I Heart Alpha Stamps
I love alphabet stamps—so much so that I personally own a ridiculous number of alpha stamp sets. (I’m not the only one, though…I know a stamper who has over 100!)
One thing that always frustrated me about wood alpha stamps is trying to get perfect placement of letters. With acrylics it’s much easier…but in many cases you still have to aim correctly to get them aligned if you stamp letter by letter—so I find it easier to place all the letters in my word or sentiment on a clear block and stamp just once. To get them lined up on the block, I place a piece of lined notebook paper underneath the block and use that as my guide. (This was not a stroke of genius as much as a testament to my messy desk.)
As for cleaning your clear acrylics—don’t use a baby wipe, as with wood mounted stamps. The moisturizer in the baby wipes will damage the acrylic. Instead, use soap and water. But take care to plug the sink before washing small stamps like alphabet letters—even if you’re really really really careful you can easily lose a letter down the drain!
Comments (3)
Thanks Sara ! It's a very good tip. Also I didn't realise you couldn't use the same cleaners as for rubber wooden back stamps. I hope I didn't ruin mine, mind you I find when I use acrylic stamps there's seldom any ink left on them after usage.
Can I also add that since you brought the logistic back to HOTP in Canby, it's a joy to order stuff from you guys. The customer support is very friendly and have sorted an issue I had swiftly. Although I live in the UK, my order arrived quickly so please pass on the message to the team they're doing a great job !
Posted by Fabrizio | March 7, 2008 1:58 PM
Posted on March 7, 2008 13:58
I'm so glad I read your blog before trying out the new acrylic stamps I got in the mail! I didn't realize that you had to clean them differently. Can you use those stamp scrubber "pads" that some companies sell that you spray with their cleaner first? I always look forward to reading your blog every Friday. Keep up the good work!
Posted by Dale | March 7, 2008 10:48 PM
Posted on March 7, 2008 22:48
Hi Dale and Fabrizio--
I just learned the stamp cleaning tip pretty recently, too...and had been using baby wipes on my acrylics until I heard that it wasn't good for them. I *think* they'll be okay! :)
And Dale, I believe you can use the stamp scrubber pads and cleaner. Hero Arts, for example, recommends you use their cleaner and pad with their acrylic stamps. Yet plain old soap and water will work too!
sara
Posted by Sara | March 10, 2008 6:13 AM
Posted on March 10, 2008 06:13