Indexing TAC stamps…the way I do it

There are lots of way of indexing unmounted stamp sets, I’m going to show you what I do. Although I like the idea of stamping the cling side of the EZ mount, it would drive me NUTS if I ended up cutting off part of one of the stamped images, so I’m not gonna even try lol

Anyway, here’s what you’ll need:

White cardstock
Scissors (if you don’t have some Kai scissors, get some!)
ink (I love Palette Noir Black for sooo many reasons!)
Stamp set (that’s a given)
Paper Trimmer
CD cases for stamp sets, usually just one per set
Acrylic Block (I use one that is 4 3/4 by 4 3/4..you’ll soon see why)
Sharpie marker

First thing I do is mount my stamps on the EZ mount (cling mount) trim, and place them on the acrylic block as I cut them out so I don’t lose any small pieces in the excess cut rubber pile.

TAC stamps come with their own cling sheet the same size as your sheet of stamps.

You will peel the paper off the “sticky side” and adhere your sheet of stamps

Peel off the backing paper that protects your cling before you begin to trim. Trimming your stamps will be MUCH easier if you do this Trust me, I know hehe

As you trim your stamps, put them on your block for safe keeping. You wouldn’t want to lose one in your excess rubber pile and accidentally throw it away.

Now, you’ll see that sometimes all your stamps won’t fit on the block at the same time, but that’s ok. All you really need is a good majority of them to remember what stamps are in your set.

Next, set aside your acrylic block with the stamps on it. It’s time to cut your index sheet for the cd case.

Take a plain old piece of white cardstock, like the GP stuff you get at Walmart. Make one cut on the long side at 4 3/4 inches.

Then, turn it and cut two pieces both at 4 3/4 inches. These will become your indexes for your cd cases

Then, take your inkpad to your block, not your block to the ink. I find I get the best coverage this way. Ink all of the images on your block.

Stamp entire block once onto your image sheet. This is why I use a big block…it’s a time saver!!

Be sure to clean your stamps well to prepare them for storage :0) No one likes to see stained, dirty stamps (unless you are using them at the time lol)

Take a cd case and make a line with your sharpie next to the ridge in the open space of your cd case. When placing your stamps in the case, take care not to place them past this line or you take the chance of damaging your stamps. (and you don’t wanna do that!)

Place your index sheet into the front cover of your cd case and you are almost done!

The last thing you want to do is label the spine of your case. You can take a regular address label and trim it down, write on it with a sharpie or use a label maker. I’m not showing this step only because I haven’t decided which is best for me and won’t recommend one of them over the other at this point. (sorry!)

I indexed two stamps for storage today, and now….maybe I should make some cards with them lol. (especially since one is a Spring Fling set and since Spring Fling ends this week, it would be sad to see it end and not make at least one card with it lol)