Stamping on acetate creates a professional look. It brings your stamping up a level, without performing any big changes other than your materials list. All you need are the right tools to successfully achieve this look.

Materials needed:

Acetate- look for a clear transparency that can be found in an office supply store or a crafting store. In the crafting stores transparencies can sometimes be found in a stained glass section. Most transparencies are sold in packages of 8 1/2 X 11 sheets. They come in a variety of weights- thin, medium, or thick. For most stamping the thickness won’t matter unless you want the stamped art to stand alone, such as a card with a stamped acetate window. If this is the case you might want to buy the thicker transparency.

The ink you use is very important. You must use permanent ink, but some work better than others. Staz On works very well on transparencies. You could also use Versa Mark with black detail embossing powder. The hardest part of this technique is finding the right products that won’t smudge.

Use your favorite rubber stamps.

Any other standard accessories will only enhance your work, but you know have the essential tools to begin.

Pad your rubber stamp with permanent ink and stamp your acetate. Wait a few seconds to dry and you are done. Add your embellishments and it will look great!





If you are struggling with getting your stamped art to dry properly, or the stamp is just not coming out right, many people will stamp their art onto plain white paper, and then run their black and white stamped art through a photocopy machine and copy onto the acetate paper. This works fine too, but be very careful that the acetate is labeled properly for the type of photocopy machine that you are using. Laser photocopiers can burn out the acetate and ruin your machine! That could be a very costly mistake. So make sure that your acetate says for jet ink copies or for laser copies depending on what kind of machine you are using.

Some three-dimensional glaze such as Dimensional Magic or Diamond Glaze sparks up acetate and gives your work a festive feel. Colored pens, such as Sakra Glaze pens can be applied to the front or the back of the acetate to give your work color.

There are many other ways to treat the back of this work to give color and spice up your acetate stamped art, but that will be covered in another lesson.