How'd you get started?
 

As I've mentioned before, I'm very new to stamping & papercrafting. As I sat at my work station last night, I was thinking about how far I've come in the past 6 months and how I started. This made me wonder about all of the other ladies on SCS. You all have provided me with so much inspiration and my skill level has improved just by being on SCS.

I'd like to hear how you all got your start in stamping & papercrafting.

I used to read a blog by a nice lady who was always posting gorgeous cards - her blog wasn't really a crafting blog but once in a while, she would post photos something she made and have card giveaways. I sent her an email complimenting her work and how I'd always wanted to get into rubber stamps but it always seemed to overwhelming. She sent me a very detailed email on how to start (by altering $1 spot cards with ribbon, etc) and then she sent me a set of cards which really helped because I could look at it in person and sort of analyze how it worked. Shortly after, I started collecting Michaels $1 stamps and the rest is history...!

Now it's your turn!

My Mom had a SU! party, to help her demo friend out, almost 11 years ago. I told her I would go, but "I'm not buying anything!" Famous last words! I was hooked! I still remember what I bought... "Cuddles and Tickles"---I was pregnant with my first. I started out using black ink, paper (not CS) and crayons. Yes, Crayolas! :shock: I'm glad to say I've come a long way, baby! I've hit the bigtime with colored inks, real CS and Crayola colored pencils! LOL

I started using rubber stamps as a kid because I really stink at drawing but I wanted to create stuff. Years later, I saw a booth at a craft fair in a mall that had stamps and inks galore. The heavens opened up and a new life started for me that day. I started making cards once in a while and got serious about it in mid '90s. Started scrapping in 1998 when hubby was deployed, started buying SU by the boatload in '99 and started as a demo in 2000. I scrap more than I make cards and don't have much business anymore but I love it all and, yes, I still stink at drawing.
Mary Beth

TFS! I'm still stck in the Crayola stage. lol I'm not deep enough in (yet) to buy Copics and still hit my DD's art supplies when looking to color a card. lol

And I've yet to purchase a single SU! item. I'm afraid for what it'll do to my bank account once I start...(gulp).

[QUOTE=mama2oliviamae;12565044]TFS! I'm still stck in the Crayola stage. lol I'm not deep enough in (yet) to buy Copics and still hit my DD's art supplies when looking to color a card. lol

And I've yet to purchase a single SU! item. I'm afraid for what it'll do to my bank account once I start...(gulp).[/QUOTE]


Just DO IT!!! Stamping hasn't been good for my bank account either, but it is good for my mental health! The joy I get from stamping is immeasurable! It is my "thing" and we all need something like that, whatever it may be! :-D

I was already into scrapbooking when I met a neighbor of mine who use to be a SU! demo. She had a room literally full of stamps. I was bedazzled. She and I got together to make Christmas cards last year, and the rest is history. We joined a stamp club, too, to feed the addiction. :mrgreen:

I have always been a bit crafty and my SIL bought me a few stamps and ink one Christmas. Didn't do to much with those. BUT, I went to a SU party and have been hooked ever since. I still feel like a beginner but learn so much here from everyone. I have never used crayons :) but did use markers and colored pencils at first. Funny how I don't do much of that now. I guess the horrible things I made initially scarred me for life!!!

I had always admired hand-stamped cards at craft fairs and such, even purchased some from Glittergal (Hi Linda!), though, of course, I had no idea who she was then -- just a nice lady with great cards to sell at her garage sale. But I always thought it would be too difficult to do myself.

One evening I was dropping off books at the library when the adult programming coordinator, whom I knew, mentioned that some people didn't show up for a stamping class and she had openings, would I like to sit in? I resisted, but she talked me into it.

The rest, as they say, is history. I tell everyone I fell in love with stamping from the first impression. About 5 months later the class teacher became my upline!

Now, nearly 3 years later, my upline moved to another state and I teach classes at the library! I'm a Stampin' Up! manager with a team of my own and I still stamp and blog as often as possible -- daily if I can. And I reconnected with Glittergal (Linda) right here on SCS -- even though w live in the same town! Talk about coming full circle!

This is a great topic that brought back a lot of happy memories for me. Thanks for asking!

I started stamping in February when I saw a new friend of mine making cards while we were volunteering at our local handmade gift shop. Although she has caused me to go broke, we are now best friends! :D

I started out when my friend joined Stampin' Up! I went to her workshops and classes for a while before finally deciding I wanted to be able to do it all from home too. I over-collected anything that was on sale at Michaels, Joanns, and SU for the first year or two. Now that I know more about what my style is and quality differences in different product lines, I'm trying to use up my stash and by new stuff that is perfect for me. :)

I started in 1995 attending a SU party that my SIL held; then I needed to perk up that year's black and white Christmas card - after I saw embossing I was hopelessly hooked. Over the years I attended classes at LSS (until they all closed in 2006). I've also been involved in 2 SU stamp clubs for the past several years and will be launching my own in March, 2009.

