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We just moved to a new house so I am all about organization!! I really want a plan of attack before I start to unpack. I guess I have been out of the loop on this unmounted thing so a few ?s......
1. How do you unmount?
2. What do you do with the rubber/blocks after they are apart?
3. How do you stamp with them now that they are blockless?
4. Do you regret unmounting?
5. Has this made you change from buying SU rubber stamps to the SU acrylic?
Just peel the rubber from the cushioned backing that is stuck to the block. For some stamps, it comes right off. Others may need a few seconds in the microwave to make it easier. Some of the rubber might have a sticky residue that needs to be cleaned off.
2. What do you do with the rubber/blocks after they are apart?
Unless you have a use for the blocks, toss them or give them away.
There are several options for the rubber. I kept mine bare. Some people mount the rubber on cling cushion (I think that's the name) which will adhere to the acrylic blocks. Others paint the back with sticky stuff (can't remember the name) that will adhere to the acrylic blocks.
3. How do you stamp with them now that they are blockless?
You adhere the rubber to acrylic blocks to stamp. The same blocks you would use with "clear" stamps. If you used cling cushion or sticky stuff (see #2 above) that will hold the the stamp to the block. Since I keep my rubber bare, I run strips of double-sided poster tape on the acrylic blocks to hold the rubber. It goes through many, many stampings before the tape needs to be replaced.
4. Do you regret unmounting?
I unmounted all my stamps a couple of years ago and continue to unmount any wood mounted that I purchase. It took a while to get it done but I do not regret it. I like using them on the acrylic blocks and storing the stamps takes much less space.
5. Has this made you change from buying SU rubber stamps to the SU acrylic?
SU does not sell acrylic stamps. They now sell many of their rubber stamps unmounted that you adhere to acrylic blocks to stamp. I now purchase unmounted stamps (SU and other companies) rather than wood mounted if they are available.
You also need to think about how you will store them and there are numerous ideas for this.
As an index, I scanned the image side of all my blocks. If it didn't have a block or packaging with an image, I stamped it and scanned it. This gave me a complete index of all of my stamps.
I hope this helps give you some things to think about. Depending on how many stamps you have, this can be a huge job but for me it was worth it.
I unmounted my wheels and to my surprise, I regretted it. I also bought several of the new SU cling sets, and I don't like them either. I found I really prefer the wood blocks, despite all the extra room they take up. I must be old-fashioned.
I haven't used SU acrylic stamps yet, but I just wondered even with unmounting the wheels, is the image as crisp as with wooden blocks and traditional wheels? That is the one thing that keeps me from unmounting. Is it something you have to get used to, and then do, or do you still always have occasional times when the image did not come out very good?
__________________ "You cannot use up creativity. The more you use the more you have." ~Maya Angelou
I haven't used SU acrylic stamps yet, but I just wondered even with unmounting the wheels, is the image as crisp as with wooden blocks and traditional wheels? That is the one thing that keeps me from unmounting. Is it something you have to get used to, and then do, or do you still always have occasional times when the image did not come out very good?
I don't have any more trouble getting a crisp image than I do when they were on wood blocks. And, SU does not have acrylic stamps - they have unmounted rubber that you use on acrylic blocks. The SU unmounted stamps do have the cushion backing so when they are on the acrylic block I don't see that there is any difference from being mounted on wood.
Another way to unmount is to use your heat gun on the image for a few seconds in each area. I used to microwave them and the blocks would get so hot, so I tried this on a couple that the foam padding came off with the stamp. It worked fantastic. Most stamps if they are new you can just peel them right off. I've remounted mine with the ez mount.
I love that I've done this with my stamps, they took up SO much room when they were mounted. I use them with my acrylic block and am going from storing them in cd's to putting them on the ez mount pages to give me even more room. I bought a stamping bella box (binder that is a box) and can't wait for it to get here so I can put the pages in.
I also have a binder in sections that I have stamped all my images in (both acrylic and rubber). ie. baby, birthday, flowers, sentiments.. etc etc. I've put my stamps in the same locations on the ez mount pages. When they were in cd cases I could just flip through the binder of images and see what I needed, could see if it would work with a particular punch, etc.
No one is a noob here. Getting your "noobie" questions out there also helps the rest of us see there are new ways to do things that may work better than our current system, so keep asking away!!!!
