My Sweet Sticky Mat Hack!

You may have recently seen Brutus Monroe and Sweet Patunia released sticky mats for use with stamping, stencilling and more inside stamping platforms. 

I WANTED ONE!!!

However, they sold out quickly in the USA and were months away from being released here in Australia. I did a Google search for other sticky mat options, just on the odd chance I could score a mat somewhere, anywhere!

When I searched for "sticky mats for craft", good ol' Google showed me mats for an electronic cutting machine and it got me wondering if they were anything similar to what I was looking for. Not having an electronic cutting machine myself, I decided to watch a few videos to see if I could see any similarities between the two different types of mats. Honestly, they may all have different colours, sizes and styles, but when it came to the sticky surface, I was struggling to see any difference, at least in the videos I watched.

So, I took a leap of faith in my own analytical skills, went to a generic sales site (I chose AliExpress because shipping to Australia is the fastsest) and found they sell generic cutting mats, twice the size of what the other sticky mats were, for a quarter of the price. I don't know how good they are for electronic cutting machines but they sure seemed like they'd be good enough for what I wanted them for, and an A4 mat worked out to just $4.50 each. If my thinking turned out to be wrong, it wasn't a lot of money to waste but, if I was right, these mats were going to save me a small fortune and I could get my crafty hands on one, fast! 

Living in Australia, having bought directly from the USA in the past, I knew I was faced with waiting months to get my hands on an original version of the sticky mats. And, going by the prices I could see, it was going to cost me around $15 (or possibly more) to get an originally branded 6"×8" mat to fit inside my stamping platforms.

I ordered a three pack of A4 mats and they arrived in under 2 weeks. I cut one in half, using just a Fiskars trimmer and experimented, trying the techniques I'd seen in the YouTube videos in my initial investigations. I tried using them to glue intricate die cuts onto card bases and I used an alcohol free baby wipe to clean my excess Ranger Multi Medium Matte Adhesive off before it dried. 

THEY WORKED PERFECTLY!

I now have the equivalent of SIX sticky mats for the price of one and, as the ones I bought are clear, I can line things up through the mat, as well as marking guide lines on the back with a permanent marker, if I choose. The mats I purchased are firm enough to work directly on my craft table with so I'm not even going to need to use my stamping platform to hold the mats if I don't want. Having the equivalent of six original mats, I can cut one half down to fit inside my stamping platform and just leave it in the platform for when I need it.

This alternative "hack" could save you money and get you your sticky mat much quicker for stamping and stencilling. And, if you already have an electronic cutting machine and you have a spare, or even used mat you are thinking of discarding, you already have what you need to cut it down to fit inside your stamping platform. 

Cleaning The Sticky Surface: 

Cleaning the sticky mats immediately after use is best. I used an alcohol free baby wipe worked wonders for glue residue and a damp chamois, with maybe a quick squirt of water on the mat, removed dye based inks really well, without leaving any fluff or fibres on the sticky surface. Just allow the surface to dry fully before you cover it with its protective plastic sheeting.

Sticky Mat Tutorials:

If you'd like to see how the original sticky mats can be used, I found these videos were the most beneficial.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

Don't forget, if you have any questions or problems, please reach out and leave a comment below. We will will reply as soon as we can. Or, if you're a little shy, you're welcome to contact us using the contact form for a more private chat via email.