Hey, Planner Babes! It’s Rachel, and I’m up on the blog today gushing about the new Carpe Diem Planner Stamps. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know that stamps are one of my favorite planner supplies. Now, I know some planner babes are a little hesitant when it comes to stamping, so I thought I would share today three reasons I love planner stamps and three tips for getting started. 

Three things I love about Planner Stamps 

1. They are reusable and customizable – you’ll never run out! 

Have you ever had a planner sticker you love, but there is only one or two on the sheet? What do you do? You save it, because you want to save it for that perfect planner layout.  I do it, too! Enter planner stamps – you can use the image, icon, phrase or pattern you love a hundred times and it will never run out! The new Carpe Diem Planner stamps have all the adorable icons and patterns from past collections like Good Vibes, Domestic Bliss and Crafty Girl (you know, the ones you have been saving because there are only a few) and the small functional icons us creative planners use all the time, and you can use them forever!

You can also mix and match stamps to fit your needs and whims. With the Mug Life Stamps, I was able to stamp the same messy bun image with different sentiments underneath. How fun, right?! 

2. They are great for dating (or re-dating!) your planner pages. 

One of the things I love most about Carpe Diem Inserts is that they are undated. Having the freedom to use different insert styles makes planning more fun. With the new It’s a Date Stamps, dating planner pages has never been easier. Here, I have used It’s a Date Stamps to date my August monthly spread. Some stamps need to be “primed” before use, so when using new stamps, I always stamp a few times on something that is not your planner page. For me, that usually means stamping onto labels or sticker sheets. With these stamps, however, I was happy to discover that they stamped perfectly right out of the package! Now that’s a good stamp set! 

As it turns out, the extra stamping came in handy. I dated one week wrong, so I used the stamped date stickers to correct my mistake! 

Stamps like this set are also great for altering the dates of old planner pages or changing the headings altogether. I love the Carpe Diem Daily Inserts, but I don't always use them on the days of the week printed on the insert. To fix this, I simply stamped the month on sticker paper and covered the part of the page where the days of the week were printed. Now I can use these pages any time in August! You could also change the heading to “Today” if you wanted to use the insert anytime of the year.

3. They are versatile – stickers, washi, backgrounds, oh my!

With a few helpful supplies, stamps are one of the most versatile planner supplies around! They can easily be made into stickers, washi, and used for backgrounds with the color palette of your choosing!  

Here are some examples of how I used a masking technique with washi to make fun backgrounds for the vertical boxes on my weekly insert. Added bonus? You can write directly over the stamped image so you aren’t losing real estate on your planner page. I also created a mini habit tracker by stamping a grid with the lines from the List It Stamps and added icons from the Get it Done Stamps.  

For this weekly spread, I experimented with stamping faux washi across the top, middle, and bottom columns. I love how this turned out! Being able to use my favorite color combination made this page feel very "me"!

This daily planner page was also created with only stamps! Again, I stamped some faux washi directly onto the bottom of the page. The faux washi on the top of the page was stamped onto sticker paper and trimmed to look like a strip of washi. I highlighted my work schedule with a box stamp from the Make a List Stamp set and a pin icon from the Plan it Stamp Set. I have a feeling those boxes are going to get a lot of use!

Three Tips for Getting Started 

1. Set yourself up for success with quality stamping supplies.  

High Quality stamps and inks along with the right size stamp block can take a lot of the frustration out of stamping by reducing “user error”. Start with high-quality stamps (like these!) and archival pigment ink in a neutral color like black or gray. You can always color in stamps with colored pencils or markers, so there is no need to run out and buy stamps in every color. Having one good ink pad is better than 10 not so great inks.  I do like to have multiple clear acrylic stamp block sizes because there can be quite a bit of variation in the size of stamps. When the acrylic block is roughly the stamp size as your stamp, you tend to get a better impression on the page. Luckily, stamp blocks are often sold in sets so you can purchase one set and that will be all you need!

2. Be efficient with your stamping.

One of the complaints I sometimes here about stamping is the time and effort it takes to get all the supplies out. To avoid this, I like to be efficient with my stamping. What does this look like? It looks like stamping “all the things” at one time, rather than stamping as I go throughout the week. If you are dating planner pages, date several months at a time. If you to track a particular habit, go ahead and stamp out several weeks for that habit. 

As I mentioned above, when I stamp on my planner pages, I also stamp a few onto sticker paper, too. That way, I always have a few stamped icons that I can tuck into my planer for later use. On the sticker paper, I can stamp images in a variety of colors, too. I just love the customization of stamps!

3. Practice, Practice, Practice! 

Stamping can be a little bit of a learning curve. Don’t give up! I have been stamping for a while now and I still make mistakes all the time! Remember earlier about me stamping the dates wrong? Progess - never perfection - Planner Babes! To take the pressure off, I practice! This coincides with the previous tip. If I have an itch to get “stampy”, I set aside some time to practice before I ink up my planner pages. Again, with new stamps especially, I like to stamp an image several times on a blank sticker sheet before I stamp in my planner. Added bonus – an extra “sticker” sheet for on the go planning! You can always cover up a mistake, so don’t worry about getting it right every time.

For storage in my planner, I either punch the stamped sticker page directly into my planner with the planner punch, or I use a 4x6 pocket page to hold smaller stamped stickers. I always have a small set of scissors with me so I can easily trim and use these sheets when I’m planning on the go.  

I hope you enjoyed reading about my love for the new Carpe Diem Planner Stamps. Maybe, I convinced you to give them a try as well!

Follow me on Instagram to see how I continue to put these stamps to use!