Saturday, October 13, 2007

Acrylic stamps

OK – lets get to the nitty gritty of them, I often hear the ink won’t stick to the stamp, they don't stamp as clearly and cleanly as rubber stamps. It's not a problem, though, if you know how to use them properly!

Stamps
Acrylic stamps are usually sold in sets and can appear to be more expensive than there rubber/wood counter parts, but once you break down the costs you will see that they are a much cheaper option. I believe for the storage solution alone, that they have become an addiction. Having had a huge collection of wooden stamps and no where to keep them to using the clear cd cases to store my acrylic stamps in a box….yeah neat and tidy!!! Apart from the obvious thing being that they are clear which means perfect positioning on cards and layouts….no more estimating where it should go!!!
Blocks
Your acrylic block should be slightly larger than your stamp to be perfect. If the stamp is too big for the mount you won’t get a good impression. If the mount is much bigger than the stamp, you can get stray ink marks from messy “loading”. Be sure to clean your mounts as well as your stamps. (and no Michelle don’t lick the mount am sure it tastes just as bad as the stamps)
Inks
Ink won’t stick – after some research and some playing. What I found was this if you rub the stamp with pencil eraser, or on some fabric like your jeans or trackies (make sure it’s before you put some ink on it). It also helps to “load” the stamp with ink and stamp up some scrap paper a few times. Then “load” up the stamp again and stamp on your project.
It also can depend on the ink – we have found the VersaCRAFT Fabrico ink great as well as the Brilliance as they are both very wet inks.

To Clean or not to Clean – well quick an easy I use a nappy wipe….the wet ones are the way to clean any mess in the studio (as we are still waiting on the running water in our fantastic looking sink, seems it was great but!!!!! Well a little gardening saw an end to it (the shovel thru the pipe). If you are using STAZON inks on your acrylic stamps – remember that is the block that’s acrylic not the clear stamp it’s made of polymer. Polymer stamps do no always last as long as rubber stamps. The stazon cleaner can affect over long term usage the polymer. So just to be safe always rinse in some warm soapy water after using stazon cleaner. And in the end a slight stain won’t affect the use of your stamp!!!

I also read somewhere that a stained stamp is a loved stamp; after all you purchased them to make beautiful projects not sit pretty in a box!!!

And that your acrylic stamps like a special spa treatment every month or so, depending on how much you use them. By this we mean fill a bowl with some warm water (no soap or bubbles) and let them sit and soak for 15 mins, then after this time massage each while still underwater. This helps to loosen any residue that may have built up over time. Then rub them on your stamp scrubber to remove all the excess dirt, pat dry with a lint less cloth or layout to air dry on a solid surface.


This month the team has inspired us with Acrylic Stamps - to see what they got up to go over to the FA NEWS page and click on the PDF file to read and see more.

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