Welcome to one of our new features. The design team members will be posting some tips for you every Tuesday... and encouraging you to share your best ones, too.
Here are some ideas about using your clear stamps, which are available in HUGE variety at FranticStamper.com!
Tip #1
Mount clear stamps on your acrylic block with the image side against the block and the back of the stamp facing out. Stamp with a "shadow" or other light colored ink for a quick shadow stamp that is the right size for your stamp. Flip the stamp over and stamp again in a darker color. (Note: this works best for stamps that are fairly symmetric and closely trimmed.)
Tip #2
Mount more than one clear stamp randomly spaced onto a large rectangular block to create your own background stamp.
Tip #3
Use a longer, narrow acrylic blocks and alphabet clear stamps to create your own word stamps. When placing the letters on the block, start with the letters in the middle of the word at the center of the block and work outward.
Tip #4
Clear stamps can be cut apart and mounted in parts to give you more flexibility. For example, a multi-word saying stamp can be cut so that the words can be mounted and stamped in a single line or in multiple lines.
Tip #5
Many clear stamps can be flexed to form curves. Bend a simple phrase into an arc to fit inside a circle, or a flex a stamp of faux stitches to curve along a die cut shape.
Tip #6
To "prepare" a clear stamp for holding ink, rub over the surface of the stamp with an eraser or very lightly rub over it with an emory board.
Tip #7
If you tend to "rock" a little with a clear stamp, you can stabilize your stamping by using a larger block! Start with the image you want to stamp on the center of the larger block, ink the image, then, with the inked image face up, add small clear stamps to each of the four corners of the block. Turn over and stamp. The small stamps on the corners will help to keep the block from rocking!
Tip #8
Clear stamps can be cleaned very easily in a small bowl of slightly soapy water. Be sure to rinse them well.
How about some of your tips for using clear stamps? Please leave them in the comments section below.
Design Team Member Lis here! I have a couple of tips for clear stamps!
ReplyDelete1. Use a glass (thats right a glass - like the one you drink out of) to create a "wheel" around which you can place clear stamps. Ink the stamps and away you go!
2.Storage for clear stamps was always a problem for me until I found these plastic expandable files. They have about 6-8 divisions and fit clear stamps perfectly.
Another tip is remember to NEVER use Staz-On ink (or Staz-on cleaner) on your clear acrylic stamps.
ReplyDeleteStaz-On is a solvent based ink and the solvent will actually eat away at the photopolymer that clear stamps are made of.
great tips, thanks!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best tips I've ever heard was to use pigment ink on these type of stamps, they never bead up and there's no need to rough them up.
ReplyDeleteOh, by the way, love the glass idea too!