Griffin Passant Hand-Carved Eraser Stamp
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    Griffin Passant Hand-Carved Eraser Stamp

    Recently, my mom has been enjoying a detailed history of her family since arrival on the American continent (prior to the American Revolution) researched in great depth by a scholar at West Point. Prominently featured in the book (and not at all the first time I have seen it) is the family coat of arms. One of the most prominent elements, apart from the vertically split blue and red field, is a griffin passant in argent (silver).

    The griffin is a mythical chimera with the head, wings, and front claws of an eagle, and the body of a lion. Griffins are associated with a range of positive traits, including vigilance, strength, and courage. There is also some associated Christian symbolism.

    I thought it would be fun to do my own heraldic-style griffin as a carved eraser stamp for my mom’s birthday. I did some with the silver ink and some with black. I also experimented with using watercolor pencils to create a parti-colored background similar to the coat of arms.

    The left half of a landscape-format piece of paper has been colored blue with watercolor paint, and the right half red. Stamped in metallic silver is a left-facing griffin (a beast with the head, wings, and front claws of an eagle, and the body of a lion) passant (standing flat with one claw raised) surrounded by a rectangular border. The carved pink eraser stamp that made the impression , stained with black ink, is standing on one long edge in front of the lower left corner of the print. The background is handmade black crepe paper (chirimen).
    Griffin Passant Hand-Carved Eraser
    The left half of a landscape-format piece of paper has been colored blue with watercolor paint, and the right half red. Stamped in black is a left-facing griffin (a beast with the head, wings, and front claws of an eagle, and the body of a lion) passant (standing flat with one claw raised) surrounded by a rectangular border. The carved pink eraser stamp that made the impression , stained with black ink, is standing on one long edge in front of the lower left corner of the print. The background is handmade black crepe paper (chirimen).
    Griffin Passant Hand-Carved Eraser

    There is a short video with commentary and some of the process of making the griffin prints.

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    Ireball and Arc of History D20 Chonks
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    Ireball and Arc of History D20 Chonks

    I made a couple of the 42mm Jesmonite 20-sided dice for the ⚔️🧊w/🎲 charity auction supporting the Immigration Law & Justice Network.

    I made a spiky black stand for the orange-and-yellow fire-themed Ireball chonk.  The specific fantasy property vibes it is almost certainly giving you were unintentional, but they do fit the theme.

    The Arc of History chonk is inspired by copper with a deep patina. I paired it with one of my maple reliquary stands.

    This is the first time I am making any of my dice generally available, and I don’t know when that might happen again. If you are reading this before 1 August 2026, go grab these while you can at the auction site.

    Side view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with two shades of yellow-orange with numbers painted in with bright yellow resting on a three-pointed stand in an unusually dark black. The 20 face is towards the viewer. The background is a mossy green crinkled paper (momigami).
    Ireball 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with two shades of yellow-orange with numbers painted in with bright yellow resting on a three-pointed stand in an unusually dark black. The 13 face is pointing up, with the 2, 4, 5, 11, 14,, and 20 faces are visible. The background is a mossy green crinkled paper (momigami).
    Ireball 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with two shades of yellow-orange with numbers painted in with bright yellow resting on a three-pointed stand in an unusually dark black. The 1 face is pointing up and toward the viewer, the 13 face is upside down facing the viewer, and the 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, and 19 faces are visible. The background is a mossy green crinkled paper (momigami).
    Ireball 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with two shades of yellow-orange with numbers painted in with bright yellow resting on a three-pointed stand in an unusually dark black. The 13 face is pointing up, with the 2, 4, 5, 11, 14,, and 20 faces are visible. The background is a mossy green crinkled paper (momigami).
    Ireball 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with two shades of yellow-orange with numbers painted in with bright yellow resting on a three-pointed stand in an unusually dark black. The 20 face is pointing up and the 8 is facing the viewer. The background is a mossy green crinkled paper (momigami).
    Ireball 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Side view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with two shades of yellow-orange with numbers painted in with bright yellow resting on a three-pointed stand in an unusually dark black. The 13 face is towards the view. It is sitting on a shelf. A jar of glass marbles, an ornately-framed picture, and stiletto are visible.
    Ireball 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with two shades of yellow-orange with numbers painted in with bright yellow, a standard-sized translucent purple 20-sided die, and a bottle cap engraved with a Celtic spiral design resting on a sheet of crinkled moss-green paper (momigami).
    Ireball 42mm 20-Sided Die with objects for scale
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver, resting on a three-legged stand with spiral elements made from maple. The 20 side is facing up, with the 2, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 17 faces visible. The background is a black creped paper (chirimen).
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver, resting on a three-legged stand with spiral elements made from maple. The 20 side is facing up, with the 2, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 17 faces visible. The background is a black creped paper (chirimen).
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver, resting on a three-legged stand with spiral elements made from maple. The 7 side is facing up, with the 5, 9, 11, 13, 15, and 19 faces visible. The background is a black creped paper (chirimen).
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver, resting on a three-legged stand with spiral elements made from maple. The 20 side is facing up, with the 2, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 17 faces visible. The background is a black creped paper (chirimen).
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Three-quarters top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver, resting on a three-legged stand with spiral elements made from maple. The 20 side is facing up, with the 2, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 17 faces visible. The background is a black creped paper (chirimen).
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Side view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver, resting on a three-legged stand with spiral elements made from maple. It is sitting on a bookshelf. Part of a ceramic container with a sculpted face and a pair of pearl-inlaid opera glasses are visible. Two of the books in the background have the word "Patterns" visible on the spine.
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die
    Top-down view of a large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver, a standard-sized translucent purple 20-sided die, and a bottle cap engraved with a Celtic spiral design resting on a sheet of black creped paper (chirimen).
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die with objects for scale
    A large (42mm) 20-sided die (d20) swirled with teal an copper with the numbers painted in with metallic silver rests on a three-legged stand with spiral elements and finished with a faux copper patina. It sits on a textured black surface with some very old-looking electrical equipment out-of-focus in the background (parts of an old telegraph system).
    Arc of History 42mm 20-Sided Die

