Making Your Workspace Stamp Friendly

The February newsletter at Treasured Scrapbooking went out today and I wrote an article on stamping that I thought I'd also share here. If you'd like to sign up for your own copy of this scrapbooking newsletter full of tips and tricks, you can do so at the bottom of the home page.

Making Your Workspace Stamp Friendly
By: Tracey Taylor, Design Team Member

It's confession time. How many stamps do you own and when is the last time you've used them? If you're anything like me, you'd be afraid to know how many stamps you own. It wasn't until just recently that I blew the dust off my collection and started making stamps part of my scrapbooking necessities. Why and how did this change of mind come about? About a year ago, we finished a spare room in the basement that I have now claimed as my scrap room. Organizing all my supplies into this space made me realize just how many stamps, among other things, that I own. Reflecting on why I seldom used them made me realize that it just seemed like too much work to find them, use them, clean them, then put them away again. So I decided to make my work space more stamp friendly. This can be done, whether you have your own scrap room or not, in a few easy steps:

1. Have a box of baby wipes handy. This takes all the pain and suffering out of stamp cleaning.
2. Keep all your favorite stamps accessible and in sight. Every so often go through your stash and update your favorites.
3. Keep inks upside down and stacked within reach.
4. Always keep a few scrap pieces of clear packaging. Before putting ink to paper with a stamp, experiment first on something clear. Lay the image on your project until you've found exactly the right position, then stamp away without any hesitation.

That's it! So what are you waiting for? Pull a few of your favorite stamps and try them again. You'll be glad you did.