April showers... and a clear stamps FAQ

As I'm sitting here typing, looking up I see through my big living room windows that the sky is absolute perfection today. It's a pretty shade of blue. Not a gray cast in this beautiful canvas. And, my favorite, perfectly formed puffy cotton ball clouds. Yup, no rain today. :)

But, I still have to post this rainy layout I created for the Pebbles blog. I am in the phase of simplifying everything I do -- and that includes scrapbooking. While I love the look achieved by many artists when they masterfully throw a ton of products on their pages and it's just instant wow. I admit, I can't do it. Instead of trying so hard to emulate, I figured I'll just do what I'm most comfortable with.

This.

(All products are from the Pebbles Happy Go Lucky line -- love this line!)

To elaborate my post from yesterday, I discriminate when it comes to clear stamps. They are not all created equally. If they do not describe anywhere in their product descriptions and/or packaging that the stamps are made from photopolymer, then it's probably the cheap cling stamps. What is the difference?

INK

- Photopolymer stamps take any ink.

- Cheap stamps only work with certain inks (Versafine, Chalks, pigment, and heavier inks). Regular dye inks will just frustrate you to no end. Forget getting a clean, crisp impression. Upon pressing the stamp to the ink pad, the ink will bead and ball on your image. When you stamp on paper, the stamped image will appear blotchy. If you do not intend to use dye inks, then you're fine. But I personally do not like to be limited in my ink choice. I have not tried sanding my stamps, so maybe upon conditioning these stamps will work with dye inks. I will experiment later.

CLINGABILITY

- Photopolymer stamps are easy to handle. They peel off the clear acetate sheet easily. If a stamp becomes dirty or loses it's cling, a simple wash under water and air drying will restore it's cling.

- Cheap stamps are difficult to peel off their acetate sheet. I find that after awhile they lose their stickiness altogether. And washing won't help.

HOW TO TELL

- Photopolymer stamps have a distinct smell. I can't describe it, so I guess this point is moot. They feel soft and pliable.

- Cheap stamps feel a little more rigid.

Once you get the two different types of clear side by side and compare, it's quite easy to tell them apart - both by their slight but obvious physical differences and their performance quality.

Here's a list of companies that uses photopolymer stamps:

Paper Smooches, Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink, Lawn Fawn, Technique Tuesday, Maya Road, October Afternoon, Market Street Stamps, Stampendous, My Cute Stamps, Memory Box, Close to My Heart, A Muse, Gel-a-tins, The Petal Press, Mint Motif, My Sentiments Exactly, The Cat's Pajamas, Daisy Bucket, There She Goes, Clear & Simple, Waltzingmouse.

That's just a sampling, I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot. I also have a mental list of non-photopolymer companies. I'll leave that for another day!