Monday, April 15, 2013

Question about Stamp Companies

Quick question for you...what stamp companies do you like/recommend? I prefer high-quality photopolymer stamps these days, but won't say no to rubber either.

For years, I've (mostly) limited myself to Papertrey, SU, and Hero Arts. Feelin' the need to branch out a bit. I'm already looking at GinaK and Dare2BArtzy but feel a tad overwhelmed by the number of other choices out there.

Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

53 comments:

  1. I think you would love Waltzingmouse Stamps (UK based but they now ship from the USA too)

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  2. Hi Susan,

    I am a follower, but a very bad commenter. Love your blog! Clearly besotted stamps has great stamps, fabulous service!!!! and shipping is pretty reasonable.

    Larissa

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  4. Great question! I love Hero Arts (especially for their background stamps) and the old A Muse wooden stamps (especially the sentiments). The rest of my collection is a bit of a jumble of companies. So I can't wait to hear what other posters recommend. ;-)

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  5. PTI is my very favorite but I have just discovered Avery Elle and Mama Elephant. Both small companies, but lovely designs, great quality stamps and I have been very pleased with their customer service.

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  6. I buy most of my stamps and supplies from PTI but I also like to visit Ellen Hutson and see the array she has in her store (many companies). How about digi stamps. Have you tried them yet? Brown Birdie (on etsy), Jellypark, Mo's Digi Pencil just to name a few of my favs.

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  7. Flourishes is my fav, also Our daily bread

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  8. I'm very limited on my spending money for my hobby at the moment. But I love Paper Smooches and Simon Says Stamp.

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  9. I love PTI, but have a nice collection of Paper Smooches too. I also like Clear and Simple stamps, and some of Technique Tuesday and Amuse's clear stamps. Also, My Favorite things for some of their stamps and definitely their dies. Hope this helps a bit. Happy Monday. Bev

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  10. Here are the companies I recommend for high quality stamps, good design, and excellent customer service.

    WPlus9 -- Highly recommended! Great designs and excellent quality.

    Waltzingmouse -- Now shipping new stamps and some older sets from the U.S., but even those that come from the U.K. come very quickly.

    Avery Elle -- I only have one set, but it's excellent quality.

    Mama Elephant -- This is now my favorite stamp company. The stamp designs just have a "fresh" feeling to me.

    Technique Tuesday

    Ellen Hutson -- I need to plug my favorite online store where you can buy HA, Mama Elephant, Technique Tuesday, and WPlus9. Frequent customers get coupons for 10% and there are sometimes sales of 15%. Shipping is FAST!

    I also LOVE the stamps that Kristina Werner designs for Simon Says Stamp. The stamps are photopolymer and I've heard some people say they don't get good impressions, but I've had success, especially with the Hero Arts Mid-tone shadow inks. The downside to SSS is that shipping is hit or miss. I've had orders come in 4-5 days and some in 2 weeks. I guess it depends on the volume of sales. I once called customer service for an issue and had a friendly and helpful experience.

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  11. I'm a little partial to some of the stamp companies as I've designed for them (or currently do). But, I was a fan before I started designing.

    I love The {Stamps} of Life and her stamps are made here in the USA. I also love the style of Clear & Simple Stamps as well.

    I've seen some others mentioned already so I won't repeat. Can't wait to see what other ones are suggested as well.

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  12. Well, duplicate names may be a good thing :)
    I adore Waltzingmouse stamps and Claire is terrific - a big plus.
    I've also enjoyed SSS for not just their products, but their customer service, too. Hero Arts is just sp Pro. They stand behind all their products and I love their typewriter font (I call it 'Hero Font')for the versatility.
    I've dropped PTI due to a bad experience and only recently tried La Blanche. I've also like Verve stamps -they always stamp well.
    I suppose it also depends on the images you prefer. I'm not into blod-graphic, grunge or cutesie as I prefer floral, clean-lined and pretty. We all have our paths and you know yours best :)
    Hope that helps some,
    Heather

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  13. Great names already suggested. I would give a second shout to Wplus9. Great stamps and great service!

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  14. Waltzingmouse stamps are fabulous - probably my favourite company. The owner, Claire Brennan, is super - her customer service is great. Plus they also now ship from the US.

    Other companies I like are My Favourite Things, Stampin' Up!, CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and PTI (but you already know them).

    Have fun!

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  15. Love Papertrey stamps, but also love Mint Motif, Paper Smooches & Lawn Fawn!

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  16. I think it depends on what style you like.

    I have always been a fan of Hero Arts and Club Scrap (especially for quotes), but have recently got some wonderful WPlus9, Purple Onions & Simon Says. I would love Stampin' Up too, but they wont send to me :( I think that's mean in this global economy.

    I find this proliferation of stamp companies quite boggling. During the CHA time I had to stop blog reading - was just too much for my brain to handle.

