Stampin' Up! Wood Mount Stamps.... Getting them back in the case

Hello there.

I wanted to share a tip with you that I came up with while trying to put my Stampin' Up! wood mount stamps back in the wood mount case when it's a tight fit. (Picture below)

For example, the Work of Art stamp set. It's a very, very tight fit and there seems to be only one way the stamps fit back in the case. It was like putting together a jig-saw puzzle and I was getting frustrated. So...... out of that frustration came my solution and I'd like to share that with you.

First, I'd like to explain why, in some cases, I choose wood mount stamps over clear mount stamps. If a photo-polymer option is available I ALWAYS choose that. When only wood mount and clear mount are offered, I choose the wood mount if (1) It's a sentiment set and/or (2) If there are images I will need to line up and get straight. My reason for this is I can create my own permanent imaging sheet on a piece of vellum that I keep in the stamp case for those times I need to use my stamp-a-ma-jig.

Second, when the wood mount stamps arrive they come unmounted. In the case are the wood blocks, the image stickers and the red rubber stamps. Here are the steps I take to assemble my wood mount stamp sets. Step 4 is the solution I came up with when the stamps are a tight fit.

1. I keep the wood blocks that are in the case the same way they were shipped.

2. I take the red rubber stamps, "pop them out" and place them on the corresponding wood block. I don't stick them down at this point, I'm just placing them on the block to insure it's the right one.

3. Once I've insured I have matched the correct rubber stamp image with the corresponding block, I adhere the stamp image and the image sticker sheet to the block, one at a time, in the same order in which the wood blocks were in the stamp case.

4. Here's the cool part that I figured out. I cut a piece of Whisper White Cardstock to 6.75 x 4.75. I stamp each image on this piece of cardstock the way it is in the stamp case. I place this stamped piece of paper on the inside of the front cover as a reference of how the stamps should go back in.

Stamp Set in photo is: Me=Grateful (W) 138786 $28.00 or (C) 139318 $20.00

Whoot!! That's it. So, what do you think? How cool is that right?

Thanks for taking a peek at my blog today.

I'm glad I'm back and will continue to post so keep a look out!

Hugs,