Getting Started with Clear Stamps

Stamps and how to use them....

Clear stamps

You will need a clear acrylic block to mount your clear stamps onto.

1. Peel, or gently roll your stamp off of the protective plastic it is on

2. Place the smooth side of the stamp onto the block; you should have the rough image side facing up.

**If it doesn't seem sticky, just clean it with plain soap and water or stamp cleaner. Make sure you dry with a lint free towel. It is like a vinyl cling on the back side, so if it gets dirty, or has lint on it ...it might not cling to your block****

3. Some clear stamps require you to season them. You will know if they need seasoning if your ink beads up like water drops on your stamp.

**To season rub a white eraser across the image or some prefer light grit sandpaper across the top. Whatever you do ...do it gently!!**

** Technique Tuesday Stamps DO NOT requires seasoning**

4. You can use ANY ink or paint with your clear stamps. Some inks will stain your stamps and that is totally OK. It will not harm your stamps at all.

5. Lay your block down with your image facing up and ink your stamp by pressing your ink pad onto your stamp. If your do the opposite by pressing your stamp into your ink pad you may press too hard and get too much ink. By doing it ink onto stamp you have more control.

6. Ready to stamp. If this is your first time stamp onto a scratch piece of paper first so you get used to how your image transfers. I like to stand up over top of my project, so I have even pressure and I can see exactly what I am doing.

** Some recommend using a piece of foam under your project so that your image gives a deeper impression. My personal preference is a hard surface, so you try and see what you prefer**

7. Press down with even pressure. Straight down and straight up. Try not to rock or roll your stamp, you could get smears or smudges. And don't worry if there is a part left too light or uneven that is why the stamps are clear, so you can re-ink, and re-stamp over your image.

8. To clean your stamps you can use a spray cleaner and a scrub pad…the way this works is you spray one side of the pad with your stamp cleaner, then with your stamp still adhered to your block rub across the cleaner until your stamp is clean (remember some staining will happen) Then dry your stamp on the other side of the scrubber.

You can also use plain soap and water, just be sure to dry your stamp with a lint free towel.

And alcohol free baby wipes can also work. Just be sure they do not leave lint on your stamps.

You can also just stamp off the ink...stamp over and over on a scratch piece of paper until you no longer see ink coming off.


Now you are a stamper!!!

Some of my favorites…

Technique Tuesday Stamps- quality clear stamps, very sharp images, never have to season, great variety offered.

Tsukineko Inks- Versa Magic is a chalk like ink that dries very quickly and is so soft and beautiful. Also love their brilliance pads, they have a shimmer to them.

World Win Cardstock- has a bit of a smoother texture to the cardstock, great for getting a clear image

I hope this is helpful, and gives you the confidence to getting started.
Happy Stamping!!!

Check out our blog for some new images
TT Blog

thanks for this post...very helpful

Love the new little "today" stamp!!

I will attest to the fact that Technique Tuesday has great quality stamps! Here are a couple of my favorites:

oh noooo this sounds extremely difficult for me! its not getting through my brain

Have you tried any clear stamps before?
It is not hard at all!! Really This was a lot of information, but once you have your stamps you will see it is totally easy!!

Love that you posted this---it's like the encyclopedia to acrylic stamps!

I love TT stamps too BTW...

• imajellybeanx Said:

Oh, it is totally not difficult at all. Just try it out!

awesome, I'm bookmarking this so I can refer people to it when they ask here.

and I totally agree, Technique Tuesday stamps are AWESOME! The DT I'm on got the new Breast Cancer stamps to work with and I picked up the Whirly Words set for my anniversary present this year. I just love them all! If you want to get some clear stamps, try Technique Tuesday !

I am so glad that you liked it. I tried to cover the basics

I prefer clear stamps over the other, but as far as the benefits of re-stamping are concerned - a lot of the time my re-stamping just doesn't come out exactly lined up. This really sucks for me and I've tried standing up so I can get a good view and I don't rock or press unevenly so is there anything else I can do to get better results?

quick ?? - can you put your clear stamps onto something else besides a clear block?
i love the clear stamps but i'm a budget scrapper.

