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I've heard a lot of talk on the forums about people going unmounted with thier stamping. How do you do this? Is it only a particular brand that is unmounted like acrylic stamps?
I have an EXTREMELY small craft space, so the thought of saving some room really appleals to me! Also, if I save room, I'll have room for more stamps ;)
You can pull your rubber right off your wood blocks. There are many methods of attaching it to you acrylic blocks after this.. You can buy EZ mount if you like cushion. It's sticky on one side where you attach the rubber to it, and smooth on the other side that sticks to the acrylic block. Some people forego the cushion and just use window cling material, velcro, repositional tape, Aileen's Tack it over and over glue, and some people pull the foam off the block still attached to the rubber and just use the residual stickiness that's left on it. There are SO many different methods of going unmounted.
Personally I use the EZ Mount. With my brand new stamps, I line up my stamp, corner-to-corner on the EZ mount and stamp the smooth side with StazOn, flip it over and adhere it to the EZ mount, then trim as I would normally. That way you have the image of your stamp showing through your acrylic block to help in lining up your image. Although, even for the stamps I don't do this on, I don't have any troubles aligning my images.
I store my unmounted stamps in clear CD cases and clear DVD cases for the larger sets and background stamps. Then I index and label. Wonderful space saver!!
Some brands come unmounted (like TAC) but you can also unmount stamps that are mounted on wood blocks. Then you use an assortment of acrylic blocks to temporarily mount them for stamping once you decide your cling method (I use Creative Cling aka EZ Mount). Once you clean them they can go back into a CD case or on a storage baord, etc. They really take up a lot less space and are really easy to use. I love my alphabets unmounted because you can spell the words out on an acrylic block before you stamp it!
I have unmounted all of my Stampin up stamps (over 30 sets). The instructions on how to do it are in the Projects section of my website.
You have the choice of then storing them in CD Cases or on a storage panel that you can then place in a zippered binder. I chose a zippered binder from ebags (This is a cd binder - Case Logic CD-R ProSleeve Binder - I took out the sleeves that came with it - I know it seems a waste, but I'll put the cd sleeves in a different binder)
Hope this helps - I have saved a tremendous amount of space doing it this way. I also peeled the name of the set from the Stampin up box and placed it on the storage panel - now I'm super organized!!
I have a tutorial on my blog about going from SU! woodblock to SU! unmounted. If they are already on blocks then you can either take the whole rubber/foam off and then follow the steps in the tutorial...or you can just peel the rubber and use the EZ Mount method as the above posters stated.
I unmounted ten sets this weekend, and put them on ez mount and in CD cases, wonderful. I love it, I even did a wheel. Less space definitely is taken up.
I would really like to unmount my wheels, but I am scared I will ruin them. Are they pretty easy to remove? I think I would use them more unmounted.
All but one of my wheels were easier to remove than the stamps. The one I had problems with was a really old one and it was just stuck. It did come off with no problems once I got the seam separated. I do use my wheels more now that they are unmounted. I didn't mount them on EZ mount or anything. I just use the bare rubber on a long wood block with repositionable adhesive. I don't have an acrylic block long enough for the wheels.
I contemplated doing this last year, even bought my EZ mount then didn't do it...until now. I mounted a set and used it and I love it!! I've done 12 sets now and have just ordered more EZ mount Try a set and see if you like it first...
I contemplated doing this last year, even bought my EZ mount then didn't do it...until now. I mounted a set and used it and I love it!! I've done 12 sets now and have just ordered more EZ mount Try a set and see if you like it first...
Oh, for the most part, I was able to just peel the rubber off of the foam on all my sets. I didn't need to microwave any blocks.
The above site offers some instruction and ideas on unmounteds.
Basically, you can just carefully pull the rubber portion off the wood stamp. If any glue remains on the back, remove it by rubbing it off with your fingers or even an eraser. Once the rubber is just rubber, you can use it as is with double stick tape on the rubber or on the acrylic mount. Or you can mount it on a foam base with the sticky side on the rubber and the clingy part for adhering to an acrylic mount that does not have any adhesive on it as the adhesive on the mount will damage your cling side. The foam base is often referred to as EZ mount. The stamps are then stored in the labeled VHS style boxes, CD style boxes, or other storage devices that some creative crafters have found. When you unmount and store, just a word of advice: make a copy of the stamps in the storage container and place it in a cross-referenced binder so you can easily locate the image for your projects!
1. Place in microwave, rubber side up and nuke for 20 seconds. Let cool for a minute so you can easily pick up without fingers getting too hot. Peel off rubber and you're done. I found that on some of my really old cheap stamps the wood came off fine but the spongy stuff kind of fell apart and only some of it came off. Just nuke it again for about 10-15 seconds, let cool for a minute and then the rest comes off.
2. To attach rubber stamp to an acrylic block, I have the little square photo tabs that you buy at M's (they're pretty cheap). Just stick one on your stamp and then it'll stick to the block. Remove when finished stamping.
I store mine in CD cases now but I think I'll store my alphas in a binder at some point.
