I'm sharing this post from the Stampin' Up! Blog by Brandi B., Stampin' Up! employee. I love her tips on the clear stamps!
Photopolymer Stamps: A Love Story
When I first heard that we were going to be offering
photopolymer stamps, I was . . . hesitant. I’m happy with my collection
of rubber stamps, some wood and some clear-mount. Long ago I tried
totally clear stamps. I was unimpressed. They are flimsy, they tear,
they make a “smooshy” image. I thought rubber was the only way to go.
Boy,
was I wrong! I took the Designer Typeset Stamp Set home for the weekend
and we spent some quality time together. Oh. My. Goodness. I am in
love!
This amazing 57-piece stamp set offers all the quality I expect from Stampin’ Up!, and a perfectly clear view. Here’s what I learned:
- The
stamps are not at all flimsy. While it is easy to flex the banner stamp
enough to give it a draped look, the stamps maintain their original
shape easily unless you try to curve them. - The stamps yield a crisp, solid image every time. They work especially well with our firm foam pads.
- They
are so sticky! It is super-quick to switch out stamps, because they
instantly stick to the clear blocks. If they ever get less sticky, you
can revive the stickiness by washing them in warm water and Stampin’
Mist Stamp Cleaner or soap. - My favorite: the clear, complete
view of your project. It makes life so easy! Check out how simple it is
to make the “extended arrow” card. First, ink up the pointed end of your
arrow stamp in Basic Gray ink and stamp on Whisper White Cardstock.

Next, clean your stamp (just use your Stampin’ Scrub and Stampin’ Mist as always); this time ink the arrow stamp using Basic Gray ink again, but only ink the straight end of the arrow. Line it up, then stamp.
Unbelievable!
The clear view changes everything. And it’s perfect for an alphabet
set. You can quickly stamp the word “birthday” one letter at a time, and
it’s a breeze to line up the letters.
See the tissue in my hand? When working with these small letters, I just spray a little Stampin’ Mist on a tissue and dab the ink off after stamping each letter. Then I switch, stamp, and dab again. You can definitely use the Stampin’ Scrub
for the letters. But I found the “tissue method” much easier for such a
small stamp. It only took about 30 seconds to stamp the whole word and
clean all of the stamps.
You can also arrange letters on your
block to spell a word. The “footprint” of each stamp is pretty small,
meaning you can arrange the letters quite close together on the block. I
thought it was helpful to use my Grid Paper underneath to help me line up the letters nicely on the block.
I definitely recommend this method if you plan to stamp the word more than once, as I did on my set of note cards.
To finish off my “extended arrow” card, I cut out the arrow and adhered it to the card using Glue Dots. The balloons are made of Circle Punches, the white uni-ball Signo Gel Pen, and Linen Thread.
I know you are going to love the Designer Typeset Stamp Set as much as I do. If you haven’t already, you must order it today. You’ll be glad you did! Happy stamping!
Brandi B.
Curriculum Developer & Trainer