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Posts Tagged ‘stamp’

How Many Different Rubberstamps are There in the Big World of Art Stamps?

For me it all started with these rubberstamps. That’s right this cute little butterfly art stamp and this set of alphabet stamps.

I can remember my first rubberstamps. My brother gave them to me for my birthday. It was a butterfly art stamp, and an alphabet stamp set, that was 15 years ago. I can remember thinking to myself “what am I going to do with these rubberstamps”? Boy did I find out what to do with them. I made cute little butterfly note cards and I remember coloring them with a colored pencil (since that is all that I had back then or crayons), then with the alphabet stamps I stamped my family and friends name and of course finished it with a butterfly. Holy crow, he is the one that created my obsession with art stamps, and I am so happy that he did, thanks Mike.

What can I say; I Love Rubber Art Stamps and all the rubber stamping supplies that go along with them. Take a look at just some of the art stamps that I have. I have labeled each drawer and bin so I kind of know what is inside. I also have a few scattered around my craft studio on shelves. I told you that I Love Art Stamps. Now do you believe me?

Rubberstamps have come a long way. There are a ton of manufacturers for Art Stamps, depending on what you are looking for. A long time ago the only kind of art stamp that was available was the red rubber stamp mounted on a wood block. Now, those stamps are still available but there are also clear un-mounted art stamps that you take off of a cling sheet and adhere to an acrylic block. When you are done you just clean the stamp and take off the acrylic block and out back on the plastic sheet or in a clear plastic CD case.

The great thing about these art stamps is that you can see exactly where your image will be stamped on your card stock. This gives you less room for error (even though there is never an error in art, it just makes a different masterpiece then you expected)

What I love about the acrylic block rubber stamps is when you are working with alphabet stamps. The reason is you can have the correct spacing between each letter and word. When I have used alphabet stamps that were wood mounted, I usually had crooked words and phrases on my card or scrapbook page.

Another cool thing about these clear un-mounted rubberstamps is that they do not take up so much room as the original wood block art stamps. So if you do not have a lot of space to store your rubberstamps then this is the ideal way to go. I have two ways that I store my clear un-mounted rubberstamps. One is in a 3 ring binder, and the other in my Crop in Style Stamp Store tote. The stamp store can hold hundreds in the drawers.

There are also red rubber un-mounted stamps that you can purchase. They are cheaper than mounted rubberstamps. You can then mount them any way that you want; either on a wood block or use the ez-mount foam system (I will explain that in a near future article)

The last kind of rubberstamps that I can think of is the pre-inked art stamps. I have some art stamps that are pre-inked wheels. They are great for backgrounds or borders. All you do is insert the small cartridge of ink into the handle of the rubberstamps wheel, insert the wheel and away you go.

Well, as you can see I have A LOT of rubberstamps. And with all these Art Stamps I do not have any duplicates and I can honestly say that I use or have used each and every one.

About the Author

Visit JoansCraftWorld.com now to see pictures and to learn more about Art Stamps today.

Convert Wood-Mounted Stamps to Clear-Mount

MY HEART STAMPS FOR YOU RUBBER STAMP FRIENDSHIP is SWEETEST FLOWER WOOD MOUNTED $7.99

PANDA Wood Mounted Rubber Stamp InkaDinkaDo $7.99 InkaDinkaDo Wood Stamps are hand-assembled with fine hardwood maple blocks and quality rubber. Each Inkadinkado stamp features their signature Razorcut deep-etched image for crisp, clean impressions every time….

Penny Black 4283K Santa’s Hat Wood Mounted Rubber Stamp $6.43 Create unique one-of-a-kind greeting cards, scrapbook pages, home décor and more with Penny Black’s wood-mounted stamps. High-quality craftsmanship yields crisp, clean images….

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Photo Stamps And Small Business

It just is’nt easy to stand out from the crowd these days and when a small business is stuck in the crowd, the revenues of the business can be negatively impacted.

