Category: Stampeaz Blog

Need to know the latest happenings at Stampeaz? This is the spot for you. Updates, announcements, site maintenance info or even sales will happen here, as well as general wanderings, tips, tricks, tutorials and other foolishness.

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Introducing VersaFine Clair (and Other Ink News)

VersaFine Clair Inks and Inkers

Some of the inks that I have loved for years are being discontinued, so I went searching for possible replacements. I think I found one. I wanted something that would work with finely detailed images, dry quickly, be light fast, and fade resistant. Also, I wanted the pads to have matching inkers available, so they could be refreshed easily, rather than needing to be replaced when they started to lose their juiciness.

VersaFine inks have been wonderful and I love them, but the only colors that have refills available are Vintage Sepia and Onyx Black. VersaFine Clair, on the other hand, has a variety of pad colors with inkers to match. I plan to keep carrying the original VersaFine pads and inkers as long as they’re available to me (my supplier seems to be phasing out the standard sized pads, but I can still get the minis).

Some of the Clair ink names are a little obscure, but I have pictures of each pad and inker, so you can get a pretty good idea by selecting them from the drop-down menu. (For example, the orange pad below is called, “Summertime”.)

Summertime (orange) VersaFine Clair Pad

While VersaMagic is being discontinued (and is on sale through the end of this month), I have managed to get my hot little webbed feet on more Kaleidacolor pads and inkers, so we can all relax about that for a little while.

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Happy Birthday, Stampeaz!

It’s hard to believe it has been eighteen years. What an amazing adventure!

I’m celebrating today with a couple of sales. First, Tan-Z Kut is on sale all day. The stack looks a little like a layer cake, after all!

Tan-Z Kut
Tan-Z Kut Carving Block

Also, since change is inevitable, I am going to be replacing VersaMagic inks with a new line of pads and inkers I think will be an excellent addition to the mix. That means that I’m putting VersaMagic inks on sale for the rest of the month of February (or, as they say, as long as supplies last). Unfortunately, my basement can’t accomodate everything and I need to make space for the new kids on the block.

VersaMagic Inks and Inkers

VersaMagic is a great matte finish chalk ink and I’ve enjoyed using these in my own creations (and the tiny dew drop pad size makes these colors easy to carry in a pocket or backpack — just saying…). I’m sorry to see these little beauties go, but I’m also looking forward to new colors to play with!

Thank you for a fabulous eighteen years! I have the best customers on the planet!!

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Gift Certificate Update

People have been asking about the new gift certificates and I have an update about how things are going so far.

I’m very excited! I just had someone use one of the new gift certificates to purchase some carving blocks from the store (for the first time) and everything seems to have worked just as it was supposed to work. I love it when that happens! I knew folks had been able to purchase the certificates and send them to the desired recipient, but I was still nervous about how the cashing-in part of the equation was going to work. Tonight, I’m breathing a little easier and doing a happy dance.

Still, let me know if anything seems to glitch on the user end. It’s still a new feature and unforeseen things can happen.

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Announcing Something New!

I finally managed to figure out how to add electronic Gift Cards/Certificates to the site. I had tried several times before and failed, but managed to emerge from the struggle victorious this time. If you want to check out the possibilities, here’s the link: Gift Card.

And, of course, I couldn’t just leave the listing naked, so I carved an icon to use for the link.

Image of a hand carved print of a wrapped package along with the block carved to print it.

So far, I’m using just the print as the icon, because that’s what I originally had in mind, but I’m rethinking it. I might rework the icon, using the printed image along with the actual carving and tools – a square out of the picture above. I think it might be more visually interesting. Any opinions?

In either case, I am very excited to be able to offer gift certificates, at long last. Also, since it’s a new feature on the site, be sure to let me know if you notice any glitches along the way.

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Grade B Tan-Z Kut

I just finished cutting a bunch of Tan-Z Kut and there are a number of Grade B blocks with small imperfections. Anyone willing to do a little bit of careful image placement can save 30% on these blocks. This time, there are three sizes available, 3 x 4, 4 x 6 and 6 x 10. (Just so you know, these are the blocks I generally use for my own carvings – I just created way more of them than I can use and thought I would share the wealth.) Look in the Bargain Basement section for these slightly flawed characters. 🙂

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Happy/Sad Sale

Baloo with his squeaky ball.

Baloo came to live with me 10 years ago today and went over the Rainbow Bridge a year ago tomorrow. I have so many wonderful memories of this sweet boy and I’m still missing him every single day.

So, since I can’t give him a treat today, I want to share one with you in honor of the best dog ever. Today and tomorrow, all Tan-Z Kut is on sale for 10% off.

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Unfortunate Postage News

While doing a test packaging and postage estimate for a customer last night, I discovered that the post office has pulled the proverbial rug out from under us and discontinued the regional priority flat rate shipping option. This means that the wonderful regional rates that I have been able to pass along to customers in the form of postage refunds will be no more. Yep. Well, poo!

Picture of mailing boxes and carving material pieces.
Flat Rate Mailers

The shipping cost listed on Stampeaz.com is not the full retail priority mail price, as I get a small commercial discount which I pass along. I will still do my best to optimize shipping costs by packing as economically as I can – this is especially relevant to orders of multiple large pieces, since the postage calculator doesn’t know how to take my awesome packing skills into account and can overestimate the type and number of boxes or envelopes required.

