Q. Some of the stamps this year are quite large, I am thinking in particular of the Christmas rubber stamps and the clear big corner stamps, and they don’t fit any of my blocks.

A. Whereas the larger stamps are great for card making as the stamp virtually covers the card, which means you need little else in the way of embellishment, you do need a large stamp block to use them.

Woodware have brought out an acrylic block measuring 130 x 180, roughly 5 inches by 7 inches, which will happily take the largest of the stamps we sell. It’s a good depth as well at 15mm.  With some stamps, if you are using a greeting, and many of the stamps come with a greeting including with the main pictorial stamp, you can position the greeting on the acrylic block and stamp both the picture and the greeting at the same time saving you having to line the sentiment up afterwards.

Then it’s simply a case of adding embossing powder or colouring with Promarkers, adding an embellishment or two if you want and your card is made.

The 130mm x 150mm Woodware acrylic is excellent value too at only £6.99.

Q. What’s the difference between clear stamps and unmounted rubber stamps? Both seem to need an acrylic block to mount them on so are they just different names for the same thing?

A. Good question. Rubber stamping has really grown in popularity recently as people rediscover what a great technique it is for both card making and scrapbooking.

Clear stamps are, strictly speaking, not rubber stamps as they are made from acrylic. The come as individual stamps, or in sets of individual stamps, ready to be mounted on an acrylic block. They are self clinging so you just take it out of the packet and attach it to the block without any need for mounting tape or glue. Clean then with clear water and dry with kitchen towel as soon as you have used them and they will last you a long while. I usually remove my stamp from the acrylic block after cleaning and put it back in its packet ready to use the next time – leaving my acrylic block free for another clear stamp.

Unmounted rubber stamps, on the other hand, usually come on an sheet and you first need to separate the stamps out by cutting around them with a sharp pair of scissors. To mount them onto the acrylic block you need a rubber stamp adhesive or tape such as U-Mount. When cleaning try not to get too much water on the adhesive as this can lessen its stickiness.

Q. I have a really big stamp and can’t find an ink pad anywhere near big enough to take it.

A. You can use any size stamp pad, including even our little 1 inch versacolour pads, as you take the stamp pad to the stamp and not the other way round. Take your stamp pad and keep pressing it agaist the stamp until you’ve covered the whole stamp. You’ll find that this method gives better coverage and a crisper, even finish to your stamped image.