Stamping with....... A PARSNIP!!!! (with apologies to Di)

Oh dear, Di from Pixie's Crafty Workshop is never going to forgive me for this! But I really don't mean I've been stamping with a small white bear, I really DO mean the delicious root vegetable.

It all started last night when I was preparing some parsnips to roast for dinner. I remembered how I used to show people how to make carrot butterflies to decorate stir fries with, in the days when I used to give evening classes in Oriental cookery, and I wondered if I could carve a parsnip the same way.

Then I stated to peel the potatoes and thought about childhood days of potato printing and my brain made the link - what if I were to carve a parsnip and print/stamp with it?

So, I kept the parsnip tops, left them overnight to dry out, and dug out the old lino-cutting tools I used to use for carving carrots with.

I kept two tops, in case I messed one up (which turned out to be a wise move).

To carve a butterfly, first cut it so there s one long edge and one shorter one, and cut diagonal lines between the two

Then use your lino tool or a sharp knife to cut V-shapes either side of the centre, top and bottom, and halfway up each side for the wings. I also distressed the edges a little with a knife.

And now you are ready to print! The core of the parsnip recedes slightly, giving an interesting "starburst" effect in the middle. I used a very juicy pink Versacolor pad to stamp with, setting the stamping with a heat gun when it was finished.

Then I cropped the stamped area to fit a card blank and added a ribbon that has been in my stash for many, many years - it was part of the very first Hot Off The Press kit I bought from QVC so it was while my daughter, now almost 37, was at 6th form college (I know because she was doing a project about TV shopping in her media studies class, that's how I started to watch QVC!). It's ribbon with a very odd scrunchy but soft, distressed feel to it, which gives it a rather distressed look, perfect with these "distressed butterflies" and exactly the same salmon pink colour. All it needed to complete the card was a tag and a peel-off greeting.

And that, my friends, is how you stamp with a parsnip. Di please note, no small furry animals were harmed in the making of this card!

I'm sharing this with

Shopping our Stash - You stamped with WHAT???
CASology - Pink