10 Reasons Why I Love the Glass Mat Studio

Have you heard all the buzz about the new Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio from Stampin’ Up!? At first, I had no idea why I would even need this, nor all the benefits of it. It has now become my absolutely MUST-HAVE stamping tool.

As I have started to use it I have come up with 10 different reasons why I love it so much! I am sure there are more that I will discover along the way, but let’s start with these. As I learn more ways to use it, I will share those as well.

What is the Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio?

Before I get into my top 10 reasons why I love it, I better tell you what it is!!

The glass mat is a stamping surface that is made of glass. You put it on your work surface and stamp on top of it. The smooth flat surface is fabulous and the washable glass is perfect for many different techniques.

It also comes with a cleaning shammy and a silicone tray you can use in various ways as well.

It not only is a great surface to stamp on, but it has many ways it can be used for different card making techniques.

Shop The Glass Mat Studio

Now – let’s talk about this amazing tool. Here are my top 10 reasons why I love the Stampin’ Glass Mat Studio so much and think you will too!

1. Smooth Solid Stamping Surface

One of the struggles most of us have is getting nice crisp stamped images. Most of the time, when things are not stamping properly for us it is because our work surface is not smooth, flat, or solid. This is something I struggle with especially when stamping on a folding table or any stamping area that is not my nice work table. Glass mat to the rescue!!!

When you use the glass mat, to stamp on, your surface is smooth and solid, no matter what the surface is like under the mat!!! It works great even with Photopolymer Stamps which I usually use a foam pad under.

2. Stamping Off to Lighten Your Ink Color

Sometimes you don’t have the right ink color – everything is too dark. You can use the glass mat to “stamp off” onto to lighten the color. Just ink your stamp, stamp on the glass mat 1-2 times, then stamp onto your card stock. No need for scrap paper – the glass mat works perfectly for this. When done, just wipe the glass mat off. Since my ink was pretty dark, I first used a baby wipe and then the cleaning cloth.

3. Get Your Images Straight

One thing that drives me crazy is when I stamp my greetings on my cards crooked. I like them nice and straight. To help me do this, it’s all about how the stamp is placed on the block. The glass mat is perfect to help you do this. Just follow these steps:

• First, place your stamp on the glass mat, lining up so that it is straight with the grid lines.
• Next, place your block over the stamp by lining up the edges of the block with grid lines. Press down to adhere the stamp to the block. This should ensure that your stamp is straight on the block.
• Finally, ink up your stamp and stamp it onto the glass mat by lining up the edges of the block with grid lines. This is a “double-check” and the image should stamp straight onto the lines.
• Wipe off the ink from the glass mat and you are now ready to stamp onto your project. When stamping, line up the edges of the block with edges of the card stock and it should stamp nice and straight.

4. Heat Resistant for Embossing

I love to heat emboss and I am always worried about protecting my table from the heat. Worry no longer – the glass mat is heat resistant so it’s the perfect surface to use when heat embossing.

5. Nice Even Blending with Blending Brushes

When using the Blending Brushes to add ink to your cardstock, start by “blending” a bit on the glass mat first then gradually blend onto the cardstock. This will help you achieve an even blended ink coverage without it being “splotchy.” As you need more ink, you can then pick up the ink that is on the glass mat to continue to blend more onto your cardstock.

When done, just use the cloth to wipe the glass mat clean.

6. Coloring With Stampin’ Blends

I am not a fancy colorer, but I have noticed that when coloring with my Stampin’ Blends, the ink blends better and for a longer time. The glass surface helps keep the ink “wetter” longer, it blends better. It’s just those little things…..

7. Watercoloring – Use For Your Ink

Oh, this tip could be used in many different circumstances. The glass mat is perfect for putting your ink on when water coloring. For this background wash, I just dabbed my ink pad onto the glass mat, then used my water painter to dilute the ink down and do a wash on my card stock.

You can also use this for water coloring images – simply dab your ink pad on the glass mat, or put a couple of drops of ink refill on it. When done, just wipe up the excess ink!

8. Measuring

I often stamp on a piece of cardstock, then cut it down to the size I want it to be. Then I measure it to decide what size to cut my next layer. No more searching for a ruler… I now always have one right on my work surface!

9. Easy to Clean – Even Adhesive Cleans Off!

Whether it is ink or adhesive – it wipes right off! No more sticky work surfaces to ruin your projects. If your adhesive is dry and you can’t wipe it off easily, use a little rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizers and it will clean up beautifully.

10. No Block Needed With Background Stamps

Reason #10 is super exciting – you don’t need to use a block when using big background stamps. I always stamped them “upside down” anyway, but had to put on a block to do so. Now, I just lay the stamp on the glass mat, ink up with my pad, lay my piece of cardstock on top, and gently rub it to get a good impression.

If you want to protect your hands from the ink, you can place a piece of scrap paper on top before rubbing. Just be careful to not let your card stock move. One less block you need, and one less thing on your stamping table as you are creating.

Thank you so much for visiting my website today! I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy card making project. If you did, please leave us a comment below! If you have any questions, I would love to help you and answer them, just follow the link below to contact me. If you would like to place a Stampin’ Up! order, I would be thrilled if you selected me to be your demonstrator.

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