**OPINIONS WANTED***
Karissa
I don't post much here, but I lurk alot. lol. I have a scrapbook
store and we are looking at bringing in rubber stamps to sell. I have
been stamping for four years now and know what I like. But I would
like to know what the consumer likes too. So I am asking for
everyones opinion on WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE STAMP COMPANY TO BUY FROM ~
excluding CTMH and SU. WHAT ARE YOU FAVORITE PAD TO WORK WITH? And
any other information you are willing to share. Thanks so much!
Karissa
Pat Kight
Well, I'm probably not going to be much use to you - in my experience,
scrappers tend to be interested in cute/charming type images, and I'm
decidedly in the surreal/artistic/antique camp; in addition, many of my
very favorite stamp companies are small outfits that do all their own
sales and don't seem to wholesale to stamp stores at all.
That said, I'd probably start shopping locally again (instead of
ordering on line) if my lone neighborhood scrapping/stamp store carried:
Above the Mark ( http://www.abovethemark.com/about.htm )
Keyhole Arts ( http://www.keyholearts.com/ )
Leavenworth Jackson ( http://www.ljackson.com/ )
Non Sequitur ( http://www.nonsequiturstamps.com/ )
The Stampsmith ( http://www.stampsmith.net/ )
Viva Las Vegastamps ( http://www.vivalasvegastamps.com/ )
As for ink, the ColorBox line from ClearSnap does it for me. I use their
heat-setting Crafters' Ink and their archival Ancient Page dye inks
almost exclusively.
Hope this helps,
--
Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Erin-Joi Collins McNeal
For paper and velum, I love brilliance pads.
For shrink plastic, I use Zim Ink and brilliance.
For other non-porous items, I use Zim Ink. (plastic, metal, varnished wood)
I have a very diverse interest in stamps. The following are a small
sampling:
http://www.stampola.com/
http://www.sundayint.com/
http://www.zimprints.com/
http://www.rubberdubdub.com/
http://www.cistamps.com/
Perhaps you should also ask your question in a scrapbooking newsgroup?
Best of luck
Erin-Joi
***************************************************
If you think that something small cannot make a difference---try sleeping
with a mosquito in the room.
If I told you that I was walking 39 miles in 2 days to help women with
undetected breast cancer find out early enough to survive, would you support
me? http://erinjoi.pledgepage.com
Feel free to forward my pledgepage to anyone interested in the walk or the
cause.
"Karissa" <Angel...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:49df096e.0304...@posting.google.com...
Cecelia Medbery
excluding CTMH and SU. WHAT ARE YOU FAVORITE PAD TO WORK WITH? >>>
I know you said you didn't want to know if it was SU, but I thought it might
help you if you did know that some of us ONLY buy SU. I love their stamps
and find that buying by the set gives me a better deal than buying
individually, plus I have fonts that "match" the images. I also prefer SU
ink because they have the "family" colors and I know that the paper will
always match the ink. I've been buying these for 7 years and am sure I
personally paid for my demonstrator's addition to her home! LOL
Cecelia
Alison
cannot sell SU! in a storefront, which is what she is planning to do. So,
SU! is simply not an option for her regardless of if it's a favorite.
A
"Cecelia Medbery" <mrsnmom...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:_oIia.62364$XA4....@news2.central.cox.net...
Ed & Marlene
Stamps by Judith, in Minn. Love the Paper Parachute out of Portland Or. and
Dimani, don't know if I spelled that right.. I will go upstairs and check
out some more of my favorite. As for pens I love the Tomboy, and Brilliance
pads are great.
A lot depends on the type of people you have in your area. The flower stamps
are so great and you can include those in scrapbooking ideas. I will write
back and tell you some more. I also like the stampin up stamps but I still
spend just as much money at our local stamp store.. One thing about SU they
won't let you sell anyother stamps and if they found out the demo was she
would be removed from selling.. Marlene
Cecelia Medbery
cannot sell SU! in a storefront, which is what she is planning to do. So,
SU! is simply not an option for her regardless of if it's a favorite.>>>
I understand that, but what I was saying is this...if she gets 10 responses
and decides to carry those stamps then finds out later that 50 people ONLY
by SU, would it have been better to have not carried stamps at all? The
reason I answered the question was so she would see that some of us ONLY by
SU and why we do (or at least why I do).
