Frequently Asked Questions

What can I use your stamps on?
What are "unmounted" rubber stamps?
How do you mount stamps?
Where do I get mounting supplies?
Why would someone want to buy unmounted stamps and mount them? It is more work; isn't it easier to just buy them already mounted?
Where do you get your images?
How do I become an artist for your company?
How come several stamp companies sometimes have the same image for sale?
What sort of ink should I use with your stamps?
How should I take care of my stamps?
How much is shipping?
Why is shipping so expensive?
Why is shipping different for the custom stamps?
Do you have a catalog?
What is your return policy?
Do you accept PayPal?
How do we order your stamps online?
Is it safe to buy online?
Do we pay state taxes?
What are the copyright guide lines for using your stamps? Are you an angel company?
No matter how carefully I trim the rubber and the mounting adhesive, I get an impression of the edge of the rubber or the mount on my project. What am I doing wrong?

What can I use your stamps on?: You can stamp on just about anything! Paper is the basic item that most people get started on, but many stampers also stamp on fabric (even velvet!), wood (including walls and furniture), polymer clay, etc. Just be creative, and if you want to know if something will work... try it and see!
What are "unmounted" rubber stamps?: Unmounted stamps are just the rubber part of a stamp; no wood mount or foam cushion. Just the rubber. That is why they are cheaper! :) To use them, you mount them.
How do you mount stamps?: See our Stamp Mounting info page for the answer to this one.
Where do I get mounting supplies?: We have some for sale here, including the HALOS Mounting System and Quickie Mounts. We are hoping to carry some other supplies soon. If you are looking for wood mounts, http://www.woodmounts.com/ sells them online.
Why would someone want to buy unmounted stamps and mount them? It is more work; isn't it easier to just buy them already mounted?: Yes, it is easier, but also more expensive. Unmounted stamps are much cheaper, so you can buy many more of them! :) In addition, some mounting systems (such as HALOS) allow you to solve the storage issue by using temporary mounts and storing your stamps in a folder or notebook. They take up less space than wood-mounted stamps.
Where do you get your images?: Some are created for us by outside artists (we pay ongoing royalties to our artists), others are designed/drawn by Wendi, and the rest are based on public domain artwork.
How do I become an artist for your company?: Submit some portfolio images for us to look at and we will contact you. Please look at the images we currently sell to see if your work is compatible with our style. For example, if you draw teddy bears and balloons, or "country-style," we aren't looking for that style right now. We are looking for Asian art, vintage-style artwork, carvings, engravings, and other stuff as well.
How come several stamp companies sometimes have the same image for sale?: Usually this is because we all independently stumbled on the same piece of original public domain artwork. Rubber Trouble tries not to use any images that another company is using, even though they are public domain, but several times we found out after the fact that another company was using the same art. (Or maybe they found out after the fact about us.) Oh well, it can't be helped. :)
What sort of ink should I use with your stamps?: Any ink made to use with rubber stamps is fine.
How should I take care of my stamps?: It is a good idea to keep rubber stamps out of strong heat and sunlight, which will cause them to get brittle. Clean the ink off your stamps when you are done using them, to prevent the old ink from contaminating your clean ink pads. Water usually does a fine job of cleaning ink off, but you can buy special stamp-cleaning solution as well.
How much is shipping?: See our shipping page.
Why is shipping so expensive?: Shipping and handling charges cover postage as well as shipping materials and labor. We try to keep the charges as inexpensive as possible, but since the rates charged are an average rate, sometimes they are too high, and sometimes too low. We try to balance it so that most people are paying the right price.
Why is shipping different for the custom stamps?: The custom stamps are shipped directly from the manufacturer to you.
Do you have a catalog?: Yes! See our catalog page for a copy you can download for free!
What is your return policy?: If there is any concern with the items you purchase, please contact us and we will work it out somehow! :)
Do you accept PayPal?: Yes, we accept PayPal. We also accept Visa, Mastercard, checks and money orders.
How do we order your stamps online?: Just click the red shopping cart button next to the item you want to purchase. Then you will be in the shopping cart, and the rest of it is self-explanatory.
Is it safe to buy online?: Yes, it is safe to buy online from Rubber Trouble. Once you get to the part of the shopping cart where you would enter your credit card number, the page is located on a secure server so no one can intercept your information. Also, even *I* don't have access to the credit card number there! It is very secure.
Do we pay state taxes?: If you live in Washington State, there is sales tax charged. Otherwise, there is no sales tax.
What are the copyright guide lines for using your stamps? Are you an angel company?: We are an angel company. If you buy the stamps, you may stamp as you like. All hand-stamped uses are OK with us -- after all, stamps are tools for making art, and we expect you to get out there and make some art! :-) No mechanical reproduction, please. (Please do credit us whenever possible as that will help us sell more stamps and stay in business! :)
No matter how carefully I trim the rubber and the mounting adhesive, I get an impression of the edge of the rubber or the mount on my project. What am I doing wrong?: Don't feel alone. You could be the best stamper in the world with the best quality stamps and it would still happen sometimes. :)

Usually you want to trim the rubber stamp as close as possible, but the mounting cushion doesn't need to be trimmed very close at all since it is further away from the paper. And the mount is even further away. If you are still getting ink from those on your art, there are a couple of things you might want to look out for.

First, when you ink up your stamp, don't press it hard into the inkpad surface as most people do. Instead, tap it lightly a bunch of times on the very top of the surface. This sometimes takes some practice at first. This prevents the sides and edges of the stamp from getting so much ink, and it keeps the stamp from getting too "blotchy."

Second, when you stamp, be careful not to "rock" the stamp. Lots of people rock the stamp very slightly back and forth to press hard on the paper, but this rocking motion gets ink from the cushion and mount on the paper. Make sure that you just press straight down. This also takes practice. ;) Even though I've been doing this for years I still sometimes rock the stamp while stamping.

Even if you are very careful with these things, it will still happen sometimes. But hopefully you can reduce the problem by following these steps.

This page last edited: Sat 3 April 2004. © 1998-2004 Rubber Trouble. All rights reserved.
Litldevl sketch © 1998 by Jason Simpson. Rubber Trouble™ logo © 1998 by Wendi Dunlap-Simpson and Jason Simpson. The Rubber Trouble name and logo are trademarks of Rubber Trouble.
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