Tips to Become a Great Stamper
- 1. Use quality products. There is something to be said for getting what you pay for. And in stamping great results come from great products plus practice.
- 2. Inks from Tsukineko, Ranger; Colorbox are all great.
- a. My go to ink pad for general stamping is a Versafine Onyx black; for Copics Memento Tuxedo Black both Tsukineko products. But I have all the Paper Trey Ink and Stamping Up for the color range. I have over 670 ink pads and these are the ones I use the most. Why so many for one there are specialty inks and they have a place. Pigment, Chalk; Dye; Permanent Dye etc.
- b. In Chalk ink I use the fluid chalks more than the versamagic. My favorite permanent inks are Ancient Page because of the color range.
- c. Make color sample of your inks so you can compare colors.
- 3. Paper: SU; Paper Trey Ink, MFT all great papers. For my card bases I general y use Cougar Opaque (just cause I can get it by the ream for much less that any of those others that I have mentioned). A great card base makes a great card. Your base has to be sturdy. Please no 65# CS for your base. I consider 65# for layering only. You won’t find any 65# bases at Hallmark.
- a. Use a paper trimmer that cuts straight and clean and keep spare blades. My go to is a Genesis from Bonnie’s best but at 16 inches that does not travel well. So I keep a Tonic guillotine in my to go bag. I can cut a sliver with either of these cutters. I also have a Fiskars slide type for those occasions where I want to stop or start cutting in the middle of my paper.
- 4. Make sure your stamping is clean and crisp. If you miss stamp, fix it if you can, embellish over it or DISCARD IT.To get great results stamping you need some sort of foam pad underneath the paper you are stamping on. Mouse pads work even layers of fun foam. Cover the foam with some typing/copier paper scrap (this protects the foam from absorbing stray ink). The foam gives so if the stamp is uneven and often they are the foam compensates for this.
- a. Ink your stamp thoroughly, look at the stamp surface and make sure it looks wet. Test a new stamp on scrap.
- b. Press the stamp to the paper and don’t rock or twist. Walk you hand over the backs of large stamps to make sure that all parts of the stamp have kissed the paper. (You can take paper to stamp instead for large stamps and them cover the paper with scrap and use a brayer or walk your hand over the back of a scrap paper. Then let the stamp REST momentarily on the paper so that it can transfer the ink and so the paper has time to absorb the ink.
- c. Use a stamp positioner. Stamp A Jig is one, this makes sure your stamps are where you want them and on the paper straight. Especially useful for sentiments.
- 5. Adhesives. Keep a variety of them both wet and dry. My favorite wet is 3M Scotch Quick Dry and for heavy items Glossy Accents. Dry ATG. Dot N Go Glue Dots in several styles.
- 6. You need a variety of great scissors. Detail ones with a very sharp tip. I use EK Success Honey Bee pair because they are non-stick and they cut well. I have a pair by Fiskars but I think the EK Success cut better. I have some titanium general scissors that I got in a multipack at Sam's that have been cutting for 10 years well and true.
In the Hands of the Creator
