Stamp Carving 101

Finding Images

Find simple images for your first carvings, such as those shown here

For your first stamps, you'll want to start with simple images. What types of images make good stamps? Those with sharp contrasts are easiest to do. For this example, we'll carve an acorn—an image acquired from the Speedy-Stamp Kit, but any small image with sharp contrasts will work.

Where can you find images? Many letterboxers search the tourist brochures pulled from those large racks at hotels, the chamber of commerce, travel agencies, etc. Other images come from ads found in newspapers and magazines. Many great images are found on the World Wide Web, especially now that good search engine such as Google will allow you to search for images. For instance, if you want to carve an acorn, try doing Google image searches for terms such as acorn clipart, acorn drawing, acorn cartoon, or sometimes just plain acorn (although those tend to bring in a lot of photos which may be considerably more difficult to use).

If you're particularly talented as an artist, you could also draw your own original images, but most of us 'professional' carvers just trace, and there's no shame in that!

Use text created with word processors or graphic programs to personalize your stamps

Keep in mind that many images have copyright protections. While carving a stamp of Mickey Mouse may seem harmless for a letterbox, and you could even argue it's free publicity for Disney, they still have the right to sue you for copyright infringement. However, on the plus side, if they do choose to sue, they can only collect actual damages and possibly court costs. Presumably, they'd have a tough time proving actual damages. Ideally, if you choose to carve a stamp of copyrighted material, you should take the prudent course of action and actually ask for permission.

Personalizing stamps with text will give your stamp an extra 'splash,' but text is very difficult to carve well. Unless you're a skilled calligrapher, print the text you want to carve from a computer. Most word processors and graphic manipulation tools today have enormous quantities and varieties of fonts that you can scale to custom sizes and embellish. If you use Microsoft Word, for instance, check out the WordArt tool. For this tutorial, we will stick with the simple image, but for your stamp, a simple word or two with the letterbox name or location can turn an otherwise simple stamp into an impressive accomplishment.

Some popular places letterboxers find images at include Clipart ETC and Easy Art Clipart.