Cecelia
Geiar N'Dege
specific names, just opinions (which I guess is what you want), but I
went into a local shop for the first time yesterday and saw some stamps
that are of the area. They had very familiar images -- southwestern-y
stuff as well as more specific hey-I-know-where-that-is kind of images.
I was really impressed! I saw a stamp there that has the mountains I see
every morning from my bedroom window :) That made my day and it gave me
all sorts of ideas that had more personal meaning because they weren't
generic theme images but of places and things that are practically in my
back yard. I don't know if that would work or not, but there's my .02.
Toodles,
Geiar
Karissa
CTMH, and unforunetly, I know I can't sell them....lol So I am going
to try the next best thing and still try to keep up with them....(o=.
Has anyone heard of DARCIE Stamps. I really like them. And I have
looked into Paper Parachute. So many choices! Oh My! I think I may
need to go to a stamp convention...lol
Karissa
"Ed & Marlene" <mhut...@mn.rr.com> wrote in message news:<oJJia.1343$vb.2...@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com>...
hansen
with a stamping section - when I'm there I buy Hero Arts, Magenta and
Stamp in the Hand stamps. Pads - I have alot, but mostly use the
Ranger, Brilliance and Colorsnap pads, which they do carry. Sometimes
the lure of both great paper and stamps in one store is too much to resist!
Janet
Chris McEwen
exist than Stamping Up, and all stores should not sell stamps.
Stamping Up is a very popular company. So are Tupperware and Mary Kay in
their fields. All have excellent competition which do very well in their
respective markets. Don't believe me? Check out retailers from Nordstrom to
Wal-Mart.
The original poster excluded companies she is not able to sell. That only
makes sense. By the way, are you affiliated with SU or have a close relation
or friend who is?
--Chris McEwen
Northwestern Stamps
Cecelia Medbery
makes sense. By the way, are you affiliated with SU or have a close relation
or friend who is?>>>
No. As I wrote in my earlier post, I have bought these for 7 years. My
demonstrator is just that...my demonstrator. I don't know her socially
outside of buying stamps from her. I don't understand why my comments got
you in such a huff. Why would you care if I answered her?
Cecelia
Chris McEwen
will only buy SU stamps, there will be only 10 that will buy stamps from all
other companies in the world. Under such conditions, the art stamp industry
needs to fold its doors, including all manufacturers and stores. I do
question the validity of that assumption, but this does not imply I am
upset.
Why would I care? I manufacture art stamps. My customers evidently disagree
with you and I felt it valid to point this out to the retailer that is
considering adding stamps to her store.
-- Chris McEwen
Northwestern Stamps
Cecelia Medbery
will only buy SU stamps, there will be only 10 that will buy stamps from all
other companies in the world. >>>
No, my previous answer does not state or imply that, but that is what you
have chosen to read into a reply that was directed to somebody else.
Regardless, please accept my apologies for giving my opinion when it was
specifically stated that it wasn't wanted. I will use more discretion in
the future.
Cecelia
Pat Kight
> I understand that, but what I was saying is this...if she gets 10 responses
> and decides to carry those stamps then finds out later that 50 people ONLY
> by SU, would it have been better to have not carried stamps at all?
Well, not for those of us who don't care for the SU line ... (-:
I don't envy the original questioner the market research task she faces,
frankly - stamps and stamping styles span such a vast range of tastes
that it would be *hard* to figure out what's likely to sell in a given
store. On-line sales are different, 'cause (assuming people know you
exist) you can either draw from a broader demographic or specialize in a
certain style. But in a bricks-and-mortar store, you need to figure out
what will appeal to the customers in your particular area. We
stampoholics would probably say, "Heck, carry everything!" but most
small business owners aren't able to make that kind of investment in
inventory.
--
Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
(Nothing against SU, the designs and sales method just don't appeal to me).
Wendi Dunlap
"Cecelia Medbery" <mrsnmom...@cox.net> wrote:
Well, just so she doesn't think that everyone only buys SU... I'll jump
in. I don't buy SU currently. I have in the past. But in general their
style doesn't coincide with mine much.
