Sending “Mice” Wishes!

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Hi friends! Oh I do love a good stamp pun, don’t you?

mouse1

I have to admit I am usually not a big user of cute stamps but I have loved the House Mouse stamps since my friend Tracey introduced me to them years ago, I stamped out a few of hers to color and I was hooked. Before you knew it I had my local stamp store (sadly, no longer in business) special ordering me stamps and one time I hit the mother lode at a yard sale and bought a bunch. Until recently you could only get House Mouse stamps mounted on wood, I have a lot of those and while they are beautiful sitting on my shelf they could be tricky to stamp because they were so detailed. I love that most of their designs are available in unmounted rubber now (and some even in clear sets with sentiments!) because I get the detail of the rubber but I can put them on my curved block (I am using a Mega Mount in my video but the Rock-a-blocks also work well and are much cheaper) and get a perfect impression every time. I have to say I wasted a lot of paper stamping those old wood mounted ones. Tip, if you have the wood mounted House Mouse Stamps you will get a great impression if you lay the stamp rubber side up on your table, ink it up and lay your trimmed cardstock on the rubber and rub the back of the paper. I had to mention that because I have lots of the wood mounted ones and they are too pretty to unmount LOL! Don’t you dare call Hoarders on me!

I will also share some fun coloring tips and tricks in today’s video!

Supplies:

Tips:

  1. Use a curved block for better detail (I used the Mega Mount from Impression Obsession, Rock-a-Blocks from Crafters Companion are also good)
  2. I used a thin strip of wood from a hand plane to stamp my sentiment on.
  3. Experiment layering your coloring media for rich colors!

mouse2

I hope you learned some cool tips and tricks that you can use on your next card! Please note that links to Hallmark Scrapbook are affiliate links and I earn a small percentage of sales made through the links, you do not pay more by clicking through the links but you help support these free video tutorials. Thanks so much for spending some time with me today and tl next time happy crafting!

35 thoughts on “Sending “Mice” Wishes!”

  2. Thanks so much for mentioning the rock a blocks. I’ve really been wanting a mega mount, but they’re just so stinking pricey. Last time I tried to find rock a blocks they were out of stock. I just got really lucky on the rock a blocks this time. Crafter’s Companion was having their birthday sale, so the set of two was $10 instead of $15, and they also had free shipping for their birthday, no limit. Not only that, I caught it right before the deals expired! Woot! Maybe one day I’ll get a mega mount, but for now I am a VERY happy camper! I normally watch your vids on youtube, but sometimes I like to come over here and see what’s going on. (Don’t tell anybody how addicted I am to your channel, ok?)

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    1. the rock a blocks are just as good for stamping, I purchased the mega mount because I had a couple of stamps that were too large for the bliiest RAB, it i was a full 6″x6″ stamp and it hung over my RAB. The MM is made from more expensive acrylic so I understand the price, You don’t need it unless you have a larger stamp though.

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  3. Loved your video as usual. I do have a question I am a scrapbooker and you said wood is not acid free well what if I have my paper stored on a wood shelf is there a way to protect my paper or should I move it to something else? Just wondering if acid will transfer to my paper. Thanks so much

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    1. yes, it is a simple fix, you need to buffer the shelf, you can paint it or simply line it with acid free cardstock of shelf liner, that is what I do with my ugly paper, I keep cardstock in a wood record album cabinet so I buffer the wood sides with ugly, yet acid free, paper. You can also keep your paper in a plastic bag on the shelf, you just need a simple barrrier.

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  5. Hi Lindsay I love this card. Could you please tell me if the white card you used was a gloss card stock? We dont have the brand you used in Australia. It looked glossy in your video. Thanks Julie

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    1. no, it is matte. It is actually a really cheap student grade hot presswatercolor paper, Fabriano is the maker, it is 90# weight and comes in a pad of 75 sheets for about $20 US. The technique would be fine on any cardstock though because we are not doing any major watercoloring.

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  6. I, too, fell in love with the House Mouse stamps. We had mice as pets when the kids were young and loved the little creatures. I especially loved their tiny front feet, which were like teensy hands. Loved their bright, black eyes and they came in all colors. So cute, with their long whiskers. Tame mice are very clean and friendly and fun. Don’t want any more live ones, but the stamps fill that part of me that likes little tame mice.

    We had tame rats, as well, but no one has rat stamps that I know of. Maybe Rubber Hedgehog might and I’ll have to go look.

    Have you ever had anyone get upset at being given mouse stamped cards?

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  9. I love House Mouse, and we have our own House Mouse group 🙂 I like the way you colored, with mixed media to color quicker but still looks great 🙂 I’m sharing this with my house mouse group 😉

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  10. I unmount ALL my wooden stamps and line them with stamp foam so they take up less space. Hate wooden-mounted stamps for their immense storage issues! I freeze the wood stamps, peel them off and then mount them with foam so they fit into my theme-based storage system. Love it!

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  11. I watched a YouTube about unmounting a wood block stamp. She pulled not only the red rubber stamp, but the thin layer of black rubber that is between the red rubber and the wood block. You pull them off together and keep it that way. (In other words don’t separate the red rubber stamp from the black rubber backing it.) You can then use it with your clear blocks and store them much easier!

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  12. Thanks Lindsey for the ‘wood’ tip……I just ran down cellar to retrieve a strip of very fine wood shaving that I had thrown in the trash yesterday while helping DH clean up a project…..WHEW just in time ha ha love to get ‘free’ embellishments…. thanks again for thinking outside the box and SHARING!!!! luvya hugs prue

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    1. yeah, nothing is safe from crafters! My hubby was so proud that he learned to use his hand plane that he had to show me the results, I was like, gimme that, it is wood ribbon!

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  13. Thanks so much, Lindsay, for sharing with our stamps! Our House-Mouse Designs images are some of our favorite, we’re so thrilled to be able to bring them to folks as Cling Rubber! And what a sweet and adorable project! Sharing all over!!!

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  15. I’ve also loved House Mouse for years and also hit a mother lode of unmounted rubber at a garage sale 8 years ago right after we’d moved the Santa Rosa. I considered it “a sign” that it was going to be a good move and it has been. Though we’ve also lost too many stamp stores, we are blessed to still have Helene’s Scrapbook and Framing here in town. She gives amazing classes so if you’re ever in Sonoma County, California, check her out.

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  16. I too Hoard those stamps. Picked up some where people were downsizing and they are fun to look at. It takes skill though to color them and I appreciate the video on this. Love the stamp you used.

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  19. Your videos are always so much fun and I always learn something new! This card is adorable and I love how you layered paints and pencils! Thanks so much for all you share!!

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  20. Like you, I don’t usually go for cutesy stamps, but I am addicted to House Mouse stamps!!! LOL!!! There isn’t much to smile about these days, but those little mice ALWAYS make me smile so I will keep buying them. You’re so lucky to have hit a great yard sale with HM stamps. I really miss going to yard sales.

    Thanks for the great video!!!!

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  21. Hello Lindsay! Cute House Mouse stamps I am so going to get these! hoping they ship to UK! I am enjoying your stamp school videos and all your tutorials!
    Mixed media is great too! Those mice are so sweet 🙂
    -Grace from facebook! 🙂

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    1. I have no idea, I think some are “in the vault” and they get rereleased every few years, they are so fun to collect!

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