Here are som great tips from experienced and published Stampers.

More and more scrapbookers are turning to rubber-stamping to embellish their work. And more and more stampers are turning to scrapbooking as an additional hobby. This makes a lot of sense. The hobbies have much in common. They use some of the same tools (Paper cutters, decorative scissors, cardstock, fibers, eyelets etc.), and the hobbies accent each other very well.

If you've ever been to the stamping department of your local craft store, or to a "real" rubber-stamping store, I am sure you've been over-whelmed with the choices and possibilities. My favorite local stamping store stocks over 15,000 rubber stamps. I never dreamed there could be so many stamps in the world, much less in one place! So, this month, we are going to take a look at tips from experienced stampers on what to buy to get started in this wonderful hobby.

In order to gain information on this subject, I took a survey of stamp artists, many of whom have been stamping for years, some of whom have been published in major stamp art publications. I wanted to find out what tools or supplies they think are essential, what they bought that they never use, what they recommend a new stamper to buy, and what kinds of items they use that aren't commonly associated with the rubber-stamping hobby. This article is similar to last month's article on scrapbooking tips from our own Design Team.

The first question I asked was "what is the one tool or supply you can't live without in stamping?" Just like the scrapbookers, it seems that a good paper cutter or trimmer is an essential item. Fiskars and Genesis were the most commonly named brands used by the rubber stampers. Other "must haves" were a good pair of scissors, and again the Fiskars micro-touch was mentioned, and a good supply of cardstock.

One of the most interesting discoveries I learned from this non-scientific study is that while many scrapbookers have retired their decorative scissors, the rubber stampers are still using them. Decorative scissors, such as those by Provo-craft and Fiskars provide a nice accent for greeting cards and other stamped projects.

When asked what items stampers had bought but were not using, two items were mentioned the most frequently. One is a circle cutter. It seems that many stampers prefer to use templates and an x-acto knife, over the more un-wieldy circle and oval cutters. For those who do use a circle cutter, the following recommendation is made: " Choose a circle or oval cutter that is easy to use. Some are more complicated than they are worth. Purchase your circle or oval cutter from a store that lets you test it out or from a home demonstrator who shows you how to use the product. Test before you buy."

The second item many rubber stampers mention purchasing and not using is a paper crimper. Many companies are selling their cardstock "pre-crimper", so you can avoid buying this tool. For those who did use a crimper, they were doing more complicated stamping work, often stamping on crimped metal, rather than on paper. The recommendation was "this is a tool you just don't need!"

I next asked our rubber-stamping enthusiasts if there were any tools or supplies they used that were not commonly associated with rubber stamp art. And, this is where I learned how resourceful our stamp artists are! Items such as q-tips for applying chalk or coloring with ink were suggested. Many stampers use make up sponges to apply dye-based ink onto an image for a soft look.

Many stampers shop at hardware stores for items. The hammer is essential for working with eyelets. A variety of pliers are needed for working with wire. Tool boxes are great for storing a variety of tools, and making them easily transportable.

And one of my favorite tips is to use a mouse pad under your cardstock before stamping. This provides a cushion for you to stamp against, and helps give a better image. A desktop blotter is also a good idea for this.

Finally, I asked our stamping artists to list the five items that they would recommend a beginning stamper buy to help get started. The number one answer was a good quality, permanent dye-based inkpad in black ink. The two brands most commonly mentioned were Memories and Ancient Page. Close To My Heart also sells a good quality pad. These archival and waterproof pads will allow you to color in with markers, are fast drying and very versatile. Because this is the pad you will probably use the most, our artists also recommend that you buy the reinker to help keep your pad "juicy".

One tip I've discovered in my rubber-stamping is that buying a reinker can help prolong the life of your pad. A pad that has a good quantity of ink on it is often called "juicy". And juicy pads tend to last longer, because they are not given a chance to dry out. If I particularly like an inkpad color, I buy the reinker with the pad. And, in a future article, I'll discuss ways to utilize your reinker beyond maintaining your stamp pads.

Two other items recommended for beginning stampers are a good quality heat gun (also called a heat tool) and a variety of embossing powders. The heat tool will be used to melt your embossing powders, giving a raised finish. This also provides true archival quality stamped images. I use a clear embossing powder over most of my pigment inks. However, I do find that it is best to use a metallic colored embossing powder over metallic inks. You'll loose the sparkle with clear embossing powder over metallic inks. I also keep a good black, detail embossing powder. Detail powder melts to a finer line and is good for very detailed stamps, such as those by Stampin' Up.

Another good tip for those doing embossing in their scrapbooks is to always emboss your layouts before you attach your pictures to either side of your page. The temperature of the heat gun is very high and could damage your photographs. Thus, it is best to emboss and allow the page to cool before adhering your pictures.

Our experienced stampers also recommend buying a variety of simple, versatile word or saying stamps. Greetings such as "Happy Birthday", "Merry Christmas", "Thinking of you", etc., are perfect for everyday occasions.

Other suggestions from our stampers include a good basic stamping reference book, watercolor markers and a blender to give your images a hand colored effect, double stick tape, adhesive, and the Versamark pad by Tseuinko.

The versamark pad dries on cardstock leaving a watermark effect. (Your image dries a darker shade than your card stock, resulting in a tone on tone effect.) The pad can also be used for embossing, creating backgrounds, and for a variety of other uses.

Finally, I asked our stamping enthusiasts to give a basic tip to our beginners. Some excellent advice was offered. "Don't throw away scraps of paper" is a very useful tip for a stamper. Scraps of paper can be worked into many designs. Don't throw away your mistakes because they may work better on another project is something I learned myself. And, it is a very good tip. I had colored a rose on a piece of cardstock and didn't like the effect. I tossed it aside, only to discover later than layering it on a different background really made the image "pop".

And the best advice of all, "don't be intimidated by fancy projects. Simple stamped cards and projects are lovely, too".

That's it for this months stamping advice. But, look for more articles regarding stamping on scrapbooking.com.