Also, as you can see in the photo above, I still have some bits and bobs to share as I wrap and label orders, so be sure to let me know if you’d like me to include some in your package. There are little pieces of PZ Kut, OZ Kut, Tan-Z Kut, Firm Kut and some experimental pieces from ages ago that didn’t make it to an actual production run. 🙂

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But I Already Carved

A number of people asked about sanding images they had already carved in order to get better ink coverage. There are a couple of approaches that can be taken to improve how the block takes ink if it didn’t get sanded before carving.

The simplest method is to take a solvent based permanent ink like StazOn and cover the surface of the carving material with it and leave it to dry completely.

Sandpaper and carved block on a flat surface.
Sanding a Carved Block

If the simple inking option doesn’t do the trick and there is still an inking problem, try taking a very fine sandpaper (the sheet above is 600 grit) and putting it grit side up on a very flat surface.

Gently sanding a carved block.
Sanding a Carved Image

Then, keeping the block flat against the sanding surface, gently run the face of the carving around the sandpaper a few times. Make sure the surface is flat and check often to make sure it’s coming off evenly. Remember, not much needs to be removed – just the barest bit off the top to remove the extrusion residue. Also, be careful not to press too hard in any single spot, since the block is flexible and it’s possible to end up with uneven bits where fingers pressed the block into the sandpaper.

Some carvers also use the little manicure blocks that have grit on them. And, if the carving is particularly intricate and likely to wear away rapidly, holding a small piece of sandpaper in your fingers and very, very gently touching up the block’s surface can also work. Be particularly careful with this approach, as it’s easy to accidentally take an edge down too far, but if ink isn’t adhering to the block well enough to get a good print, it’s probably worth the risk.

I hope this helps a little – and feel free to ask questions! After all, that will help me know what might be useful to talk about here on this blog.

Also, it’s the anniversary of the day I began running Stampeaz many long years ago. So, I’m celebrating with 10% off Tan-Z Kut today. If you place an order, don’t forget to ask for some of the bits and bobs I mentioned in a previous blog post – I still have some to share, if you want.

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Preparing a Block by Sanding

In keeping with my New Year’s resolution, I am trying to be better about posting on the Stampeaz site and I thought it might be helpful to start from the beginning and show you how I go about preparing a block for carving. There are a number of ways to do this, but my personal favorite is a light sanding. Sanding will take any film from the manufacturing process off the surface of the block, allowing the material to take both image transfers and inks more readily.

Unsanded Firm Kut

As you can see in the block of Firm Kut above, light reflects off the shiny surface. Right off the extrusion machine, carving materials tend to be a moisture resistant, since heat is used in forming the blocks and it creates a film on the surface. Some people like to rub this off with acetone to remove it, but acetone gives me a headache and makes the block sticky for a while. So, here’s my process.

Sanding a Firm Kut Block

I use several different grits of sandpaper, generally starting with something around 220 and moving up to 320 and finishing with 400 or 600, sanding in all four directions – up and down, side to side and both diagonals. It doesn’t take much, so don’t overdo it. A light sanding with each grit will do the trick. You’re only removing the sheen and making sure not to leave any sanding streaks.

Final Sanding

Between each sanding grit, I hold the block up to the light to make sure I haven’t missed a spot – in other words, there aren’t any shiny spots left – and that the surface looks even and smooth.

Comparison – Sanded vs Unsanded

Here you can see the difference between the shiny, unsanded block on top and the sanded block below. The light no longer reflects off the sanded block and ink will stay right where it’s put. Sanding will also improve image transfer quality, since toner doesn’t stick quite as well to the shiny surface.

This process only takes a couple minutes (and a very small amount of sandpaper, which can be used many times before the grit starts to wear off) and is well worth the effort. I hope this short tutorial is useful and will take the mystery out of block preparation. I find that surface sanding improves every carving material I’ve ever worked with – even linoleum.

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Bits and Bobs

I have mentioned this on the general Stampeaz blog, but I thought it would be a good idea to post it here as well. Not only will reach more people, it will help me keep my (early New Year’s) resolution to start posting more regularly on the Stampeaz site to let people know what’s new and maybe I’ll even get around to posting some tutorials and such.

Carving Material Bits and Pieces

I have generated quite a pile of bits and pieces of carving material over the years. Some of them are material trials that didn’t go into production, others are small pieces cut off my more recent, larger carvings, yet others are pieces of material with images already transferred to them that I have decided I’m never going to carve. Those transfers can be removed with a quick acetone wipe or sanding, or you could simply flip the block over and use the other side. I’ve come to the realization that I am generating pieces like this far faster than I can use them and thought it would be fun to send them out to anyone who might want to try out some different carving media. There’s everything from old PZ Kut (yes, really), OZ Kut, Firm Kut, Tan-Z Kut and trials that didn’t make the manufacturing cut (no pun intended). These are mostly smallish pieces that would be great for anyone carving inchies, small bits of text, fleas, hitchhikers, etc.

So, if you’d like to try a few pieces of something different, just let me know when you place your order and I will make it so. Since I’ll be sending goodies your way, anyway, it won’t cost anything for either of us and seems like a win-win. This offer tended to get lost in the general posts on the other blog, so I thought I would post it here where people might see it when they’re shopping. It stands as long as I have any to share.