Innovation and uniqueness are the true hallmark of a business. While most people will assume that the innovation and uniqueness need to be launched on a grand scale, the fact of the matter is that many time, small scale subtle innovations can go a long way in terms of leaving a positive impression on people who may be potential clients or customers to a business. In fact, subtleties can prove more successful than overblown attention grabbers as people general do not like being hit over the head with promotional items.

Photo stamps are such a subtlety that can great help a business by adding a small touch that will not go unnoticed by people who receive a letter in which a photo stamps are prominently displayed. For those unfamiliar with what photo stamps are, they are simply a novel spin on the traditional stamp printing device. Instead of the postage printing spitting out a generic stamp where red ink displays the dollar amount of the postage, a photo stamp device will display any photograph on selects on the stamp. So, instead of having to go out and ask people to sign petitions as was done in order to get the Universal Monsters stamps and the Elvis Stamp, a person can simply print out a stamp that displays whatever image they would wish to have printed.

Such touches do not go unnoticed by the public when they receive a letter in the mail that is carrying a unique photo that they had never seen before nor expected to appear on a stamp. It is an eye catching trick that will separate the mail they receive from a company that employs such a concept as opposed to remembering those companies that utilize traditional, generic stamps.

This has a far greater impact than one would imagine as it speaks volumes about a company. It shows that the company is novel and hip and willing to take chances. It looks like the company is proactive as opposed to other companies that would not care enough to add little subtle personalized touches. A photo stamp machine will a business or company to stand out from the crowd and that is highly important for any small business to do.

When a business sets itself apart from the crowd, it will do better business than all those who are lumped into the generic crowd so it is wise to not overlook any possibilities that can lead to higher, better exposure. A photo postage stamp machine can be acquired quite easily and would be a tremendous addition to any business.

About the Author

Craig Thornburrow is an acknowledged expert in his field. You can get more free advice on photo stamps and
custom photo stamps
at http://www.printingpostage.com

With All My Love Stamp Set Scrapbook Card

Paper Salon Rubber Stamp Set “Love Equations” Unmounted stampin love kiss true $13.00

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VTech CS6419-2 DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone, Silver/Black, 2 Handsets $34.95 VTech CS6419-2 DECT 6.0 Cordless Phone, Silver/Black, 2 Handsets…

D-Link Wireless Day/Night Network Surveillance Camera with mydlink-Enabled, DCS-932L (White) $139.99 The mydlink-enabled Wireless N Day/Night Home Network Camera (DCS-932L) comes with everything you need to quickly add a surveillance camera to your home or small office network. It works right out of the box. Quickly set up your surveillance camera to monitor in the day or at night. Simply connect the cables, plug in the camera, run the short installation wizard and setup is complete. To view what…

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Cling Mount Stamps: The Good, The Bad, The Choices

Rubber stamps have been around for generations without much innovation or alteration in their design.  Until now that is.  The world of rubber stamping has finally been updated with a 21st century spin, the cling mount stamp.  Cling mount stamps are used in the same manner as traditional rubber stamps except they do not come permanently pre-mounted on a wooden block.  Cling mount stamps have two sides; one side has the raised image that holds the ink for stamping and the other side is coated with a repositionable cling surface which holds or mounts to a piece of acrylic which replaces the wooded block.

Cling mount stamps have a lot of benefits over traditional wood mounted rubber stamps. One of the best bonuses is the lower cost of cling mounted stamps with stamp sets selling for a reduced price compared to traditional stamps with more stamps in the set too! They are more compact for storage often being packaged in a thin plastic bag or DVD case which makes owning and organizing multiple stamp sets a breeze; unlike the days of trying to find suitable storage for bulky and various sized wooden blocks.  With the cling mount stamps positioning the stamps exactly where you want them is a dream because you can see the stamp through the clear acrylic block so there is no more guess work about the exact position of the image under a wooden block; I know most of you have experienced a stamp that was not mounted quite right so the stamped image was slightly off where you wanted it to be.   The cling mount stamps clean up the same way as your traditional stamps so you can continue using your cleaner of choice.  Finally, you can make collages of images or use a block the size of your card and positional the stamps at once and only have to stamp once making sure that each card has the images in the exact same position.

