Today we'll be diving into using stamps in your planners. Everything from before inking to cleaning and even a breakdown of the different types of inkpads available on the market.
Did you know that NOT ALL STAMPS ARE CREATED EQUAL?
Studio L2E clear stamps are made from high quality photopolymer right here in the USA Keep your stamps out of direct sunlight and clean them and they should hold up for years!
How can you tell if a stamp is of good quality? All of the brands that I've come across that are made in the US are usually made by one of the few stamp manufacturers here that use quality photopolymer.
If you're stamps were made in China, it's highly likely that they are acrylic and not polymer based stamps. Acrylic stamps tend to not stick well at all, even fresh out of the packaging.
That said, let's get started with breaking out the stamps and inks!
So you got yourself some new stamps, YAY! Because of how our stamps are manufactured, new stamps may need to be prepped or primed before you use them, especially bold or solid images.
To do this, ink up your stamp and stamp it on a scrap paper a few times. You can also lightly rub the image on the back of your hand or with a white eraser. This will remove any residue that may have been left behind during the manufacturing stage.
There are a lot of creatives who choose not to clean their stamps and it works great for them. If you're like me and like clean stamps, here's a few tips to help get your stamps clean.
- Stamp scrubber - you can find them at your local craft store or online
- Alcohol-free baby wipes
- Stamp chamois/shammy - save yourself some $$$ and get a synthetic chamois from the auto department and cut into smaller, more manageable pieces!
- Stamp cleaner - UltraClean is AMAZING and my favorite stamp cleaner!
Remember, because of the nature of our photopolymer stamps, they may stain or yellow over time. This does not affect the stamping ability of the images at all.
The back of your stamp may need cleaning. Wash them carefully with warm water and mild dish soap ( I use Dawn), rinse and let air dry.
- Be mindful of the soap you use! Soaps with essential oils are NOT recommended as they may breakdown your stamps.
- Use a bowl or small colander to avoid losing stamps down the drain!
THE BASICS
Dries fast, sinks into the paper, may bleed or shadow on thin paper
*PLANNER FRIENDLY*
Dries slow, sits on top of the paper, heat embossing friendly, good for thin paper
SPECIALTY INKS
*PLANNER FRIENDLY*
Pigment based
Reacts with water, great for blending and watercoloring
- Regular - dye-based, transparent
- Oxide - hybrid, dye/pigment, more opaque
*NOT PLANNER FRIENDLY*
Will bleed through most paper, great for stamping on washi and vinyl stickers. NOT planner friendly
*PLANNER FRIENDLY*
A favorite with stampers who like crisp, clear images, Versafine is an oil-based pigment inkpad that's great for detailed stamps.
Clear, sticky ink used for watermarking and heat embossing
I'm sharing two of my FAVORITE stamping tips below that have made my stamps more versatile or made stamping faster.
- Use clean, sharp scissors
- Gently bend or pull, then cut CAREFULLY!
- Keep your most used stamps mounted on stamp blocks! I like to use large round blocks that have finger grooves and space multiple stamps along the edges.
- This works great with small stamps like icons and makes stamping dates so much FASTER!
I hope you've found this post useful! Want to save this for later? Feel free to pin the images below or you can download a free printable PDF file below.
