Using Unmounted Stamps
If you are new to unmounted stamps, this information may just be of some use to you.
I only started stamping around seven years ago and soon discovered that unmounted stamps were cheaper to buy and often half the price! My other half (bless him) was so fed up of my asking him to cut up pieces of wood and I was extremely frustrated because he took so much time to do it. I had stamps on both sides of the wood pieces and often on the sides, if they were Greetings stamps. NOT very easy to stamp with, but hey, I'm not one for giving up the chance of getting better value for my money.
There are several ways of using ums, apart from getting someone very kind to cut up bits of wood for you!
I had the good fortune, while off work recovering from a hand operation, to discover Halos on the internet. When I discovered just how easy it was to use unmounted stamps, I was thrilled and won’t tell you just how many I actually own now! I think I’m afraid to know.
USING DOUBLE SIDED (CARPET) TAPE
Simply put strips of tape onto your blocks (wood or acrylic.) Store your blocks on wax paper, remove paper and add your UMs to the block to stamp.
Double sided carpet tape is very strong and lasts for a while – a good supplier of this is Wilkinson’s, at a very good price.
Store your stamps in empty CD jewel cases or envelopes or whichever way suits you best.
HALOS™ MOUNTING SYSTEM
Mount ums onto the loop tape, cutting round carefully. (TIP: Be sure to cut as vertically straight as you can - if you cut at an angle your stamp will not stamp clearly at the edges) Halos mounts have grooves into which the hook tape (the other side of the velcro) adhere, allowing you to add and remove your stamps at will.
The mounts are also useful for any of the other methods mentioned, as you can use the back of the mount. Halos loop tape does provide some of the cushioning you need for stamping, but I do advise a mouse mat underneath your card when using larger stamps. The beauty of the Halos system (and yes, I am biased!) is that you can SEE THROUGH your mounts exactly where you’re stamping.
EAZIMOUNT (my preferred method)
Eazimount is a foam with cling vinyl so you get the best of both worlds. Peel back the backing paper to reveal the adhesive and stick on the stamp to be mounted. Trim carefully - be careful not to undercut - keep scissors upright at all times or you'll end up cutting the foam at an angle and the stamp won't have full cushioning, creating problems when stamping. The foam simply pops on and off the mount as required and stores easily on laminated index sheets - or acetate. Lovely way to stamp
TACK'N'PEEL
One of the newer methods to mount stamps. This is a semi clear adhesive tape, which attaches to the mount itself. You then attach the stamp to the adhesive (temporarily). Works beautifully with smaller stamps, particularly alphabet and word stamps. Reusable but it's worthwhile keeping one mount separate and having the Tack'n'Peel on it permanently.
GLUE STICK METHOD
You can just stick your stamp to the block using an adhesive such as Pritt Stick. I own up to doing this from time to time on the reverse of my Halos mounts, especially with a larger image which I am waiting to mount. Just add the glue, stamp, then wash off both glue and ink under the tap. Make sure you use a mouse mat under your stamping surface – it really does help.
TACK IT OVER AND OVER METHOD
TACK IT OVER AND OVER GLUE is used for this method - not as easy to find in the UK as it is in the USA, I'm afraid. Trim your stamp, if not already done. Some people prefer to put mounting cushion on the back of their stamp, while others only use it for thinner rubber. Using your finger, rub a thin coating of glue onto the back. Let it sit until the glue is clear and no longer milky. It makes more sense to trim and add glue to a lot of stamps at once, just to save time.
Acrylic blocks are best for this because you can SEE where you are stamping - no need for a stamp positioner! If you don't get a good impression with your stamp you can place your paper/cardstock onto an old MOUSE MAT and then stamp, this will act as your cushion.
CLING VINYL METHOD
For this method you also need the double sided adhesive
cushioning. If your stamp already has cushion adhered to it, start
the instructions on the paragraph after next.
If your image is rubber only, cut it out with scissors as close to the image outline as possible. Peel back the paper that is attached to the cushion,
then place your rubber (image side up) on that side of the cushion and cut the cushion around the image using
a Craft knife. You may have to trim unwanted fragments of cushion away from the
stamp with scissors. When you do this, make sure you cut straight, not at an angle. Your
aim is not to have any cushion showing on the side of your rubber image.
Place sticky side of the cushion on the shiny side of static cling vinyl. Cut the static cling vinyl around your image, leaving at least ½" extra vinyl cling around
it. Remove the paper backing from the vinyl.
Now rub the vinyl side on your clothing, to create static,
and place it on the appropriate sized acrylic block, pressing down on the top of the stamp AND the vinyl around your stamp.
You can now use your stamp as usual.
WORKING WITH LARGER UNMOUNTED STAMPS
You can use any of the above methods for stamping your larger ums BUT I find that this way is easier. Just place the stamp on my working surface, ink it up, then carefully place the cardstock on top of the stamp itself. Then I carefully take a large mount, big enough to cover the whole of the stamp, and lay that on top of the cardstock, being careful not to smudge the ink. Press down and hey presto, you have a lovely, clean image. Much easier than doing it the hard way and much more reliable, even than on loop tape! I had so many failures with large stamps until I began to do it this way.
CLEANING UNMOUNTED STAMPS
I clean my stamps with a variety of products. I use baby wipes on the whole, simply for convenience, but that can prove to be expensive and doesn't always work on permanent inks, such as Ranger's archival inks, Stazon or Steward Superior Jet Black.. For these I use a permanent ink cleaner - usually Stazon Cleaner. . I just apply the cleaner to the stamp, give it a minute to settle, then wipe it off on a Magic Mat, which has soft bristles to get between the lines of the stamp. I also treat my stamps to the water based cleaner from time to time, as it has a conditioner for the rubber AND it smells of bubble gum!
Alternatively, I have a paint pad refill in a plastic container, spritzed with water. I just rub my stamp on that and wipe it dry on a kitchen towel. Use a toothbrush if you have to for those fine line images, especially with Brilliance inks! However, nothing works as well for most cleaning as pure water - if you can run your stamps under a running tap, all the better.