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Some people really love this Stamp Press, so I bought both sizes but am no closer to clean straight stamped sentiments than I ever was. The first problem is that the left and right ends of the sentiment always stamp the ink much heavier than the middle, even though I keep my index fingers over the middle so I can press hard there. I stamp on a Darice foam mat and most often use Versafine ink.
Large sentiments and/or images are no problem. It's the small and intricate stamps that give me fits. All I want today is one clean script Sympathy sentence with a PTI photo polymer stamp, and also a few license plates on the PTI Easy Rider car. You should see my trash bin!!!!!!
I'm hoping those of you who love this Stamp Press will help me love it too. Are there certain stamping jobs you do with blocks rather than the press? Do you press on just the 4 sponges? Is there a trick to getting the piece you've stamped off of the press without smearing the ink? Is there a certain method you use to ink the stamp without getting any ink on the Press?
I have the smaller one. I am wondering why you would use it to stamp something so small. The press really seems to work best with larger stamps or if you have several stamps you want to stamp in a certain pattern, in which case you can place them on your card face down and then press the plate down to "load" them onto the Stamp Press. But for a single small sentiment I would think the FSP would make things more difficult. Why not just use an acrylic block of the proper size and a Stamp A Ma Jig if placement is the issue?
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
Why not just use an acrylic block of the proper size and a Stamp A Ma Jig if placement is the issue?
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Rachel Rose.
Why? indeed! That SHOULD work on small stamps, but often doesn't.
What ends up happening is I get dedicated to using the sentiment, so I cover the one that just wrecked my almost-finished card with a cut out one I just stamped about 20 of to get one good enough to put on the card. I have NO problem with big sentiments, no matter the ink, cardstock or brand of stamp. I prefer my cards be one-layer, but I end up with the sentiment making a second layer if I use a small sentiment that was a stamping mess on the first layer, which is about 90% of the time.:(
Little sentiments, especially if they are longer than one or two words, are difficult to see through the acrylic block and they often are cut in manufacturing such that there is an uneven margin that makes a wobbly surface to hit the paper when you press to print.
Well, the trendy cards now use large sentiments so maybe i just have to trash my notion that the sentiment should be a small embellishment rather than the huge main event. Too bad I have about 100 itty bitty scripty sentiments I've collected, hoping to find magic will happen and I won't have anymore stamping messes. Also too bad there aren't any itty bitty sentiment dies. Even the smallest ones now available have to be the main event on the card.
I have never had that problem, with the surface being uneven. By an uneven margin, do mean the actual stamping surface or the perimeter of the stamp? And are you using clear stamps or rubber? Clear stamps are often hard to get onto the block straight if they are long and narrow, because they will bend. Which makes them useful in situations where you want them to bend (like to go on a curved banner) but more difficult when you want them dead straight. I stain all my small clear sentiments with dark chalk ink so I can see them better when I stamp, and I use a gridded block to line them up straight.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
Rachel Rose, I mean the perimeter of the stamp....clear stamps. Thanks for the tip to stain them first. Great idea! My most difficult ones are the ones starting with the word "wish". A really small "w" always seems to get more inky than the rest of the sentiment.
Thanks for letting me rant.....it made the problem feel less monumental. :-) :-)
What kind of ink are you using? I find the new SU ink pads are far too wet to stamp small sentiments well, especially clear stamps. I swear by Versafine (not to be confused with Versamark, which is the watermark/embossing ink), which is oil based, adheres really well, doesn't over ink, and cleans up with regular old stampin' mist or any stamp cleaner.
Versafine Oynx is an excellent black. There are other colors as well. You can get them in small cubes or full size pads.
__________________ I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies. RachelRose Designs by Robin... GALLERY
I too have always favored Versafine and lately seldom experiment with other inks.When I can't make a clear impression with that,I give up and choose some other stamp.
