Blog Candy and Getting to Know You

502 Comments

Times Up and we already have a winner!!!!

dsc05240.JPG

Do to some work commitments I was unable to stamp this morning. 😦   I really enjoyed last weeks comments letting me know where you are from.   Knowing about my readers helps to motivate me to continue sharing with you.   My Word! there are a lot of you readers out there!  My blog gets around 2,000 to 3,000 clicks a day and there are about 1,300 of you subscribed to this blog by e-mail.  The shear numbers freak me out a little, lol.

This week I want all of you to share with me, please what brought you to stamping?  In return I have some BLOG CANDY to give you a chance at!

So to enter for a chance to win these 16 Studio G, Series 6 stamp packs with a bonus Valentine pack, please leave me a comment on this post telling me what brought you to stamping.  If you are getting this blog update by e-mail you will need to click this link to leave a comment on this blog post:    http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/07/24/blog-candy-and-getting-to-know-you/

I will use a random number generator to pick the winner on the morning of Saturday, July 26th.

I will start by saying, my friend Claire Sharkey asked me to come along with her to a stamping workshop.  I didn’t care about rubber stamps and wasn’t all that interested, but I wanted to spend time with my friend, Claire, so I went along.  Next thing I know, I’m ordering my very first Stampin’ Up stamp set “Frosty”.  That was back in 2001. 

I almost felt guilty for stamping at first, because I like to paint with watercolors and pastels and there I was just stamping the images instead of drawing them.  But my stamping in time became more artist in nature and more satisfying too.  I know you don’t believe it, but I can pretty quickly do a scene now with stamps and ink.  Now I say quickly, but quickly to me is 1 hour.  I like the creative process and why rush it.  🙂   My paintings with pastel can take me, literally months to complete, so 1 hour to accomplish a scene seems super quick.

Alright, that is my beginning in stamping, what is yours?

502 thoughts on “Blog Candy and Getting to Know You”

  1. Juliet A's avatar Juliet A

    I was invited to a Stampin’ Up demo. I was an active digital artist at the time, and I couldn’t understand why stamp art got so much more respect than digital art. Anuyway, the demo gave us a challenge – she set out several colors and a stamp set, and we had to create our own cards. I was really intrgued by how different everyone’s cards were using the same materials…

    I think I have more stamps and inks now than that demo ever did.

    Like

    Reply
  2. Robin S's avatar Robin S

    I started off with scrapbooking and then a friend of mine was selling all of her stuff that she did not use anymore. I bought it all from her and contacted a consultant for stampin up and have not been able to quit since. I use stamping for birthday cards at our office and I also use it on my scrapbook pages.

    Thank you for the chance at the blog candy, keep up the great work on our card designs.

    Like

    Reply
  3. Phree's avatar Phree

    I suppose the shortest and most honest answer to the question “what brought me to stamping” would be the length of time UK citizens spend awaiting surgery on National Health Service waiting lists.

    To expand a little – I had Gall Stones and needed my Gall Bladder removed – I was suffering quite a lot with outbreaks of pain from the blasted stones – so when i could not sleep I would turn on the TV in the middle of the night and watch anything while waiting for the pain to go. I became quite knowlegable about such products as the Jack La Lanne Juicer – those 30 minute long informercials can become quite hypnotic at 3am – but I digress! I found a shopping channel called Create and Craft, at first I thought card making was rather an odd hobby – why make them when you can buy them so cheaply? But then I saw a lady called Jayne Nestorenko and the amazing work she does with medallion stamps… I decided I want to make cards like that and started to think quite seriously about giving this rather odd hobby a go……. next I realised Jayne was not the only hugely talented demonstrator on that channel and I became addicted to the work of Glenda Wateworth……. and there you have it… the rest as they say is history.

    Like

    Reply
  4. online queen's avatar online queen

    I received a very clever House Mouse Christmas card from my sister-in-law way back in 2000. I noticed “Stampa Rosa” on the card, got on the internet, started searching, and WHOAAAA!!!! Hold me back!!! I have been buying and stamping ever since. It helps a lot, too, that it was my husband’s sister who got me started so he has a hard time complaining about the hobby and its costs, LOL!!! !