You can use anything it will stick to, like a cd case, piece of coated glass, etc.

Wow! I wish I had known this last week.
HL had a ton of awesome clear stamps on clearance. But I didn't know what I could stick them to.

I'm really excited to know that the clear stamps can stick to other things. I'm a big time budget scrapper too. The stamps have been on sale at several different places, but I didn't want to buy the block. I'll have to try them out now. Thanks ya'll!

Awesome tips. I will have to adjust how I stamp now. Glad to know that the staining is normal and won't make a difference.

I just bought a few a couple of weeks ago and sunday night wanted ti use them and had no block so I stuck them on the bottom of some clear juice glasses and it worked great!

I love clear stamps. I can't wait to build my collection up. You can get the clear acrylic block at walmart for like $6.

FWIW, I think the clear blocks are MORE than worth having. I don't like using cd cases because they're flimsy towards the middle. I don't get a perfect stamped image, because part of it gets squished each time. Acrylic blocks are perfect to pick up and use with the stamps. I got mine on sale at HL for less than $4.

for those of you who love clear stamps, or think you might, my local hobby lobby has an end cap full of them on clearance. check yours out!!!!! they just might have them too.

Do you have to have individual blocks for each stamp?

I don't know if you have to have them but I don't....
I have quite a few stamps but only 3 block(of different sizes)

• a_bowen13 Said:

No, that's the fun thing about clear stamps! You just peel it off it's packaging, adhere it to a block and then stamp with it. When you're done, you put it back away. I have 3 clear blocks, one for my 12 inch long border stamps, one tiny one for my little stamps and a 5x7 for all my others.

wonderful. how do you usually clean them?

my newest obsession is eyelets but i think clear stamps may be my next... hahahaha

Hi all - this is my first time posting so please forgive me any faux pas. I just bought my first clear stamps today and I LOVE THEM! This is what my scrapping life was missing. One big question, however: what is the best way to store these things? I just put them back in their original plastic... Thanks for your help!

• a_bowen13 Said:

LOL!
I don't usually clean my stamps. I stamp with them, then stamp off the excess ink on scrap paper. They get stained after using them a bit, but that doesn't matter at all. It doens't hurt them or anything and actually makes them easier to use IMO because you can see where you're stamping better.

I don't like to use any cleaners because in my experience it makes them less likely to stick to the blocks after a lot of use. The stamps that I used cleaners on just aren't as sticky as the ones I didn't. Even after cleaning them with soap and water the original cling just didn't come back.

• kristenmz Said:

It just depends on what you like. I just put them in their original packing and put them in my clear stamp drawer. Some people put them in CD cases, some put them in notebooks (stuck to the inside of plastic page protectors ), some buy the stamp holders.

thanx! i may invest in some clear stamps next month. maybe some alphabet ones so that i know i will probably use them.

what's your favorite ink?

I've been looking at some for a while, but haven't invested in any. May be my new obsession too!

• a_bowen13 Said:

I use different inks for different looks. I use Stazon when I need a clear crisp image, especially on transparencies, ribbon, or any non porous surface.

I use pigment inks when I want to emboss things.

I use distress inks for a more distressed look.

I use chalk inks to emboss and also for their appearance...don't really know what to call it LOL

hmmm... well, i just bought some alphabet stamps (they arent clear though) and i was wondering what a good brand of ink is

WOW! Thanks for posting this thread...I just bought my first clear stamps yesterday (forgot to buy the block, going back to get it today) This information was MOST helpful! I'm keeping this in my favorite topics!

• a_bowen13 Said:

I like Colorbox, Tim Holtz , Stazon

awesome. i'm goin to check ebay right now

inks go 50% off at HL quite frequently, that's a good time to get them.

i have my very first colorbox stamp pad!!! a friend of mine gave my one of her black ones. it's slightly used mind you but, hey, it was free. now, to just get a stamp or two i might actually use.