Technique Tuesday - Clear Block Stamp Hints & Tricks...

Today's Technique Tuesday is a little different but I think will be very useful for you.  Today, I am showing you how I mount  my clear block stamps and store them.  Trust me some of this has been learned the hard way.  You may have some ideas too and I would love to hear them!

 Stampin' Up!'s Clear Mount stamp sets come boxed in a DVD style case with the stamps in a sheet and a sheet with the labels.

 First, I remove all of the stamps from the backing.  Wait!  Hold on!  Don't throw that backing away!

 Remove the paper backing and place it in the bottom of the DVD case.  The back side will be sticky and will hold it in place.  This way when you place your stamps back in the case, you know that you have all of your stamps plus they won't move around and you do not risk losing one.  How do I know this?  Before I started keeping the backing piece, I purchased the Friends Fur-Ever set.  Do you know that set?  It's 19 little pieces which slide around all over in my DVD case and when I open it .... they fall out everywhere!

 For the stamps, removing the paper backing and expose the foam.  If you care if the label is on them, this foam backing is quite sticky on the clear blocks and is the best way for it to stick to the block.  However, I like having the label so here's what I do.

Remove the label from the sheet.

 Trim extremely close to the edge of the image.

 Here's the star image of this set completely cut out.  I would probably also trim the points from the star so they won't be so pointed.

 Attach the label to your stamp.  You will see that you end up with about 1/8" around the entire edge of the stamp which will help you to adhere your stamps to the clear block.

 For stamping with your clear blocks, you will need the right size block, your stamp and the Stampin' Up! cleaning cloth.

 Rub your block to remove the oils picked up from you handling the block.  I also repeat this process on the label of the stamp.

 Place the stamp on the block and press firmly.

 I then pick up the block and, using the ball of my thumb, press in the center of the stamp image.  This helps create a good bond between the block and stamp.

You can't see it here - maybe someday I will begin doing videos - but I shook this block before I took this picture to show that the stamp was sticking well.  I hope these tricks on the clear block stamps are useful for you!