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I was at Joann's today and saw some cheap mini Acrylic Clear Stamps. I have been pondering the whole acrylic thing for a while now so I decided to start with these, since they were $1.00!!! I also got the little mini clear blocks to mount the on (also $1.00, woohoo!)
Anyway, I got home and tried them out. Boy am I disapointed. When inking them, the ink just doesn't really adhere in a fluid line, it sort of beads up. When I stamp on the paper, it looks very blurry (not a crisp line) and of course it's spotty (due to the beading up).
My question is: is this just because they are cheapo - only spent $1.00 so I'm getting what I paid for? Or am I doing something wrong? The brand on these are "Studio G".
It's definitely a case of "you get what you pay for." The cheap ones just don't work as well as the more expensive ones. You can try rubbing them with an eraser and they may take ink better. Also, try using pigment ink rather than dye (classic) ink. There are several old threads that give lots of good info on clear stamps. I'll see if I can find one for you....
I have found out that with the cheaper stamps ($1) If you hold it on the ink longer and then when pressing on the CS hold it there also. It doesn't seem to bubble up when I do this. And I also use dye ink. Hope this helps.
I have some of those stamps too. I found that if I pressed down too hard the image or word was blurry. When I didn't press as hard, they came out fine. I use classic ink and used an eraser on them first. I love them! I hope you can get them to work for you too!
I used VersaMark Ink followed by chalk ink on my Studio G stamps and got a great image! They might not last as long as the better quality clear stamps but they seem to work well when they are new.
In summary, if you buy clear stamps, buy the ones made of photopolymer, not vinyl or silicone.
What Clear Stamps are made of:
Clear stamps are typically made of vinyl, silicone, or photopolymer, with photopolymer considered high grade/quality, and vinyl/silicone being considered low grade.
Shopping for, and working with, Clear Stamps:
For those that may not be aware: The term "acrylic" actually refers to the mounting block used with clear (and UM rubber) stamps, not the stamps themselves.
Vinyl/silicone repel water-based dye inks due to having low surface energy. Pigment or chalk inks will perform better on those than any other ink. They also have a tendency to stretch, distort or "squish" when too much pressure is applied; practice to find the right touch.
Vinyl/Silicone, are also usually featured on clear acetate carrier sheets, BUT, while perf lines that separate the images are there, you may still have to separate the images or cut them apart manually. They are typically much less expensive than photopolymer, and frequently manufactured in China.
High quality photopolymer stamps are featured on clear acetate carrier sheets, and each image is already separated from the other images in the set. Photopolymer has a higher durometer and higher surface energy, akin to rubber, and will receive most inks, including water-based dye inks, quite well. Photopolymer stamps are more expensive than vinyl/silicone . . .
When shopping, keep in mind that you do tend to get what you pay for . . .
I have several sets of the Studio G stamps and have found that chalk inks or Palette inks work best. You deffinatly get what you pay for in clear stamps my Close To My Heart ones take any kind of ink and I always get great images from them, they also have there own brand of ink that is blended specially for clear stamps.
__________________ "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every second of it!"
I have all of the Studio G stamps and have not had any problems with them (knock on wood!!!) Allso have some from other vendors and haven't had a problem.The one thing I did learn was that you can't press down as hard as you can with wood block stamps. I hope you find a soultion to useing them I really like mine.
How do you tell if you have the good quality clear stamps? I bought a pkg of the Stampendous Perfectly Clear Stamps. Does anyone know what these are made of? It doesn't specify on the pkg. Thanks!
Cheap Clear Stamps
