Let's talk about the "old" JustRite Stamps and the MISTI!!!

Hello everyone!!!  This past weekend I came across my "old" JustRite stamps...you know the ones that you had to buy the special wood blocks for!!!  I had never been able to get a good stamped image with those suckers and it was like a light bulb went off in my head.....I'll bet I can find a way to use them with my MISTI and I did!  I feel pretty sure that I could have used some of my EZ Mount on them, but that stuff is pretty expensive so I got to thinking that maybe I could just use some Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" to make them cling to my MISTI and it worked and the images stamped pretty good without transferring any ink from the stamp to my paper as you can see in the photo here.  That worked on these two, but later I was stamping them to make a cover on my Avery Elle pockets that I store my stamps in and some of them transferred ink to my stamped image unfortunately!

Someone at Splitcoast said that happens because the rubber is not etched deep enough and so then I had to come up with a solution to that problem and the thing I thought of was a mask that would cover the rubber around the etching.  I scanned the stamps to make cutting files for them and tried them using some contact paper.....that cut really great but was way to flimsy.  The problem is that you almost always have to stamp the images at least two times to get a good clear image...so now I decided to try some Dritz "Clear Template Plastic" that I had purchased from Joann's for making stencils and it worked, but I think it may be just a tad too thick.  I cut mine using my "Pazzles Inspiration Vue" and it did a great job!!!  A long time ago I had purchased some quilting plastic from Hobby Lobby and I think it might be just a little thinner, so the next time I cut them I will use that.   Here is a photo of the plastics....the on the bottom is the "quilters plastic" that I think may be a tad thinner.

They say "a picture is worth a thousand words" so here are some photos. 

This shows the stamp attached to the lid of my MISTI using the Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" with my "mask" placed on top of the stamp.  You also have to use some Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" on the back side of the "mask".  The good thing about the plastic material is that you can clean the ink off of it using a paper towel and some alcohol.

Here is a close-up shot.

I numbered my stamps and also used a Sharpie to put the number on the back right side of each stamp  as you can see in this photo.  I placed that number on each stamp in the same place so that when I position my stamp on the cardstock in my MISTI the stamp will be "right side up" and not upside down.

For storing the masks, I cut the bottom and right side off of one of my Staples "Clear 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 sheet protectors" so that it opens like a book and when opened I placed all of my masks for the stamps (which would actually be the negative cut out) on the right side and the protector and then I took the cut outs (which is the positive) and numbered them, put some repositional tape on the back of them and placed them on the left side.  I can use then to mask the stamped images...no sense in wasting them.  On the front I stamped all of the stamps, in order, on a piece of copy paper and taped it to the front of my protector.  Whew....I sure hope I am making sense.  Here are some photos.

I also want to mention that when I purchased those JustRite stamps, I also purchased a couple of the Monogram Kits which I never ever used.  I have two different sets one is the "Times New Roman" and the other is the "Special Ocassions", so I decided to try them with the Aleene's "Tack-It Over & Over" and my MISTI and I'm loving them!!!  Here are some photos.

I hope this helps those of you that would like to use those old "unused" stamps now that you have a MISTI!!!