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In 2000, after I retired, I was able to afford to work part time in my dream job. A one owner craft store! The pay was so small it was almost a volunteer job , plus I spent my check at store. I didn't make much money but I couldn't wait to go to work to see all the new toys that came in the day before.
Although I had not gotten into rubber stamping, but it was very popular. We had two full aisles of rubber stamps.
I remember when the owner had 50% off sales on the rubber stamps many people spent over $100 just on stamps in one shopping trip. $100 at half price!
The number of various stamp manufacturers, tools and supplies was no where near what it is today. Sticker and decorative scissors were hot!! I think we had 3 brands of ink and I think those were the only inks available other than SU. There were no reinkers.
People bought mail order die cuts . One of our employees had a die cut business. There were no affordable dies or machines for individual use. She owned a commercial die cut machine and the dies cost her a fortune.
The CS was flimsy compared to what is available today.
10 years has changed this entire hobby.
Do you remember what it waslike when you started?
I sure do! I used SU! ONLY. SU really had the industry cornered. Now I own a store and have sold off nearly all of my SU supplies and rarely use any of their stuff.
Things are so much more accessible and there is so much more variety and choices now. And, the level of the quality and skill of cards is amazing. It blows my mind. It's gone from craft to art.
I "scrapbooked" when I was in junior high school (mid 1980s). I bought a scrapbook from a stationery store. It was blue with grey pages and I bought those photo corners that you lick and stick. They were black. Sometimes, I got really creative and cut pictures into shapes (freehand, of course). And in grade 10 or so, I found a paper punch at a garage sale that was heart-shaped, and it sure got used! I'd write on pages, and once I found a package of stickers in a photo shop - you remember them, right? The ones with the speech bubbles that you either used ready-made or put in your own creative thought. Eventually, I got tired of the taste of the photo corners (besides, they didn't work so well on the pictures I'd "trimmed"). I then turned to rubber cement. I figured with a name like "cement" it would stick forever! That scrapbook has long since disappeared. I don't even remember exactly what happened to it.
In 2000, I was married, and a friend took me to a Creative Memories workshop, where I completed my wedding album. Enter the next phase of my hobby: the sticker sneeze. I can not even begin to count the number of Mrs. Grossmans stickers that I adhered during this phase! Eventually the pure white pages with matted photos in certain colours got boring. Enter phase 3: wallpapering. I began to frequent a local scrapbook shop, and there were so many pretty papers. But I really didn't know what to do with them. So I wallpapered the pages with them; stuck them down and stuck the photos on top.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
I started stamping around 1997 when I lived in Oregon. There was a fabulous rubber stamp store there (I hope it is still there), that always had the latest and greatest stuff and the owners were always willing to break out the supplies for a demonstration. I remember one day the owner showing me this fabulous new stamp positioner; big, bulky, heavy, and sold for a whopping $60! I'm so glad I waited on that purchase!
When I first started scrapbooking back in elementary school (boy, that was AGES ago!) there was very little if any acid free stuff, so most of my stuff from that time is all yellow and falling apart from the acid. Even in high school, there was very little stuff that was archival quality (like many people outside of museums even knew what that meant), so again, a lot of the stuff yellowed. I'm still amazed at when I see something that my grandmother or great-grandmother put together that's in good shape (except for the newspaper clippings).
In high school most of the scrapbooking albums were the CM type with the white edge and people normally adhered stuff directly to that page (which meant you couldn't switch the order of the pages). And the sticker sneeze (how did any of us think it possibly looked okay! - kind of like big bell-bottom pants). So much happier to be scrapping and stamping now - so many choices, so many styles, so many colors.
Okay, so I went past 10 years ago (waaaaaay past), but even 10 years ago the pickings weren't great. So glad things have changed and we have so many more choices.
The store where I worked had 8-10 spinning racks of stickers !! The racks always had empty pegs waiting for a new shipment. Then the 3-D stickers came out. I think the company was JoLee ( sp) and those flew off the racks and they sold for $4-5 per package.
