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 :)

How I store my rubber stamps cont ....

Well I have to say that I think I might rethink the way I mount my stamps. Although reusing the foam that Stampin' Up! ships with the stamps is a great idea (and a money saver too) I think I might use something like EZmount from now on. I'm not crazy about the idea of spending more money but I think it'll be worth it. After all EZmount isn't really all that expensive.
The reason for the change, well when I reuse the SU! foam, I find that no matter what I do the back of the stamp is sticky. Not really sticky but sticky enough that it leaves a tiny bit of stickness on the cd case. I find that EZmount is not sticky at all and still sticks beautifully to the acrylic blocks. So although it'll cost a little more money, from now on any new stamps I get I'll be mounting them with EZmount.

How I store my rubber stamps

This is how I store my rubber stamps. I bought these cd cases at Wal-Mart. I just took out the black center piece that usually holds the cd. Also make sure you do not buy the slim cd cases, they’re just too thin.

First I make sure I have everything I need. Unmounted rubber stamps, Craft & Rubber scissors (sold by Stampin’ Up!) and an empty cd case.

Carefully peel the rubber from the foam that it originally came on.

Peel the paper from the other side of the foam. You will now have a very sticky side of foam (that you just took the paper off of) and a not so sticky side of the foam (that you took the rubber off of).

Adhere the rubber to the very sticky side of the foam.

Cut around your image, taking care not to cut too close as to cut the stamp but don’t leave too much rubber around the image or it will stamp messy. Always make straight cuts.

Your stamp is almost ready to put into the cd case except that the foam is still a little too sticky. So you now need to stick it to fabric of some sort to get it to be less sticky. I usually use my pant leg. Once you can see that it’s not so sticky anymore you can put it in the cd case. Arrange them however you like.

I scan the sticker sheet and scale it down a bit if needed so it will fit into the cd case. Label the side of the case with the name of the stamp set and you’re ready to go !