Working With Mycelium

Overall I am happy with the outcome of the project because I was able to use the mycelium grown to make a cute stamp. I did make a mistake in the process of growing the mycelium, which diverted me from my original plan for its use. My mistake was waiting too long before trying to mold the mycelium, which consequently grew very large inside of its kit bag as well as very tough, and rubbery.

The mycelium was tough in an almost rubbery, cork-ish sort of way that made it hard to break apart. This unforeseen texture made it hard to fit the mycelium into a cup mold, and even then it did not seem to grow further and/or hold shape.

When the first idea wasn’t working out as planned, I went back to the drawing board. After taking the fully grown mycelium out of its bag, I had several smaller, broken off chunks of the material as well as the larger mushroom growth, which I noticed had rather flat edges, as it had taken the shape of the bag, which had been on the counter top.

 

I noticed the bottom edge of the growth was particularly flat, which gave me my idea for what I could do with my mycelium. The flat bottom of the mycelium reminded me of a cork-like material.

I remembered once in the South of France we spent an afternoon using old corks from the week to make flower-shaped stamps. Similarly, I was able to cut the mycelium, to make a very cute, heart-shaped stamp! I initially I had tried to make several star-shaped stamps, but the material was too tough to cut out such an exact shape by hand with scissors; when I tried a knife approach the material caved in. After a few hearts, I was able to cut out a cute, flat stamp!

 

While my original idea to make a cup mold was less successful than I had hoped, I am very happy with my cute mycelium stamp. Even though it’s printing capabilities aren’t as sharp as a store bought stamp, I still like the rustic look my mycelium stamp gives. Here is a Video of the stamp in action.

 

 

 

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