Top Tip Tuesday is all about mounting Wooden Stamps – #169

I generally like to use stamps on blocks, and will always intend to order red Rubber as Clear Mount, but occasionally I get my codes muddled, so I just embrace the error and get everything mounted up. This was the case with the Santa Paws Stamp set from the new Autumn/Winter Catalogue. We have three cats and I was brought up with dogs, so this set jumped straight into my pre-order basket. It really is the cutest set and I am looking forward to colouring in those images.

But the actual mounting. I have a few tips for getting this right. Firstly, make sure you do a dry run of putting the stamps on the blocks to make sure you have them on the right blocks; there is nothing worse that going to mount the last one only to find the only block left is too small. Next (and this might actually be the first thing to do) either take a picture of how the blocks are laid out in the box, or draw round each one to make sure you can fit them all back in Next, make sure you mount the stamps ‘square’ to the block, this is particularly important for words, but you don’t really want a leaning Christmas Tree either. Finally try to get the stickers as close to being lined up with the stamp as possible; I would suggest lining the stamp up on grid paper so one edge is on a line, then place the sticker so it is also on that line – good luck!!

Wood Mount stamps are really handy if you want to just take one box with you as you don’t need to worry about which clear blocks to take with you, or if you have collected them all back at the end of your stamping session. If you want exact placement, then the Stamp-a-ma-jig is your friend, really easy to get everything in the right place.