When I started stamping in 2006, the trend was really large sentiments. Then, it was really small, which I prefer. So I gradually have purged my large stamps. A stamping friend warned me not to get rid of the large stamps. She told me the trend would go back that way, but I didn't believe her. Guess I'll have to call her and tell her she was right. That will make her day. Anyway, I like small sentiments. I want the focal point to be the part of the card that stands out. I have many small and very small stamps. Sometimes they don't stamp perfectly, but after a couple of tries one of them will work. I always do layered cards so I don't ruin a card like I would if I stamped directly onto the card. Try stamping on a foam surface. Then try on a hard surface. If one letter is too dark, use less pressure in the area of the stamp. Work on scrap paper until you perfect the technique. And have fun! Bobbi
When I started stamping in 2006, the trend was really large sentiments. Then, it was really small, which I prefer. So I gradually have purged my large stamps. A stamping friend warned me not to get rid of the large stamps. She told me the trend would go back that way, but I didn't believe her.
I'm so glad you wrote this because one of my projects planned for today was to take all the little sentiments out of sets so I wouldn't be tempted to let them frustrate me again.(The tiniest sentiments (in PtI's Easy Rider set) turned out to work only when I used Versafine and barely touched the stamp to paper and quickly plucked the stamp away.) There will come a day when I will be willing to invest the work in using these tiny stamps so I'm glad you encouraged me to keep them.
Thanks,
Bahb
I was interested in this thread because I love tiny sentiments, too. I nearly always make layered cards, so I stamp them on a separate piece of cardstock and then put them on my card front.
I've used the SU word window punch a lot for this. You can turn it over, and then center the sentiment before you punch it out. I then paste it on a coordinating solid color, and hand trim a narrow border around it.
I've also acquired several small "label-like" dies that I use for the small sentiments.
One of my favorite small sentiment sets is by Papertrey, Mixed Messages. I've used it over and over again.
I don't use the Stamp Press for small stamps. For those I use an acrylic block. This might sound silly, but sometimes I just use my fingers if the stamp is really small or thin. I think the key to getting a good impression with small stamps, especially sentiments, is to use a lighter pressure. I'm very heavy-handed when it comes to stamping, so I really have to concentrate on applying a lighter pressure when I'm using small stamps. I agree about using VersaFine or pigment ink with clear stamps. They do give crisper results. HTH, and good luck.
I love Kwerner's blog. She's so much fun. Now, I really scored a big bargain. Advertised on Ebay was a "large lot" of tiny sentiment stamps. Some were really, really tiny. In the picture I could see birthday, anniversary, sympathy and many others. They were foam mounted (some sort of dense foam). I paid $12.00 including shipping. Well, when they arrived there were over 100 stamps. I sorted through them and kept 63. I have already used a couple and they stamp fine, but you do have to use a very light touch. I am very excited. It use to be very difficult to find the tiny stamps but they have become easier to find. Bobbi
Hi,
I know this is kind of a late response but have you looked at the Martha Stewart stamp press? She makes a small one that I think would work with smaller stamps. And if you use a coupon it is cheaper.
HTH
Craftydgtr
I use my small stamp press all the time. I do have the larger one but seldom use it. I walk my fingers over my stamp when using it. KWerner is the one I saw using it in an online class. What I often do with my small stamps is ink them in Versamark first then in my Versafine black. I seem to have good luck with that. It took some practice at first, but so like being able to line things up with the edge of my card and find I do stamp straighter.
__________________ Mary Jo
prairiepapercrafter.blogspot.com
I just wondered, with the excess ink problem- are you going stamp to pad, or pad to stamp to apply ink. Usually, pad to stamp will result in more even inking. Also, maybe experiment onto copy paper, with the amount of ink you need to apply? Maybe, for instance, you only need a couple of taps of the pad, instead of 3 or 4?
I emailed the company and they wrote back to use White glue like Elmer's and I will try that. I like to let my grand nieces stamp with the stamp pad as there's likely to be a better and less frustrating outcome for them!
Fiskar's Stamp Press Tips?