    Like

    Reply
  6. Barb's avatar Barb

    Even though I have some really old stamps that I used to make gift tags at Christmas, I really became turned on to stamping and making cards through a friend who sold Stampin’ Up. Now I work at a rubber stamp store and teach!! I’ve come a long way, baby. LOL

    Like

    Reply
  7. Gabriela Duclos's avatar Gabriela Duclos

    Great stories everyone.

    Mine is very simple… I WAS ENABLED! I have been a scrapbooker for years and constantly go to the message boards. People would show these beautiful cards with stamped images and I wanted to be able to do the same.

    I discovered Bella stamps shortly after and then I bought my first House Mouse stamp and Penny Black. I don’t have many stamps, but I truly treasure my little collection.

    Like

    Reply
  8. Marg's avatar Marg

    Many a year ago, I was on a year’s leave to complete a degree, but I had some spare time and wanted to do something different. Use the other side of my brain, so to speak. I went to a beginner’s stamping class and that was it. I was hooked!

    Like

    Reply
  9. Christine's avatar Christine

    I started stamping in college as a part time job with “DOTS”. I was always crafty and it was a nice way to make some extra money that would work well with my class schedule. I have stuck with it now for 13 years and do cards, scrapbooks, and other odds and ends. Not great on my budget but great with my creative outlet.

    Like

    Reply
  10. Jesse aka Inkyhive's avatar Jesse aka Inkyhive

    Oh Michelle, I am so grateful that I found your blog at the beginning of the year and I am one of those you subscribe to getting your blog daily, plus I have your webpage as my homepage!!! I so enjoy reading all your entries and the fact that you stamp, use ink to create your cards! Keep it up, please!!!

    I began stamping 11 years ago, like most people, attending a stamping party. The first time I saw embossing, I was hooked, big time. Little did I know that I would be stamping every day and have my own room and a husband who supports and encourages me with my craft!

    Have a wonderful few days vacation and then your teaching time. Oh, how I wish I could be there! Thank you, for coming along side everyday with me, for that is what it feels like to me when I read your blog!

    Jesse aka Inkyhive

    Like

    Reply
  11. Ann C.'s avatar Ann C.

    I have sewed, scrapbooked and made cards since I was a child and I scrapbooked my high school trip to Paris in 1972!
    I heard about Stampin Up in 1995 when I went into a copy center to buy some colored paper. The manager of the copy paper store and I started talking about how much we love paper….and we became friends. She was in Stampin Up and I became a good customer. I couldn’t be a demonstrator because I had 3 children plus 3 foster children, I home-schooled them and ran my own country painted wood craft show business, had a farm & animals and my plate was full! Then my friend told me she wanted to open a rubber stamp store and I encouraged her for over a year to go for it. She did and it was a huge success, partly due to the amount of product I bought from her! LOL

    Like

    Reply
  12. 2stampis2b's avatar 2stampis2b

    I think I first did some stamping in about 1983 with my Mom and sister. When I got out of college I may have purchased a few stamps here and there. Then in 2000 when we moved back home to the Black Hills here in South Dakota, I did stamping in a big way as we had a great little shop downtown. It closed, I moved on to scrapbooking. Then, this January I went with my Mom and sister to a Stampin’ Up! retreat and got TOTALLY hooked again! I signed up as a new Demonstrator 4 months later!

    Like

    Reply
  14. Cheryl Seirmarco's avatar Cheryl Seirmarco

    Hi I’m from Michigan. I had a friend try to get me to try StampinUp’s rubber stamps butI was like no I don’t know anything about using them and its not really for me. Then I was intrigued by talk in an online group about heat embossing. Well I was curious enough to want to try but no idea where to get anything. My dh went out and bought me all the supplies including my first stamps as a surprise. And well…I’ve been hooked on stamps ever since. I laugh now when I think back how I was content in the beginning with just 6 ink colors. lol The next person who mentioned StampinUp sent me a catty and started my madness of a collection I have now. lol Great question!!!

