block printing

So Half Term is upon us and what a week we have in store - weather wise I mean. Apparently we can expect rain every day and certainly the past two have lived up to that promise. On both days we have been ready for walks, coated and booted with sun shining brightly, only to find that it's tipping down by the time we got strapped into the car. So yesterday we made some time for a crafty afternoon.

I bought this great book by Lotta Jansdotter just before last HT and promptly decorated the downstairs loo with stencils from it. So I consulted it yet again and got the children designing their own rubber stamps. Thankfully the things we needed were already to hand, namely rubber blocks and cutting tools from here and a variety of paints from here.

The children began by pencil drawing their images straight on to the rubber block and then we took turns to use the cutters to carve out the designs. (The cutters are very very sharp so I watched them like a hawk and did most of the carving myself.)

Thank goodness we realised in time that the stamps would print out a mirror image, so my boy was able to get his wording done the correct way!

Once the stamps were made, we used a brayer to transfer the paint from a paper plate on to the block and then the fun began. My boy decorated the back of one of his white tee shirts with his favourite tv programme in mind ..

and my little friend made her own correspondence cards.

You can see the different effects that were made, depending on how much paint was on the block. The first attempt definitely held way too much ink, so the image was less defined and the colour too dark.

But, without re-loading, the next two cards were much easier on the eye with more detail evident and the colour a much nicer violet shade.

We were all thrilled with the results and I must say I feel really inspired to have a go myself.

I hope you're enjoying your Half Term.