Items Needed:

• A Cut-Resistant Gloves (Woodcrafter's store)
• X-acto Knife
• Extra #11 X-acto Blades
• Contact Cement
• Sandpaper or Bevel Cutter
• Ball-point Pen
• Cutting Board
• Black Permanent Marker (Sharpie)
• Rubber Gasket Material (Hardware or Plumbers' Supply Store)
• Wooden Blocks (Cut just larger than wildlife design)

1. Select the design that you wish to make. Be sure not to use copyrighted images.

2. Cut out your design with scissors. If possible, cut along detail lines (gills, veins, etc.) at short intervals. (Cutting all of the detail out may not be possible without your design coming apart.)

3. Place design on rubber gasket and use pen to trace design on rubber. Then remove design.

4. Using X-acto knife, rough cut around this design from underneath, but within a quarter inch of the pen line...Separating it from the rest of the sheet of gasket. (This will give support to thin parts of the design, such as insect antenna, leaf stems, etc.)

5. Then cut vertically with your knife along pen line half way through.

6. Very carefully, cut horizontally from rough edge towards pen line cut, about half way down. The edge piece should come free, forming a beveled look. Do this all around the design.

7. If you have detail to your design, such as veins for your leaves, cut at a 45 degree angle on either side of the pen line of the vein, etc. (Be sure not to cut too deeply.) This "wedge" will gently come out to show the detail you desire. Change your blade as often as necessary, when cutting out multiple stamps, to keep a smooth-cutting edge.

8. Now you're ready to glue. Flip the rubber design over and gently scrape it with the point of your knife. This roughness will help the contact cement to adhere better. (Don't "cut" the back, however.)

9. Select a block of wood that will be just larger than your rubber piece. Lay the rubber on the block and draw around it. (Be sure it's arranged the way you want your design to look.)

10. Separate the two pieces, apply the cement to block on wood to the penned edge and on the rubber gasket and let sit for 15 minutes to 2 hours or as described on the container.

11.Write species name on the back of block with "Sharpie" or permanent marker.

12.Trim or round the sharp wooden edges with your knife, sandpaper or other beveling tool, if preferred.