stamp is just over an inch and it's pictured on a 1.5 inch block. i stamped it multiple times for the quick card the other day, but you could carve a row if that's how you always want it. and of course, the a muse sentiment, to one of my favorite peeps, is just perfect!
let me know if you have any other questions!
:) lexi
