I was showing my Mega Mount™ to a friend and she immediately said, "How do you hold it?" I showed her and of course she was sold. So I thought maybe I should do a mini tutorial on how I use mine.
I am currently making a card to post that has a background created with 2 Cover-a-Card™ stamps and the Mega Mount™ . Below is a quick pictorial of how I use my Mount and how I did it.
Supplies:
Click on the photo and take a look at how I mounted it. It is actually sitting on the handle in the photo. All of IO's Cover-a-Card™ stamps are 5.75"C5.75". As you can see the sides on the left and right have a little more acrylic block showing. That comes in really handy when you are lining up with the bottom of your cardstock. There is a tad on the top and the bottom and that really helped me line up the left edge.
You get another really good idea from looking at the back too. Now for how easy it is to ink up the stamp.
For me it's easiest to let it sit on the handle. I put my left hand through to keep it in one place and then I ink the top portion first moving from right to left, etc. Then I switch ends to ink the bottom that will now the top. Topsy Turvy!! It is so easy.
Next I lay the 8.5"X11" piece of cardstock in front of me like above. I line up my bottom by looking through the acrylic part and lining up the bottom part of the stamp with the bottom of the cardstock. It doesn't have to be down on the very edge of the cardstock. I start from left to right. Because it's square, and I lined from left to right, when I put it down it's even on the left side too. It's like a right angle. When I have done that:
I know that I can put it down on the cardstock and simply roll it forward. If you look at it sitting up on the handle, it looks like there is a lot of curve. It's really a slight curve. When I first started doing this I thought, "It can't be that easy. I am going to rock it back and forth a little. I wonder if I will mess up the image." I have to honestly say I have not had a bad image yet. Even when I rolled it back and forth, it didn't blur or over stamp. Oh, and I do it sitting down. It doesn't take a lot of strength or energy to use it. I have a friend who has MS and doesn't really have the energy for the bigger stamps. She was going to get a press. She used this and said it worked great. No standing on it, pressing hard and hoping for a good image, just put down in place and roll from back to front. Give it more rocks if it makes you feel better. This is also where I need to say that if your ink pad is dry, don't expect a good solid image. This applies to any stamp with any mount.
I also find it is a lot easier to clean the stamp by sitting it on the back of the handle, holding it in place with my left hand and cleaning it with my wipee. I use the alcohol free type and have for years.
Now you are asking, "So how did you make your background?".
1. I inked CC002 - Swirls with VersaMark ink and stamped it on the lower left-hand corner of an 8.5"X11" Neenah Solar White piece of cardstock. I applied Clear Embossing Powder and heated it with my heat gun. I do not trim my cardstock yet.
2. CC008 - Thick and Thin was inked with an Olive Green ink and stamped over the first image. I gently took a piece of tissue ( I use Kleenex), and blotted the top. Ink will lay on the embossed swirls because they are plastic and can't absorb it.
3. You will probably notice that I was a little off on each stamp. It really doesn't matter. I picked the lines I liked and trimmed around it. I trimmed the 4.25 piece first and the the other side. I save these for stamping images, punching borders, or for dies.
Well its time I finished my card with my new background and then get on to my shaker for the challenge coming up. If you have more questions about the Mega Mount™, please ask by posting here and I will answer here so others can see too. If I don't have the answer I will, of course ask the designer of the Mega Mount™ and owner of Impression-Obsession, Mitra Friant!!!
Thanks for stopping by to look and share!
