DIY: Tangram Stamps

After I posted Tangram Magnets, I thought that creating Tangram Stamps would be fun. It’s not hard to create these stamps that can be used as individual shapes or used together to create tangram shape combinations.

SUPPLIES

• Rubber carving block
• Pencil
• Ruler
• X-acto knife
• Self-healing mat
• Carving tool (optional)
• Paper
• Stamp pad

DIRECTIONS

— 1 —

Using the ruler and x-acto knife, cut out a square from the carving block. (Mine is a 3x3 inch square.) Keep the self-healing cutting mat on top of your work surface throughout the steps so the x-acto knife does not damage any surfaces.

Tip: Think about how large you want your pieces to be before you cut out your square. If you’re unsure how large to make your square, create a test size square on a piece of paper and cut out the tangram pieces; arrange them in shape combinations to see how much space they generally take up. Once you know how large you want your pieces to be, cut your square.

— 2 —

With a pencil and ruler, create the tangram cutting lines on the carving block square.

— 3 —

On the other side of the carving block square, create design lines with a pencil (and ruler if desired). With the carving tool, carve along the design lines.

I chose to do this because it adds a second texture; I can stamp on the flat side or on the design line side to create a different look.

This step is optional. If you do not wish to take this extra step, the stamp will create a flat color (as seen in the rabbit shape). And it will allow you to flip any of the shapes (like the parallelogram) to the other side, keeping the same flat texture when stamping.

— 4 —

On the side with the tangram cutting lines, cut along those lines using an x-acto knife and ruler. Tangram Stamps complete.

TO STAMP

— 1 —

Arrange the tangram pieces into the desired arrangement.

— 2 —

Apply ink to a tangram piece and stamp paper. Repeat, stamping each stamp in the appropriate place to create the desired shape combination.

Note: If you care about what direction the shapes are facing then make sure you ink the correct side.

Alternatively, just use the tangram stamps individually as shapes to stamp a card or tag. In this card I used the three different sized triangle stamps.