I love companies like 100 Proof Press, Above the Mark, etc. Now that I
have my own company I don't get to buy as many other stamps as I would
like, as I feel compelled to use my own stamps instead. ;)
I don't think those who only buy SU are a majority... There are a lot of
people who buy SU, but no one company can carry anything, so probably
most people buy from multiple companies. And it is fun to go to a store
to shop sometimes, which is different from the SU experience. Mostly,
though, I think choice is important. My favorite stamp stores have the
largest selections. Stores that carry only a few companies' products
usually don't have the variety of selection that I crave.
For inkpads I love the Clearsnap products, partly because they are good,
and partly because I've always had such wonderful service from
Clearsnap. I went to a trade show a few years ago and the owner of one
stamp company (I won't say who) was very rude to me when she found out I
was a small internet-based company. In contrast, Clearsnap has always
been wonderful, even though I am net-based and order in low volume
(since I sell mostly stamps with inkpads as a side thing). They are a
good company to work with.
--
*--- Rubber Trouble Rubber Stamps & Supplies -------------------------*
| P.O. Box 24131, Seattle, WA 98124 * (877) 679-1397 (voice or fax) |
| r...@rubbertrouble.com * http://www.rubbertrouble.com/buystamps.html |
*---------------------- Visa/MasterCard/PayPal accepted --------------*
Alison
stamping store that I really enjoyed. Even Enchanted Cottage (near
Winston-Salem, North Carolina) does nothing for me, and they've got
something like 20,000 images in stock! Maybe I'm overwhelmed, but it seems
I never come across images I just "have to have" in stamping stores. Part
of it is the high cost of wood-mounted stamps plus the added costs of
overhead involved in a "brick and mortar" storefront. But a large part also
is that it all looks the same to me. Oh, I know it's just me... but with 5
billion people in the world I take some comfort in knowing I can't possibly
be utterly alone! As much as I want to support my local stamping places,
they can't keep everything around in the hopes of making everyone happy, and
my taste just doesn't fall into the mainstream. Oh well, poor me. It does
make finding things that I DO like all the more exciting, though... it's
like I won in a treasure hunt!
:-)
A
Christina
Ink pads:
Brilliance
Ancient Page (great for watercolors!) and nice juicy pads (Acid Free and
Archival and all that jazz)
Memories white ink pad
Stamps (other than The Angel Company, of course):
I buy only UNmounted now, but when I used to buy mounted:
(these are the ones on my shelf that I use most often)
Denami
Art Impressions
Imaginations
Museum of Modern Rubber
Stamp City
My Heart Stamps for You
Sonlight Impressions
Paper Inspirations
Unmounted favorites (again, other than TAC)
Non Sequitur
Just Jhone
Ma Vinci's Reliquary
Just about anyone at www.cyberstampers.com in the vendor mall! :-)
UM might be something to think about also. It might take up less room and
have less overhead. One store in Wichita KS ( www.mrsolearys.com ) carries
UM, and I think they do pretty well with it. People use clear acrylic
blocks to use them and it works great!
--
Christina
Independent Demonstrator for
The Angel Company
cgoo...@everestkc.net
http://www.geocities.com/kspeach/rubberstamps.html
www.theangelcompany.net
"Karissa" <Angel...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:49df096e.0304...@posting.google.com...
-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----
MargaretEckbold
because they are cheaper, they take up much less space, and I can trim them to
my own satisfaction. I f a stamp store sold ums they could handle a wider
range because of these same cost and space problems. Don't companies wholesale
these stamps?
Peggy
Chris McEwen
of the companies we make stamps for sell only unmounted, and they find it
difficult to sell to retail stamp stores. So the question may be better
asked of the store owners. There are certainly reasons or the stores would
be stocking these items. The demand seems to be there. I wonder why not.
-- Chris McEwen
Northwestern Stamps
Pat Kight
Whoa, whoa, calm down, everybody. I haven't seen any huffs -- nor did I
think Cecelia was out of line with her response. YMMV, but how about we
all take a deep breath and relax?
The world's tense enough right now without getting all wrought up over a
little discussion in a craft newsgroup.
Anybody want to talk about stamping? I'm in a slump; I'm completely
bored with cards, and would love to hear what sort of non-card projects
people are working on.
