"Do Not Open Until Christmas" Stamp

This is a pretty straightforward project. Start by loading your end-mill into the X-Carve. I chose a 2.40mm (3/32") Two Flute Carbide End Mill (my go-to bit), but any end-mill small enough for the detail work is fine.

Then, clamp down the linoleum and fire up Easel.

Now you're ready to carve. Load the easel project, and verify the bit size. Then hit "Carve," verify the final settings and start cutting.

Note that linoleum makes quite a mess, so you're going to want to stay on top of the carve and keep the v-wheels and makerslide clean.

Once the carve is done, a little sanding and cleaning might be needed. I didn't really need to sand, but I had to blow/vacuum the linoleum bits from the detail work. After that you'll likely want to cut out the stamp with a table, band, or jig saw.

Since the stamp is fairly large, I found the easiest way to ink the stamp was to use small ink pads like the one shown. Just pat the stamp with the ink pad until you have good coverage and stamp away.

One advantage of using a (relatively) large stamp with the smaller inking pads is that you can selectively ink different parts of the stamp. This allows you to make multiple color stamps.