Giving New Life to an Old Stamp Set

I've been cleaning out and reorganizing my stamps.  A while back I had put some stamps in a discard box.  Most were wood mount.  But as I was going through the box I had some second thoughts.  Several were there simply because they were wood mount.  Among those was this two-step stamp set.

This is a set that is a bit dated but I knew I could make it look more modern with the right layout and font.  The butterflies are pretty basic!

This is my first in several posts about some ways that we can use what we have and get new life from older stamps.  I love new things, but it's also important to use items we already have.  I'll talk about things like trends, colors, layouts and fonts.  And what stamps I'll keep forever, and why!  Today, I'm going to focus on remounting wood stamps.

I didn't particularly like two-step wood stamps, but I do like cling and clear two-step stamps; stamping platforms or acrylic blocks make them so much easier to use.  Even with a stamp set like this where you didn't want everything to line up, they were a pain in wood!

To make these stamps cling mount, I used my microwave.  Placing two stamps in it at a time, I heated them on high for 10 seconds.  (If they are large stamps I've gone 15 seconds)  I have an 1100 watt microwave.  I can then gently remove both the rubber stamp and its foam backing and the sticker on the other side.

I place the sticker on the foam side of the stamp.  While everything is still warm, it is all fairly sticky.  That is why I do only two at a time.  Because the stickers on these stamps were rectangular (newer wood mount stamps from Stampin' Up have stickers the shape of the stamp itself) I needed to trim around each stamp.  They're not super pretty this way, but it works!

I then placed a piece of the new cling mount adhesive on the back to make them into cling stamps.  You can also cover the sticker with Tombow glue and let it dry - that makes the back somewhat sticky.

I have a PDF of the slim case insert from Stampin' Up!.  It is an Acrobat document and you can type in the name of the set and even how many stamps are in it.  I then stamped all the images on the front.  I trimmed the case and inserted it into a clear mount stamp case.  You can purchase these in packs of four.

I now have a "new" stamp set complete with punch!  (I haven't figured out how to convert a whale tail punch into the newer flat style yet! LOL!)  And I use the old wood mount stamp case to hold miscellaneous craft supplies.

And a bit about this card - it is for the color challenge this week at Splitcoaststampers - Misty Moonlight, Mango Melody and Granny Apple Green!

I've listed below the stamps and accessories I used.   If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping needs.

Send me an email if you would like a PDF of the insert.  Please leave a comment about what stamps you'll be converting!

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Flight of the Butterfly (retired), Lovely You (sentiment), Dressed to Impress (dots)
Ink: Mango Melody, Misty Moonlight, Granny Apple Green
Paper: Misty Moonlight, Whisper White Thick
Accessories: Clear Mount Storage Cases,  Cling mount adhesive sheets,  Paper Trimmer,

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