Hey guys....Thanks for all the good advice. For the second batch that I did last night, I used warm water with a soak of about 20 minutes. Results were much better than the first batch! I was able to peel off around the edges, and then what was left in the center came off quite easily just by sliding an old credit card underneath it.
The drying process is another problem I ran into with the first batch. I patted them dry multiple times, and then put them between paper towels and stacked a handful of old REA catalogs on top. I changed the paper towels a few times, but I ended up letting them sit too long, and the remaining glue residue got tacky again and caused some issues when I tried to remove them from the towels. Second batch I made sure not to let sit too long on the towels, and just laid them out bare overnight to prevent that same issue. We'll see how it goes. And here are some pics finally...
First off, the big boppers from the set. They were originally attached 12 to a page, but I cut them into separate cards to make it easier to handle.
And here is a comparison of the first try (top row) vs the second try (bottom row). Obviously a large improvement in preventing paper loss. There was also some warping on the first batch, which is strange to me because they dried completely flat. Just something I'll have to keep an eye on.
I'm a little nervous to try out the big ones, but pretty confident I can do it with minimal paper loss. I'll be sure to keep y'all updated. And thanks for all the tips and well wishes!