Solid stamps can be used on many surfaces including cloth or paper. However, for those of you who are having a hard time using solid stamps (especially on paper or a similar material) and keep getting “splotches”, no worries because it’s not just you! There are beautiful artwork and craftwork made from solid images and if you’re wondering how they can do it and you can’t stop fretting. There’s just some tricks to this trade.

Usually, when a rubber stamp is not used very often, the rubber will begin to harden. This hardening of the rubber portion will then cause the stamp to create a “splotch” when impressed. Now, solving this problem isn’t hard either as it’s very likely you’ll have the just thing to fix it: a pink eraser (make sure it’s a “good” eraser). Yep, that’s the secret ingredient to solving your splotch problems. You just scrub the rubber stamp with the eraser, brush of any eraser dust that have accumulated, ink the stamp however you do it and stamp. Voila! You’ll see that you no longer have a splotch on your paper!
However, if you do find that you STILL have a blotch, don’t worry. Instead of using an eraser, just try a fine-grit sandpaper such as an emery cloth. Just like you did with the eraser, rub the emery cloth on the rubber stamp, dust off and stamp. Using these eraser methods soften the rubber that has hardened and makes it more “elastic”.

If you’re aiming to fix image stamps (i.e. detailed images), you can also rely on the eraser technique to get out those blotches– however, be careful! Don’t scrub on the stamp too hard as you don’t want the image to be torn or damaged. Another possibility could be to fix the image after you stamp it already– just draw in the image part that’s missing. For this, you can use an embossing marker or an erasable pen, and then emboss it as you normally would.

Are you unable to make the saying you want on your crafty card work? Or have you tried to make a nice border around a piece of artwork that you intend to frame but gave up on it because the border just wouldn’t go on straight? Well, try your luck with a stamp positioner.

With a stamp positioner, not only will you be able to squeeze a phrase in one line or make a border straight, you’ll also be able to use them to assist with scenery stamping, letter stamping, silhouetting and more! Stamp positioners are indeed very useful for the stamp artist.

You can many times find these stamp positioners at arts and crafts stores. However, you can probably find the positioners of these rubber stamps online in various rubber stamps stores. There are two main ones to choose from. First, there’s the L-shaped types made by companies such as Plaid and PSX. There’s also a T-shaped stamp positioner made by C-Thru Ruler. Besides those two, there’s also another one that’s shaped very similarly to the T-shaped positioner made by EK Success called the “Stamp-a-ma-jig” which is quite lightweight.

Positioners commonly include an acrylic frame and an acrylic sheet that the image gets stamped onto. To use it, you place the acrylic frame and the sheet together. Make sure that the frame part is touching both sides of the sheet. You then stamp your image on the sheet. Check to see that the edges of the stamp also touch the edges of the frame.

After doing so, you lay the sheet with the stamped image over the position you want it to be in on your project. Set the frame next to the sheet so that the sides touch one another. You should carefully hold the frame in place while removing the sheet. Finally, just impress the stamp onto your project, making sure the stamp touches both sides of the frame. When using the acrylic sheet, make sure to use only pigment or dye ink and NEVER use permanent ink on it. You should also clean the sheet thoroughly each time after use.

By using a stamp positioner, you can more easily create even borders, design scenes and adjust stamp appearances.