Monday, April 24, 2017

Wooden Stamp Storage - Banish the Block




We're downsizing and my massive stamp collection takes up lots of room.  Don't get me wrong,  I love my wood mounted stamps, but it's either find a way to store them so they take up less real estate or get rid of them.  Option 2 is crazy-talk.

The solution came in one of my Facebook art groups,  Maremi's Creative Cafe,  posted by Suzy Jenkins.  She nukes the stamps to peel them off their wooden base.  I've tried prying stamps off before without heating and got chunks of foam left behind.  The heating makes  the whole shebang lift off nicely.

I selected big background stamps as having the most space-saving potential.  Plus, having these stamps unmounted makes them easier to use in backgrounds.  I rarely use these as whole stamps, and it's a bear to stamp just parts when the stamp is on a block.

Here are the fancy tools I used:


Nuke the stamp on full-power for one minute.  Carefully remove with pot-holder - the wood block gets mighty hot,  be careful.  I found it easier and safer to put the stamp, face up, on a plate and put the plate in the microwave.  It's easier to lift the plate out than the hot stamp.

Once the stamp was heated, I slid an old butterknife under between the wood and the foam backing.  The stamps all peeled off easily and none were damaged in the process.

I wanted some way to identify my unmounted stamps.  Some of the wooden blocks had that plastic coating with the image printed on it.   I tried lifting it off the wooden block and sticking it to the foam backing, but found it was really easier to stamp the image on some transparencies from my stash.  I stamped them with StazOn, then cut out and stuck it on the back of the stamp.  The foam stays sticky, so no problem adhering the transparency or the original label.  You could use the plastic from unmounted sheets or packaging - you'll want something to cover up the sticky back.




Now here's the pay-off.  Before, with my can for size comparison:


 After:


 Cooking stamps in the microwave - who knew?  Planning on cooking lots more,  Thanks, Suzy !


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