I will continue to add products to this page as I have time, so please check back if I haven't yet covered a product you're interested in!
Disclaimer
I am not receiving compensation in any way for my endorsement of these products. Aside from the free stuff I received as a member of a design team and the occasional free set of stamps from various stamp companies, I pay for my stuff and buy what I love. My favorites are listed here to help newbies and experienced stampers alike...anyone who's looking to try something new. But please keep in mind that these are my opinions, not facts, and individual results will vary!
Favorite Stamps
I look for two things in stamps: high-quality materials and images I love and will use.
For high-quality wood-mounted rubber stamps, I look for deeply-etched rubber with a nice mounting foam. The rubber needs to be closely trimmed to avoid problems with ink on the flashing (the part of the rubber that isn't supposed to stamp). Brands I use and love include StampinUp, Hero Arts, Memory Box, Stampabilities, PSX (out of business but still available on ebay), and A Muse (though they no longer make wood-mounted stamps).
For unmounted rubber stamps, I look for deeply-etched, closely-trimmed rubber with a nice cling foam that sticks well to the acrylic block. I've only tried two brands of unmounted rubber: StampinUp clear mount and Hero Arts clings. I prefer Hero Arts. I do not like StampinUp's cling stickers, though the foam without the sticker (which you have to put on yourself anyway) works fine. Still, I'd rather pay for SU's wood-mounted stamps. I'm eager to try A Muse's unmounted stamps to see how well they cling.
UPDATE: Now that I've tried them, A Muse stamps do stick to the acrylic block, but not quite as well as the Hero Arts ones. The foam they use is less dense (more squishy), so the stamping experience is a little different. I've just placed a second big order for A Muse, so they definitely make my recommended list!
Still, if there's a wood-mount option for rubber, I prefer that.
For clear stamps, only high-quality photopolymer stamps are allowed in my craft room. Photopolymer stamps take most types of ink well, whereas the cheaper silicon stamps have issues with inks pooling on them and stamping poor images. Clear stamp brands I use and love include Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts, Clear and Simple Stamps, and Shady Tree Studios.
Photopolymer stamps have a distinctive chemical odor, while the cheaper silicon stamps don't. If in doubt at the store and the package doesn't specifiy photopolymer, sniff.
Card Stock
Once a stamper has a stamp, she (or he) needs something to stamp ON, and that's usually card stock. I have very strong feelings about card stock. VERY strong. Because there's one rule of clean-and-simple stamping that I learned the hard way: if you buy cheap card stock, your cards will look cheap. Seriously.
As with so many things in stamping, just one card stock won't do. You need lots of different card stocks for different purposes (just like inks, which I will eventually add to this page!). Listed here are my favorite card stocks that I use regularly. There are other wonderful papers out there that I've never had opportunity to use, so don't be afraid to try something new and different. You can always donate it to a school art classroom, preschool, or church if you don't like it. The kids don't care!
White Card Stock
White card stock is a staple of my paper stash because very often it's the base of my card. That means it must be sturdy and stable and take ink well. My go-to white cardstock is Papertrey Stampers Select white. I break out in hives if I get down to only one pack of it. It's heavy and feels rich because the surface has a bit of tooth to it...it's not smooth like StampinUp's whisper white (which is nice but far too light-weight to be a card base). I love that StampinUp real red ink (well, pretty much any ink) dries quickly on Papertrey's white card stock. Also, it makes awesome single-panel note cards.
A second white card stock that is essential for my stash is Gina K Deluxe white. This is ultra-smooth, super-thick card stock that you can color with Bic/Sharpie/Copic markers without bleed-through. If you want to make one-layer cards with marker-colored images, Gina K Deluxe is DA BOMB. The slick surface doesn't absorbe ink like PTI's does, so your markers should last longer, too. Just don't stamp SU real red on it. It will never dry.
Colored Card Stock
On a personal note.... For my 40th birthday, I bought most of the StampinUp inks and papers. Almost immediately, I realized that my style really requires a whole lotta white card and not much color. Now, I find that the lighter colors work as bases for my style, with maybe a dark mat for the white stamped panel to provide contrast.This has made me much more cautious about investing in colored card stock since it lasts so very long for me!
I prefer solid-core, heavy card stock for color. Two brands that provide consistent high quality are Papertrey and StampinUp. I don't really notice a difference between the two and use them together and interchangeably. StampinUp has the advantage of coordinating inks; Papertrey did offer coordinated inks but had quality control issues, discontinued their inks, and haven't yet offered new ones. *UPDATE* PTI now is slowly releasing ink colors to coordinate. Haven't used them, yet, but can't wait to try!
One advantage to Papertrey (at least for me) is that you can buy smaller quantities of card stock. With SU, you either buy the assortments or 24-sheet packs. PTI sells assortments as well, but I prefer the 12-sheet packs. Much more manageable for my style of stamping.
Some stampers prefer white-on-one-side card stocks such as the ones offered by Hero Arts and A Muse. You can fold cards with these papers and have a white inside on which to write. This is MUCH more convenient than lining a dark card stock with a white panel, not to mention lighter to mail.
I've never used the A Muse papers, but the Hero Arts ones are smooth and what I would call medium-weight. (At least, they are lighter than Papertrey and StampinUp.) Both Hero Arts and A Muse have coordinated color lines with inks and papers. I can recommend the Hero Arts products, having used them all myself. Three of my favorite stampers use A Muse and love it, so I will be giving it a try when my own huge stash of card stock shrinks a bit.