The new and innovative world of cling mount stamps is not without its flaws.  The stamps do not come with a mounting base like traditional stamps where it is all one complete unit which means that you will need to purchase acrylic blocks for your stamps.  The blocks can seen costly at first but it is important to remember that you do not need to have a block for every individual stamps since you remove the stamps after using them; ideally you should have a couple acrylic blocks in sizes you use a lot so that you can stamp with multiple images without having to remove them in between depending on the project you are working on.  Some cling mount stamps do not hold the ink as well as others with the ink pooling and pulling off parts of the image producing a spotty or streaked stamped image.  Also, if you are short on time this type of stamps might not suit your needs because you will need to take the time to mount each stamp, remove each stamp, and then put the stamp and block away separately.

There are a couple choices when it comes to choosing the type of material the stamp is made from, plastic or rubber.  The material the stamp is made from impacts image quality.  I have used both the clear plastic and rubber cling mount stamps.  The winner in my book is the rubber cling mount stamps, like those by Stampin’ Up, because they produce the same quality stamped image that we are all accustomed to with our traditional stamps.  Some of the plastic cling mount stamps look great and promise wonderful stamped images but do not deliver, including the sets by The Stamps of Life, the ink does not hold as well resulting in a streaked image.

Overall I believe cling mount stamps are a wonderful addition to the world of stamping and paper crafts just consider your needs and the quality of the stamp material.  Shop around, have fun, and get stamping!

About the Author

Rachel Frank is an art instructor, Stampin’ Up Independent Consultant, teaches art therapy to wounded soldiers, and is a full time graduate student.  She hosts a blog with tutorials, articles, videos, and supplies.  You can visit her at http:// www.stampingarmywife.com

Clear-Mount Stamps by Stampin’ Up!

MY HEART STAMPS FOR YOU RUBBER STAMP FRIENDSHIP is SWEETEST FLOWER WOOD MOUNTED $7.99

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An Introduction to Postage Stamp Collecting

Stamps are used by millions of people daily yet few of us give them any thought. We take them for granted, seeing them as mere functional objects. It is true that they are functional objects but not only. Ask any stamp collector and he or she will tell you that a stamp is a lot more than that. In the case of used stamps, a lot of them tell a story and reflect the period and mood of the country in which they were issued.

Let us backtrack for a while and talk about the history of stamps and how they came about. It is commonly accepted that stamps were first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1840 with the penny black stamp. It was a revolution of sorts since it meant that the sender had to pay the postage fee and not the recipient like before. Shortly after the two pence blue stamp was issued. On thing to note is that the United Kingdom is to this day the only country whose name does not appear on its stamps.

As you know, stamp collecting is a very popular hobby throughout the world. Some people prefer to collect brand new stamps while others prefer to collect used stamps that actually served their purpose. Some of course do not discriminate and collect both. There are a lot of different types of stamps. Some stamps are issued for collecting rather than postal use. Let us have a quick look at the type of stamps available and their characteristics.

First is the definitive stamp. This is simply your regular stamp in any denomination that you can buy at the post office. These stamps often feature symbols of the country of issuance. They usually begin at the smallest unit of currency and can go up to fifty to a hundred times the usual postage rate. Collectors are looking to collect every denomination of a definitive series.

The commemorative stamp, like its name suggests, is a stamp issued to commemorate an important event, person or location. A few of these are usually issued each year, the first day of issues normally taking place where in the location associated with the person or event.
Pictorial stamps, also referred to as simply pictorials, are stamps depicting a representative landscape of the country of issuance.

Revenue stamps are stamps that were not intended for mail (although some stamps could be used both for revenue and postage) but for collecting taxes and fees. These stamps actually predate the postage stamps. Revenue stamps are issued by the finance ministry.

About the Author

Mathieu Deprez is the webmaster of DeciDeca.com, an online store specializing in used French stamps, french postage stamps or timbres oblitérés as they are known in French.