--
Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Liz
I am more of a lurker than a participant but I enjoy what I see posted
here - and I, too, am in a bit of a slump and was wondering what new
interesting techniques are around that might be worth trying.
Thanks, Pat, for all you give to this newsgroup - I always look for your
opinions.
Liz
Geiar N'Dege
> bored with cards, and would love to hear what sort of non-card projects
> people are working on.
Right now I'm working on a memory book for my best friend's birthday.
I'm not just using stamps though, but pretty much anything I can stick
to a page in one way or another so it's turning out very multimedia
:)Right now I'm working on a page (Page 6: There is no page six!) That's
a kind of homage to Monty Python.
Geiar
Pat Kight
Hee! That sounds very cool ...
I have a half-finished project that's been languishing in my studio all
month - a heavily painted, stamped and collaged wooden cabinet-type
thing that's meant to be a sort of shrine to vision (the eyesight sort);
I started it while a long round of glaucoma testing last year. But I got
stalled trying to find (OK, don't laugh) one or more glass eyes to go
into it, along with several old pairs of eyeglasses, a miniature book
designed to mimic what vision with glaucoma is like and some other
symbolic stuff.
What can I say? I'm weird ...
--
Pat Kight
whose eyesight is still fine, thanks
kig...@peak.org
Geiar N'Dege
eyes reminded me of a novel I finished reading for a class not to long
ago. It's V by Thomas Pynchon. In it, there's a woman (presumably V.
though we never find out for sure) who has a glass eye. Except this
isn't just an ordinary glass eye, there's a clock in it so that the iris
is actually the face of the clock. Anyway, I think your idea is really
cool! :) It sounds like a very personal, introspective work.
Geiar
The Queen
Have you tried a dollmaking supplier for porcelain dolls? There are several
brands of very realistic eyes in larger sizes. Dollmaker magazine would have
ads for suppliers.
Denise
once made a Cat Mask with human style eyes set in
Pat Kight
Duh! Now why didn't I think of that???
(I did look through various on-line catalogues for taxidermy suppliers,
which in retrospect was fairly dumb - I imagine ... no, I *hope* ...
nobody out there is stuffing people!)
--
Pat Kight
off to google doll-making suppliers
kig...@peak.org
Sandra Kryshak
non card ideas? I have stamped candles (as gifts), boxes, glass jars (very
good idea w/ Easter coming up), shirts etc. I stamp nearly everything.
Anyone who knows me, knows they will be getting something new that is
stamped.
Hope this helps!
"Liz" <ick...@bestweb.net> wrote in message
news:v8sdkrc...@corp.supernews.com...
Alison
"Pat Kight" <kig...@peak.org> wrote in message
news:b6hv3p$2bm$1...@news.orst.edu...
> Anybody want to talk about stamping? I'm in a slump; I'm completely
> bored with cards, and would love to hear what sort of non-card projects
> people are working on.
For anyone new to the group who hasn't realized it yet, Pat is simply
fabulous!! Well-spoken, well-tempered in posts, and a fountain of
interesting stuff! If you haven't figured it out yet, if you see Pat's name
on a post you definitely want to read it.
Okay, enough worshipping, Pat doesn't like it, and I don't want to be struck
down for idolizing :-)
I'm in a slump, too. I think I'm beginning to get bored with cards. That
and I just have no energy when I get home. When I'm at work, I dream of
putting the finishing touches on my first cigar-box attempt and of stamping
a couple of shirts. But all the inspiration deserts me when I set foot
home!
I'm also working on tags for favor bags for a friend's wedding - woo hoo. I
think maybe that's part of the slump - I can't play because I should be
doing the tags, and the tags are boring. I should tempt myself with a
reward for finishing them by day X. Any suggestions for a reward???
Regards,
Alison
Breathe
I love Acey Ducey's stuff; very artistic. Hero Arts has probably the
broadest selection out there, from cutesy to artsy. I also highly recommend
you look into Dawn Houser stamps; those are *very* popular it
seems--however, before you get into that series, make sure you can compete
on them with any Michaels in your area, as they carry part of the line.
