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Sometimes when I see pictures of clear stamps in videos and pictures they look like they have a grey solid back. Is this from people covering them and stamping the image on the back. If so, doesn't that defeat the ypurpose of being able to line up a clear stamp easily? I can only guess that they are being stored in a different format than SU cases. Am I missing something? Don't know why the font changed.
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Mary Kay
"Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think." Buddha
I don't care to use the Indexing on my stamps. Mostly cause I've not had good luck with them.
I find that using the Clear Mount stamps without the indexing. I have no problem with using the stamps like this. If you look in the photo I've attached you'll see just how I use mine.
I've been using (What Stampin up! calls Clear Mounts ) for years. and I never had a problem using them in this way.
Now my newer stamp sets. I take a Marker to draw a up arrow on the foam. So I will know which way the saying is going.
It's not a stupid question (there is no such thing - how else do you get information without asking?), first of all. Secondly, I think that there is confusion about the difference between "clear mount" stamps, which are rubber with cling foam on the back (the gray ones that you're referring to, I'm thinking) and "clear" stamps, which are photopolymer or acrylic and are actually clear.
Stampin'Up! used the term "clear mount" when they first started offering the cling foam-mounted option, and it's caused confusion ever since. They are using terms like "on wood blocks" and "clear blocks suggested" now, instead, from what I understand...
Hopefully that clears up the confusion and answers your question. If not, say so and we'll take another crack...;)
Just wanted to elaborate on what Sue posted right above me.
The reason why you see the foam is that it provides cushion for a better crisper impression stamp. The image is usually rubber. So it's all done up to be used/clung on an acrylic block. The down side, obviously you can't see where you're stamping.
If it's completely clear, then it's the photopolymer, and what the rest of the industry referred to as clear mount. These are usually less expensive to purchase, but (here's my rubber wood mounted preference rearing it's ugly head) the image isn't as crisp due to lack of cushioning. So you have to compensate by stamping onto a foam surface. This is also where using something like a MISTI tool to stamp onto the same exact spot several times to get perfection ink pigmentation/coverage is needed.
I don't mean to be a thread hog, but wanted to jump back in and say that whatever type of stamp you use/love is totally a personal preference thing. I am all about consolidation, so - except for a handful of Stampotique images - ALL of my rubber is nekkid with 2-way glue on the back (no foam or block or anything). I also have quite a few photopolymer and acrylic (NOT the same thing - both are "clear", but the acrylic are inferior in quality) stamps.
I have a foam pad and a MISTI and a variety of different types of ink and I am able to produce pretty much whatever result I have in mind. It takes a bit of trial and error to see how much pressure to use, which ink to use, what surface to stamp on, etc.
Again - it's all very much personal preference, and there is a group of lovers and a group of haters for any/all of the variations - just use what you love and/or what gives you the results that you are looking for and have fun!
I, like Nancy, don't put the stickers on mine either because they don't stick to the blocks with the stickers on - so you'd definitely see just the grey backs in my videos.
The stickers help in sort of a general sense with alignment, but don't offer the precision of a Stamp-a-Ma-Jig or a MISTI anyway.
Seems like it would behoove SU to call them Cling like so many other companies. Sometimes wanting to be "unique" can bite you in the tush?
Of course I try to live by the KISS principle since I cant remember what I had for breakfast yesterday!
I "hear" that the quality of clear stamps (polymers) varies and US made is much better but as a quirk-the better ones stain. Which actually might help a person with placement.
I love wood myself but I am cool with cling and clear too. I often mount my own on cling to save money.
Learned a lot here. Now I am not sure whether to buy wood or just give in to clear blocks. It might take a few more stamp sets to decide. I just cut up some old non-SU sheets of stamps today and my hands are killing me. I'm so glad we're not doing that anymore!
I'll add that the one real advantage to clear stamps/ bare rubber/cling, is that they take up way less storage space than wood mounteds. Worth bearing in mind, a couple of years time will probably see you with so many stamps you don't know where to put them! I started mainly buying wood mounts, eventually I unmounted pretty much all of them, and store them in binders now.Huge job- took me weeks.
Oh, and agree with the others- the only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked!
Here's what I have always said to people when they get confused:
* Wood-mount...rubber and foam on wood block.
* Clear-mount...rubber and cling foam used on a clear block. It isn't a clear stamp, but one that uses a clear mount (AKA acrylic block) in order to stamp.
* Clear stamps...photopolymer or acrylic used on a clear block.
SU! is the only company to use the term "Clear-Mount" and when they started using it, it did make sense. Everything they made was rubber, and only the block was different...wood or clear. But some people saw "clear" and didn't see "mount" and confusion away with them.
As for Katie's (the OP) question, what you are seeing when you see gray foam on the other side of the clear block, is a clear-mount stamp, or as other companies call it, a cling stamp. It's rubber with cling foam. But it is not a clear stamp.
I tell my older adult students the same thing Shaz said: The only stupid question is the one you don't ask.
I use the terms Unmounted (rubber not on a wood block), Clear (unmounted clear), and Wood Mounted (rubber attached to wood block). Those help to keep those I'm teaching from getting confused.
Another Stupid Question About Clear Stamps
