Well, When it is snowy, blustery, and cold, what better time to get your Stamping On!! I had a very productive day–I started out just needing a couple of projects for my Valentine Treats class, and I came up with some great stuff…but I wanted to share something with you….
Why I {Heart} clear mounted stamps by Dena Rekow
My little essay is fun, simple and filled with pictures but it gets down to this…while I was totally on board when Stampin Up announced Clear Mounts (and I am pretty sure I will never look back), I was surprised at how several of my very long time, regular customers were not as excited as me about them…so I did what any good demonstrator would do…I let them try both clear and wood in the same night and EVERY single one of them were hooked…and even the brand new stampers I've got were hooked and I think the basic reason is that you can see what you are doing! What a concept!
Now, when you feel our clear blocks in your hand, they just feel good–they are soft, smooth…almost like a little jewel in your hand. I swear I could hang one from my neck like a pendant (I know, I'm a little over the top, but since the Simply Adorned line is out, I won't have to do that!) They come in 9 sizes, though I have found that the B and C sizes are the ones I am using the most thus far. The bundle has all the blocks and it is discounted over purchasing them individually. Most of my real die-hard customers went for the bundle, but if you would like to just try a few I can help you figure out exactly which ones you need.
SO, the stamps come a little differently…in a plastic DVD case. The front pictues the images in the set in full size like this:
The spine looks like this:
All the images are listed (scaled down in size, of course) but the cool thing is you can see every image when they are sitting like this…and then you know whether you are taking the right case out for a particular stamp (or to figure out where that loose stamp goes).
Here is the back….you can see each image (they stick to the plastic–though they do come off easily) and then you can hold up the block to the image to make sure you are grabbing the right size block!
It is so easy! Once you pull out your image, then you press it to the block for a second and it is stuck!
Now that it is stuck, you can use it…but say it doesn't stick well…either you didn't press it on long enough…it literally takes 2-3 seconds, or your block is dirty. All you need to do is wash your block in regular dishwashing soap to remove the oils from your hands, glue, schmutz (is that how you spell it?) and you are good to go. So far I have not washed any blocks and some of them are pretty gucky after club! 🙂
Okay, so here is your stamp…
now ink up and go to town…they stay on really well–I have had them fall off once in a while when I go to scrub them on my Stampin' Scrub…just stick them back on and continue. I am impressed how well they hold, but pop off easily when you are done with them!
So here is where it is really great…though the light from the camera kind of blocks it, you can see through where you are stamping and line things up perfectly!
The shot is blurry, but CLEARLY you can see how perfectly things have lined up!
And when was the last time you had a perfect card, then botched it up when you stamped the words crooked…I do it all the time!!!!! I think the small skinny words are where these clear blocks really shine!
And this is how they look…simple and easy. The best part about this entire deal is once you have the blocks, you are set–and the most expensive part of the stamp is the wood. The size of the cases and the ability to just use one set of blocks makes this both economical as well as storage-friendly. I don't know about you guys out there, but storage is a bit of an issue after 11 years! Andy, my husband, calls my stamp room the BLACK HOLE because the sheer density of stuff I have packed in here could very well suck the rest of the house in someday….(did I mention my husband is an actual rocket-scientist…that explains the humor).
Now, did I mention that the clear stamps are LESS EXPENSIVE?!?! Yes, the best part is the cost savings. For example the set, I {Heart} Hearts…the set that is on the Haitian Relief deal–it is $26.95 in wood and $18.95 in clear….That is some real savings!
I hope this clears up some questions on the clear mount stamp system–I hope you will give them a try–or stop over and check them out for yourselves…I am ALWAYS happy to show them off!