    Like

    Reply
  15. Diane's avatar Diane

    I started NOT wanting to scrapbook. All my pics are already in books…some with better notes than others but I sort of stumbled on it and here I am a few years later. I’ve always been interested in crafts but put them aside when I didn’t feel I had the time. Now I do so I make cards and mini-books.

    Like

    Reply
  16. Toni's avatar Toni

    A girl I worked with stamped every couple months with her friends. She invited me to her house during one of their times. I had one stamp left from making placecards for a banquet. She said bring that and some paper. They let me use their stuff and taught me embossing. That’s all it took, now several thousand stamps later…

    Like

    Reply
  17. Peggy's avatar Peggy

    I have been making my own greeting cards in some way or form for over 20 years. I could never justify the increasing price of cards… if I could make them! So I did… hand drawn, then adding computer fonts, then a mix of hand drawn and computer… went to my first SU! Party in 2002. I was hooked!! I really didn’t buy that many stamps, but the ideas and the products… OMG! Paper other than white? Brads and ink, markers… the lucky thing is … I can draw and copy, so now my cards are a mix of stamps, hand drawn, stickers, computer generated… and other STUFF. It is so fun to have something created, almost instantly!!

    Like

    Reply
  18. farrah's avatar farrah

    I started out scrapbooking and eventually started playing with stamps and different inks. I am still discovering new things and love it. Thanks for your blog. It’s great!

    Like

    Reply
  19. Kelly's avatar Kelly

    I was working in a local scrapbook store, and one of the girls there got me interested in stamping. She shared a lot of great techniques for using them, and her cards and pages were always gorgeous, so she inspired me!

    Thanks for the chance to win, Michelle.

    Kelly in Maryland

    Like

    Reply
  20. Ro Donner's avatar Ro Donner

    I actually was a scrapbooker first and bought a couple of stamps to use on my scrapbook pages for more variety than just stickers and such. Then I attended my first SU workshop and bought a couple of sets. There began my addiction. I started buying stamps right and left, went to conventions and bought tons more, ordered them online, joined stamp-of-the-month groups, and lived and breathed stamps. Started making cards so I could use my stamps more. Now I’m a card fanatic. And a stampaholic. I stamp cards, frames, scrapbooks, journals, you name it. If you stand still long enough, I’ll probably stamp YOU! LOL

    Like

    Reply
  21. Marianne's avatar Marianne

    I went to a CTMH party at a friends bosses house. Her boss is a single mother of two teenaged daughters and she loves to stamp so I went along just to buy a few things so that the hostess could get some free stuff. Little did I know that my first little purchase would start the “store” in my basement!!

    Like

    Reply
  22. Linda Palmer's avatar Linda Palmer

    My next door neighbor was always bringing me thank you cards or birthday cards she made. I started getting interested and went to Hobby Lobby and bought a few things and she showed me the basics. She invited me to a SU party and I loved it. I placed an order as often as I could. Then I found SCS and a world of other stamp companies. Stamping relaxes me and it is how I unwind after a days work at my job. I love it. Your cards are fabulous. I enjoy reading your blog dailey.

    Like

    Reply
  23. linda patti's avatar linda patti

    RETIREMENT brought me to rubber stamping, actually during a trip to CA we happened upon a store that had a small collection of rubber stamps, I purchased my first two–a stamp of OHIO, where i live, and a clarinet because my daughter plays the clarinet. I still own these two stamps but have added ‘too many’ more to my collection over the past ten years. Early in my stamping ‘career’ i made many cards for my college age daughter, which she saved and recently went through the box of ‘old cards’ that i considered pretty good at the time, well, wow, how i’ve improved!

    Like

    Reply
  24. Denise in AZ's avatar Denise in AZ

    I’m in Arizona.

    It’s my mother’s fault!!! that I stamp!!! It really is! Back in 1998, my mother signed herself and me up for a rubber stamping class through the community education classes of one of the school districts here. It’s funny, though, I have 3 sisters and none of them enjoy stamping. My mother passed away in 1999, and now when I stamp, I think of my mother.

