• Standard Acrylic Block.
This is the cheapest option but it can also be the most frustrating. Regular acrylic blocks are great for stamping images that you will be cutting out later or the placement is unimportant. They're also good if you are stamping something that you will be adding to your card. I do not recommend using a standard acrylic block to stamp something on a card base that you have put a lot of time into. The reason is because it can be easy to stamp the image poorly and it's hard to place your stamp directly back on top to re-stamp it. It's also hard to stamp sentiment stamps perfectly straight when you are basically eyeballing it.
Apple Pie Memories makes some good acrylic blocks. There's have grooves in them that makes getting a grip easy. They also have a grid laser etched in them which makes lining up your stamp easier.
Inkadinkado also makes a large one which is the one I own.
Prima makes one that has a handle. Many people like that but I actually feel like that gives me less stability.
If you get an acrylic block I highly recommend getting one with an etched grid and finger grooves. There's some cheap ones out there without these features and I feel that they are far less superior.
Prima 4 x 8" block with handle $17.24:
Apple Pie Memories 4 pack $18.68:
Inkadinkado Extra Large Acrylic Block $11.94:
• Fiskars Stamp Press and Martha Stewart Stamp Mount.
Both of these are offered in a smaller and larger size.
You can use these as your one and only stamping block if you want but there's other ones I'll mention later that have benefits in certain situations. I personally own the larger Fiskars Stamp Press and I like it for sentiment stamping. Even with some of my other stamping tools, I still use it for stamping large sentiments on the inside of my cards. The benefit of these type of stamping blocks is the foam feet provide height and stability so you can line up your stamp perfectly over your paper and then press straight down when it's in the perfect position. This also makes it easier to get stamps really close together without overlap such as when you are stamping a garden of flowers. You can even put all of the stamps on the stamp press and get it done in one shot. The large surface area makes this possible.
Compact Stamp Press at Simon Says Stamp $13.99:
Large Stamp Press at Simon Says Stamp $22.99: ( This is the one I own and it's $14.07 on Amazon)
Medium Martha Stewart Stamp Mount at Amazon $9.24:
Small Martha Stewart Stamp Mount at Amazon $5.72:
• Stampamajig
Stamp a whaaa? Yeah it's a mouthful but this little tool is a major help with wood mounted stamps. This 2 piece set includes a plastic bar and a clear plastic sheet. All you do is put the corner of your wood stamp in the corner and stamp straight down onto the plastic sheet. Then you take the plastic sheet and put it on the area you want to stamp and place the plastic bar on the sheet. Now you remove the plastic sheet, ink up your stamp and stamp down exactly where you wanted to. This is the best tool for getting straight stamping with wood mounted stamps.
Sold at Amazon for $7.19:
• Crafter's Companion Rock a Block
The Rock a Block is supposed to make it easier to avoid smudging or over-stamping by stamping in one smooth motion. You roll the stamp from bottom to top. I haven't used these myself because I already have many ways to get a good stamped image, but if I didn't already own a ton of stamping tools I'd definitely give these a try. I may even buy them for my Mom since I think she'd enjoy them.
Sold at Simon Says Stamp for $14.99 for a pack of 4:
• MISTI & Stampaholic
These bad boys are new to the scene and they cost a pretty penny!
Both of these tools use the letterpress technique to stamp clear or cling mounted stamps (just remove the foam when using cling). This unique system makes it incredibly easy to re-stamp perfectly. You can also lay down an entire scene and stamp it at once. Grid patterned paper and rare earth magnets to hold your paper in place make this a fool proof way to get straight stamping done. There is a metal plate on the back that the magnets are attracted to. You also get rulers around the outside for extra precision.
The MISTI (stands for Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented) comes in three different sizes depending on your application. The Mini MISTI is perfect for card makers. The original MISTI is larger and makes stamping directly on the inside of a card base possible. The Memory MISTI has a 12 x 12" stamping space which is perfect for Scrapbookers! The MISTI's range in price from $49.99 to $110.00. This is an investment in your stamping and not a cheap tool by any means. There's also one called the Stampoholic which is around the same size as the original MISTI and it's $54.95 which is about $25.00 less than the MISTI. However, there is a patent on the MISTI which the Stampoholic may be infringing on. I am not a patent lawyer so don't take my word on it. Patents are expensive and normally get built into the cost of an item to make some money back. Many people own the MISTI and are completely in love with it. It's extremely useful when you are stamping multi-step stamps such as Altenew's Vintage Roses. I am a little cheap and have spent more than my fair share on expensive crafting tools (Silhouette Cameo 2 and the MINC machine to name a few!), so I did it as a DIY which we'll talk about next!
Mini MISTI for $49.99 at Simon Says Stamp:
Full Size MISTI for $79.99 at Simon Says Stamp :
Memory MISTI for $110.00 at Simon Says Stamp:
• DIY Letterpress Style Stamping Tool
I found this video on YouTube and thought "Wow, what a great idea!"
There was a link below the video to the store that carried all of the necessary supplies. I recently went on their website again and it appears they have everything but the metal sheets by Darice.
Here's what you need:
DVD case $2.99( or you can get a 10 pack here and store your stamps in them too!)
Rare Earth Magnets $2.49 x 2 = $4.98 (or get an 8 pk here for $5.08)
Little B Perfect Positioner $3.99 (or $2.79 here)
Craft Foam $0.69 ( or $7.49 for a 10 pk and use the left overs with adhesive as full back foam adhesive on cards!)
Metal Sheet $9.67 ( this is more than you need so find another project to use the rest!)
Total cost for the DIY stamping tool is $22.32 if you buy everything you can from Hallmark Scrapbook and the metal sheet from Amazon. The Darice metal sheet was smaller and less expensive so hopefully those come back in stock some time. I've used mine more than a handful of times now and I really like it. I especially like being able to double stamp when I'm working on watercolor paper.
• Stamping Pad
A stamping pad can help you get a nicer image than stamping on a hard surface. It lets the stamp sink into something. You can use a cheap mousepad or fun foam for this but there are special stamping pads out there that are a little thicker. Darice makes a rubber one and it has great reviews. Obviously you won't need this when using your MISTI or DIY stamping tool.
That covers it for the best tools to get a perfect stamped image. I hope I have enlightened you today and you learned something or found a new tool you didn't know existed that will make your stamping a little easier and more fun! If you have any questions, please leave me a comment and I will be happy to help you out!
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