Hi masstika,
yes, camphor and spikenard are widely used in Japanese incense sticks. Along with Oud, they help to bring out the sharp or earthy notes, accentuating the Oud so the smell of the bruning stick takes on characteristics of Kyara.
What I usually use for my incense mixtures: Orange peel, Lemon peel; Myrrh; Cinnamon; White Sandal; Frankincense; Storax; Curcuma; Cloves; (to name but a few).
One could also use all kind of floral leaves, e.g. dried Rose leaves. Or different woods. Or....or...
Basically, if you want to make your own sticks, you will first get the ingredients (among those: Makko powder, made from the bark deriving of the Macchilus thunbergii tree which grows in Southasia – Southasia, again!).
Check out this website (about Makko powder at lower half of the page):
http://www.oller.net/incense-making.htm
Makko is used in incense making and is sold e.g from Baieido (or more or less all good incense websites, such as Essence of the Ages. A pound / 17.86 oz. is somewhere around 50 US-$ -- and that amount will keep you busy for quite a long time. You might want to order a smaller size first.
Makko can also be used for trail burning.
To burn a trail, make in indention in your mabkhara, into the residual ash. Fill this indention with makko powder and slightly compress. Then light the makko using a short incense stick which you place gently into the makko trail and then light. Wait a minute while the makko starts smoldering and glows like a coal. Then sprinkle some incense or oud chips over the glowing Makko trail.
If you make your incense, you should carefully weigh all ingredients so you can note down what you used in a recipe.
Grind the ingredients using either mortar and pestle, or an electric coffee- grinder, or some kitchen machine.
Then mix the ground woods and spices with makko powder (somewhere from 1:1; up to 3:1 or 4:1 (i.e. Incense : Makko, in weight).
To mature them you can place the mixture in the fridge, or cover with a wet cloth, or just leave it sitting in the mixture jar (with a lid on it). 24 hours is usually enough for the fragances to mix well. Some do not need maturing, in fact it´s better to make them into sticks right away to prevent certain aromatics from evaporating.
From there you can start making your own sticks, by adding water to make a kind of dough and then forming it into sticks or cones.
Blessings,
Thomas S.