Knitting, Crochet and Crafts

Clear Stamps: A Complete Guide + Ideas and Instructions for How to Use Them

What Are Clear Stamps? Check Out a Clear Stamps Definition Plus Get Instructions and Ideas for How to Use Them in Your Craft Projects.

“Clear stamps” is a catch-all phrase describing any craft stamps that are clear.


When they’re brand new, clear stamps are usually close to transparent; over time, they can yellow or get “cloudy” in appearance. They might also get stained with inks, especially if you don’t clean them promptly after using them.

Manufacturers can make clear stamps using a variety of different materials such as silicon, acrylic or photopolymer.


When new, most clear stamps are tacky, a property which allows you to temporarily adhere them to a clear acrylic block and then remove them with ease after you’ve finished using them. For this reason, they could possibly be described as cling stamps; however, there are also rubber stamps that are NOT clear stamps that have this capability – so the term “cling stamp” doesn’t automatically always apply to clear stamps.

Clear stamps can be sold as individual items, but they usually come packaged in sets. Some stamp sets also have matching dies available; they can be sold separately or bundled with their coordinating die sets.

All The Details Clear Stamps and Coordinating Dies from the Tailor Made Collection by Brutus Monroe
All The Details Clear Stamps and Coordinating Dies from the Tailor Made Collection by Brutus Monroe

How to Use Clear Stamps

In case you’re asking yourself, “How do clear stamps work, anyway?” here’s an explanation of how to use them.


Your first step is to select a stamp you want to use. Then you take the stamp, remove it from its protective backing, and press it onto a clear acrylic stamping block. Make sure it is firmly adhered and will not come loose.


If it’s an older stamp that seems to have lost its “tackiness”, you might need to wash it with soap and water, pat it dry thoroughly and then reattach it to your stamping block. That doesn’t always bring the stickiness back. As a last resort, if all else fails, you can temporarily affix your clear stamp to your stamping block using clear double-sided tape. Just be sure to remove the stamp and the tape from your stamping block promptly after stamping.


When you stamp, you’ll want to work on top of a craft mat or similar surface. Some of the stamp sets I bought included a thin, flat piece of foam that provides a suitable surface for stamping on; if your stamp set happens to have this, it’s the best surface to work on top of. Not all stamp sets have this – so if yours doesn’t include a small foam mat, then just feel free to use any ordinary craft mat you might happen to have on hand. You could also experiment with using a mouse pad or similar surface that has some flexibility. I tend to get the best results when I stamp on top of a surface that flexes a bit.


You take your card, scrapbook layout, piece of paper or other surface to be stamped and you place it on top of your craft mat or work surface. Then you grab the acrylic block with the stamp on it and apply ink to the stamp. You can do this by rubbing the stamp’s surface directly on an ink pad or by using a brayer to apply ink to the stamp.


Then you take the block and “eyeball” the position where you want to stamp the image. Then when you’ve made up your mind where you want the stamped image to go, you stamp the design firmly onto your paper or other surface.


That’s it! That’s how to use clear stamps.

Acrylic Blocks for Stamping With Clear Stamps

Clear Acrylic Block to Use for Stamping With Clear Stamps
Clear Acrylic Block to Use for Stamping With Clear Stamps

Acrylic stamping blocks come in different shapes and sizes. Some are square and some are longer rectangle shapes. If you do a lot of stamping, you’ll want to have multiple options for sizes and shapes on hand – bigger blocks for bigger stamps and smaller blocks for smaller stamps. At the time you select the stamp to use for stamping, you’ll also want to choose which of your stamping blocks is best suited for use with that particular stamp.


Acrylic Block for Clear Stamps
Acrylic Block for Clear Stamps

Here you can see a picture of my favorite stamping block; this is how it looked when it was brand new. It has accumulated some wear and tear since I originally took this picture, but it still looks pretty good overall. You can get a LOT of use out of each stamping block you buy, so think of them as a long-term investment in your crafting.

Stamping With a Stamp Positioning Tool

I don’t personally use a stamp positioning tool for stamping, but many stampers swear by them. This type of tool could save you a lot of time if you’re a frequent stamper.

What Crafts Can You Use Clear Stamps for?

Card Making


Slimline Card Idea Featuring Paper Flowers; the Flower Stamps Are Made by Gina K Designs
Slimline Card Idea Featuring Hand Stamped Paper Flowers; the Flower Stamps Are Made by Gina K Designs

If you do a lot of card making, clear stamps are likely to be an excellent investment for you.


