Matryoshka Doll Eraser Stamp D.I.Y

This craft was inspired by my love/obsession with the purdiest of the doll family~ the Russian Matryoshka doll.

A lifetime ago an ex boyfriend of mine visited Russia and brought me home one of these dolls as a gift and I was smitten.

 You can see her in this post. 

I love the beautiful design and artistry that goes into the painting of these lovely mamas and their symbolism of family and motherhood.

Now, I've never tried my hand at stamp making before but I really fancied a Russian doll stamp to customize my stationary with but I didn't want to go ordering one from Etsy.

Solution: Make my own!

If you're still with me, let's begin....

1. Materials needed: a printout of some simple doll designs I downloaded from the interent, an extra large rubber eraser, an exacto knife, linoleum cutter and black ink pen.

2. First, I chose the doll image I wanted to transfer on to my stamp and traced it with a very firm hand with a black ink pen so that when i removed the paper the image was transferred onto the eraser. Add details to your outline with black pen by hand.

3. Take your exacto knife and carefully carve all around the edge of your doll design. Then cut around the edge of your eraser and cut in as deep as the doll edge, removing all excess rubber.

4. The HARD part! Now it's time to carve the detail of your dolls face and dress. This was time consuming and difficult and involved a lot of cutting and gouging to get the details that I wanted. 

5. The end result! I wasn't 100% happy with my dolls face but carving such tiny details is extremely hard and maybe I didn't have the right tools. however, for my first try I don't think she's too crumby. She's quirky and off-kilter and flawed. Much like a lot of my favorite people! 

She's doing a fine job of prettying up my tags and envelopes ^^

Try this DIY? I'd love to see your results! Link with love below~ x