Working with Clear Stamps
Learn how to use clear stamps for your next scrapbook project or paper craft. The technique is similar to using rubber stamps and is great for beginners.
Clear Stamps
Die: The rubber or image part of a stamp
Cushion: A layer between the die and the mount
Mount: The base the die and cushion are placed onto.
- Clear stamps are not made of rubber. The image made clear material that you can see through for placement.
- Most clear stamps are in sheets or groupings and need a mount to use. Mounts are made of clear matter too.
- The benefit of a clear stamp is that you need no additional tools to get perfect placement of the image. You also do not need any temporary adhesive to mount the stamp as you do with unmounted rubberstamps.
- No cushion is used with clear stamps. These stamps tend to be a little thicker than rubber dies and the cushion is built into the clear die.
- Clear stamps cannot produce the clean, crisp image that a rubberstamp can produce. In most cases, this is not an issue for the scrapbooker or the cardmaker. Clear stamps do not have the longevity of rubberstamps, but again, this is rarely a problem if you keep your clear stamps clean, dry, out of extreme temperatures, and out of direct sunlight.
- Clear stamps can be inked with any type of ink, but keep in mind that permanent inks are very difficult clean off the image, it’s better to use pigment inks, dye inks, chalk inks, and even acrylic inks while avoiding any alcohol based inks.
- Clear stamps can be used for most rubberstamping techniques as long as alcohol based inks aren’t used. Let your imagination be your guide!
- This type of stamp is great for the beginner or for any paper artist who just wants to add a little more detail and creativity to scrapbooking, cardmaking, collage, or altered art.
- Clear stamps should be cleaned by wiping the image or with a very mild soap. They need to be stored flat, dry and out of sunlight and extreme heat or cold.
- Clear stamps come in a variety of images, but for most scrapbookers a collection of borders and alphabets will produce the most use and benefit.
