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I've been using cling mount stamps for 10 years or more and mounting most of them myself. They need maintenance! Thicker cling foam turns yellowish after some years and stops clinging. So for the past few weeks I've been remounting. The cling mount stamps I purchased already mounted all came on thicker gray foam. and I have been mounting my own on this thick foam too. But to save $$ I started buying thin, black cling foam. I don't know yet if thinner cling foam lasts longer than the thicker. But over these many hours remounting I learned thinner cling foam gives better detailed images. Who knows the mysterious ways of cling foam? I used both the Tim Holtz Stamp Positioner and the WE R Precision Press. I have a couple of American Indian complex design background stamps I love but never used because I was unable to get decent images with them. I bought them cling mounted, so they came on thicker foam. When I remounted them on thin foam, I got good images with the Stamp Positioner but great images with the WE R Precision Press. I used Versafine in both experiments. Generally the Stamp Positioner works really well for me. Not so with these very detailed stamps, not only the American Indian designs but ALL my intricately detailed stamps I tested. And why the little WE R Precision Press should do better with these is a real mystery. I haven't tried the thin foam on acrylic blocks yet, but I want to experiment and see if they work better there too. The thin foam works very well on all my stamps generally but I was surprised at the fabulous detailed images I'm getting with thin foam. If anyone understands what's going on here, please educate me!
Louisa May, you need to get nekkid. Seriously. lol! try one of your stamps with nothing but the nekkid bare rubber, and this time put your thin foam under the cardstock or whatever it is you're wanting to stamp (a piece of uncut fun foam or even an old magazine can do the trick, too). I'm mostly nekkid now, and love it.
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
I too gave up on mounting foam completely. I had used at first the normal one, then in time, trying to save space, went down to the thinner one. Had the problem of the foam shrinking in both cases, so finally dumped all the foam from my stamps. TacknPeel on acrylic blocks is what I went to, and am about to put some TnP on cling Vinyl for my TH stamping Platform.
I too gave up on mounting foam completely. I had used at first the normal one, then in time, trying to save space, went down to the thinner one. Had the problem of the foam shrinking in both cases, so finally dumped all the foam from my stamps. TacknPeel on acrylic blocks is what I went to, and am about to put some TnP on cling Vinyl for my TH stamping Platform.
I have TnP on one side of several of my acrylic blocks, but I tried the TnP on cling vinyl for my MISTI and it was a disaster. The TnP bond is strong and when I went to lift the vinyl so I could use some clear stamps directly on the MISTI lid the whole TnP/vinyl mess curled and I never could get it back on the lid properly. Maybe others have a different experience, but now I just use a bit or two of two way tape on the rubber stamp to give it a decent hold if I'm using it on my stamp positioner. (but like I said, my experience may not be universal at all.)
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
Jeanniebean's naked process worked for me better than foam mounting. thick or thin! I've never tried TacknPeel, which I assume is a type of glue. I've seen postings about it here and on other boards with mixed reviews. But I want to try it as well. I store my stamps on EZMount storage panels in page protectors. I'm wondering if residue from TackNPeel would affect the EZMount panels. Anyway storage is MUCH easier without foam mounting. Grateful for the suggestions!
Going nekkid is amazing, isn't it?!?! I sure can't take credit for it, it was a couple of stampers here on SCS who explained how it works that got me started, but I'm a believer now! lol!
TackNPeel is a reusable sheet, kinda thick (1/8") and cushy with stick properties on both sides of it ... kinda like a thick vinyl sheet with double sided repositionable sticky. There are some decent short YouTubes that show how it works, but truely, I think it's easy enough to live without it.
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
Louisa May, Tack n Peel is a sheet, it's tacky, as the name says, but not in a sticky, glue type tacky. It's about A6 size, you attach one side to an acrylic block, then leave the acetate cover on the other side. Just peel off that clear sheet, add you stamp, and it clings. Then just peel off the stamp & put the clear cover back when you're done.
Shaz, Thanks for that information on Tack N Peel. I'll try it, especially for some projects where I can't use stamp positioners. Although I have a lot of stamps, I'm not mainly a stamper. I'm a mixed media collage person playing in the mud messy. I use ink more than stamps and have a ton to learn about stamping, as you can tell here. A lot of the projects I stamp on are too large for any of the positioners. So I need to know how to use my acrylic blocks more effectively. Thanks again to both of you!
The other real beauty about TnP is that because it's transparent, you can put it on one side of your acrylic block, and still be able to use the opposite side for stamps with foam/ clear stamps. If it eventually gets that it starts to lose it's cling, you can clean it by running under warm water, and leaving to air dry, then replace the clear sheet to protect it.
Shaz, Thanks for that information on Tack N Peel. I'll try it, especially for some projects where I can't use stamp positioners. Although I have a lot of stamps, I'm not mainly a stamper. I'm a mixed media collage person playing in the mud messy. I use ink more than stamps and have a ton to learn about stamping, as you can tell here. A lot of the projects I stamp on are too large for any of the positioners. So I need to know how to use my acrylic blocks more effectively. Thanks again to both of you!
Ooooh ... what sort of projects? I have a bunch of canvases on frames (8x9ish, not huge) from an art store that went out of business and have yet to work up the courage to do much more than gaze longingly at their wonderful possibilities ... lol!
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
Thanks for asking! My large projects are dimensional pieces that go in shadow boxes. They involve substrates that I make from cardboard that may be coated with several kinds of goop, including spackle, homemade texture paste, various glues and mediums, etc. I have also backed projects with fabric paper I made. There may be stamped images cut and pasted, or stamped images into backgrounds, silk leaves, stems, etc. I make beads from various materials (inspired by Sherrill Kahn). My peeled off mounting foam, thin and thick, will become beads I'll use on a fabric projcct I'm planning. I also use a lot of stamped, painted clay in my projects (I use Lumiere paint on clay to make it look like metal.) I have done some flat projects recently using Gelli plates and stencils and Lumiere to make framed pieces that look like Indian silk fabric. I can't post pictures, but if you look at Sherrill Kahn's work index you'll see my inspiration.
I can see how you would be inspired. She's amazing! (Did you see she's coming to Chicagoland in April? ;) )
__________________ If you don't want your tax dollars to help the poor, then stop saying you want a country based on Christian values, because you don't. ~ Jimmy Carter
Thin Foam for Cling Mount Stamps