Another popular product was the credit card size brass stencils. People used colored chalk with those
I didn't do rubber stamping then but loved the enthusiasm of those who did. The customers were over joyed each time we go in new products
People made much simpler cards and scrapbooks then
Yep, I started scrapbooking in 1996 and my books are kinda funny now. I didn't start stamping until around 2000. Then in 2003 I became a SU demo and the rest has just come. What a journey. I entered the 2008 Stamping Royalty contest with Paper Crafts magazine on a whim and I WON! That really changed this whole paper crafting thing for me. How fun is this craft? I have made life long friends and just enjoy every minute of it!
People who do crafts are the most delightful people.
I can't recall more than 2 or 3 grumpy customers in the year & one-half that I worked at the craft store. I doubt there are any employees of any other retail store that can say that
A trip down memory lane, how fun!
I started stamping in 1995 or so. The big thing then was heat embossing EVERYTHING! I only had an AC Moore to shop from at first and bought quite a few PSX stamps there. Every card I made was gold or silver embossed. No coloring, just embossing. Oh, and mulberry paper!
Then I ordered a Stampscapes catalog from their web site (it must've taken 3 hours to download a page of images back then, LOL!) and I was done! All I did were landscape cards.
I think I turned to scrapbooking then because I had my son and had tons of baby pics I had to do something with, so stamping took a back seat for many years. I do remember the horrible patterned papers they had back then, the selection was so sad!
I started stamping in 1992 when I found some stamps and inks at a booth at a craft fair. I just stamped an image on a cardfront and colored with colored pencils. Those same stamps lasted for years as very little was available in general craft stores then. I started scrapbooking in 1998 then got serious about collecting stamps for titles and embellishments. All my stash fit in one medium plastic tote. Then I found SU! and the rest is history. I hope to live a long time, to stamp everyday for decades.
Mary Beth
I started stamping in 2003 and even then I was overwhelmed by all of the choice. I started with SU and still use their supplies almost exclusively. Brads and eyelets were the thing; the stamps were sketchy in style. I love how the styles and quality of supplies has evolved. Once in a while I find something I can't live without from another company.
Sticker sneeze is what we now call the compulsion to adorn every page with a TON of stickers. We stuck our photos on then filled up each white space with stickers that didn't even go with the mood of the page! In other words, to just put on a ton of stickers with no attempt to make anything artistic-just "decorated".
__________________ ~Vee
It's not who you know-it's whom you know.
Sticker sneeze is what we now call the compulsion to adorn every page with a TON of stickers. We stuck our photos on then filled up each white space with stickers that didn't even go with the mood of the page! In other words, to just put on a ton of stickers with no attempt to make anything artistic-just "decorated".
There is a latin term used in the art world called "horror vacui" which means "fear of empty spaces". My college art prof categorized my art that way.
I started in the late 1990's - more than 10 years ago! There were lots of vendors - sadly many of them are no longer in business. Inks, paper and embellishments have come so far in this craft - and don't even think about all the tools we now have!
I remember unmounted stamps were the thing back then - I guess what is old is new again! The stamp conventions were also much more plentiful and much larger than today - I really miss the huge Carson convention!
I've been stamping for well over 12 years now and I owned a rubber stamp store about 9-10 years ago. I remember when we first bought small brads from "Limited Edition" they only came in gold or silver, about 100 in a box and we could not keep them in stock, we all thought they were so cool and not like anything we'd ever seen This was right before scrapbooking got really big so no 12 x 12 paper, we only carried 3 brands of ink pads. Embossing and using watercolors and mulberry paper were very popular at the time. Penny Black, House Mouse, PSX and Hero Arts were our most popular companies. And clear stamps (they called them polymer stamps then) were of horrible quality. It's so crazy how things have changed!
It's been fun to read the replies to this thread! I started stamping a bit over 12 years ago. My Mom was helping out a co-worker, who was a SU! demo, by having a workshop. I told her I would come, "but I'm not buying anything". Famous last words! I bought the Cuddles and Tickles set since I was pregnant with my first child. Back then I had black ink, paper (not CS) and Crayolas (crayons, not pencils). I had so much fun and I thought my cards were fabulous! I even made birth announcements for my cousin. She thought they were "way cool"! I look back now and shudder.... :shock: The last couple of years I have really gotten into stamping; I call it my "therapeautic recreation".
