Most stampers start out with wood mounted stamps.

But eventually most of us run out of storage room and the UM's are so much easier to store.

Using UM is so economical too.

There are too many mounting systems to name here, and are all a matter of personal choice and budget.

Shown on this page is the way Jambalaya does it.

When you get your stamp, it will need trimming.

Using a very sharp scissors, such as Kai or Tonic, cut away the excess rubber around the image.

Be careful to keep the scissors straight, so as not to undercut the rubber under the outer lines of the image.

After your stamps are trimmed, you can identify them on the back for reference.

Use a permanent pen or marker. Sharpie pens work great, but on small stamps, you can use a black ball point pen.

To temporarily mount a UM stamp on a clear acrylic block,

I use plain old gluesticks.

Rub gluestick generously on the back of the stamp.

Let the glue rest for a few seconds

(not long enough to dry out)

before putting the block on it.

Position the clear acrylic block on top and press down evenly.

Now you're ready to stamp.

When you're finished stamping, take the stamp to the sink and wash with soap and water, the glue washes off along with the ink.

Image is ready to color.

Stubby Stamp Storage Cabinet

in Jambalaya's Studio

There are also many ways to store your UM stamps.

Jambalaya uses hubless video cases, which are getting harder to find these days, but are still around.

Clear CD cases, (not slim) are also a great system.

Cases are labeled to match the categories on the stamp index page