Q. How long do orders take?

A.     I am a one-woman shop, and so is Kathi with her Triskelt shop. We both make order fulfillment top priority, and do our best to get orders out within a day, or two at most.
If you are in the U.S. usually you will receive your order in 4 to 7 days. If you don’t receive it in 10 days please DO email right away. We will replace stamps lost in the mail.
International shipments vary from country to country and from day to day. Orders have been received in as little as 7 days all the way up to 5 weeks, and it hasn’t mattered if it was really close, like British Columbia, or far away, like South Africa. I wish I could be more helpful with this. Once you’ve received shipment confirmation and tracking, the best thing to do is watch the tracking, and then inquire in your local post for more information. Thank you.

Q. Will you ship the stamps to my country?


A.    We ship internationally via First Class International Mail through the United States Postal System. Once it is received in your country the U.S. mail has no control over the package anymore, and we won’t be able to track it.
We ship to Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and many others countries. We have shipped to over 20 countries.

The only costs we cannot know about are VAT or other customs taxes your country may impose on our shipment to you, we have no control over that and cannot find out what that cost will be.

Q. Are you an Angel Company?

A.       Yes, we are an Angel Company. Which means that we allow the use of our stamps to create items that will be for sale as long as those items were hand stamped. Copyright law does not allow that you scan the images and use the digital images to create items for sale. Please see below for more information on copyright.

Q. What is the difference between a mounted and unmounted stamp?

A.    Mounted stamps – are rubber (or polymer) + cushion + high-quality Eastern Hard Maple wood blocks. They are indexed on top with clear labels.

Unmounted stamps – are trimmed rubber ONLY and/or sometimes uncut groups of stamps These do NOT have any cushion or wood blocks of any kind.
 Many stamp artists like to mount their own stamps or use a variety of stamping systems (see resources).
Some crafters use the stamps for pottery or other media which requires that the rubber be flexible and/or more washable, thus unmounted is more desirable.

For those using an acrylic block system or a Misti-type positioner, the rubber by itself will not stick, yet you have choices:

• Mount the rubber on cushion and apply cling vinyl to the other side of the cushion which clings to the acrylic. See below for acrylic block resources.
• Use double-sided tape, special repositional glue or glue-sticks

Visit http://www.rubberstampingdepot.com for all your unmounted stamps needs including storage solutions (I am receiving no compensation for this referral)
Want to know more? Check out the FrugalCrafter’s Stamp School for super excellent video how-tos about mounted, unmounted, red rubber, polymer, inks, papers, coloring, and lots more. Lindsay is fun and up-beat and shares an incredible amount of information.

My YouTube channel: I also have a few videos featuring my stamps. Check out Highlander Celtic Stamps on Youtube.
What do I DO with an unmounted stamp if I want to mount it myself? Visit the FrugalCrafter Stamp School – Lindsay does an awesome job of teaching.

Q. Why are there 2 different shops?

A.    As I am a one-woman shop, I decided to simplify things and share the load of packaging and shipping with my business partner Kathi, who owns the Triskelt shops. (Please see the info above regarding availability of mounted stamps after the Camp Fire)
Find us both on Etsy, where you will find your shopping experience fun and easy.

Unmounted stamps, digital clip-art/digi-stamping, coloring, custom stamps, and more are found at:
www.etsy.com/shop/highlanderstamps

Mounted stamps, Celtic theme jewelry, gifts, and more are found at:
ww.etsy.com/shop/triskelt

Q. Are the stamps deep etched?

A.    Yes and no. The red rubber stamps are pressed for me by Jim, owner of Circustamps.com, who has been manufacturing stamps for over 30 years and is a master vulcanizer.  The stamps are etched as deep as practical to retain all the detail. If you’re looking at the stamp from a side view, it’s how high the actual raised part of the image is. Some stamps are lower, some are higher. It doesn’t really make a difference as-long-as you keep the stamp clean.

Q. What are clan badges? Tell me more.

A.    Read the blog post on Scottish Clan Crest Badges: LEARN MORE

Q. Can I get a stamp in a different size?
Do you make custom stamps?

A.    Our stamps are mass produced for us by Circustamps in California.  Red rubber is an old-fashioned material requiring old-fashioned manufacturing methods, yet it is still considered the best, longest lasting material for rubber stamps.

We may be able to help you with your graphic and stamping needs by making a custom sized stamp for you at a custom price. We out-source single stamps at our local business rubber stamp manufacturer, who makes high-quality polymer stamps.

I’ve written a blog post on custom stamps   LEARN MORE

Q. Can you make my art into a rubber stamp?

A.    Make you art into a crisp black & white image of the exact size you want the stamp to be. Then all you need to do is take it to a business stamp maker near you. They can also resize the image for you if needed.  (Look in the Yellow Pages or YELP under Rubber Stamps)  That is the fastest, easiest and least expensive way to get a stamp made of your art and I encourage you to enjoy your art this way.

