WOW! That's all I can say. I LOVE your Anne of Green Gables stamp. Have you planted it yet? I am a HUGE Anne of GG fan and have been working on a series of boxes to go with the book. I even found a wonderful spot to put them, just haven't had time to carve the stamps.

Maiden

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I know the needles are sharp but how does it remove material?

When carving with blades and needles, you do one line along your image angled away from the line and then another angled toward the first cut. This removes a V just like a Speedball gouge but takes two steps instead of one. Have a look at the carving tutorial by Der Mad Stamper available on LbNA. He carves exclusively with exactos and has good illustrations explaining his technique.

As for carving media, most of us have our favorites but part of the fun is trying out different things. I even bought a sheet of the stuff DMS tells you is junk in his tutorial just to see what was so awful about it. Trust me... it's awful! I haven't tried plumber's gasket but I do know of someone that has had good success with it. I have found stamps made from a linoleum block in a letterbox. Not having a press in my backpack, it was extremely difficult to get a good image from such stiff material. Materials that hard are the only thing I wouldn't bother trying for letterbox stamps. There's no one thing that's the best for everyone. Funhog

Thanks Funhog,

You finally gave me the lightbulb moment that I've been looking for. I've worked with an exacto blade before and I couldn't figure out how to remove the material. I cut straight down and ended up using the side of the blade to push it away! It was so frustrating. Your decription of the two step v cut makes everything clear. Thanks again!!!!

Take care, Orion

You are sweet! I haven't found somewhere to plant the Anne stamp yet. I want to find somewhere secure. It took too much time to carve only to end up losing it. I hope to make Anne a part of a series of favorite children's books someday, but I need to get carving first.

Cadenza

I bought some online from the Valley Vet catalog, but I have never figured out how to make them work for me. :-(

DebBee

You don't necessarily need a hypodermic needle. In Europe I noticed that instead of providing a wooden toothpick, some restaurants provide a hard plastic one.

It looks like a hypo needle, only larger. It actually looks just like if you cut a straw on the bias, only it is a very small straw and very hard plastic. A little smaller than a plastic coffee-stirrer, or one of those thin red plastic straws served in your drink at a bar. Not that I would know.

That's great because I was kind of nervous shopping around for a hypodermic needle!! My niece has a diabetic dog (poor thing) and she has a slew of needles but they looked to be too fine a guage.

My daughter works in a restuarant with a bar so I'll have her bring some home. Thanks for the tip.

Take care, Orion

P.S. Some entrepreneur should design a set of carving tools just for carving in rubber!