Doing things a little differently

I have always loved wood mounted stamps.  At one point in my stamp collecting life I would buy only wood mounted stamps and eschewed cling mount and especially clear stamps.  But life changes.

Wood stamps are heavy, cumbersome, and difficult to store.  This I found out.  Especially when you have millions of them.

Plus, the quality of the cling mount and clear stamp varieties have really improved in the last couple of years.  Kind of like appliances.  And of  course the invention of the Misti stamping tool is a total game changer.

And now that I have discovered some new products, I am taking the leap and removing my beloved stamps from their wood mounts.  Well, many of them, anyway.  The process is slow and painstaking, but I think the results will be worth it.

First--the products I am using:   EZ Mount Cling Thin--this stuff is fabulous.  Easy to cut, so once the stamp is off the block, converting to Cling Mount is EZ!  But not all stamps are worthy of this process.  My rarely used but still coveted collage stamps are undergoing a different process!

Thus the second new product I am using:  Allene's Tack It Over and Over repositionable glue.  Available only online at JoAnn's.com.  I remove the stamp (not the mount, just the red rubber) and paint on a mayonnaise layer of this glue.  Let it dry until it is clear, then voila--the stamp is easily stickable to a regular acrylic mount or your Misti.  Of course you must use a stamping mat since there is no foam backing, but the Misti makes this really not a problem.

So here is a picture of one of the stamp albums I am making from my collage stamps:

I have inserted 110 lb cardstock into a page protector and "clung" my newly glued-on-the-back-with-Tack-It-Over-and-Over stamps on top of the page protector.  The 110 lb weight gives a little bit of strength to the backing, plus you can stamp your images on the facing side so you have a stamp register.

Here is a picture of the Tack It Over and Over:

Another product I foresee using is Tack and Peel.  I bought it originally to use with the glued Tack It Over and Over stamps, but you don't need it.  But you can use it if you don't want to put glue on the backs of your rubber stamps.

Since starting this process I have emptied drawers of stamps (drawers that can hold other things now!),  What am I doing with my no longer needed blocks?  Of course they are going in boxes in the garage--who knows when I will need them!!!!!!