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Monday, December 17, 2007

I've gone UM...

Ok, I thought about it for a few years. Every time I'd pick up a stamp I'd think "Should I??" Whenever I'd get a new set, I thought about it. Then finally one day I did it!! I went unmounted. Ok, it took more than one day ~ it took me about a week or so. But I do not regret it. Not for a minute! I went from a bookshelf completely full to just 7 boxes! I have almost 300 sets and it was so worth it. If not for the space now, just for the ease.
So, all that said I thought that I'd post some pictures of how I did it (since I just got the set Frosty that's being discontinued).

So here goes. First things first though. I went to Blockhead Stamps and purchased the thin EZ Mount. They are actually the cheapest that I've found, and when you spend so much money they send you little "freebies" with your order. You'll want a cutting mat, a SHARP exacto blade and a pair of nice snips.

The first thing that you want to do is pull the rubber off of the mounting cushion that it is on. This is very easy on new stamps. I have found that one some of the hostess sets (with the purple or blue rubber) it is a little stickier. In that case you just want to "rub" the sticky residue off with your thumb. It is a bit of a chore, but you want to make sure that the rubber is free of all gunk before you re-mount it.
If they are an older set then put it in the microwave for 20 seconds and pull the rubber free from the wood block. I also remove the index sticker at this time too. I place them on the clamshell box lid that I remove from the rest of the box.


This is what it looks like when you remove all the mounting cushion and place the index stickers on the front of the lid.







I then carefully cut each image out and trim around them. The very first set I UM I did not do this step. If you dont it's not a problem, but you are wasting a lot of EZ thin mount if you don't.


Once they are trimmed you will place them on the EZ thin mount. Place that on your cutting mat and carefully cut around them with your exacto knife. It is important to keep your blade in an up and down position. If you do not, you may undercut the thin mount and that's not a good thing. What I do is actually hold my blade up and down and move the images around. This helps me from not undercutting the cushion.



Once you have cut out all of the images, you store them on the underside of the lid. There is a little "lip" that is actually the same size as the mounting.







I then place all my UM stamps in photo boxes. The little "tab" on the lid helps to flip thru the sets to see which one I want to pick out.
I hope that this helps you if you are thinking about unmounting your stamps. Like I said I thought for years about doing this and did'nt. I wish I had earlier not just for the ease and convenience ~ but I would of had a lot less sets to do at once!
I do know that there are people who are concerned about the value of an unmounted set vs. a wood mounted set. I am not sure of this. I do know that I am not going to sell any of my sets. Once I buy one I plan to keep it. If you are planning on selling your sets I would first check around and see what prices they are selling for first. I also have not UM any of my alphabet sets. I'm not sure if it is just being lazy or what (???!!?) but I just don't prefer to UM those. I actually like to use those mounted on the wood.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will try to be of help.
**Edit** I've been asked a few times where I had purchased the box seen in the picture. I did purchase it over a year ago at Paper Wishes however when I did a search I did not find it. I'm sorry ~ but just to let you know, all my other boxes used were purchased at Michael's and they are different sizes to fit the different size stamp sets.
**2nd Edit 09/07/2008** I just received the current issue of Paper Wishes and the pink box was in there. If you can't find it just toss me an e-mail and I can send you the catty number or link to it.

11 comments:

Jackie said...

That's an excellent idea, especially since the SU stamps come with indexes.

Bree mcconnell said...

I really wanna do this.....you have a wonderful blog by the way!!!!! I was wondering where you got that box and the dividers for it? hagd sgf!!!!!!!!!!

Donna C. said...

I went UM nearly 2 years ago and LOVE it.

A couple of hints: After you get the stamps on the EX Mount, sprinkle the whole thing with baby powder over a sink, shake off, and you won't be dealing with sticky while cutting.

Also, consider buying a hot knife (www.allthatscraps.com has a very good one) to cut them. It is like slicing butter!

Anonymous said...

ok thanks for the ENABLING POST!! Now I'm off to buy ez mount lol.

**Thank you for taking the time to show us how to UM!

Laura lok said...

awesome. And if you ever need to it sure makes it easier to travel with too.

by the way where do you get your photo boxes they look so thin I don't think I have seen those before.

Michelle Short said...

WOW! Aren't you organised?! UM are so much easier to store but I do like WM too! Merry Chrsitmas from a fellow Sistah! I look forward to visiting your blog regularly :0) Thank you for the lovely message you left for me on my blog :0)

Julie Kettlewell - Stampin Up UK Independent Demonstrator - Order products 24/7 said...

Thanks for your comments, I am so busy at the moment, feel like I havent really made a proper effort with the Sistahood but will after Christmas, great cards, will be back soon, Jules x

Mindy said...

Your organization system is fabulous. I'll have to try that with the boxes. I am using CD case for my unmounteds right now but that cuts into my actually STAMP money, you know? I still have a combo of mounted and UM stamps. I love the way a few of the mounted stamps look on the shelves in my workroom. But LOVE the convience of UM. Thanks for sharing!

Mindy

Louise F NZ said...

What a fantastic idea. I think your storage system is great too.

Unknown said...

Joani,
Thanks so much for sharing this, I'm like you I've really been considering it, but what is mainly stopping me is I hate to think about the process. I'm thinking for now, I'll just start where I am, all new sets unmounted and then tackle the older stuff later! Thank you for sharing your process and vendor for the supplies needed.
Diane (sbs6)

*Susan* said...

Thanks so much for taking the time to share this! I've been wanting to do this, not only for the space but I love using the acrylic mount stamps because I'm able to see where I'm stamping. We just converted a small bedroom to my craft room (yay!) so I think this is the perfect time to do this. Thanks again!!! - Susan :-)