Stamp pads: I have to also say, "Color Box!" Fantastic stuff. I'm also a
huge fan of Stampa Barbara's Fresco chalk pads, but the company is ceasing
manufacturing them, and I don't know if anyone else will be picking them up.
:/ I haven't tried the Color Box chalk ones yet, though (I have one on
order, whee!).
In short, get a mix. I'd err on the side of not-cutsey, though--get a
modest selection of scrapbook-worthy cute stamps (new baby, birthday,
seasonal, vacation), some other good 'travel' stamps (since you're a
scrapbook store and people love to chronicle their vacations) like postoids,
postcard and map type things, and...well, maybe set up a notebook where
people can say what kind of stamps they'd want to buy. Maybe garner more
interest by taking the EMail/phone of everyone who makes a suggestion and
having a random drawing once a week for a little gift basket or gift
certificate. Good publicity for you, too!
Good luck--I dream of having my own stamp store! :) (And I have a dream
location in town, but a kung fu school just opened up in it, LOL)
Pat Kight
> For anyone new to the group who hasn't realized it yet, Pat is simply
> fabulous!!
*blush* Now cut that out...
> I'm in a slump, too. I think I'm beginning to get bored with cards. That
> and I just have no energy when I get home. When I'm at work, I dream of
> putting the finishing touches on my first cigar-box attempt and of stamping
> a couple of shirts. But all the inspiration deserts me when I set foot
> home!
*nod* I'm having a hard time setting foot in my studio, even though it's
all clean and ready for work. Like you, when I get home from work I'm
beat, and on weekends there are all those chores ...
We need maids! Or vacations!
Come to think of it, I'm off to spend four days on the Oregon coast with
a bunch of my women friends this coming weekend; we rent a big house and
have a fine time eating, drinking, talking, walking on the beach,
watching chick flicks - and doing crafts. This year we're all bringing
old hats and beads, trinkets, collage stuff, etc. to YaYa hats (if you
saw "The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood," you'll know what I
mean). Hm. I should throw some stamps and ink pads in my bag and see if
we can incorporate them...
The project I *want* to start is a deck of large-format blank playing
cards; I want to create a personal Tarot with stamps and collage and
computer-generated art, and have been squirreling away likely images and
all winter, but it's such a *huge* project - 78 cards in the deck, all
different - that I'm having trouble getting started on it.
> I'm also working on tags for favor bags for a friend's wedding - woo hoo. I
> think maybe that's part of the slump - I can't play because I should be
> doing the tags, and the tags are boring.
Oh, I don't envy you. I did a friend's wedding invitations a few years
ago and felt like jumping off a cliff from boredom before I was halfway
done. I stamp because I like to be creative; if I wanted to work on an
assembly line I'd have never left Detroit!
> I should tempt myself with a
> reward for finishing them by day X. Any suggestions for a reward???
Hmmm ... A new stamp? A whole sheet of UMs? Preferably something that
wouldn't be caught dead in the vicinity of a wedding...
Or chocolate. Chocolate is always good.
--
Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Geiar N'Dege
That
> and I just have no energy when I get home. When I'm at work, I dream of
> putting the finishing touches on my first cigar-box attempt and of
stamping
> a couple of shirts. But all the inspiration deserts me when I set foot
> home!
>
> I'm also working on tags for favor bags for a friend's wedding - woo
hoo. I
> think maybe that's part of the slump - I can't play because I should be
> doing the tags, and the tags are boring. I should tempt myself with a
> reward for finishing them by day X. Any suggestions for a reward???
I don't know how well this suggestion would work here, but I'm also a
creative writer and usually when I'm in a slump I start doing other
things around the house -- not necessarily fun stuff, but the repulsive
stuff like scrubbing down the bathroom, or cleaning the oven. For me it
works in a couple of ways. First I get something clean (always a good
thing :) ) and Second it clears my mind from the I-must-be-creative-now
mindset I tend to trap myself into. Once I get out of that line of
thinking I notice that inspiration tends to come back on its own a
little easier.
As far as suggestions for a reward,I'm really bad at that 'cause it
never works for me. I'm too stubborn to wait for goodies. For me they
usually turn out to be bribes to do what I should be doing in the first
place :-/ I guess for me the idea of having the annoying thing simply
over and done with so I can go on to something more fun is my best
motivator.
Geiar