Search for the World’s Greatest Salesperson -The Name Stamp

Personalized Rolling Rubber stamp Alphabet Number custom name exlibris bookplate $25.90

The Name Jar $2.94 The new kid in school needs a new name! Or does she?Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what about when nobody can pronounce your name? Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious that American kids will like her. So instead of introducing herself on the first day of school, she tells the class that she will choose a name by the following week. Her new classmates are fascinated by t…

Rare Stamps: Reflections on Living, Breathing, and Acting $7.58 Rare Stamps offers a revealing insight into the life of an actor and the making of a man. Beginning with an Academy Award nomination for Billy Budd in 1962, Terence Stamp was called “the most beautiful man alive,” only to be discarded at the end of the decade with the words, “we’re looking for a younger Terence Stamp.” Soul searching, he traveled alone through India, staying at the Taj Mahal Hotel…

Nate the Great and the Sticky Case $0.50 A stegosaurus stamp belonging to Nate’s friend Claude disappears, and the indomitable Nate the Great is called in on the case. At first, even Nate is stumped — the stamp has just vanished without a trace! But with clues from the weather and his ever-faithful dog, Sludge, Nate is soon on his way to wrapping up his stickiest case yet….

The Art Of Making Mounted Rubber Stamps

The traditional red rubber stamp that everybody is familiar with will have been manufactured in a vulcanizing press. The first rubber stamp vulcanizing press was patented in 1890 by Charles Schultze in New Orleans USA. Vulcanizing  is today one of the most cost effective methods of making rubber stamps for mass produced stamps. Each batch of stamps is produced using a mould. This method of manufacture is more suited to stamp making where the same moulds are used over and over again. Making custom made stamps with a vulcanizing press requiring ‘once only’ moulds will drive the cost of manufacture up significantly.

Making the mould – before a mould can be made you must have a master plate manufactured from metal or polymer, the master plate has the necessary relief (the artwork is raised) to make an impression in the mould. Having a master plate made each time a mould is required is what drives up the cost of manufacture for vulcanized stamps. Pressing the master plate into a Matrix board creates the mould that will accept the rubber. Heat and pressure is applied to the master plate and matrix board inside a Vulcanizing press. The Matrix follows the shape of the relief provided by the master plate, this then hardens on cooling.

Making Rubber Stamps – Creating stamps is a simple process once the mould is made.  Raw rubber stamp gum is placed on top of the mould and then placed inside the stamp press. Hydraulic pressure is placed upon the rubber and the mould   from within the stamp press causing the rubber to melt into the areas of the mould that contain the images and text, curing and hardening takes about 10 minutes. Once cured the sheet of rubber is pulled away from the mould and cut up into individual stamps to be affixed to mounts.

Cost of a vulcanizing system is approximately $12,000 AUD

Advantages – Low cost of production for mass produced stamps, good ink transfer.

Disadvantages – Cost of producing master plates and moulds for custom made stamps.

Laser Engraved Rubber Stamps

The traditional raw rubber used for vulcanizing stamp dies  is quite unacceptable for the production of laser stamp dies, the laser process  requires a very even thickness and blemish free surface to produce an  acceptable printed image from a stamp die. The rubber must also be subjected to a specific curing process before it can be exposed to the elevated temperature of a laser beam.
The depth of the engraving is determined by the laser speed, its wattage and the density of the rubber. For example, a 50 or 100W engraver will engrave the rubber deeper and faster than a 25W machine, which may require a second pass to achieve a similar result. Usually supplied in an A4 size sheet  form, a good quality laser rubber is required for engraving stamp dies and  must also have suitable compression strength and ink transfer properties.

To assist the engraving process, it is necessary to remove the excess dust which is constantly created by the laser cutting action with an efficient exhaust filtration system. As very few, if any, CO2 laser engraving machines were initially purpose built for engraving and cutting rubber, installing and maintaining an effective dust extraction system pays long term dividends.  Mirrors, lenses and any exposed bearing surfaces should be cleaned thoroughly as part of a regular maintenance program. Any neglect in this area will be detrimental to overall trouble free laser operation, as the build up of dust and residue will affect running efficiency and the quality of the finished stamp die. Lasers are controlled directly from a computer, the software drivers supplied with lasers work with many graphic programs such as CorelDraw.