    Denise

    Like

    Reply
  25. Karen Gray's avatar Karen Gray

    I started stamping about 1 1/2 years ago. My inspiration was a good friend of mine who has stamped for years. I was also green with envy when we received her gorgeous Christmas cards/invitations/etc. I finally signed up for the Introduction to Rubber Stamping class at my local Archiver’s store. I was hooked from then. Soon afterwards my friend invited me to go with her to a stamping convention in Hampton Roads, VA. I came home with so many awesome treasures!! Our bonus room is now my craft room with the majority of supplies being stamping! This year I was introduced to Stampin’ Up!! I am in love!!

    Like

    Reply
  26. Ginni's avatar Ginni

    I was a scrapbooker, happily making scrapbook pages, when one of my scrapbooking friends started selling Stampin’ Up products and invited me to a party. At first, I was not interested at all. I think I bought a wheel and handle and ink and a baby set since I had just became a grandma. Once I saw how nicely and easily that stamping could be incorporated into scrapbooking …. and how nicely all my scrapbooking supplies could also make cards …. I was hooked!

    Like

    Reply
  28. Dorothy's avatar Dorothy

    I had tried stamping years and years ago with just some things I purchased randomly at a craft store. It didn’t go too well. All the cards were so ameteur-ish. Then when a new neighbor moved in next door she said she noticed I liked to craft and invited me to a SU stamp camp. I was hooked……….That was 5 years ago.
    Thanks for the chance to win. I look forward to your e-mail tutorials. You make it look so easy. You’re such an inspiration!!
    Dorothy

    Like

    Reply
  30. Chris Mott's avatar Chris Mott

    Well I missed that too, I was on vacation…anywho….I am from Texas and have been scrapbooking for over 15 years. I went to a Stampin Up show about 8 years ago, and have been doing it ever since!I started blogging last summer, and have been having fun with it. I have always had my hand in some kind of craft, and this stamping and creating is so fun! Thanks for the opportunity

    Like

    Reply
  31. Stephanie's avatar Stephanie

    After the birth of my first child, I was with her non-stop. I was relishing in being a new mom and my neighbor, a Stampin Up! demonstrator made me a beautiful card. I fell in love with it and she invited me into her craft room. WHOA! I almost fell out on the floor when I saw it. She had wall to wall stamps. So she invited me to attend one of her stamp classes. I had an absolute blast and got hooked immediately. So hooked that I invited two of my girlfriends to a class and they got the bug and it became a Tuesday night ritual, it was so much fun being with my friends and being creative. I then went on to have two more children and the stamping slowed down some, but I have recently started scrapbooking and card making again. For me it is a necessary stress relief. That was all back in 2002.

    Like

    Reply
  32. Candy Farley aka Candykane's avatar Candy Farley aka Candykane

    I’ve always loved collecting stationary and I would always decorate my envelopes when I wrote people. I bought my first rubber stamps in 5th grade and still have them. I bought a couple stamps here and there mostly to decorate envelopes when I wrote home when my husband joined the Air Force and we moved away with our 18 month old at the time.
    Then June 2003 while living in Okinawa, Japan a girl invited me to a Stampin Up party, I had never heard of that company and wasn’t sure what to expect. I got there and I was in love, it was right up my alley. I was so overwhelmed by the catalog and she had a huge retiring list and it was just crazy. I finally bought the butterfly wheel, pretty in pink ink cartridge, a handle, and the Kanji set. Then ;ater I called the woman back and bought the catalog and that is where the process began.
    I would order sooo much I finally became a demo in March 2005. I have probably over 300 sets, I once had an inventory sheet, but hard drive crashed and I lost it and never made a new one up.

    Anyway that is where it all began, my cardmaking has slowed a bit since we have another child who is almost 9 months and into everything 😉

    Like

    Reply
  33. Cindy's avatar Cindy

    I was introduced to rubber stamping at a stampin up class about 3 years ago. I am a very creative person and collect lots of creative supplies….lol I truly enjoy watching a card come together and the joy someone expresses when receiving it.

