A layer of protection!

"Stamps are tools-not jewels-and are meant to be used..."

-Carolyn Hurst,

THE Stamp Queen

                      
   I have to confess

I am not, by far, the best about taking care of

my toys!

When I was little, I always wanted friends to come over and play

and when it was time for them to leave

I never made them help clean up...

And, some never-mind-how-many years later...

I love to play---

and not clean up...

For example

my great friend Theresa was HORRIFIED

to learn that I never really clean my stamps!

Once in awhile
I would run the ones I used under the faucet

(yep, even the wood mounts!)

and I really wasn't careful when inking them in the first place

if ink made its way from the rubber to the wood-

well, so what?

As a result

THERESA'S STAMPS LOOK LIKE THIS...

(and yes, she has used it!

Check out her adorable

REINDEER FOOD in her post here...)

while mine, on the other hand, look like this...

Hmmm.

Not a big deal to me--I really don't mind...

but then came the day...

that  I found I needed to borrow a stamp from Theresa.

I needed a reindeer to make these

that I found HERE...

UH-OH!
I know, no matter how very hard I try

I just KNOW I  will end up with ink on that pristine wood

not good.

What to do, what to do!

I was inspired by a small piece of stuff my husband

left on the counter...

LIGHTBULB MOMENT!

I *KNEW* INSTANTLY

what to do!

Here's the tools:

Now for the trick!

I cut a piece of foil larger than the stamp

and started molding it around the rubber side of the stamp...

then I very carefully REMOVED the foil form from the stamp

and cut a few small slits in the center of the raised image

DO REMOVE THE FOIL BEFORE CUTTING THE SLITS...

 (don't worry, Theresa-I did this!  It was not a "oh poop, I should've moment!)

Once the slits are cut, place the foil back over the stamp.

Very carefully start peeling the foil back until you expose the rubber image

and then push the foil back in to mold it around the base of the image

see how its smooshed in there and nicely covering the wood--

except for that little gap...

not a problem!

Just cut a small piece of foil and layer it over the other

and smoosh it in there.

When I was all done, a few of those smaller pieces

wanted to fall off.

No "regular" tape on hand--but yet another lightbulb moment!

I just made a strip of foil and wrapped it around the edge of the entire stamp!

It held those pieces in snug as a bug in a rug!

This is the nice, neat little PROTECTIVE COVERING I have

hopefully to keep Theresa's stamp pristine!

The (stamp) image itself is raised enough

that the foil should not interfere with my stamping!

And hopefully

I can return her stamp after using it

with it looking like new!

That's it for today.

I still don't feel great

(gotta call some new docs and putting it off!)

and a craft show coming up on Sat. 

Praying my motivation and energy

will kick into high gear tomorrow.

In the mean time,

 if you are looking for some more great Christmas ideas

like the Reindeer Noses...

Check out this post at CHEF IN TRAINING

then this post at I Naptime

or, last but not least

this post at Fireflies and Jellybeans

I may not feel like much else

but I sure can sit and blog hop!

Until next time,

happy stamping and scrapping!

Blessings,