A cheap way to mount stamps!

OK, so I went against my normal “rule” and I bought a grab-bag of stamps. Now, I have a lot of stamps so I normally do not do this but my friend Jennifer got a grab bag from Viva Las Vegas Stamps and she was thrilled, plus really, how often do we get a nice surprise nowadays, I think a pound of rubber showing up in the mailbox is a pretty nice one 😉 Here is a card I made with some of my grab-bag goodies from Viva Las Vegas Stamps. the image was colored with ProMarkers. Note: See the end of this post to find out how you can win a set of ProMarkers!

I bought a pound of rubber, 25 funny sayings and 3 of the $1 bags of delinquent dies. I like what I got and found that half of the stamps I would actually use (good ratio for a grab bag!) what’s more is a lot of the stamps in there were of animals being silly and they are just perfect for my stamping kids! (Frog in a top hat anyone?-“hello my baby, hello my darlin’, hello my ragtime gal…” OH yeah!) So I decided I would add to their stamp stash but I had one major problem…”How do I mount these so the kids can use them?” My kids are too young to deal with unmounted stamps and clear blocks so I thought of a frugal way (free even!) to mount these for them so they can be used easily and stored conveniently, here is what I came up with:

Yes my friends I used discontinued Formica chips! My folks have a hardware store and when I was visiting last week I asked if they had any discontinued ones they did not need and Dad handed me a sleeve of them, SCORE! Here is what you need to mount stamps on Formica chips. You could also used old baby blocks or scraps of wood that have been cut to size and sanded as well.

Supplies: Formica samples, rubber cement, Clear sticker paper (Safmat by Letraset)

Step 1. Trim around the rubber image (die). Paint a thin coat of rubber cement on the back of the die and the back of the Formica chip. Let dry completely.

Please note: the "sun" stamp I am using in this tutorial is by The Stamping Ground.

Step 2. Press the two rubber cemented sides together.

Step 3. To index the stamp ink up your newly mounted stamp with dye-based ink and stamp it onto Safmat (this is an ink-jet printable clear sheet that can also be stamped with your regular dye based inkpads. Safmat is made by Letraset). Let the ink dry and cut it out and stick to the front of your formica chip.

Look how well it stamps! The Formica has a bit of flex to it so you can press the image down well to get a nice crisp impression.

Now stamp til you can’t stamp no mo’! The stamp I used in the card was one I donated to my kids stash but then when I saw the quote from the funny sayings grab bag I had to use it. I have to renew my license this month and I have not changed my weight on my license since I got it at age 17…yep, a little indescrepency there LOL! I love how the biker/scooter chick is letting it all hang out 😉

BTW you can win the Promarkers I used to color this card with. There is a giveaway on the Letraset blog so pop over for your chance to win a set of 12 promarkers. While you are there you can check out the Safmat by Letraset I used too!

One more thing…I must warn you that some of Viva Las Vegas stamps are a bit naughty and not for the faint of heart. Please look through their catalog if you are considering ordering, their stamps are not for everyone. I checked all of the stamps before I let my kids have them to be sure they were age appropriate and all of the images were in the pound of rubber but some of the funny sayings were adult only LOL!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!