Monday 2 April 2012

Unmounting my wood block rubber stamps

Yippee!  I've been thinking about doing this for ages and never had the courage to rip ! till  now .... It's so easy.  I have a ton of wood block stamps - well 15 drawers full in 5 wheelie storage carts (I couldn't possibly count them).  They take up loads of room and as I can't seem to stop increasing my stash,  something's got to give!  So far I've done 24 mostly large ones and am about half way through one drawer!  I  have a big bag of wood and being a crafter I don't want to throw them away but not sure what to do with them.  Any ideas?

Here's a quick how to (there are videos on You Tube)

1.   Put stamp in microwave for approx 5 seconds each  per medium sized stamp (I put 4 large ones in for 20 seconds).

2.   Try to carefully peel away the foam and the rubber together.  You can cook it a bit longer if it doesn't peel away easily.

3.   If the foam tears you can still push it back on but if the foam disintegrates peel it off as well.  So you are either left with a virgin sheet of rubber or with foam backing.

4.    Using a craft knife carefully insert the blade into the plastic picture from the wood and it should peel off easily.

5.    Smooth the picture down onto the (still sticky) foam (check it's the right way up) and trim off the excess with scissors.  You can apply a repositionable adhesive to this surface so when it dries it can be used with an acrylic mount.

6.    If you have virgin rubber (no foam backing) you can use Easy Mount or Cling On on the back.

7.   There are several ways to store unmounted stamps (again loads of videos on this on You Tube) ie in a binder on a thick plastic sheet, in CD cases etc.



So thin without the wood so takes up less space.  I'm so pleased with the results. Why not have a go?

10 comments:

Unknown said...

wow hun, you have a lot of stamps, could you keep the pieces of wood and alter them into something ??

Celias said...

Well done and true be easier to store xxxxxxxxxxxx

lexiemess said...

I could'nt do it ..... I love my wooden stamps I know they are a pain and take up loads of room but thats me a bit odd lol !I love to touch my paper too love the feel of it .... Iam really odd hahahahah I used to have all my brads in a big tin and loved to run my fingers through it .... but could never find 2 the same ! so now they are organised lol

Kate M said...

Thanks for this info - most useful!!
Kate
x

annemarks said...

ha ha ha! You really must get out more Lexie!!!!

Chris said...

I did this with all my wooden stamps too, mademore room for more. Chris xx

annemarks said...

I wil keep them but inspiration hasn't struck yet!

Gwyneth said...

What a good idea. Most of my stamps don't have wood behind them, but those that do have wood do take up a lot of space that I could better use. I could always shove the blocks of wood out the garage until I found an use for them, instead of in my bedroom. Yet another job to add to my list of things to do.

Kim x said...

A friend of mine gives her wooden blocks to a Woodturner that she knows. I really have got to do this to at least some of my stamps, but it is finding the time. Thanks for the tip with the image though I was wondering how to deal with that.
hugs Kimx

annemarks said...

I sprayed them with reposition able adhesive and put a square of acetate on top for storage. On some that had no image, I stamped onto acetate and used that on top of the adhesive.i've got a lot to do but I try to do some each week. I will have a look for a wood turner near here thanks Kim :)