Making potato stamps

Remember when I shared with you that my one word for this year was going to be  "try"?  Do you remember me saying that I would push myself to try new things... even when they seemed a bit frightening?

Well, guess what? *Gulp*  I've definitely been trying some new things out. .. and this post describes one of those things.

(You're probably wondering, "What?  Making potato stamps frightens you?  Girl, you gotta get out more...")

Oh no, no, no.  Let me back up.  A couple of months ago my aunt and I signed up to sell crafts at a craft fair.  *Gulp*  To any seasoned crafter, this would be no big deal.  You craft a bunch of stuff and then you sell it.  No biggie, right?

Ha!  It's a biggie because first you have to make a whole bunch of inventory...and second you gotta make sure your inventory is good enough to sell.

I signed up to sell greeting cards.  After reading Elisabeth Harden's kid's book on printing, I think I'm going to try stamping original designs onto my cards.  So I've been playing around with printing.   Here's my first attempt at making stamps out of potatoes:

I took a medium sized potato, cut it in half, and then carved out the design for two stamps.    My potato was super wet when I carved it, so I placed the potatoes (cut side down) on a piece of paper towel to dry them out before using them..  I made a makeshift ink pad by pouring a bit of craft paint onto a flat sponge and rubbing my finger over the sponge to help the paint soak in.  Then, I protected our dining room table by covering it with an old towel (since I didn't have any newspaper.)

All this took place while Baby Chuck napped.  When he awoke, he had a new  activity to try out.

The potatoes worked out as kid stamps... but I don't think they are good enough to decorate my cards.

Oh yeah, here are three big things I learned in the process:  (1)  Unless you're Leonardo DaVinci, you should write your word stamps backwards. No one wants to read mirror image writing.  (2)  Always put a smock on Chuck.  (Craft paint comes out in the wash, right?) (3)  I need to ditch the sponge ink pad and possibly get a craft roller... hmm...

Oh well.  That's what happens when you try new things.  Now... onto our next printing adventure!  (Hopefully I'll figure out something before the big craft show... eekers!)