Using Unmounted Rubber Questions Answered

Q - Just today I was asked - if I was using acrylic blocks now instead of wood ones with all my stamps wouldn't I still have storage issues with the blocks?

A - The answer to that is no.

I'm NOT unmounting stamps from wood blocks and remounting them on acrylic blocks. That would be CRAZY!

I'm leaving the stamps unmounted until I need to use them. When I need a stamp (or set) I take out the CD jewel case from it's storage box, I peel off the stamps and stick them on to the appropriate sized acrylic block.

I have a set of acrylic blocks in various sizes that I use for ALL of my unmounted stamps.

Q - Ez-Mount, Cling vinyl, Alleen's Tack it Over and Over? Which one should I use if I want to start using unmounted rubber?

A - You're asking the wrong person! I'm currently using all 3 methods for my unmounted rubber.

I started off like a crazy woman - peeling all my rubber away from the foam and wood blocks.

I was so intent on doing this that I actually did a marathon of this and peeled off most of my stamps and put the rubber into the CD cases before I finished the process and before I even labelled the cases!

These were all stamps that had been already mounted on wooden blocks.

In some cases I went back to them and used Ez-Mount. Ez-Mount is foam with adhesive on one side - to stick to your rubber - and cling vinyl on the other side - to stick to your acrylic block.

Click HERE for a link on how to use Ez-Mount.

I didn't use my rubber snips for long because the cutting through the rubber, foam and adhesive hurt my hands and gummed up my scissors. I actually started using the hot knife method. Click HERE for a tutorial on that.

BUT I found this to be quite costly - $5 for a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of Ez-Mount and not to mention the cost of the hot knife and blades! Also, for the amount of stamps I had that I wanted to use unmounted - quite honestly I felt that it was unnecessary to go to that expense in some cases. My new Stampin' Up! stamps (those that hadn't been mounted yet) for example still had perfectly good foam and adhesive on them.

So I started using cling vinyl for my new and unmounted Stampin' Up! stamps. They already had the foam stuck to them and the adhesive side hadn't been used. So I just peeled the paper off and stuck them on the sheet of cling vinyl. The cling vinyl is only $1 for a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet so more cost effective. And because the cling is see through I didn't have to cut into every nook and cranny!

BUT even this can take a lot of time - because you're cutting your stamps first then adhering the stamps to the cling and then cutting the cling around the stamps. You're actually cutting twice for every stamp!

So I moved on to Aleen's Tack It Over and Over and start using that on some of my older stamps. It was quick, cheap(at $4.99 a bottle) and worked really well!

Click HERE for a tutorial on how to do that.

Q - What are you doing with all your wood blocks?

A - I'm happy to say that I am re-cycling them. I've taken them to the store where I work part time and we've set up a large jar of them with FREE. Surprisingly the customers are taking them. What for? To mount thier unmounted rubber and get this - their acrylic stamps!

Q - Have you really unmounted ALL your stamps?

A - NO. I'm about 75% done but really there are some stamps that I won't unmount. For example my alphas (too much work!) and some of my older stamps that I'll probably get rid of so there's no point in it.

But I have to say that it is liberating to get rid of all the "weight" and space that those wood block stamps took up. Not to mention that now all those Stampin' Up! cases are not on display and I don't get asked "How many stamps do you have???" or "Don't you have enough stamps already?" In each of my CD storage boxes I have 30 CD jewel cases. I now have 10 CD storage boxes full - you do the math - that's a LOT of stamps!

I hope you've found this helpful. If you have any other questions please leave a comment and I'll try and answer it for you.