If you want to use clear stamps to make handmade greeting cards, you’ll want to buy or borrow at least one set of alphabet letter stamps and one multipurpose set of sentiment stamps to use on your projects. If you’re a beginner to card making, I’d recommend buying three stamp sets to start out with:

  • One alphabet letter set;
  • one set of sentiment stamps;
  • and one set that includes a simple, pretty floral image or other similar multi-purpose image.

It’s also possible to find stamp sets that include floral images PLUS related sentiments; if this idea appeals to you, I recommend looking at stamp sets by Pinkfresh Studio and Altenew.


My current recommendation for the floral stamps is this set of Fancy Floral stamps by Gina K Designs.

In addition to the stamps, you’d want to consider buying one or more ink pads. For these, I’d recommend sticking with either pigment ink or dye ink and avoiding solvent ink like Stazon. Pigment ink is my personal favorite, but I also use dye inks like Distress ink pads.


After your supplies arrive, I challenge you to just test out how many cards you can make with just those 3 sets. You’ll quickly see that you don’t need huge numbers of stamps to be successful with card making; it’s possible to make zillions of cards with just a few well-chosen stamps. Of course, you can always buy more; it’s nice to have lots of choices for stamps to work with, but you might find that you end up using the same few stamps over and over again.

For example, as you can see from the example projects I posted above, I get a huge amount of mileage out of just one flower stamp. I’ve used that simple flower to make hundreds of cards, and I’ll probably use it to make hundreds more in the future.

If a stamp set seems expensive to you, just compare it against the money you’d spend buying greeting cards to see if it’s a good purchase. If you’d make just one or two cards with that set, it probably isn’t worth the investment; but if you’d make dozens or hundreds of cards with it, you’ll know that it’s going to pay for itself easily.


Collages and Mixed Media Art


You might or might not want to use stamped images in collage and mixed media art. I actually tend to avoid it, because I sell the art I make, and legal issues make it complicated to figure out whether you’re legally allowed to sell artwork you make with rubber stamped images. Before selling any art that includes stamped images, it’s wise to check with the manufacturer regarding their policies on selling art using their stamps.


DIY Planners and Calendars

Clear Stamps and Planner Extension Pack from the Maggie Holmes Day-To-Day Collection
The Maggie Holmes Day-To-Day Planner Collection Includes the Clear Stamps and Planner Extension Pack Pictured, Plus Other Items Such as Planners, Planner Discs, Stencils and a Punch That Are All Sold Separately.

You can actually use clear stamps to create your own calendars and planners, if you want to. Or you can buy existing calendars and planners and then use your clear stamps to enhance the entries you write in your planner or calendar.


Bullet Journaling


If you keep a bullet journal, clear stamps give you an edge with creating artwork or text to put in it.


Art Journaling


If you keep an art journal, there are many possible approaches to creating the imagery you’ll feature in it. If you’re not inclined to sketch or draw every image you include, clear stamps can give you a ready source of images and text to consider including.


Scrapbooking


Enjoy the Journey: A Hand-Stamped Scrapbooking Layout Documenting My Sailing Adventures. I used multiple clear stamp sets and rubber stamps to create this page.
Enjoy the Journey: A Hand-Stamped Scrapbooking Layout Documenting My Sailing Adventures. I used multiple clear stamp sets and rubber stamps to create this page.

Clear stamps are my favorite solution to use for scrapbook journaling blocks. These are the types of clear stamps I reach for most frequently when scrapbooking, but I also use alphabet letter stamps to create many of my page titles. I occasionally also use sentiment stamps on my scrapbooking layouts and mini album pages.


Travel Journals


There are many interesting travel-themed clear stamp sets that will give you imagery and sentiments suitable for using in travel journals.

My Favorite and Most-Used Clear Stamp Sets

P13 Journal Stamp Set With Habit Tracker Stamps for Planners, Bullet Journals and Scrapbooking

P13 Journal Stamps: Trackers for Planners, Bullet Journals, Scrapbooks or Other Paper Crafts
P13 Journal Stamps: Trackers for Planners, Bullet Journals, Scrapbooks or Other Paper Crafts

I use P13’s Journal Stamps on (almost) a daily basis, because most days, I use one or more of these stamps in my planner. My favorite is the water tracker stamp, but I use a lot of the other stamps, too.

