I'm going to take a bit of a different track today. I would like to talk about Stampin' Up's card stock.
That might seem like a strange thing to do, but it's very well worth it.
I have a lot of card stock that I've purchased in recent years for scrapbooking (which I only ever did one big project for and kind of stopped), for occasional card embellishments and just for crafty stuff. After I bought Stampin' Up stamps earlier this year, I just used my old card stock and even bought more things from a popular craft store (I think I'll keep it nameless).
I now somewhat regret the many card-making-related purchases from that craft store, as well as other stores, over the years.
Why? First of all, the quality of most of the card stock available there. Having used the Stampin' Up card stock more recently and being able to compare as I try to make some family birthday cards with my old materials, I am somewhat put out by the cheapness of the materials obtained from that and other stores--and I'm not talking the price. Some of the fancier paper and card stock is really good, I admit. But a lot of it, the stuff you see most... It just can't compare. The feel, the thickness, the way the ink sets on it... I wish all of my base card stock were Stampin' Up card stock.
Another thing that really hit me when I went to this craft store recently and went down the scrapbooking aisles to compare a bit, was that their base card stock collections are not nearly as varied as Stampin' Up's. If you have a look at pages 2 and 3 in the Idea Book and Catalogue, you will see all the lovely colours you can get through Stampin' Up. The collections are organized so that you can get a pack of a single colour or you can buy packs with all of the colours available from that collection, 10 colours per collection (5 colours for each of the In Color series). Now that's variety! In 50 different colours! The card stock colours are the same ones used in other Stampin' Up products, such as the ink pads, the Patterns Designer Series papers, Stampin' Write markers, watercolour crayons and all kinds of embellishments, like buttons, ribbons and more (see pages 176-180; the link will take you to 176-177). This kind of colour coordination at your fingertips is just wonderful. There are also Specialty and Designer Series Paper packs which match with the Stampin' Up colours. You can find those on pages 183-186.
When I first looked at the Stampin' Up designer stacks, I thought, "Oh, they're too expensive." Looking at the prices recently, I realize that I must not have paid too much attention to the price in the store: it's pretty pricey no matter where you go! I'm not sure why I've had in my mind that Stampin' Up was more expensive, but it's not always. It really is designed for just the average person who wants to make cards, scrapbook or do related crafts. Sure, their basic card stock is slightly more expensive than the basic brand at the craft store, but the basic brand, I have discovered, is really crummy in comparison! I don't want to buy that card stock anymore.
I feel like I'm on a soapbox here, but really, it's just my testimonial. I am a cheapskate, I admit it. I don't usually easily spend money on myself. My husband might not think twice about dropping down $60 for a new PS3 game he wants, even though he might have bought another one a few weeks earlier, and I agonize over whether or not I can justify a $60 stamp purchase--even though it's been months since I last purchased something. (Don't even ask me about my agonizing over which new cell phone and plan to get...)
Enough of that. Just think about it, go have a look at your popular craft store and see what I'm talking about. Of course, you can't feel the paper there and compare it to the Stampin' Up while you're there, nor can you see the difference once stamped. Or can you? Let me see if I can get photos on here that show the difference between using, for example, Whisper White and the white card stock from the local craft store:
I want you to take a look at the quality of the stamped image.
Now take a look at this one:
Do you see the difference??
The second image is done on the Whisper White from Stampin' Up. While I had noticed a bit of a difference when making cards recently, I did not notice just how much of a difference the paper makes until I did this up for you all. I did nothing different for each one: I inked the stamp as usual, put the same amount of pressure, I actually tried repeatedly with the first paper (on the other side and even another piece) to try to get the image to stamp as nicely, putting more pressure, trying to dab on the ink pad longer before stamping. It would not do any better than what you see.
If you visit the particular store I keep talking about (I know at least some of you will know which one I'm talking about), you can see what's available for colours there in their basic card stock packs. Then I would encourage you to go back to the Stampin' Up catalogue and have a look at all the lovely colours available. And truly, they are lovely! I now have some card stock from "the" store that I didn't want in the first place because I don't find it a nice colour, but it came in a multi-pack with other colours I did want. I think all of the Stampin' Up colours are definitely usable.
All right, enough of that for today. See you tomorrow!
As always with this Virtual Party, keep looking through the catalogues, writing down what you are interested in--item code and name--and get closer and closer to making your final order decision! You are welcome to send in your order anytime and I will confirm it with you a day or two before I actually send it in.
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