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Friday, May 9, 2008

Mounting: a challenge

One of the selling points of Stampin' Up! stamps is that you get to mount them however you wish. In the majority of cases, this means that you either stick the rubber in the middle of the wooden block or flush with a side/corner (the latter is a must for Stamp-A-Ma-Jig hold outs unless they really don't care where the image lands - in which case I say "Don't tell me! I don't want to know!" *fingers in ears and eyes tightly shut*). If you purchase one of the stamps sets that includes one wooden block per combined image and sentiment such as Fun & Fast Notes and Greetings Galore, you can separate the sentiment from the image and mount the sentiment on the top side of the block (for Stamp-A-Ma-Jiggers). This makes it really easy to ink and stamp a background just using the image or to use the sentiment only.

And then came the Level 1 Hostess Set So Many Sayings. 34 lines, three blocks...one huge headache. Call me lazy, but I much prefer to ink with a pad in the same way that I stamp - move hand over target and apply downward pressure. That's easy! The thought of using markers or carefully inking a section in the block of tightly spaced lines just did not appeal to me. So, I formulated a set of rules:
1. Group sayings into categories such as love, friends, kiddies, thanks, and holidays on to the one wooden block where possible.
2. Put the lines most likely to be used separately at the top or bottom of the wooden block for easy inking. This included most of the motifs for me as well as birthday wishes.
3. For lines that will be used together, centre horizontally and even out the vertical spacing. Stamp the block of lines to check.
4. Maximise the space between unrelated groups of sayings to make inking easier.
5. Make sure that nothing gets in the way of the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig.
6. Why on earth would "a little something" not be with "from me to you"?

The resulting mounting configuration:
As you can see from the picture, the lines mounted on the side of the wooden block are mounted upside down. The reason for this is that I want to see the labels the right way up when using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. I like to press the longer part of the wooden block against the longest wall of the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for greater stability.

Is that making a mounting out of a molehill, or what? For some smart thinking, check out how Alana mounted hers. Please post your creative mounting configurations (er, for stamps only)...or just post a comment to say Hi!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG! I am lost for words!! I am a slack - just a 'peel-off-the-sticky-and-slap-it-on-the-wooden-block' kind of gal, but I think I'll have to pay more attention to my mounting from now on!!! :)

Lin Mei said...

Hey Kari! "Lost for words" when there's "so many sayings"? I really like that :)

Anonymous said...

:D :D :D

Michelle said...

Hi Lin Mei!
I have your blog bookmarked now :) I don't own the "So many Sayings" set yet, but when I do I'll be sure to pop back and CASE your mounting system! What a great idea (and I am most definitely a Stampamajigger!) Very well done by your hubby too - even though mine has sat in on my beginners class, his effort for my mothers day card is not quite blog worthy, other than for it's novelty value :)

Lin Mei said...

You are most welcome to my blog, Michelle! Thank you for your lovely comments and it is wonderful that your hubby sat in on one of your classes :) As for his efforts, you should have seen my hubby's first one! Let's just say it was grander in vision than in the execution.