Mounting Stamps

• One thing I do to cut down on costs is to use fun foam pieces instead of mounting tape. I buy the tape but it doesn't go far. The fun foam is around a dollar for a large piece and almost any kind of glue works on it. I have also used fun foam as cushion when mounting a rubber die onto a piece of wood. It works and again, is less expensive than the rubber cushion one can purchase. -- Gail
  
  
• I received some great UMs in a grab bag from Sara's Expressions. But how to mount them? I remembered reading that you could use "anything" to mount them. I also remembered gals on this list saying "be creative, use your imagination" I looked around --- what do I already have? Ah, empty EP bottles! Worked great. What glue? I'd tried to find Rubber Cement here, but while there are many kinds of glue, no one could tell me which one was rubber cement. Again, I tried what I had -- hot glue gun -- worked fine. For the larger stamps, I found some 1/4" foam board (left over from quilting) and mounted them. Now what for the final "wood mount"? -- I tried another 1/4" of the foam board and it worked great! Also had some foam mounted Laurel Burch stamps I just got on sale from the Internet, and I put them on the foamboard and it worked too! -- Claudette
  
  
• Since I most always buy UMs... the only others were gotten in trades, etc.... I've used all kinds of things to mount on. At first, when I only got a few at a time, I custom cut all the mounts out of pine board scraps. Anything from 1/2" to 1" or so. I'd cut them to the same size and shape as the trimmed rubber so registration would be easier. Of course,when mounting to wood, you also need to cushion your UM, so I bought a couple of the vinyl on foam placemats to use. That is trimmed to the same size and shape as your trimmed UM. When I moved down the road and was a bit further from Mom's house and the wood shop :-) I couldn't suddenly run across the yard and mount on a whim, so I just cut up a whole mess of pine blocks in different sizes and put them in a box so I'd have an assortment on hand when I wanted them. Some dies needed to be double or triple cushioned though when I did that if the die was a bit shallow... I had to get it further from the block to avoid a block shadow. Thicker cushion would have done the trick... but you know me... "el Cheapo"!!! So I just doubled up the placemat. At the moment, I'm just using what's handy... foamcore board is a GREAT idea... but not cheap I'm afraid. I have this stuff I scrounged from some where or another that I'm using now... it is 1/2" thick rubber compound of some kind. It's real firm and rigid, but the stamps still don't need cushioning with it. It cuts with a sharp knife so I can shape it some. What this means is look at everything around the house, shop and garage and see if you find an idea! Large stamps mount nicely on an old cassette tape case... a CD jewel case would work for a really large stamp. The EP jars are a fantastic idea.... look at other jars and plastic boxes and such. $$DOLLAR STORE!!! we know.... MY favorite subject... in the toy section, look for wood or plastic blocks. You'll be there anyway looking for foam cushion placemats! LOL!!! For glue... I used to use rubber cement and sometimes, if the placemat is glossy, I'd glue that side to the wood with a silicone based glue. Now I use double sided tape for it ALL... ( if your UM won't stick to the tape, you need to get the vulcanizing residue off... scrub the stamp back with some kitchen cleanser first and dry well.) You don't really need to trim the tape. You can tape the whole surface of the block, mount your die, then dust the exposed tape with talcum powder and brush it off well. If you are a perfectionist, you can get hardwood scrap cut into blocks at the lumber yard or from a furniture maker...pine works fine for me. -- Raven
  
  
  

Do you have a frugal stamping tip that you would like to add to this webpage? Then send an email to Dana Marshall at dana.marshall@danawheels.net.

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