One recommendation I've seen on the forums about unmounting is to unmount a set that isn't one of your absolute favorites or buy a set unmounted and a cheapo acrylic block... and try it out just in case. I'm in the process of unmounting my 50+ sets. But to determine whether you'll love it, hate it, or just plain not care either way, try it out. There's lots and lots of info here in the forums about how people go about it and how to organize all these images so you can find them again once they're off the wood and out of the clamshells. (Here's a link to Patter's blog about this - you'll be in organized stamping heaven!! There are links throughout her blog post that take you to other pages of her phenomenal organizational system. It's truly a sight to behold! Triple the Scraps: Organizational {Friday} Wood Mount Stamps)
There are a few options of unmounting to consider based on your budget and/or free time. I'm going the cheapest way I could find, since I'm currently a SAHM/college student. EZ Mount is fairly expensive, and I just can't afford it, so I'm making do with the ATIOO. Also, our house is TINY, so storage was the main reason I chose to take this route. I'm just removing the wood from the stamp and leaving the original foam adhered to the rubber stamp. I didn't have to microwave any of mine, which surprised me since they've been in storage for over 5 years! Then I peel the image sticker off the block and place it on the exposed adhesive on the foam and trim the sticker to the shape of the trimmed stamp. Then I use Aleene's Tack It Over and Over (ATIOO). All I've spent so far is the money for the ATIOO (around $7 at Michael's - can't remember the exact price and it's not for sale online from Michael's; you have to buy it from the brick and mortar store), under $20 on 100 cd cases from meritline.com, and under $20 on 3 cd case holders from Wal-Mart.
When you unmount, do you remove the rubber stamp from the cushion and the wood block? or do you just remove the wood block?
I bought some ez-mount that has a thin cushion on it, but have yet to unmount because I'm unsure how to do it. With the ez-mount that has the cushion you would want only the rubber.
Also, I wanted to stamp the image on the cling side of the ez-mount. I've read one can do with Staz-on but I don't have any of that yet. Is Memento ink same as Staz-on?
Help!
__________________ Penny ~ Scrappin' Moments Blog Goals ~ Jan 2011 Double-Layouts 5/4 ~ Blog Posts 1/2 ~ Quilts 1/1 ~ 60/60 Shower Invites
Last edited by ScrappinMoments; 08-09-2010 at 08:49 AM..
Also, I wanted to stamp the image on the cling side of the ez-mount. I've read one can do with Staz-on but I don't have any of that yet. Is Memento ink same as Staz-on?
Help!
I saw a great tip on how to do this and have been searching through the forums to try to find it. I'll keep looking though. Someone had a great idea of how to line up the stamped image (after it was stamped on the ez mount cling side) with the rubber image itself. I'll find it eventually... I think I remember the gal's name, but haven't had any luck so far.
__________________ ~ Laura
I have CDO. It's like OCD, except all the letters are in order like they should be.
When I get a new set from TAC or SU, I carefully peel the rubber from the cushion, without separating the rubber. Then I lay the rubber down with the flat side on the desk. I ink up my Stayz On black and then lay the EZ Mount cling side down on top of the inked image(s) -- making sure to line up the lower left hand corners of the rubber and EZ Mount. I carefully pick up the EZ Mount and set that aside for a few hours to make sure the Stayz On dries. I carefully clean the rubber without separating it. Once the Stayz On is dry, I peel the liner off the sticky side and carefully stick this to the back of the rubber. I cut out the stamps and now I have the cling side indexed with the rubber image! I've been pretty lucky in that they seem to line up nicely. (Some of them.) LOL Even if they aren't lined up perfectly, at least I remember what the image is. I still can use my Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the image where I want it.
Kimberly
Now I'm going to go look for some inspiration like I meant to do in the first place! LOL
__________________ ~ Laura
I have CDO. It's like OCD, except all the letters are in order like they should be.
there is a video on the flowersoft tv.com i beleive that is the web site. I bought the ez mount foam on line and did a bunch of unmounted sheet of stamps. I used used a permanant ink like stazon and it worked well. good luck
__________________ 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 haven't used SU acrylic stamps yet, but I just wondered even with unmounting the wheels, is the image as crisp as with wooden blocks and traditional wheels? That is the one thing that keeps me from unmounting. Is it something you have to get used to, and then do, or do you still always have occasional times when the image did not come out very good?
I found the image is MUCH better. With the acrylic block you can see the pressure that you're putting on it by being able to see the pressure on the stamp...does that make any sense? I'm not sure how to describe it. I've just found that my images are much clearer and even now that I can see how much pressure to apply. Hope that helps!
__________________ "Never be afraid to try something. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic." ~ Anonymous
I have had clear "acrylic" stamps and blocked stamps since 2002 and really like being able to just "eyeball" the positioning of the stamps. Fortunately for me, it is generally exactly where I want it due to doing things like this for many years.
As well, I have often picked a stamp to use, and when holding it over the card to check where I exactly want it have decided it is not the stamp to achieve the idea at all. So, instead of that stamp another one is tried, and then actually end up with what I want as the finished product. That is not something that can really be seen through a wooden block.
Have done that with cling type of stamps, and it does make a difference because you still can basically see around where it would be to see what it will look like as a finished product.
Wanting to go unmounted...**HELP**
Unmounted stamps