    Like

    Reply
  34. Tamara's avatar Tamara

    About 2 weeks after my mom died a friend of mine ask me to go somewhere with her and it was a Stampin’ Up! meeting to form a club. She had been in it the year before and they were going to restart it. We did a small make and take and I fell in love with it. I have not stoped stamping from that day. I think it was as much as an outlet for me to keep my mind on other things and not the loss that I had. And boy does it work. I love it and have no plans of ever stopping…. Looking forward to the birth of my first Granddaughter in Oct. (Madelyn Brooke) Can’t wait to put her in a Scrapbook………………

    Like

    Reply
  35. Lydia Fiedler's avatar Lydia Fiedler

    I unwillingly went to a coworker’s wife’s SU! workshop and had a plan for fake phone calls and EVERYTHING to be able to leave early. And then it happened. My now beloved upline made a card with DD Daisy, a bag with the Posy and Vine wheels in Pink Passion and Green Galore. It was like someone slipping a drug in my drink. I spent $175, had my own $1300 workshop and then signed up!! That was in 2001. At convention next week I will get my award for $100,000 in career sales with Stampin’ Up! and I honestly think I love stamping more every day. I wish I could do it full time. The best part though- the friends I’ve made, my wonderful upline (I work for her husband now) and all my internet friends that I feel like I know and love, like you Michelle!!

    Like

    Reply
  36. Alison's avatar Alison

    My mother in law went to a SU gathering and bought me a stamp set and a couple ink pads for my birthday one year (I remember thinking – what the heck – I have to put the stamps together??). It sat untouched for years. Then my co-worker and very good friend took me to a stamp party and I had a blast. I am now a stamp addict. I seem to do much better buying product than setting aside time to stamp (too many hobbies not enough time – I love fiber arts too). I know this is a problem and I am working on it. I no longer buy cards and am learning great techniques for products I already have. Your blog is wonderful inspiration.

    Like

    Reply
  37. Sue's avatar Sue

    I only had one rubber stamp in my possession and that one said “Paid in Full” until my daughter decided she needed to become a Stampin Up Demo and she asked me to “partner” with her. I couldn’t be a joint demo but I could be a supportive Mom so I said I would. I attended the Stamp Camps with her, inviting my friends from work to help fill her table. Luckily, they were already into stamping so it made for a good start for her. I loved the projects and wanting to help my daughter reach her goals, I also started purchasing the products. I was making the birthday cards for my department at work so the first sets I ordered were always Birthday oriented but as my interest in the craft has grown, I have expanded my collection to include other themes as well as other brands of stamps.

    Well, my daughter is still a demo, although not as into it as I hoped she would be and I am hooked. Maybe someday, I will become a demo if only just to feed my addicton.

    Like

    Reply
  38. Glenda Mollet's avatar Glenda Mollet

    My story begins with a friend giving me a fold out mini album and instructions on how to make it. My craft room did not exist then, I had not ventured that way. I made it with construction paper, glue stick, exacto knife, and sharpie markers. The rest is history and now I am a Demonstrator totally addicted to papercrafting. The start was 2003 and 5 years later I share my obsession with others and truly enjoy every moment of it.

    Like

    Reply
  39. Vicki Sullivan's avatar Vicki Sullivan

    I wanted to do an album for my mother because she was facing surgery and getting older and I just wanted to do it. I started with a scrapbook of our Mother’s Day church Banquet and then went to Poquoson, VA (I live in MD) to visit some friends. She was scrapping and had a Close To My Heard idea book. I LOVED the stamps in the book. I went home with her book and ordered some things, then I emailed a consultant I found on the consultant locator and told her I wanted to sign up to be a consultant. I had never been a consultant for anything before, but love the product and signed up. I love stamping images on the pages and I’ve branched out into making cards.
    http://www.sullyscrapandstamp.blogspot.com

    Like

    Reply
  40. shawn price's avatar shawn price

    when I was 10 yrs ld my mother ran a rubberstamp business mostly for business back then ( it was 1980) I would watch and help her with the mounting and we did laminating and engraving etc. was great fun then when i was in highschool she started her own custom rubberstamp business and I sold at the school and drew the designs then she wasnt able to take care of it and I was not at home ( had kids and moved away) if i had known i would have kept the business I would have adored making them now. I still have a 20 year old bottle of Gold EP from stewart superior back when you used a heat press to emboss stationary. and yes it still works like charm . I am still a beginner tho even tho i have done intermediate and advanced things as I am constantly learning new things and have to start all over thank you for giving me that challenging experience every day!

