Clear Stamps, I love Them and I Hate Them

Clear stamps are a great invention but just don't cut it for me. I have seen others use them with outstanding results. Beautiful images I could only dream of achieving. Mine are a constant battle. If you are not familiar with clear stamps, they are...clear...and cling to an acrylic block so you can see through them. This allows for exact placement because you can see exactly where you are stamping. The traditional stamp is deep etched rubber mounted on a wood block so you can not see where you are stamping I have several sets of clear stamps and every different brand is an entire new learning experience. Some brands you can use one kind of ink but other brands need a different kind of ink, it is a real pain because I don't want to buy stock in 3 different ink companies.

This card is a prime example of my battle with clear stamps. Although the birds turned out fine, the sentiment I had to stamp twice because the center did not even touch the paper. I had to push so hard it blurred the letters. Then, the little limb below is thick and not crisp like it should be. They just make me sad because there are so many wonderful images in clear stamps, like these birds. I love how irritated they look. Maybe they look so irritated because they know they are a pain to use. I will figure them out though, I will not let the birds win this battle and I am not scared of them, no matter how mean they look.

On this card I used Stampin Up Ink - Really Rust and Old Olive and Inkadinkado Stamps - Bird Assortment. I masked the edge with 2 torn post-in-notes and rubbed the Really Rust ink pad directly on the card front.