Online resource: RubberStamps.net

Q. Can I use your stamps for other crafts such as pottery, polymer clay, PMC, soap, ceramic tiles, etc.?


A.    YES! Many people have used my stamps for all these uses and more. The images are as deeply etched as is practical for the amount of detail they have.
I have personally tested their use on polymer clay, pottery clay, acrylic paint on paper and fabric stamping with good results. Some designs are much too detailed to use in these alternative ways, but I have plenty of stamps that work very well.

Customers have used the stamps to:

• impress sugar cookies with food coloring. (Always use a fresh new stamp for food purposes and never mix uses with inks, etc.)
• ink on leather
• wood
• dominoes, etc.
• PMC jewelry art
• wax seals, coat the stamp with glycerin or watermark ink first

Q. What is the best way to care for rubber stamps

A.    I’ve written 2 articles on this subject.
General Stamp Care – coming soon
Hot Weather & Rubber Stamp Care

Q. How are rubber stamps made?

To watch a brief movie of the process go HERE and scroll down to the about section

A.      There are many steps to manufacture a stamp:
1    Original artwork must be very sharp black and white line art
2    A film is made from the finished, and properly laid out, artwork
3    A magnesium plate is etched from the film to a precise depth and angle of slope
4    Then a mold is pressed from the plate
. Once a mold is made hundreds of sheets of rubber may be produced.
5    Rubber is then vulcanized in the mold under controlled heat and pressure
6    Individual images are cut from the vulcanized sheet
7    Unmounted stamps may now be sold as is or glued to cushion and cut out on a scroll saw
8    Wood is cut to the size of the stamp
9    and an image label is applied to the wood
10    Finally the cushioned rubber is positioned on the wood and it is ready to be used.

Q. I see you offer digital images/clip art, what’s up with that?

A.    Also Known As Digi-stamping, the digital clip art images I offer are in 2 categories:
1) Public Domain
2) My Original Art

1) Public Domain images are from late 1800 and early 1900 books I used to own (they were destroyed in the fire). These Vintage Victorian images have no copyrights attached to them and are in the Public Domain, which means they may be shared freely.

What I’ve done is make these images usable by you. I’ve done the scanning, digitizing, editing/cleaning up (most were stained, foxed, and yellowed), removed text, re-sized for modern needs, and saved in our most common formats: PDF and JPG/jpeg. I’ve done all the work so you can just have fun with them.

You are welcome to use those images as much as you like for anything you like, except reselling the files in the form you purchased them. Please, this is my livelihood, help me be a successful artist and respect my labor.

2) My Original Art are my own drawings from my own imagination, photographs and research. These are images that haven’t become rubber stamps (although you could request a custom order), yet are in my collection of work.

I DO own the copyright on these images, so you mustn’t resell these images either. If you really like an image and want to do something commercial with it please talk to me about licensing, as for only a few dollars you can use my image with the good feeling that comes from being honest and helping an artist be successful. Thank you!

I am an Angel company with the rubber stamps, and feel it is great to allow creative uses with the digital images too. So, you have my blessing to add my digital images to your hand-made art that you want to sell, such as collage, cards, mixed media, etc.

Q. May I use one of your designs for my logo?

A.    NO – All original art in the collection is copyright protected and CANNOT be used for a logo. Logos are, themselves, copyright images and must be custom designed.  If a certain design inspires you I suggest you contact the office to talk to me about custom contract art creation which could be similar to the image you like. Email inquiries through this website [ info(at) highlandercelticstamps(dot) com ]and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Be sure to state the best hours to call and what time zone you are calling from. You may also call the office 10 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday, Pacific Standard Time 1**530**876**8989 and please leave a message as I have to screen my calls due to spam.

Q. Please explain copyright, royalties and public domain?

A.    Simply stated copyright means the creator/artist of an artwork/design owns the right to copy or sell it and no one else without the express written consent of the creator/artist. Copyright laws are very strict and costly to those who knowingly or unknowingly steal a piece of art for their own purposes.
The designs of Highlander Celtic Stamps products are primarily created by Kim Victoria, but also include designs by other artists which are indicated with the design images. Artists make their livelihood from their art – be considerate.
Royalties are contractual fees paid to designers, artists or writers for their original work. Royalties are paid for commercial uses of a creation.
Some of the designs are Public Domain which means that they were created such a long time ago that no one owns the copyrights thus making them free to the public. Please email us with any questions you have about a specific image.
For more information regarding these legal definitions please browse the internet or your local library.

For My Customers

Resources