Approximate cost of a 25 watt Laser suitable for stamp making is $40,000

Advantages – Production is computer controlled, custom made stamps can be made easily

Disadvantages – High capital investment, maintenance costs and running will be much higher than vulcanizing or polymer methods of manufacture.

Liquid Polymer Rubber Stamps

Converting rubber stamp polymer from a liquid into a solid to make stamps is quite fascinating. Polymer stamps are manufactured between two sheets of glass using precision controlled UV light which passes through a negative containing the stamp artwork solidifying the polymer. Negative production has been simplified with the introduction of water based negative technology, photographic chemicals for producing negatives are now a thing of the past.

The first step in making polymer rubber stamps is to print your images, clipart or text onto Vellum, an almost transparent paper like film. To produce quality stamp artwork you must use a laser printer, inks from bubble jet printers are translucent allowing UV light to pass where it should not. Water based negatives are easily washed out after being exposed for a few minutes in a UV exposure stamp machine.

Polymer contained in a sachet is now replacing the older cumbersome method of using foam tape to create a dam and pouring of rubber stamp polymers, the sachets have also addressed the age old problem of removing air bubbles from the poured polymer.

The negative of your artwork and polymer sachet is sandwiched between two sheets of glass spaced 2-3mm apart which is then exposed in the machine for a few minutes. Once you have completed the exposure it is a simple process of cutting open the sachet and washing away the excess unexposed polymer before returning the stamp die back to the machine for a 10 minute curing. Once the stamps are cured they can be cut up individually. Polymer sachets are available in a range of sizes up to A4 size.

Processing time is about 30 minutes for a batch of polymer stamps.

Cost of polymer stamp making machines range from $3,500 AUD for an Australian made unit designed specifically for stamp making up to high end imported units with computer controlled washout for $15,000 AUD.

Advantages – Lower capital investment, polymers make almost clear stamps making them ideal for scrapbooking and card making. Stamp relief can be easily controlled during exposure.

Disadvantages – Early polymers did not accept inks as well as polymers available today, this along with being new technology caused initial resistance to polymer stamps.

Summary

Most large stamp manufacturers have a mix of the above equipment.  The unmounted rubber stamp dies produced with any of these manufacturing methods can be cut up and affixed to simple hand stamps, dater stamps or self inking stamps. Craft stamps are usually affixed to wooden blocks or in the case of polymer stamps affixed to clear acrylic blocks with adhesives or InstaGrip mounting mat. Various manufactures produces stamp mounts. Astron Industries in Australia manufacturer the clear hand stamp ‘Vuestamp’ and also distribute the Ideal range of self inking mounts. Other brands of self inking mounts are Trodat, Colop and Shiny.

About the Author

To read about cantaloupe facts, calories in cantaloupe and other information, visit the Knowledge Bin site.

Storing EZ-Mounted rubber stamps

MY HEART STAMPS FOR YOU RUBBER STAMP FRIENDSHIP is SWEETEST FLOWER WOOD MOUNTED $7.99

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Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras $196.95 The AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G optical design allows a different look and feel to images taken with zoom lenses, and its dimensions are ideal for discrete snapshots and landscape shooting with a picture angle that approximates that of the human eye. With its rounded seven-blade diaphragm opening, out-of-focus elements appear more natural. When mounted on a DX-format SLR, the picture angle is the 3…

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Garmin Suction Cup Mount $15.84 This adjustable suction cup mount allows you to easily access your compatible device while navigating in your vehicle. For easy viewing, mount your device to your windshield with the suction cup or attach the adhesive disc to your dashboard….

Rubber Stamped Jewelry $9.90 A world of creative jewelry design at your fingertips! Now you can combine the self-expressive qualities of rubber stamping with the elegance of jewelry-making. It’s easier than you think! Sharilyn Miller provides all of the tips and techniques you need inside. She clearly illustrates the basics of jewelry-making, then provides step-by-step guidelines for creating beautiful embellishments with rub…

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