Unmounting Rubber Stamps - Tutorial

When I received my very first shipment of rubber stamps from Stampin' Up! I was so excited and thought how nice they would look in my little basket. That was a few months ago and now I own more than half of the stamp sets being sold in the SU catalog -- not to mention all the accessories! I'm sure most of you can identify with me and my problem of not having enough storage space. So, this month I finally took my first step in reorganization: I decided to unmount my favorite stamp sets -- just the ones I consider "keepers."

Supplies:

Stamp Set
Craft and Rubber Scissors
Empty CD Case (not thin)
EZ Mount™
Hot Knife
Glass Work Surface

There are probably numerous techniques in doing this, but this
is the way I find works for me.

When working with new stamp sets, pull apart the rubber pieces first, then peel the red rubber off the sticky foam. When working with sets that have the rubber already mounted on the wood, the red rubber can still be easily peeled off the foam. Do not discard the wood yet, you will need the image label of the stamp for later use. You should start preheating the hot knife right about now.






After trimming all the rubber stamps with the craft and rubber scissors, lift the protective sheet off the EZ Mount to expose the sticky side (be very careful not to get other things stuck on this -- it's very sticky!) and position the rubber stamps on this so it lays facing up. I find it works better if I cut that portion away from the main sheet.

When I first started transferring my sets onto EZ Mount, I used my craft and rubber scissors to trim the rubber and the EZ Mount, but it left a really sticky mess on my hands and on the scissors, too. Then I remembered that I had bought a hot knife with one of my 50% off coupons at Michaels one day. Great time to finally make use of it! Okay, I found two ways to use the hot knife for trimming this foam. One way is by holding the rubber and gliding the hot knife along the edge of the red rubber. The blade of the hot knife cuts the foam like it was soft butter, and the edge comes out so smooth! The other way is by placing the rubber stamp and the foam on top of the glass work surface and tracing around it with the hot knife. This also works, but my favorite way is the first one I described. But be very careful not to touch the hot blade.

Note: It's very important to have the glass underneath when working with a heat tool.

Option: If you do not have a hot knife, you can use your craft and rubber scissors to cut the EZ Mount foam.

Tip: After you place the rubber stamps onto the EZ Mount foam, sprinkle baby powder on top of the exposed sticky part of the EZ Mount before proceeding to cut with the scissors. This will help prevent a sticky mess.

Here is what it will look like on the bottom. This side will stick to the acrylic block, but is not really "sticky" just "clingy."



Here is a picture of the stamp on an acrylic block, ready to be inked and stamped.




Repeat the steps with all the stamps in the set and then take all the clear labels that you saved earlier and arrange them on the outside cover of the CD. Place the rubber stamps inside the CD case over the image label of the stamps.



Here is a picture with all the stamps in the case.


Last step, stick the stamp name label on the side panel of the CD case. I hope this helps you. It has really helped me become more organized. I can't wait until I have more space. I just hope I don't get to the point where I start to feel like it's getting too empty around here and start filling the place up again!

Thanks for visiting!