Brighter Days Stamp Set by Pinkfresh Studio

Craft Supplies by Pinkfresh Studio: The Brighter Days Stamp Set, Pictured With Blue Jay, Regal Kiss and Mermaid Cove Reinkers and the Clouds Stencil
Craft Supplies by Pinkfresh Studio: The Brighter Days Stamp Set, Pictured With Blue Jay, Regal Kiss and Mermaid Cove Reinkers and the Clouds Stencil

I use the leaf stamps in this set frequently for all kinds of paper craft projects. I also use the florals less frequently, mostly for card making projects.

Travel Stamps: Maggie Holmes Round Trip Clear Stamp Set

Maggie Holmes Round Trip Stamps and Patterned Papers
Maggie Holmes Round Trip Stamps and Patterned Papers

I use these travel-themed stamps for many purposes — travel journals, vacation scrapbooking layouts, and even (now this is weird! haha) Christmas projects.


Christmas Images I Made Using a Couple Different Maggie Holmes Clear Stamp Sets
Christmas Images I Made Using a Couple Different Maggie Holmes Clear Stamp Sets

Paige Evans Splendid Clear Stamp Set

Paige Taylor Evans Splendid Clear Stamp Set
Paige Taylor Evans Splendid Clear Stamp Set

Coordinating Sets of Clear Stamps and Dies

As of 2024, one of the hottest paper craft trends is coordinating sets of clear stamps and dies. You can use these sets to create lovely images and then easily cut them out without having to resort to fussy cutting using old-school scissors.

Clear Stamps Storage

Typically, clear stamps come packaged with a backing sheet. You should save this backing sheet for permanently storing your clear stamps on.


Otherwise, the packaging your clear stamps come in might or might not be worthy of saving to use for long-term clear stamp storage. Some clear stamps come packaged in hard plastic that is ideal for long-term storage. Others come packaged in clamshells that don’t hold up well over time. In that case, you might wish to use another solution for storing them. Old-school CD cases work well for storing clear stamps; if you store yours in CD cases, you can also get yourself a CD-rack like the ones people used to use for storing their music CDs.


I store all my clear stamps in larger Artbin organizers along with my old-school wood-mounted stamps. Here’s a picture showing what one of my organizers looks like:


Artbin Craft Organizer for Storing and Organizing Your Rubber Stamps, Ink Pads and Other Rubber Stamping Supplies.
Artbin Craft Organizer for Storing and Organizing Your Rubber Stamps, Ink Pads and Other Rubber Stamping Supplies.

See Also: Rubber Stamps Storage and Organization Ideas

How to Clean Clear Stamps

You’ll want to clean your stamps promptly after each use to avoid having them become stained and also to avoid allowing dust or grime to accumulate on them. Dust can prevent them from sticking to the stamping block, so it’s important to keep them ultra clean.


The method you’ll use for cleaning your stamps depends on the ink you’re using. Make a note of manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning both the ink and the stamps themselves. If you use a dye ink or other water-based ink, you may be able to use ordinary soap and water to clean your stamps.


I don’t recommend using Stazon ink with clear stamps, because the solvent-based and alcohol-based ink can cause the stamps to deteriorate with the passage of time. However, if you aren’t concerned about having the stamps for the long term, and you do decide to use Stazon ink with your clear stamps, you’d want to use Stazon’s recommended cleaner for cleaning your stamps with.

Are clear stamps better than rubber stamps?

Clear stamps and rubber stamps both have their advantages and disadvantages.


Images from rubber stamps tend to be sharper and cleaner than rubber stamps are – so in this regard, rubber stamps tend to be better than clear stamps.


Otherwise, clear stamps offer many advantages that you might prefer. Clear stamps tend to be cheaper, and they also tend to take up less space and be easier to store than old-fashioned wood-mounted rubber stamps.


These days, clear stamps also tend to be more widely available; many popular stamp manufacturers have discontinued their rubber stamp lines, but they are still offering clear stamps for sale. So if you’re looking for affordability, easy availability and easy storage solutions, you might agree that clear stamps are better than rubber stamps. It just depends on what your priorities are.


I personally use both sorts of stamps in my own arts and crafts, but I far prefer old-school rubber stamps. Because I live in a small space, I tend to keep greater numbers of clear stamp sets on hand, but I also still hang onto a few favorite old-school rubber stamps that I NEVER want to part with. I think both types of stamps are fantastic, and I highly recommend both kinds of stamps to you.

Where to Buy Clear Stamps

Wondering where’s the best place to buy clear stamps? I recommend the following online craft stores as being fantastic sources for buying clear stamps: