Help! card making - rubber stamps - what am I doing wrong?

[bouncingblueberries]

Morning!

Really hope someone can help me. Decided to be all creative and make some Christmas cards this year. I ordered a lovely rubber stamp along with some ink pads, but I just can't get the stamp to, well, "stamp" properly. Not all the ink is transferred to the paper leaving a gap in the stamped image. Is there some special trick or do I just have crap ink?

Aaargh! Thought I was being so smart and organised!

bb.

Is the surface of the stamp flat? If the ink pad is a bit rubbish it might be worth getting some more. I have loads of pigment ink stamps that are still going strong after 10 or more years (used to have a pt job in an art shop when I was a student!), so although they were a little more expensive they were definitely worth the outlay! They are made by a company called colorbox but I've no idea if they're still about... Also, have you tried colouring over the image with a felt tip to make sure it's completely covered? If you're embossing you won't be able to emboss over felt tip as the ink will dry too quickly though!

Oh, and all the usual make sure you're stamping on a flat surface, press down firmly and evenly etc!

Thanks! Tried doing it standing up instead of sitting on the sofa and the result has improved dramatically!! Will also check out those inks you suggested

also, instead of stamping on a completely hard surface, like a table, do it on something a bit softer, like a magazine, or a paperback

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How is it going now? If it's a new stamps it might need a good clean, some have a residue on them that effects how well they stamps until it wears off.

I always stand up when stamping I find I can apply pressure much more evenly, especially with larger stamps.

Are you planning on colouring your images...and if so with what?

New inks I ordered have just arrived, so going to give it another go - but was originally using Stanzon, so think it was slumping on the sofa that was ruining it.

Going to try a lovely metallic silver ink on a dark blue card - so excited!!

What would I use to clean the stamps?

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