A New Stamp Using Blick Readycut

If you've read my book, Carve Stamp Play, you know that the only block I carve stamps out of is Speedy Carve.  However, I came across a product in the Blick online store that I had to try: Blick Readycut.

It's a carving block that is made up of a thin grey layer on top of a white layer.  The thin grey layer is intended so that you can see what you're carving as you're carving it.  

This is the stamp I carved:

Here are my thoughts:

I bought the block because I liked the idea that you could see where you were carving.  Two thoughts on that: (a) you can achieve the same thing by inking up your block, and (b) there wasn't enough of a difference between the grey and the white for me.  The bigger issue is that the Readycut is very soft and rubbery -- almost stretchy.  This made detail work a bit very frustrating for me.  When I wanted to make a small cut, the block stretched instead of cutting.  I found it difficult to make hard stops with the blade as well.  I can see that I also got a number of ragged cuts because of the softness of the block.  All in all, I'm glad I tried it, but I won't be buying it again.

Have you tried Readycut?  What did you think?

Thanks for stopping by!