Someone else posted how nice crafters are; I couldn't agree more. SCS is full of awesome people; I am always delighted to see how people generously share ideas and supplies.
I started stamping seriously in 1992/1993 when I discovered Rubberstampmadness magazine. Bought a subscription, then waited eagerly for it to arrive in my mailbox (monthly I think). I read each issue cover to cover, sometimes several times.
I bought as many PSX stamps as my poor little newlywed-fresh-out-of college budget would allow, but mostly relied on cheaper mail order sources for my stamp fix. I once ordered a FOUR POUND grab bag of unmounted red rubber stamps, untrimmed and without cushion. Do you have any idea how many stamps you get in four pounds of rubber? Trimming stamps, trimming cushion, finding blocks, sanding and putting poly on the blocks, assembling stamps with the help of rubber cement...it all took me forever! It also took me forever just to make one card because I hand cut all of my cardstock with an Xacto knife. Yikes!
I can still remember the first time an SU rep demoed a Stampin' Scrub. What a revelation! No more trying to clean pigment ink off of my stamps with running water and an old tooth brush. And the day I found a stamp positioner in the craft store and realized what it was...oh WOW!
thank you for taking the time to write all of your wonderful stories, i enjoyed reading everyone of them. sorry i dont have an interesting story to share, as i am new to using rubber stamps for anything except stamping "good job" on the top of student papers.
I started stamping about 15 years ago...mostly SU supplies were used. Gold embossing was the first thing that impressed me and was a frequently used technique. Also, eyelets, tearing paper and sponging edges to give it a distressed look were big with my demo. With no dies around, we used stencils and hand cut our different shapes. If you wanted an embossed BG, you used a stylus and lightbox. Wow, we've come a long way baby!
__________________
Wanda Cullen ~ Dirty Dozen Alumni, On design team for Papertrey Ink, Designer for Color Throwdown and Fusion Card Challenges Cullen-ary Creations[/URL]...my blogHERE'S MY GALLERY[/URL]
I started stamping in 1997 when you had to make your own backgrounds. I still own several trays of background stamps, but now I turn mostly to my embossing folders or designer paper. Heat embossing was all the rage. Dry embossing took forever because you had to use a light box and use a stylus to trace around the design. There were no stamping conventions nearby, so all my stamps were wood mounted. Decorative scissors were another rage, as it was the only way to create a decorative edge on a card. Little did I know that I would end up owning so many ink pads because then I bought those Colorbox petal inks to try to get more ink colors into my collection. It's been fun to remember when, but I'm happy with all the new tools & products that I have purchased since then.
I recall another tool that we sold a lot of and they were little hand held paper punches. The type you would use to punch holes in paper for a 3 ring binder. However these punches came in 1/8" & 1/4" diameter and were in a variety of shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles, hearts, stars, etc. I never knew what people did with them, but we sold a ton of them.
I started stamping years and years ago, can't remember exactly when, but I feel in love with embossing. Then I put all of my stamping stuff away (which really wasn't all that much) because I didn't have the room or time to stamp. Then I went to craft painting (something I want to do again), and then decided I wanted to learn to watercolor a few years ago. Eventually I decided that it would be easier to watercolor an image that was already there, my stamps came back out and...well I became addicted to stamping.
I make cards and other paper projects, and love every minute of it : )
__________________ AfterHoursStamper.blogspot.com �It is easier to believe a lie that one has heard a thousand times than to believe a fact that no one has heard before�
For me it was 15+ years ago.... so many companies like PSX gone now. In fact when I first started I used my quilting ruler and rotary cutter to cut my card stock! We also used light bulbs to melt embossing powder until you could find a place that carried the embossing gun or had it in stock! And, I still have my mulberry paper.....ha ha
I "scrapbooked" when I was in junior high school (mid 1980s). I bought a scrapbook from a stationery store. It was blue with grey pages and I bought those photo corners that you lick and stick. They were black. Sometimes, I got really creative and cut pictures into shapes (freehand, of course). And in grade 10 or so, I found a paper punch at a garage sale that was heart-shaped, and it sure got used! I'd write on pages, and once I found a package of stickers in a photo shop - you remember them, right? The ones with the speech bubbles that you either used ready-made or put in your own creative thought. Eventually, I got tired of the taste of the photo corners (besides, they didn't work so well on the pictures I'd "trimmed"). I then turned to rubber cement. I figured with a name like "cement" it would stick forever! That scrapbook has long since disappeared. I don't even remember exactly what happened to it.
