Clear Mount Stamps – Tips

Hi Everyone.  Happy Friday night and welcome to Jaydee's SU stamping space.  A reminder…. Blog Candy is still in effect – so leave a comment and you will be entered into the draw on New Year's Day :-) 

I'd like to begin tonight's post by thanking all of those who have left comments, or sent me emails, with encouragement about my blog and the projects I post.  They really are what keep me going!  Those of you who blog will know that it takes me about 1 hour every day to photograph and edit the photographs for the cards, create the updates, write the posts, test the post, etc – and that's not including the time spent creating the examples to show you.  I love sharing what I do, so I really don't mind spending the time…… but I really do appreciate those of you who have commented-  and those of you who visit  regularly.   So big hugs to you all :-)  I'd like to do a special shout-out to Adele and to Trish from Wisconsin….. I really appreciate you both!

I've been promising to share with you some of my tips for using the clear mount stamps.  I can honestly tell you that I am loving this clear mount option. 

So, let's get started.  A reminder…. I've made all of the photos enlargeable so that you can see the detail = so just run your cursor ove photos you want to see closer views of…

Firstly – this is how your clear mount stamps arrive in your UPS box.  You can see that they are about the size of a normal DVD case.  In this case the set is the Whimsical Words Sale A Bration set.  You know I love this set.  🙂

One of the other great things about the way these clear mount sets is packaged…

You can see a thumbnail of the stamps on the spine of the case!   Love that!!! This pic also shows you how narrow the set is.  A great space saver.  If you blow up the pic you can see that the name of the set is at the top of the spine and then the sentiments are laid out in thumbnails down the spine.  Great idea!

Now – let's look at the inside of the box.  You can see that your rubber stamps are delivered to you just the way you are accustomed to seeing them.  Same quality, same feel and they stamp just the way you expect your SU stamps to stamp!  🙂

What makes these a little different is that the label you normally get to put on the outside of the wood mount now goes on top of the rubber.  YOU DON'T HAVE TO ADD THE LABEL – but I prefer to have it there – so I will be showing you how to add the label.   This photo shows the labels and the rubber stamps.

Let's take a closer look at those labels.   You can see that they come on their own sheet and if you have a closer look you can see that there is a little slit right down the middle of where you can see the image (in this case the sentiments).  This is your crucial piece.

I actually folded the sentiment back for you so that you could see the slit more easily.  You can tear off both pieces and you will be left with just the sentiment. 

Now…. the next step…. remove the backing from your matching rubber sentiment piece.  You can see that I'm doing that in this particular photo.  Once you remove the backing, it looks and feels just like your normal stamps do when you are ready to attach them to your wood mount blocks.

Because I like having the label that I can see through the clear mount – my next step is to take my rubber stamp – I hold it by the edges – and then place it in the middle of the space I cleared on my page with the sentiment labels.  You will notice that the space that was left when you removed the left and right pieces
to expose the sentiment is exactly the right size of the piece of rubber for the matching stamp….. clever, hey!!!  

Now… take the stamp – turn it sentiment face up and check against the sentiment that you have exposed…. just to make sure that you are matching your stamps correctly… 🙂

Still holding the stamp – not touching the sticky side – you can position the stamp over the sentiment and place down onto the exposed sentiment label.  Press firmly for about 3-4 seconds and then carefully pull up the stamp.  VOILA…. the label is attached to the back of the rubber.

Just look at that!  Very easy.  If you have a little remaining plastic over the edge of the rubber stamp, you can trim it with a pair of paper snips.  Me.. I just left it – it didn't bother me and it was pretty darn close.

So…. some people have said that they find the stamps stick better to the clear mount blocks when you don't put the label on, and they have decided not to adhere the label to the back of the rubber.  For me…. I find that if I put my stamp onto my clear mount and gently apply pressure for about 4 seconds – i press in the middle of the stamp – then my stamp sticks beautifully to my clear mount.

In case you were wondering – I did actually try it with an existing non-SU clear mount block that I had and it stuck fine.  So for those of you who already have clear blocks, you should be good to use what you already have – so long as you have the right size. 🙂

Now the other great thing about this… is that they also stick to the DVD case!  So no rattling around – stuck firmly in their place!  Love it!   

How did I clean my stamps, I can hear you asking?… well, I tried both ways – I cleaned by spraying my stampin' mist directly onto my stamp whilst it was still on my clear block and rubbing it gently on my stampin' scrub – and it worked just fine.  I also tried it another way.  I detached the stamp and placed it on a piece of paper towel and lightly sprayed stampin' mist onto the stamp and removed the ink with the paper towel. 

Personally, I protected the back of the stamp – where the label is – because I wanted to keep it pristine :-)  However,  it's a good idea to keep StazOn remover – or Baby Wipes (for those of you who use them for cleaning) away from the backing label – as these can leave a slightly oily residue and the labels will be just a little harder to stick.  Standard Operating Procedure for those of us who have used clear stamps in the past.

Overall – I love the Clear Mount Stamp option.  In fact, all of the stamps that I will be purchasing during SAB are all clear mount.  I love the storage savings, I love the packaging, I love the fact that I have the thumb nails and I love the fact that I still get the same quality of image that I've always loved about SU…. and…. there's the cost savings, too!

I hope this tutorial gave you a little insight into the clear mount stamps.  If you have any questions, just send me an email and I'd be happy to help where I can.

Well… on the personal side… I am on Christmas vacation as from this evening.  Tomorrow… I get to finish up my 3D projects, finish up my decorations, get our Christmas cards out and NOT… I repeat NOT… put on the alarm tomorrow morning!

I hope you all have a fabulous Saturday and that you get to spend time doing the things you love with those you love the most.  In my case, that would be spending precious time with my handsome hubby and my gorgeous furry babies!

As always, thank you so much for spending time in my little are of the stamping blogosphere where your visits are always much appreciated

Jaydee