Wood or clear mount???

[Gail Macfadden]

Hi! I was wondering if any of you could give me some pros and cons for dis-mounting wood mounted stamps. I'm thinking of making all of mine clear (acrylic) mount. I have a big collection of wood mounted stamps, in all sizes and from many different manufactures (the bulk are SU!). I know if I remove the wood, it will save space, but are there any other pros? And have any of you found any cons to doing this? I know some of you decided against doing this, but I wonder why?? Any comments will be appreciated!

[michelle328]

I unmounted nearly all my stamps and haven't regretted it for a moment! The one exception is the larger ones such as BG's. I seem to have better luck getting a full image if they're on their original mount.

The acrylic mounts are awesome, you can see where you're putting the image and it's just so handy! I just use a piece of double stick tape to affix the stamp. It's good for quite a while and when it gets fuzzy, just pull it off and put on another piece.

Another advantage of going UM is money...most places sell UM's at about 40% off the price of the mounted ones; you can get a LOT more stamps for the same money that way.

So for me, the two BIG advantages are space and money, both at a premium in our hobby, LOL

[Erin in Okc]

I completely unmounted more than a year ago, and I'm happy with my system. I love that Stampin' Up now offers a cheaper option for no wood, and they still give you the foam and a case. Another pro is that you can spell things out with alphabet stamps. All at once, instead of doing it a letter at a time.
The only con I've found is that the tiny stamps can be easy to misplace. It's just so much smaller without the wood. But I wouldn't go back. My shelves breathed a sigh of relief when I got all of that wood off of them!

[Carebear530]

I am in the process of unmounting now. Mainly for the storage space. But I didn't want to do it until I could do it cheaply which I am doing by unmounting the w/ vinyl. I was also worried about resale until I looked at Ebay & saw many of the sets I bought for $25+ are now selling for $5 or less. At that price I decided I would either keep them or write them off on my taxes by giving them to the Ronald McDonald house.

So far I have not found a real down side besides the all the time it takes & tons of boxes/blocks I need to decide what to do with. But in the end I think I will be happy & it's exciting re-discovering what I have as I unmount them.

[sprtchick]

I have a lot of SU wood mounted stamps..like over 800 sets. Yikes...I would love to unmount them but:
1. I am too lazy..would rather be making cards
2. I started getting their clear mount option on all stamps now and that is saving a lot of space.

I do own many hundreds of clear stamps and TAC sets which are easy to store...Maybe someday I will unmout my stamps...just not now. I do love the space I could save though....lol
blessings.

[sprtchick]

carebear...could you donate the blocks to Ronald McDonald house for the kids to play with? I do not donate to them anymore because I got a stinging response the last time I tried to donate to them. I had over 400 nice cards with envelopes to donate...I posted their response on a thread here somewhere. They were so rude that I would not even waste my time with them anymore. Hope you have better luck.
blessings.

[Carebear530]

I suppose I could donate the blocks to them. The biggest thing w/ the blocks is it would cost quite a bit to ship them to the RMH. They are at least an hour away so I would have to pay the postage. But they would make very nice building blocks. I'm debating if I want to sand the sticky off or just burn them. And the recycle place won't take the boxes since they are the wrong #. :(

Sorry to hear about your cards. Maybe it was just that house. I haven't gotten a negative response when I donated stamp sets.

[biblesistersmom]

If you decide to unmount, there seem to be people here frequently looking for the blocks (including me). I will never unmount because I am way too lazy to put a stamp on a block, use it, clean it, remove it and start all over again. I like to stamp, clean and move on. I have also been considering mounting some of my unmounted stamps (mostly the red rubber ones - not acrylic) because I never ever use them. So, if you are looking to get rid of your blocks, please consider sending them my way. Also, since I much prefer mounted and SU has some stamp sets that have two stamps on one block which I also don't care for, I am always asking my husband to scrounge around for some scrap wood to single mount my stamps. Of course, what he comes up with isn't always pretty! For the original poster, I think I would try unmounting one or two sets to see how you like it before unmounting them all. Good luck with your decision!

[Allistamps123]

Personally I will never unmount. I LOVE my wood mounts. I would hate the extra steps (I like the ease of wood mounts), the time involved in unmuounting would drive me crazy, I could never justify the extra expense (cd cases and the foam and the tack it over and over), I would feel like I was ruining my wood mounts, I don't have a space issue ( I have about 100 sets and 70 single wood stamps) and I've read sooooo many posts that people write about having trouble with one thing or the other.

That said, I've also read many, many posts of people who are so happy they um'ed.
I think most people are very happy they did this. I don't think I've read more than one or two who quit the unmounting process.

Just think it over carefully and unmount a few. I have unmounted my two-step stamps.

[Carebear530]

I forgot to add I have decided not to unmount my alphabet sets (mostly because the amount & size of the stamps) & my background stamps (because I think they will stamp better on the wood). I may change my mind on the alphabets but I think I will for sure leave the background stamps.

Jennifer - If you need wood blocks & are willing to pay the postage PM me with sizes you would like & your address. Right now they are sticky but could be sanded pretty easily.

[shellpole]

Well...I have recently done this with ALL my scenic stamps. I had some mounted and some unmounted....mostly Stampscapes but a variety of other brands as well.

The pro of unmounting all of them is that I now have all of that theme in the one place, making it far easier to start creating scenes.

Of course, the added room from unmounting will be greatly advantageous to me in the future!

All of my UMs are on Ezy mount as I have the yoyo system of acrylic block to stamp with...excellent for those with any sort of hand problem going on. Love the handles...keeps my little fat fingers awaya from the ink just nicely. I, personally, could not deal with the tacky glue stuff....ever.

Michelle

[kphorse]

Another vote here for totally unmounting your wood stamps!

Besides the storage, the fact that you can see where you are placing each and every stamp you use, makes this the best option!

Also, if you have hand and wrist problem's, the round Acrylic blocks make using stamps easier!

[shellpole]

This is the yo yo acrylic block for those interested. It comes in a variety of sizes.

Michelle

[weims]

I have no plans to either unmount my sets or start buying UM. I, like another poster or two, am lazy and don't wnat the extra steps. When I get a few precious moments that I don't waste on SCS, I want to stamp instead of doing extra steps.

[Phantom]

You might find more helpful information here, too

Forums at Splitcoaststampers

[khuffman0121]

I've only been stampin' for about 8 months, and I was reluctant at the clear mount stamps only because I wasn't quite sure how they worked... I saw several stampin' pals use them at our last workshop and I was sold!! So, I ordered 1 clear mount (yep, just one) to get me started... and the one I ordered will cover a lot of the stamp sizes.

I love the fact that the cases store like DVDs, as having a small room for my stamps that also houses a corner desk, and a couch.... I need all the space saving I can get! I will let ya know how they work, as I will be ordering my first clear set for our May workshop.

[stasiatodd]

I decided to try unmounted stamps with the SU Occasions mini. Bought the bundle and only clear mounted(CM) stamp sets. If one of the sets that I could get from SAB was to be wood mounted, I unmounted it too. But I don't think I'll go back and unmount my already wood mounted stamps. Perhaps, Perhaps after the retired sets are listed, if I don't have a lot left.
I find the CM easy to use, but wood mounted are easier!!!
Stasia

[Gail Macfadden]

Thanks everyone for all of your help. Sounds like almost everyone who has gone unmounted loves it! I'll have to give some thought to storage, since I'm really compulsive about finding particular stamps when I want them!