unmounted stamps: naked or with foam?

[kaloso05]

I'm just starting to look into the idea of unmounting my stamps. I love the idea of more precise placement and the smaller storage needs for them. In looking into it, there seems to be 2 schools of thought about unmounting: some go with bare rubber and other go with foam, and I'm completely lost in choosing to go one way or the other. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[freewayloulou]

I only have experience with Inque Boutique stamps and they are unmounted rubber without any foam. The manufacturer provides a foam mat for stamping. Maybe you can try one stamp without the foam on a mat to see if it stamps to your satisfaction. If it works, it will be cheaper than buying mounting foam for all your stamps.

[SouthernStorm]

Hay Kathryn! I agree with freewayloulou, cute name, TRY each type for yourself before you take any plunge!! With wood mounted, I almost always got the shadow.. ink marks around my stamped image. I've put all my stamps onto EZ Mount and LOVE it!!! I've recently received a See-D's stamp by Inque Boutique. Its darlin' and really deep etched rubber. No foam, just naked rubber with sticky tape attached to stick onto your acrylic mount. They give you a foam mat to put under your paper. Well, I love the stamp but just having the thickness of the rubber, I still got that dang shadow mark. So, I pulled the sticky tape off and mounted it onto EZ Mount. It works great for me now!!!
There are lots of ppl here that love the bare rubber using Aileene's Tack It Over & Over. If you don't get the shadow mess, this may be for you. Again, I urge you to TRY the different ways first. HTH!
May God bless, Sandi

[KatarinaM]

If I have to cut out the foam/rubber myself, then I prefer it without the foam. If it comes precut with the foam, then I buy it with the foam! I think the bare naked rubber on an acrylic block (I use Tombow mono multi cause it dries faster than Aleene's, and I'm an impatient gal!) with a little bit of padding under the cardstock works just as well as with rubber mounted on EZ Mount. I have both. I don't even have special padding under my cardstock, I have a simple newsprint sketch pad that I use as my work surface, when the paper gets all dirty, I toss them and rip out a few new sheets.

[brightrachel1008]

i prefer to have ezmount on my stamps, but you really don't need to have that. i keep a 49 cent sheet of fun foam around for those occasions when i'm using a stamp with no padding. i just place it underneath my work, but, i do have to say, I HATE the smell of fun foam.

[Erin K]

I really don't care. If they come with the EZ mount, especially if they come already attached like Gina K or CHF then I leave them on. If they don't come with it I never put them on.

The only stamps for me that it has made as differerence is on super detailed ones. Those seem a smidge better on foam.

But I have a foam mat that is 13x13 to stamp on if I need to.

Mostly though I just use the naked rubber and it's fine.

I recently bought Tack N Peel which is sticky and you put it right on your block. I bought it so I'd have a sticky block for my naked rubber. Turns out though that it's fat and sticky, so it gives a bit of cushion. So that might be an option for you too. I think it was about $10 for the package. One sheet that will cover two of my blocks. Not huge... like 5x7 inches maybe?

[NikiE]

I use bare rubber with alene's tack it over and over on the back. Works great for me. Good luck!

[doxiegal]

I use bare rubber with ATIO&O - works great!

[ilinacrouse]

I love my wood mounted stamps! But as long as it's red rubber I don't mind if they are un-mounted. I still don't like the clear stamps, have no idea why