One day while my scissors and I were “stuck” cutting adhesive mounting cushion, I started thinking about “better mousetrap” mounting system - what would it be like?

Because of working a lot with magnets in the past, it was the first approach I thought of, but the simplest answer is often the most difficult to actually do. Eventually, though, we figured out the balance between magnet strength and surface area and how to get big men to cut little pieces of steel for mounting plates (that is not something you can do at home!

The basic premise of this system is that you turn your unmounted stamps into magnets. You can then stick them to galvanized steel plate which acts as the mount. Attaching a magnetic handle to the other side gives you the same “feel” as stamping with a wood mounted stamp.

Here's how easily it works:

Shown are two of the mounting plates (2"x2" and 3"x3.5") from the Start Up Set (the 4"x5" is not in the picture), our vinyl- covered mount handle (which is a powerful magnet), and an unmounted rubber stamp. Not pictured is the 8"x11" adhesive magnetic sheet that comes in the set.

With your Kai, or other very sharp scissors, trim your unmounted stamp to your satisfaction.

Now, with your everyday scissors (I cut nothing but rubber with my Kai), cut a piece of magnetic sheeting just larger than your stamp.

Peel off the release sheet and stick your stamp to the adhesive on the magnet sheet.

With everyday scissors, trim off the excess magnet sheeting. it cuts as easily as card stock. AND, you will find that you do a LOT of cutting before you build up any adhesive residue on your scissors blades. With a little clear embossing ink on the blades, it doesn’t build up at all.

Your stamp is now all ready for use with this system.

“Snap” your unmounted stamp onto the appropriate size mounting plate - in this case 2"x2". (Sorry about the camera glare.) By “snap” we mean the magnetic attraction will sort of grab it for a nice strong bond.

“Snap” the handle onto the opposite side of the mounting plate.

Ink your stamp as you normally would . . . by tapping on the pad, or tapping the pad on the stamp. Unless you are an unusually “violent” tapper, the stamp will stay on the mount and not be pulled off by the ink.

And stamp.

How easy is that?

Starter Set:
Three Steel Mounting Plates in sizes 2" x 2", 3" x 3.5", and 4" x 5"
One Sheet of Adhesive Backed Magnetic Mounting Material (8" x 11")
One Magnetic, Vinyl Coated Handle for use on all Mounting Plates
Price: $18.50 Buy It!

Additional Sheets of Adhesive Backed Mounting Material (8" 11")
Single Sheet: $5.00 Buy It!
Three Packs: $12.50 Buy It!

Individual Mounting Plates
2"x2" Plate: $1.50 Buy It!
3"x3.5" Plate: $3.75 Buy It!
4"x5" Plate: $6.00 Buy It!

Vinyl Magnet Handle
Handle: $3.75 Buy It!

Will there be any additional sizes of mounting plates available?
Getting the right gauge of the right kind of metal neatly cut to the sizes we needed (affordably) was the toughest part of our product development challenge. We chose the sizes most commonly useful to start with. You can find pieces of glavanized steel at home improvement stores that are made in different sizes for various purposes. These will work well as mounts.

How do I store my unmounteds using this system?
Once you have converted your unmounteds to this system, they are simple little, lightweight magnets. If you have a file cabinet, you can stick them to that. If not, you can get cookie sheets and cover one or both sides with your stamp magnets and hang the cookie sheets on the wall by the hole on one end - or stack them on a shelf. You can use a cookie sheet as a “project board” when planning your art, and the stamps will all stay where they are put - they won’t be falling on the floor and getting dirty like those with cling vinyl and tacky glue are bound to do. Some school supply stores even sell a magnet receptive paint so you can make anything a place to store your stamps by just painting it (www.fridgedoor.com sells that type of paint). Can you imagine stamp walls? Would that give new meaning to the term “rubber room”?

What about my little tiny stamps?
Our special handle can act as a mounting block for tiny stamps without the use of the mounting plate. Just snap the little stamps directly onto one end of the underside of the handle, ink up, and stamp.

How do I clean up?
Every part of your system is waterproof and can be cleaned up with water - you just need to be sure to dry everything afterwards and not leave the metals sitting around wet. We needed to use steel for this and even treated steel will rust if it sits around wet.

While stamping, you can clean off your stamp - just as you would a traditional wood mount - by stamping it on a cleaning pad or moist paper towel (I use a folded damp facecloth in a plastic container). Then you can remove it from the mount without getting inky fingers.

Do not use strong dish detergent as it degrades the adhesive on the magnetic sheeting. Should your adhesive give way, you can remount the rubber stamp to the magnetic sheeting by coating both surfaces with rubber cement, letting it dry for ten minutes, and sticking them back together again.