My new best friend ! LOL

Today I will introduce you to my new best friend. I mentioned to a friend that I detested how sticky my scissors got when cutting the EZMount foam when I mounted my stamps. Then it was sugested that I use a hot knife. "What in the world is that?" was my response.
Since then I have bought one, let it sit on my counter for a week because I read the directions and was too intimidated to try it. A friend (hi Liz) sent me a link to a tutorial and I then saw how easy a hot knife really is to use.
So here I am today intruducing you to my new best friend, the hot knife :)


This tutorial is for unmounting and remounting (on EZMount) a stamp set that is already mounted but you can also remount a stamp set that hasn't been mounted on blocks yet.
The first step is to separate the rubber from the foam. Once you have done this make sure the back of the rubber is clean before you attach it to the EZMount. I find that any sticky stuff usually just rubs off with my finger.

Cut a piece of EZMount just a bit bigger than your stamp.

Peel off the paper on the EZMount (the paper with the writing on it) to reveal the sticky side of the foam (there's a sticky side and a non-sticky side). Place your rubber on the foam.

Say hello to my little friend ! LOL

First of all. It's called a HOT knife for a reason. Enough said :)

Peel off paper from the back of the foam. Holding EZMount in one hand, slice through foam with the other. Once the hot knife is hot, it cuts through foam like it's butter ! Do not force, if you have to use force the hot knife isn't hot enough yet (takes about 5 minutes to get hot). Cut right along the edge of the rubber. Try not to cut on an angle (so that the foam is smaller or bigger than the stamp).

I store my mounted stamps in cd cases. (Of course the set I chose to use for this tutorial barely fits in a cd case so it looks terrible but you get the idea). If it was a stamp set that was already mounted, I take the stickers off the blocks and put them on the outside of the cd case. If the stickers are still on the sheet then I put the sheet either in the cd case (if it fits) or with it.

I hope this clarifies using a hot knife for you. I almost forgot, this hot knife cost me $20. The best $20 I've spent in a long time !

Any questions, please email me, I'll be happy to help :)