Hi! I am about half way through my unmounting and am so excited about it! I only have about 50 sets so it hasn't been too bad. However, I did get 2 more this past week and put them on EZ Mount right away. I love it! It is taking up way less space and my stamps look so nice and organized! I wish I would have done this sooner!! Good luck!!
My first unmounted stamps were the Bellas and I resisted them for months because I was scared of unmounted stamps - now I have all the passion of a convert. I love unmounted! I love being able to see where I stamp and I'm planning to unmount all my stamps but it's quite a daunting thought.....
I'm hooked on unmounted, just started, but a little daunting because I have about 200 sets or so...I love the few that I started with, you won't regret it!
__________________ I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I'm hooked on unmounted, just started, but a little daunting because I have about 200 sets or so...I love the few that I started with, you won't regret it!
You'll be surprised at how fast unmounting that many sets will go. I did close to that number within a month. Every night while watching the tube I'd take care of 10 - 12 sets. Absolutely LOVE it now!!!
That's good to hear, I just did a few last night and was surprised to see how fast and easy it was! My one tip is too keep a bottle of Scrapper Solution or other adhesive remover so you can de-gunk your scissors a lot. What you you use to store larger images like BGs? I hear someone say DVD cases...
__________________ I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
Just wanted to say thank you to all the advice here. Last night I unmounted a set just to see if I really would like unmount and how difficult it would be. Well it wasn't and if it wasn't so late when I got started I would have kept going. I can't wait to get home to continue.
I have limited myself to a small shelf space and said that once it's full I can't buy anymore unless I trade or sell off. Well this certainly cheats my own system!!
Because I hold workshops, I'm planning on unmounting the retired sets that I don't want to give up and keep the current on blocks.
It's been about 2 months and I think I've got about 100 sets or so done. I bought regular CD calendar cases, mini calendar cases, and larger DVD size cases online for the different size sets, and just got some cool CD and DVD holders from the Container Store to store them in. Loving life!
__________________ I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I don't know how people fit them in CD boxes. They're so small and my stamps are either large sets or large stamps I couldn't possibly. Sounds harder to store than albums, too.
__________________ He set His STAMP of ownership on us, and put His spirit in our hearts as a deposit 2 Cor 1:22Jan
I got some DVD cases that are like the CD cases, clear but big enough for all of my larger sets. The only set that I couldn't quite fit was Nature's Secret...but I could fit all the other larger sets like DD Summer Sunflower, Christmas Gift Tags, Stained Glass I....all the big word sets, etc.
__________________ I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I don't know how people fit them in CD boxes. They're so small and my stamps are either large sets or large stamps I couldn't possibly. Sounds harder to store than albums, too.
I have 600 CD cases full of unmounted. Only in 3 cases has it taken more than one case to house a complete set. I don't put my backgrounds in CD cases as they fit 6 to a shell case.
I am thinking of going unmounted myself. I just don't have the room anymore for all of those wood blocks. Thanks so much to everyone for all of the info. But I have one more question...
What do you do with all of the wood that is left over?
Used to sell it and now I burn it. People want it for shipping price but after my one hour traveling to and from and standing in PO line with a heavy box, it just ain't worth it.
Thanks for the info. Maybe I will just save it up and burn it this winter.
Maybe your travel time isn't quite as far as Housefan's....and it would take ALOT of blocks to be heavy....but from what I've read the past few days ...there are alot of people that don't like unmounted that would be interested in your blocks.
Okay,...I've been hearing about unmounted for some time now and I'm genuinely interested! My question is not about "how to unmount", but rather in the usage. When the unmounted rubber is on the acrylic block, does it move when you stamp it? In other words, does it stamp a clear image or does it wiggle sometimes and look a little out of focus?
No it won't slide around while you're using it. If you need to reposition it on the block you'll have to pull it off and stick it back on.
I never tried to remove glue from the wood blocks, though I suspect goo gone would remove it. I burned all those blocks and sold only new unused ones as I got them.
__________________ He set His STAMP of ownership on us, and put His spirit in our hearts as a deposit 2 Cor 1:22Jan
I've gone unmounted myself and it is so nice. I just finished doing all my sets and it's wonderful. It took forever to talk myself into it because it was a huge job - but it was well worth it.
I stored all mine on the SU case lids and then put them in boxes. I went from 3 bookshelves 2 sets deep to one shelf!! I have room to expand.
I tried once to post a pic but it was huge!! I dont want to try again, but take a look in my gallery and you'll see... Just another idea to choose from...
Hugs,
__________________ Take a looksie at my blog HERE
While your at it stop in at my SCS gallery HERE
*Proud SCS Fan Club Member*
I need some more advice on how to get the glue residue off the back of the stamps. When I UMd Cool Cat and some Sell-a-bration sets, the rubber peeled off the foam with minimal/no residue whatsoever. When I UMd Looks Like Spring, there was a lot of residue left behind, especially on the larger stamps! The smaller LLS images, I could just rub the extra adhesive off with my fingers. The larger stamps, like the daisy and the two diamond background patterns, I've had no luck! I applied so much UnDu I was stoned for a week and still the gummy wads of adhesive are still on the back. Has anyone else had this happen to them? How'd you get around it?
How do I go Unmounted?