In 2000, I was married, and a friend took me to a Creative Memories workshop, where I completed my wedding album. Enter the next phase of my hobby: the sticker sneeze. I can not even begin to count the number of Mrs. Grossmans stickers that I adhered during this phase! Eventually the pure white pages with matted photos in certain colours got boring. Enter phase 3: wallpapering. I began to frequent a local scrapbook shop, and there were so many pretty papers. But I really didn't know what to do with them. So I wallpapered the pages with them; stuck them down and stuck the photos on top.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
This could be me you are talking about!!! These memories are so fun to think about, aren't they? My son's baby albums are cheap pastel cardstock (8 1/2" by 11" of course!) with his photos cut with decorative scissors and some stickers to 'make it all cutesy'. Too funny!!
I also remember working in a craft store when I was in high school and they brought in the first set of rubber stamps PSX I think they were called and I was fascinated when the owner showed me how to emboss with the heat tool she demoed! I was probably only 14, but it was WAY cool to me!
For me it was 15+ years ago.... so many companies like PSX gone now. In fact when I first started I used my quilting ruler and rotary cutter to cut my card stock! We also used light bulbs to melt embossing powder until you could find a place that carried the embossing gun or had it in stock! And, I still have my mulberry paper.....ha ha
A Light bulb to melt embossing powder WOW
What did you do with the Mullberry paper? We also sold a lot of that at the craft store in 2000 and forward
I'd use it as a background piece under my main image. I liked the "wet the edge and tear" look it had, and at the time with the Southwest, animal and floral stamping I was doing, it was a lovely look. The lacy ones and pastels worked great for wedding and baby cards. This was, of course, pre Cuttlebug and Nestabilities, so it was a great texture to the card without adding a lot of weight for mail.
I have so much stuff to use now, I forget about how pretty it actually looks....it was a great and quick easy background for Christmas cards too -- especially doing a mass production.
I have a couple of packages of Mullberry paper. I used it on the back part of shadow boxes when I was framing some fans . What glue are you using to glue it down to the card base?
Nothing wrong with recycling old but great ideas
Thanks!
I started stamping in the early 90s when a stamp store opened in my home town (at that time in the UK). I can't remember which one was my first stamp but I do know it was joined by 'friends' in ones and twos (and more!) each time I went shopping..... I still remember the 'wow!!' moment the first time I saw embossing powder at work. That store had heat guns in stock, so I never did get to try the incandescent lamp or toaster methods
Fast forward about 10 years; we decided to emigrate to New Zealand. I carefully packed up all my stash, I was convinced I wouldn't be able to find much in the way of stamps on the other side of the world. Wrong! In fact well before the container arrived I had located my first stamp store here (run out of somebody's spare room, took a bit more finding than in the UK) and acquired 5 Tombow markers, some cardstock and a handful of stamps. Yes, a classic case of stamper's withdrawal; I just couldn't be without something to craft with.
I later joined a scrapbooking group, initially as the token card maker, now I do both crafts, but card making is still my first love. I have to say the crafting scene here is much more social than it was in the UK, and a great way to meet new people and make friends in a new country.
I have a couple of packages of Mullberry paper. I used it on the back part of shadow boxes when I was framing some fans . What glue are you using to glue it down to the card base?
Nothing wrong with recycling old but great ideas
Thanks!
I found a good old glue stick seemed to work the best because it didn't tear the paper. I haven't used it in a while, so I don't know how my ATG would work on it. However, I have some old cards I found when my mother-in-law died that I had made her, and the paper was still on there!!!
Rubber stamping 10 years ago