    Like

    Reply
  41. Val S's avatar Val S

    Hi Michelle…I’m from BC, Canada and I just have to say how much I enjoy visiting your blog and not just because of the candy, lol. You have an incredible talent. I have tried your method, but let me just say, they don’t look like your creations! I was introduced by my dearest friend who wanted to show me something “neat” She had made a bookmark that was embossed and stamped. This was one of the most creative bookmarks that I have ever seen. She had also made a few gift tags and I thought to myself…I can make those, meaning the gift tags. 12 years and thousands of dollars later, I’m hooked! Thanks for all the inspiring ideas you have shown us!!

    Like

    Reply
  42. Wendy Gorton's avatar Wendy Gorton

    Hi Michelle:

    I’m from Castro Valley, California, which is in the S.F. Bay area. I started stamping about 5 years ago, mainly because a group of girlfriends wanted to get together every month and exchange homemade cards. I must say that I kind of lost interest in stamping after awhile, and then I saw how you and other talented artists expanded on the art of stamping on Splitcoast. I have always loved drawing and watercoloring and when I brought that into my stamping creations, they took on a new life and interest for me. The cards I created were more a part of my personality and artistic ability. Of course, that means that I spend far longer on a card than I used to, but they mean more to me and I hope they also mean more to those I give them to. Thank you, Michelle, for inspiring me every single day.

    Wendy Gorton

    Like

    Reply
  43. Beverly Bishop's avatar Beverly Bishop

    My DIL became a SU Demo. Initially, I just wanted to help her. Then I found SCS and the PIF thread and I’m BIG TIME addicted. Thanks for all the tutorials you offer to help us…they’re wonderful!

    Like

    Reply
  44. Diane's avatar Diane

    Hi, Michelle,
    I went to an SU workshop with my daughter just to see what it was about. I liked what I saw but didn’t see it as something I would do very often. After a second workshop, my daughter talked me into stamping with her weekly. I became hooked! I’ve been stamping for over 12 years now!

    Like

    Reply
  45. Allison Cope's avatar Allison Cope

    Hi Michelle! I’m Ally from Ontario, Canada and I just love your blog… super, duper inspirational! I got it to stamping through my love of scrapbooking. I have become so addicted to stamping that I have so many acrylic sets that I am unable to store them all in the space I have now. I just love the little Studio G sets … so cute…. love their images and their sentiments! I am stamp obsessed to say the least! I look forward to your next stampy creation!

    Like

    Reply
  46. Lisa's avatar Lisa

    let me start of with…WOW 2-3 thousand is something to be so proud of!! congrats!!!! your work is amazing!!

    why i started stamping………..i started stamping because i fell in love with clear stamps (see thru, storage, portability) and i started with scrapbooking and now make cards and other altered items. i love stamping and cutting out the images to make my own embellisments for my pages. the whole inking/disstressing/stamping/etc thing is facinating to me because it allows me to make my own papers the way “I” want to and my pages will ALWAYS be different from others.

    THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR INSPIRATION!!

    Like

    Reply
  47. Pinky's avatar Pinky

    Michelle, I am from Warner Robins, Ga and I first started scrapping in 2001, then in 2004, I was invited to a SU party and I have not stopped since then. I became a demo in Nov. 2006 and absolutely love stamping. I have so enjoyed your blog because of your artistic talent that brings your cards to life! I love them and look forward to seeing your work everyday. Thanks so much for the chance to win blog stuff!

    Pinky

    Like

    Reply
  49. Sheri Danielson's avatar Sheri Danielson

    I needed a birthday card and was out looking when I passed a store that had rubber stamps and supplies in it. they also had card examples and I was hooked!

    Sheri

    Like

    Reply
  50. Gilda's avatar Gilda

    Michelle, thanks for sharing – your talent is amazing and I look forward to seeing your blog each day. I have always been into creating – thanks to a mother who taught and encouraged me. As for stamping, my daughter gave me a stamp and some ink for Christmas in 1996 and that’s all it took.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to farrah Cancel reply