Not All Card Stock Is Created Equal

First time at the Virtual Party? Please have a look at the posts from Nov. 20 up to yesterday to get the low-down!

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.

Let's get the party started!

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming! If you have a desire to make some Christmas cards or buy some stamps for someone for Christmas (even for yourself, hehe--you can say that Santa brought them for you), now is the time to select and buy! It can take 10-12 days for the orders to come in once they are placed. 

For our first full day of this Virtual Party, let's have a closer look at the Holiday Mini Catalogue, shall we? There are some great products available in the current Mini. You can download the .pdf from the right sidebar or you can flip through it, like a catalogue, with the flash version.

First of all, there is the Simply Scored being introduced. You can find it on pages 6 and 7. This is a fantastic product to use if you score paper at all--no more moving the paper bit-by-bit to do the scoring! Simply place your paper, decide the distance you need between score marks, and away you go! I tried scoring with just my paper trimmer and a scoring blade the other day. I suck at it. If I'm going to be serious about making things that require scoring, this will be the product for me.

There is a whole bunch of Halloween stuff, which you can still get and use next year. Like I said in my previous post, this Mini ends January 3, 2012, and there is no guarantee that these products will be available again. (Well, the Simply Scored, yes; stamps and papers and all that, no.)

You ought to go on and look through the catalogue, page by page, and take note of the things you like. Some of my favourite things are the Hand-Penned Holidays set on p. 15, the Specialty Designer Series Paper on p. 20, The Sounding Joy stamp set on p. 23, the Forest Festivities stamp set on p. 27 (it's just so cute, isn't it?), the Stitched Stockings stamp set, with the accompanying Builder Punch on p. 34 (I could see how versatile this set could be!) and, drum roll please ;), the Glimmer Paper and Dazzling Details on p. 41. (The red Glimmer Paper is also available in the Idea Book and Catalogue.) I went to Michaels recently and saw that they had glitter paper. It seemed of similar quality to the Stampin' Up Glimmer Paper, but it was $3.49 at my local store for one sheet. You get two for $5.95 in the Holiday Mini Catalogue--that's a savings of $1.03. It might not seem like much, but it's still a savings! (And don't get me started on the price of stamps at Michaels! A single stamp at Michaels for the price of some of the Stampin' Up stamp sets!!)

I have made some Christmas cards with some of these products.

(Sorry, my photo-taking skills require some work. This was my third and best attempt.
This card was designed by my up-line, Tamara Bertram.)

This card used the Merry Christmas stamp from the Hand-Penned Holidays set (p. 15), some Night of Navy card stock and ink, Whisper White card stock, Dazzling Diamonds glitter (p. 201 of the Idea Book and Catalogue) stuck on the trees with 2-Way Glue Pen (p. 206 of the Idea Book and Catalogue--a shame the glitter isn't showing up properly in the photo; it really makes the card) and with the Lovely as a Tree stamp set (p. 114 of the Idea Book and Catalogue). It is by far my favourite Christmas card made so far this year.

Another card made with a stamp set from the Holiday Mini:

This used 2 stamps from The Sounding Joy stamp set (p. 23) and I'm not sure of the colours. The card was designed by my demonstrator and I made it at her house. I believe it is Cherry Cobbler ink, ribbon and card stock for the red parts; looks like Sahara Sand for the other coloured card stock and the background stamp. The white is Whisper White card stock and the background texture is the Framed Tulips embossing folder on p. 218 of the Idea Book and Catalogue. Of course, you have to use the Big Shot for that. ;) (I love my Big Shot! I'm not ashamed to admit I joined Stampin' Up as a demonstrator because of a special promotion at the time to get the Big Shot for free! I might just talk about it more during the Virtual Party this week!)


Keep looking through the Holiday Mini and writing down what you would like. As you write items down, especially those you think you might order from me, make sure to write down the item code and the name--it will make things a whole lot easier! I'll be moving onto the Idea Book and Catalogue tomorrow.

Just a note: While the party ends on Nov. 27 and closes on the 29th, ideally, orders will be in by Nov. 28 to give me a chance to contact people on the 29th, if needed, to clarify or make sure they have everything they need. For example, someone might buy glitter, but don't have a glue pen to have the glitter to stick to. It's my job to make sure you have everything you need so you can sit down and have fun making cards once your order gets to you!