june at noon

Another bit of my Christmas making involved a rubber stamp (seen in all its inky glory above). I was so inspired by Lamina’s ideas that I found myself carving away at a block of rubber, something I haven’t done in a while. It’s just a very simple, rudimentary snowflake design that I quickly sketched out and carved without a lot of fuss.

It’s often hard for me not to be overly controlling about a craft, but sometimes doing it in such an unconcerned way is really the best way to achieve the right look. The little nicks from a slipped knife, the little bumps and oddities give the snowflake charm, in my opinion.

It decorated our Christmas wrappings, along with pretty tape and lots of string.

It also made simple clay ornaments, handmade ornaments being my tradition for the goodie boxes we give to family and friends.

I think these are all the more lovely because the carving lines show up when the stamp is pressed into the clay. They seem to mimic the little fingers of frost that you would see on a window pane, and it also adds an element of “hand-crafted” to the ornaments. You know I love it that way! I used a silver ink that has a bit of sparkle to it, and I really like the subtle effect it has.

Thank you, Lamina, for the idea. It was perfect!

My friends, although I neglected to say it on time, I do hope you had a spectacular holiday season. I’m so glad for you wonderful people and thankful to have spent the year with your encouragement and inspiration. Now that Christmas has been wrapped up, even here, let’s move into 2013, shall we?