What Are Polymer Clay Stamps And What Are They Used For?


Polymer clay stamps are used to make an imprint pattern or image in uncooked clay. You simply press the stamp onto the clay and once it’s baked, you can paint the indented and/or raised areas to highlight the design.

The term ‘polymer clay stamps’ can also mean:

  • Stamps made of polymer clay that are used to stamp patterns onto polymer clay.
  • Stamps made of rubber, metal, plastic, wood or polymer clay that are used to stamp patterns on polymer clay.

With both options, you can either:

  • Use the stamp to create a debossed image on the clay – the stamp cuts into the clay’s surface to create an indented image. You can add colour to the image before or after baking the clay.
  • Use the stamp with ink to create an inked pattern on the surface of your clay – this can be done before or after baking. This technique is commonly used in jewellery making.

Below, I take a closer look at the options for using stamps with polymer clay and what results you can expect when using them with miniatures.

What Kind Of Stamps Can I Use On Polymer Clay?

Your main options for stamps you can use with polymer clay are:

Rubber stamps mounted on wood – these are super easy to use and you might find you already have some in your home you can practise with.

Unmounted rubber stamps – these are the same as the mounted ones but without the mount! They usually cost less than the mounted stamps so are a good option if you just want to experiment with stamping. You can also run unmounted rubber stamps through a pasta machine with your polymer clay to get a super deep indent in your clay.

In theory you can use any type of stamps with polymer clay but the results you get may vary. Stamps with a shallow cut – where the indented image isn’t very deep – will leave a fainter image than ones which have a deeper cut.

Stamps that are meant for using with ink can be used to make an indent in your clay. But but you’re unlikely to get a clearly defined and cut image.

Stamps specifically made to work with polymer clay or ceramic clay are better if you want a more deeply cut image. Look for ceramic clay stamping tools on Amazon, Etsy or your local craft shop, these are made primarily for ceramic clay but work fine on polymer clay and will give your clay a deeper indent.

It’s also worth checking out fondant stamps as these can also be used on polymer clay. You might even find miniature flowers or foliage stamps which you can use as a simple way of creating polymer clay miniatures.

How Do You Use Ink With Polymer Clay Stamps?

You can either stamp your inked design directly onto polymer clay before baking or after baking your clay. The surface of the clay will need to be smooth and flat to achieve the best results.

Below you can see how I used ink on a smooth flat piece of polymer clay. I just used some ink we had in our crafting cupboard for this experiment – the brand name is Dovecraft and the colour is Indigo.

Below is an image of the piece before baking. I started on the left side, so you can see the image gets more subtle as the ink is used up form the pad. The clay is used is FIMO Soft. Once it came out of the oven and was cooled, the ink wouldn’t smudge.

ink of polymer clay

Many bloggers and YouTubers recommend StazOn ink, a permanent ink that can be used on baked or unbaked polymer clay.

How Can I Add Colour To Stamped Clay?

Once you’ve baked your clay, you can add colour to the stamped area by using chalk, paint, soft pastels crayons or anything you’d normally use to colour your clay.

It’s a good idea to seal the clay to protect the the materials you’ve used to colour the clay. The paints or pastels etc. that you’ve used on your clay won’t be anywhere near as strong as the clay itself, so they’re likely to chip or flake if you don’t seal them.

You can paint or add pastel to the clay before baking it if you prefer. The only potential downside with this is that you might loose some of the finer details or texture during the baking process.

How Do I Make My Own Polymer Clay Stamp?

I decided to make my own leaf stamp from polymer clay as a quick and easy way to create lots of foliage.

IMAGES COMING SOON!

Remember to think about what you want the final stamped clay to look like. Making a stamp out of polymer clay means that the pattern the you stamp out with be an inverted version of the one you have on your stamp. For the leaf I did, this didn’t matter as it looks fine inverted, but for some designs you’ll need to do them in reverse on the stamp to get the image you want in the clay.

What Miniatures Can I Make With Polymer Clay Stamps?

You can make anything that’s flat and small with stamps! Miniature leaves, fruit segments and flowers all work well and you can save time and clay on making a cane if you only want a few pieces. Try experimenting and see what works, in some cases it maybe less fiddly to use a mould rather than a stamp.

I used a stamp to create this miniature bird box, I used FIMO Professional to create the brown bird box. However, I also tried it with a cheap orange polymer clay from Amazon and the result was a sticky mess!

IMAGES COING SOON

Further Questions

How Do You Create Intricate Textures On Miniature Polymer Clay Models?

You don’t need to use proper stamps to create texture in your clay, in fact for many miniature pieces, stamps might just be too big. Instead you can use other items to create the delicate textures needed to add intricate detail to realistic miniatures.

Items you may already have that you can use to add texture to miniatures include:

  • A needle – this will add very fine detail to very specific areas, such as adding lines to the top of a miniature baguette
  • A toothbrush – for adding fine texture to larger areas
  • A ball of tin foil
  • An old paint brush
  • A toothbrush
  • A tooth pick

Below, you can see the different textures these tools add to polymer clay.

Can You Use Stamps On Baked Clay?

Yes, once your clay is baked you can stamp it, however the image won’t be as defined as it would be on raw clay. It will look more like an ink stamp on paper – it will show a flat image with little or no indentation.

Also, you’ll need to find the best combination of ink and clay tog et this right. I used a cheap polymer clay from Amazon with Dovecraft ink and even after 24 hours, the ink was still wet:

ink on baked polymer clay

As you can see, the stamped image is much more defined on the raw clay, compared to the baked clay.

What Are Texture Sheets And How Are They Different To Stamps?

Texture sheets are flat pieces of rubber with a design cut into them. They are different to stamps as they are larger and are used to cover a large piece of polymer clay with a pattern.

To use them, you roll out the clay, place the texture sheet onto the polymer clay, and press it down or use a rolling pin.

You can make your own texture sheet out of everyday objects with a pattern on them including leaves, shoe soles, lace, feathers etc.

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