    There is, of course, a making-of short for the Arc of History 42mm D20 and a making-of short for the Ireball D20.

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    Hand-Carved Bookshelf Eraser Stamp
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    Hand-Carved Bookshelf Eraser Stamp

    I carved this shelf full of books back in late May, but it seemed less exciting than some of the others I was doing around the same time. I made some more impressions on the Strathmore paper, and gave them the watercolor pencil treatment. I think the color punches it up a lot.

    A white rectangle of paper imprinted with the image of a bookshelf with eleven books of different sizes. One book in the middle is tilted to the left within a larger gap. The books have been colored in with brown, blue, green, red, orange, purple, and yellow. The hand-carved white blocky eraser that made the impression is laying face-up across the upper right corner. Both are on a brown surface.
    Hand-Carved Bookshelf Eraser Stamp with Watercolor Pencil
    A white rectangle of paper imprinted with the image of a bookshelf with eleven books of different sizes. One book in the middle is tilted to the left within a larger gap. The hand-carved white blocky eraser that made the impression is laying face-up across the upper right corner. Both are on a brown surface.
    Hand-Carved Bookshelf Eraser Stamp
    A white rectangle of paper imprinted with the image of a bookshelf with eleven books of different sizes. One book in the middle is tilted to the left within a larger gap. The hand-carved white blocky eraser that made the impression is laying face-up across the upper right corner. Both are on a surface of dark green crepe paper (chirimen).
    Hand-Carved Bookshelf Eraser Stamp

    There is a one-minute bookshelf stamping and coloring video on YouTube.

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    Calcifer Eraser Stamp and Mixed Media Prints
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    Calcifer Eraser Stamp and Mixed Media Prints

    Here’s Calcifer from the Studio Ghibli classic Howl’s Moving Castle! I printed this eraser carving in red ink, and added some additional yellow and orange with watercolor pencils.

    Makerblock designed and 3D printed a holder for carving erasers, and sent me one to try. This was my first go at using that. It works really well!

    The Fabriano Unica printmaking paper I have been using for most of these eraser prints bled a lot with the red ink. I experimented with the Strathmore printmaking paper and some plain bristol. The impressions are sharpest on the bristol – unsurprising as the clay coat surface doesn’t let the ink sink in much at all. The watercolor pencils, however, need to soak in a little to get the best saturation and vibrancy. So, I went with the Strathmore paper for the final prints.

    A white rectangle of paper imprinted with Calcifer, a stylized flame with two eyes and a mouth. The print has also been colored in with yellow and orange watercolor pencils. The print is signed with a small A and is resting on a background of crinkled brown paper (momigami).
    Calcifer Mixed-Media Print (eraser print embellished with watercolor pencil)
    Calcifer (a stylized flame with two simple eyes and a mouth) printed in red on two pieces of rectangular white paper. The plain print is in the upper left. The print in the lower right has yellow and orange added with watercolor pencils. The eraser that made the prints is laying face-up at an angle in the lower left.
    Calcifer Eraser Prints and Hand-Carved Eraser
    A hand-carved Calcifer eraser (a stylized flame with two eyes and a mouth) in a black 3D-printed holder designed for carving erasers rests on a surface covered in crinkled brown paper (momigami).
    Calcifer Eraser in MakerBlock’s Carving Holder
    Angled view on a hand-carved Calcifer eraser (a stylized flame with two eyes and a mouth) in a black 3D-printed holder designed for carving erasers rests on a surface covered in red paper. A carving tool and part of a print made by the eraser are visible.
    Calcifer Eraser in MakerBlock’s Carving Holder
    Three prints showing how the red ink interacts with different types of paper. Clockwise from top-left and progressively crisper details: the Fabriano Unica paper, Strathmore printmaking paper, and Bristol.
    Three prints showing how the red ink interacts with different types of paper. Clockwise from top-left and progressively crisper details: the Fabriano Unica paper, Strathmore printmaking paper, and Bristol.
    Comparison of finished mixed-media Calcifer prints showing that the added watercolor pencils are a little more vibrant on the Strathmore paper (right) than the Bristol (left).
    Comparison of finished mixed-media Calcifer prints showing that the added watercolor pencils are a little more vibrant on the Strathmore paper (right) than the Bristol (left).
    Cleaned off hand-carved Calcifer pink eraser stamp. Calcifer is a stylized flame with two simple eyes and a mouth.
    Cleaned Calcifer Eraser Stamp

    There is a 1.5-minute video with some carving and commentary on using the different papers on YouTube.

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