Monday, August 17, 2009

Unmounting rubber stamps and storing them




Top photo: 12x12 cardstock covered with stamped images.
Middle photo: back of the same 12x12 cardstock in page protector, with the stamps clinging to the back of the page protector. You can also see the next "page" of stamped images on the right side in another page protector.
Bottom photo: a page protector that came divided into 6 sections, with Purple Daisy stamps clinging to the back. I cut cardstock to fit each pocket first before stamping it.

I have been collecting rubber stamps for a lot of years. It got to the point that I didn't have room for them all, couldn't easily find what I wanted when I wanted it, and even worse, we were thinking about moving to another state. All the weight of those stamps would add to the moving expenses, which we expected to pay ourselves.

So I decided that if I were going to keep my stamp collection, I would have to unmount my stamps. First I stamped the images onto a piece of cardstock that fit into a page protector or pocket of a page protector. I then slipped the cardstock into the pocket. I cleaned the stamp, removed it from the wood block AND from the foam, then painted the back of the rubber stamp with Aleene's Tack-It-Over-and-Over. Once the glue was dry, I stuck the stamp to the back of the protector that had the cardstock with the image of that stamp.

I use Crop In Style Paper Sticker Binders (CIS PSB), which zip closed and have page protectors with pockets of varying sizes. The photos show regular 12x12 page protectors as well as a page protector divided up into 6 pockets.

My stamps take up far less space, are very quick and easy to look through, as well as easy to take to a crop if I want. I'm using my stamps a lot more these days because it's so easy to find what I want.

The CIS PSB shown in these particular photos holds over 400 stamps. Some are larger, some are very tiny, but it holds a lot of stamps! I store the binder on a bookshelf, UPRIGHT like a book on the shelf, so the stamps don't press on each other.

Unfortunately, CIS PSBs were discontinued. However, a regular 8.5x11 zippered binder could also work if this system of storing stamps appeals to you, or perhaps someone is selling them on ebay. I have enough PSBs for all my stamp storage, including room to add to my collection if I want, so I don't need to worry about it.

I'm more likely to buy acrylic stamps now, but they fit nicely in the PSB pockets, too.

4 comments:

  1. This could work for me. I even have an old PBS binder that I'm not using. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Thanks for posting this on two peas. I have way too many wood mounted stamps, and I think I might try this with a lot of them. I do store some of my smaller ones in the baseball card pocket sheets. I have tried the tack-it-over-and over, I put mine right on the mount, that seemed to work too. You have some great looking stamps there. Thanks for sharing. shirley

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  3. Oh nice blog. I like the ideas mentioned and the collection of rubber stamps. These rubber stamps are noteworthy.

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  4. I too have too many wood mounted stamps that I would ever want to move. I stamp my images off on contact sheets just to catagorize my stamps...
    Your method is a great idea. I like the idea of sticking them to the back of the page protector.
    That old card and the doors are gorgeous stamps.

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