Thursday, October 13, 2011

Unmounting Stamps

I have had a few requests to post how I unmount my stamps so I thought I would repost the information today.

This was original aired *okie laughs at sounding like she is on tv* in October last year.

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I decided this weekend I would get the rest of my stamps unmounted and put in the Stampin Up Stamp Cases I ordered from Stampin Up. I didn't decide this until Friday night, and I didn't finish until Saturday night! WHEW talk about a job! But it was totally worth it. I got 10 sets of Stampin Up stamps to fit in 3 DVD cases.

Now I knew if I posted about doing this you guys would be hollering "hey okie we need pictures!" so in my foresight I took pictures! Okay everyone say "YYEEAHHH OKIEEEEE!"....I can't hear you! *okie puts one hand behind her ear and waves up with her other arm to get the people cheering*. That was much better!!

I got the static cling foam on eBay from a seller named 941nmb and I got the product quickly. The seller did combine shipping. I ordered 7 sheets and I now only have 1/2 sheet left.

1. In order to save on foam I laid out a sheet of foam and then arranged my stamps to maximize usage of the product *okie thinks she sounded very professional just then*. Okay, let's break it down, ya'll know I am cheap and I am gonna find the best way I can to get the most out of anything! HA HA HA










2. Here you can see where I stamped the images with Stazon ink. I used Stazon so it would be permanent and not rub off. I left the stamps on the foam as I was stamping so I could get them positioned where they were originally. I did sometimes have to move a stamp or two so I could get an image stamped.











3. I unmounted my stamps by peeling them off the blocks and foam. Usually the foam stayed on the block and I was just able to peel the stamp off the foam. If you have problems you can stick the stamp in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen up the adhesive. Luckily I didn't have any problems and mine come off pretty easy. Some of the older ones took a little bit more elbow grease but it wasn't bad.




4. I lined up the image on the foam by holding it up to the light. I actually had the stamped side toward the light and the stamp facing me. I thought about trying to find my little light table thing I have but I was too lazy to go look for it. The good thing about the foam is that it takes a few hours for it to become permanent so if you don't get it straight the first time *okie thinks...or the first four times* don't worry, you can just pull the stamp up and reposition.











5. After trimming the foam on a few I noticed my scissors were getting sticky and I go the Undu out and cleaned them off. I decided to use the little device shown in the picture to get rid of the sticky and it made it a lot easier to trim the stamp. I can't remember the name of the thing, but it has talcum powder in it.






6. Next I trimmed right next to the stamped image. The foam cuts very easily. I was using big scissors at first but then went to using my Cutterbee's because I could get in the corners a lot easier on some of the stamps.








7. TADA! *okie throws her hands in the air like she just did the most fabulous magic trick* And this is what you end up with after you get the stamp stamped on the foam, unmounted from the block, positioned on the foam and then trimmed! A nice little stamp that takes up about 1/4 of the room you were using before!





8. Now you can see why I unmounted my stamps! What you see in the picture is actually space saving proof. All 10 sets of the stamps fit in 3 Stampin Up Stamp Cases! A few of the sets were smaller ones but at least half were the large sets.


Well now you guys see why I didn't post this weekend! Oh I know you are thinking "okay so what did you do all day today!" I worked on my Naughty Princess card set that will start tomorrow!

9 comments:

  1. I spent over a month 2 years ago, every single night (well almost) undoing all of my wood mount stamps. So worth the blisers I had on my thumbs :) Now I've made space to buy lots more stamps!

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  2. Excellent Idea...now to get to it! Maybe I'll con my hubby into helping me, if I sit in the living room with him instead of in my craft room, I can almost get him to do anything, HA! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. GREAT! Okay, Okie (I've been waiting to use that one) next questions: where do you get the new foam and how to you group or organize your sets? By theme?
    THanks again,
    From someone who asked about unmounting/remounting wood block stamps.

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  4. I follwed your instructions to the T last year and recovered so much storage space for other goodies. TFS

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  5. I get my foam from ebay. I think the sellers name is in the post, they actually have a few names but are based in Mesa AZ. I generally keep my stamps in their original sets unless they have specific theme. I try to do birthday and holidays accordingly.

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  6. Milly glad it worked out for you! I know a lot of people who won't even consider it. I definitely prefer it and love how I can just slide the DVD case out and look to see what the images are and slide it back if it isn't what I want.

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  7. I justn ow found this information. What does the foam do? Is that what you use to replace the block? Do you attach that to an acrylic block to stamp?

    Junestreet3@cox.net.

    Hope you see this!

    June

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  8. i'll ask the same question june bug asked, above. does this foam stick to the acrylic block w/o sliding around? right now, i'm using double stick tape on my block. my stamps slide all over in the case because there is no foam on them. will this foam also keep them stationary in the case? thanks, i hope you see this!

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    Replies
    1. I would think the foam has a sticky side to it.

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