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  17. This is all pretty new ground for me and others have mentioned most of the companies I've 'discovered'. The only one not mentioned is Annabelle Stamps in Australia, which I only recently found and haven't yet tried (but will be doing!)... international shipping is free over 85AUD$ (about 88US$). Anita :)

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  18. WPlus9 & Mama Elephant are 2 of my new favourites - great designs, customer service & good clean impressions. Also My Cute Stamps, although they've done nothing new for a while now. Jenny

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  19. I have been a long time SU customer. I am new to photopolymer, but I am loving it. I like My Favorite Things. And I just recently ordered a couple of cling mount rubber stamps from Taylored Expressions. I have ordered various things from both of these companies several times and have gotten good customer service. They both have free shipping over a certain dollar amount for U.S. orders.

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  20. In addition to the ones you have mentioned, I like Memory Box and Karen Lockhart. Both are available from Ellen Hutson who has a wonderful selection of supplies for stampers. I also like AMuse, but they seem to be harder to get since they are no longer available in stores, but can only be purchased from a consultant.

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  21. PTI is still my favorite, but I also have quite a few sets from Waltzingmouse, WPlus9, and Avery Elle. They all have high quality products, reasonable shipping, and great customer service.

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  22. I'm another advocate for Waltzingmouse. Fantastic quality stamps and lovely designs.x

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  23. I was going to mention one I didn't see on your list, Karen Lockhart, but Lueyes beat me to it. Also, I love Art Impressions. I also make a habit of frequenting ebay searching for gently used stamps.

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  24. I really love Verve Stamps, along with many others mentioned already.

    Just a quick note, you may want to change your email in your blog profile too.

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  25. PTI is my favorite, but I have recently ordered from WPlus9, My Favorite Things and The Craft's Meow. They are all very good quality too.

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  26. Many great names were mentioned. I would like to add Impression Obsession. I like its Cover-A-Card stamps because they make mass production such a breeze. Its other stamps sets are very pretty and their style appear to be quite different from those on the market. I am certainly biased because I am a rep of Close to My Heart. I like its wide variety of stamps, and I do have a higher successful rate of getting a crisp stamp impressions with its stamps than photopolymer stamps. Nevertheless I also like photopolymer stamps like Avery Elle. Thanks for your post and bloggers' comments! I'm learning many new companies and I'll check them out!

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  27. Paper Smooches is my very favorite. They have extremely nice clear polymer stamps and a fun collection of metal dies for die-cut machine.

    The whimsical style of Kim Hughes really makes me smile every time I stamp.

    http://www.papersmoochesstamps.com

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  28. I've been infatuated with Close To My Heart since I was introduced to paper crafting and an acrylic block with a clear stamp attached. My most recent purchase in a 'brick-and-mortar' was a Lawn Fawn set.

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  29. PTI was my first and is still one of my favorites, but I also really like Clear and Simple Stamps, My Favorite Things, Avery Elle, and Taylored Expressions. The TE stamps aren't clear but they cling nicely to the blocks. And they give you a plastic template to line up your dies. You stamp and then die cut, which is often easier. I get tired of die cutting pieces with PTI dies and then the stamping isn't straight.

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  30. The Craft's Meow and CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.

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  31. I like the quality of Stampin' Up stamps, but I also appreciate Stampendous for a deep etching - which matters to me. I buy Hero Arts and PaperTrey as well.

    Hugs,
    Audrie

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  33. Loyal follower, bad commenter, joining you in your feeling for the people of Boston and all those from aroud the world who joined them for what should have been a fun and joyous day.

    On the happier question of stamp companies, I think you'd really enjoy Waltzingmouse Stamps - lovely quality photo polymer, great designs, not overwhelming on the release schedule but enough to keep it intersting. International shipping is very reasonable and many designs now ship from the US too. Find them at Waltzingmouse Stamps.

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  34. Gina K is a great Stamp Co with a wonderful work ethic and very High quality products! I have a few of her stamp sets and am very happy with the quality and service! Their online technique videos (http://stamptv.ning.com/video/video) are also informative and fun - I highly recommend them!

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  35. PTI, Hero arts and most recently Mama Elephant. I ordered from them on Easter Sunday, my order was ready for UPS at 6 and I got it on Wed. Great service and cute, cute stamps. Thx for all the other ideas!

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  36. I would also recommend WPlus9 stamps. You might also enjoy checking out PrintWorks stamps.

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  37. I'm also a loyal follower, but not so great commenter. I like all the companies mentioned, but I don't think anyone has put in Penny Black. If you look at Heather Telford's blog, she uses Penny Black stamps in a simple manner that I love.

