Stamps have been around for many, many years, from the old fashioned office stamp with the black inkpad in a metal tin, to pre-inked stamps, again mainly for business use, to the first stamps for crafters on a wooden block.

Now in the 21st century we have the newest form - clear stamps.

What are the advantages?

• With the wooden block it was very difficult to see where you were stamping, and oh, the difficulty of getting a straight image!

• Now with a stamp which is mounted on a clear acrylic block, you can see exactly where you are stamping, saving the cost of so many ruined cards.

• Your clear stamp is made from a polymer material which allows the stamp to cling to the acrylic block. You will probably use two or three different sizes of block, but you are not paying for each stamp to have its own wooden block.

• The stamps clean very easily with an alcohol-free baby-wipe. Wash occasionally with warm soapy water to maintain the "stickiness" of the back of the stamp.

• You can make your own compilations by combining several stamps on the acrylic block, which will give you perfectly replicated repeats.

• Repeat stamping of the same image is, of course, so easy when you can see your spacing through the block.

• Sometimes you may only want to use part of a stamp, for example, just a picture on the front of a card, with the message inside. This can be done by "masking" part of the design. Again you can see exactly where you are placing your design.

• Just peel the stamp off the acrylic block when you have finished, and return it to the acetate, Your stamps take up very little storage space.