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  38. I have several Gina K stamps and they are great quality stamps. Their customer service is AWESOME, and they fixed my problem immediately and graciously as soon as I brought it to their attention. I haven't purchased from them in a while (just because I haven't bought any new stamps), but would highly recommend them. Have fun shopping!

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  39. Something that might tickle you is the humor from River City Rubber Works. Unfortunately they're getting a face-lift so you won't be able to see the entire line right now - but you can still see the top 50 (I think). You can buy their stamps mounted, UM or cling - especially nice for red rubber. Their customer service is fantastic (as was their shipping). :)

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  40. Another vote from me for Technique Tuesday - their Greenhouse Society monthly stamp set has great sentiments for cards, and they are nice photopolymer stamps.

    I also like Lawn Fawn, although the designs run a little too cutesy for me, they are good quality stamps.

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  41. For another point of view, I love Crackerbox Palace and Repeat Impressions stamps. They are both very high quality rubber stamps. I do design cards and blog for them, but would not recommend them unless they were the best. Here are some links to see some of their stamps on my cards:http://karenskreativekards.blogspot.com/search/label/Crackerbox%20Palace

    and http://karenskreativekards.blogspot.com/search/label/Repeat%20Impressions%20Stamps

    Hope that helps.

    Karen Hasheck (subscriber)

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  42. This may be pushing way past your "style" comfort zone but you should check out the Tim Holtz stamps at StampersAnonymous.com

    There is a great online catalog to get really good close up views of the stamps.

    While an entire set of his style might not work for you there are plenty of images available as single stamps. I think you might find a few to work with in your amazing clean and simple style!

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  43. MFT Stamps! My Favorite Things -- LOVE them!

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  44. I love Verve...wonderful quality and excellent customer service. Recently had issues with one stamp of a two-part set...they quickly sent me a replacement. They have beautiful Scripture stamps - simple but clean and stylish. AAA+++ all the way!

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  45. PTI is #1, but I also really love Lawn Fawn stamps. A relatively small company, run by some really nice people, and the quality of their stamps is superb! They are now carrying dies to go with some of their stamp sets...very cool!

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  46. I always feel like I'm coming late to the party when it comes to commenting on your blog. My e-mail notice doesn't come until the day after you've posted. But, thought I'd toss in a few of my favorites.

    Hero Arts always seems to be at the top of my wish list and I like a lot of what I see online from PTI, but I've never ordered any of their stamps. I used to like SU a lot, but have liked less of their stuff in the last big catalog and the stamps in their little Spring catalog really just didn't fit my taste, so it will be interesting to see what their new catalog brings in June.

    I also buy quite a few Stampendous stamps. I love their line of Jumbo Cling floral stamps and many of their others. I also like some of the Penny Black stamps... mainly their nature and floral stamps. I've also purchased from Verve and Our Daily bread... but haven't kept up with their stuff lately.

    I see so many stamps that interest me online since I read so many blogs. And many of them have been named in previous comments. I like some of what I see from companies like CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, Clear & Simple Stamps, Wplus9, Avery Elle and some others I can't think of at the moment.

    There are so many stamp companies out there and it seems like a new one pops up every time I turn around. I wish they could all be found in my local stores so I could try them easily.

    So many stamps, so little time... and even less money!

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  47. I haven't purchased a stamp in a long time because I'm on a self-imposed craft budget, but I do peruse and drool over many cardmaking projects and stamp sets. There's no way I could keep up with all the great stamps I see, especially since just about every new blog post contains a delicious new stamp that I could easily talk myself into buying if my bank account would support that habit. Most of my favorites have been mentioned EXCEPT for Stamps Of Life (unless I missed it). I started with SU! and still enjoy the wide variety of stamps they create.

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  48. One I have not seen mentioned is Avocado Arts. They do one set a month, plus they have a few "supporting sets". Currently they sell on the net and stamp/craft shows. Their designer, Lisa Hetrick is on the staff at my local stamp store, and teaches a class each month using the stamps. She makes things that work together across the various sets etc.

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  49. Waltzing Mouse and My Favorite Things are on my wish list for when the economy lightens up. I'm tempted by GinaK sets, but there are many big sets that have an odd stamp that isn't right somehow? The perspective is off. Every set I want has an odd stamp. I guess it shouldn't matter, but it's a mental block for me.

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  50. Mari mentioned River City Rubber Works but didn't mention the Kay Foley sentiment stamps they have - I thought they might appeal to you as you love words. Great sentiments if you want a sentiment to be the focal point of the card. I was going to give you the direct link for the Kay Foley ones, but they are currently re-doing their website.

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  51. i think you'd really like AveryElle.com and mamaelephant.com

    USA made photopolymer, they are hip and fun


    waltzingmouse stamps are also great, and though they ship from ireland, they are manufactured in the USA as well

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  52. Here's some more:
    Fresh Squeezed stamps
    Kaiser Craft

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!