I love stamping because it relaxes and challenges me; but also because I can make a difference in another person's day just by sending them a card!

My first exposure to rubber stamping was a bear holding a heart which I embossed with gold. I made it for my daughters valentines day card when she was about 5 (she is now 14). That was it for a long, long time until I discovered stampin up. I bought a few things but was never happy with any of the stuff I made because i just couldn't seem to get the coloring down. I made some cards but none had much stamping on them. I finally discovered our lss who listed scs as one of her favorite sites, i visited but still didn't really get into it until a few month's ago when I started attending regular stamp camps. Now I am determined (even if i kills me) to learn how to color things properly and this website has been a HUGE factor in helping me accomplish this. Now, I am on here constantly and am totally addicted, broke, and spend way too much time at work on the computer.

A teacher that I had subbed for invited me as a guest to her stamp club...it didn't take long before I was begging to join. Everybody in stamp club has a different style, so I've learned a lot from each one, and incorporated bits and pieces of what they do into what I do.

In 1999 a family joined our church, they were destined to become some of our best friends and my first introduction to SU as Ginger was a demo. I was less than thrilled at the first couple workshops I attended and for a couple of years I had my 'token' stamps sets. They were Smile and Background Basics. But then 6 years ago, the stampin bug bit me and it's been down hill since...

Pamela

I was a scrapbooker and my neighbor suggested I try stamping. I found a demo person out of state since none of the local ones I contacted replied to my email, and I have been a part of a long distance stamp club for two years. I wish I had a local person because I would love to attend a party and see real demos.

i have always had a 'crafty side'... used to make all kinds of stuff with the kids when they were little.

i also used to make cards and invitations among other 'paper' creations on the computer.

THEN...

i received a hand stamped (SU!) invitation to a 4th of july party. she showed me her stamping space when i went to the party...

and the rest is history!

I was first introduced to SU! about 12 years ago at a home party. The demo only demo'd...there was no "hands-on" creating. I wasn't too impressed. I ordered a few things, they took weeks to arrive, and by then I had lost interest. Fast forward several years, I began teaching at a new school. Our art teacher was big into stamping and hosted a workshop after school in the art room. That led to a monthly club and maaaaany stamp sets. Now, I am again at a new school and found out one of my neighbors is a demo so I switched to her. I am getting back into stamping after nearly a year-long hiatus. Today alone I made 6 cards from a simple design I cased from the gallery. One of those is already in the mail! I think I am back with stamping again but I am also more aware of my personal style. My days of spending too much may be over but I think my enjoyment and desire to stamp is back!

I have been a crafter for as long as I can remember. Stamping with SU! started in September 2004. My boyfriend is big into garage sales. One Saturday afternoon I went with him...big mistake. It was a big neighborhood sale and this lady had a box of cards sitting on a table for sale. I got to talking with her about her cards. She told me that she had been making them for about six months. She invited me to come and stamp with a group of ladies the next Saturday. Needless to say I went. It was a Stampin' Up!workshop. She also introduced me to SCS. Joybkc became a demo in October 2007 and in June 2008 became my upline. Now I am a crafter that stamps.

Another SU party-goer here...

I had a girlfriend of mine give me a homemade card and it was downhill from there. Now I own as many stamps as what my car probably costs LOL... funny how that happens. My husband informed me today my scraproom was a deathtrap if it ever caught on fire. I told him if he found me a bigger room i wouldn't have that problem LOL>.

I started stamping about 3 yrs ago when my DH bosses wife took me along to a Stampin Up party. It was fun and we made 4 cards that night and I bought a stamp set, variety pack of cardstock and stampin spots. I have been hooked ever since, it helps to have a wonderful demo who is constantly having classes and showing us new techinques, she also introduced me to SCS and I love it here. I have moved 5 hrs away from my demo so I won't be going to any more of her classes but she sends me info all the time, and I still order from her at least once a month. I signed on as a CTMH consultant in October, I figured I already have a great demo and 85% of the items in the starter kit so I went with the CTMH and I am liking the idea of making scrapbooks for my kids and family. I get such wonderful help and info on SCS and I get upset if I can't spend at least an hour or two in my craftroom each day, it is one of the only things that keeps me from going completly crazy.

I used to do a zine in high school (and then another couple in college) and I picked up a couple of stamps to use as illustrations... including an L.A. Stampworks image of a '50s style man & woman at the breakfast table with talk bubbles over their heads that is probably my most used stamp ever. And the rest is history!

It's so funny that this subject came up - my boyfriend's mom and I were just having this conversation about how if we were starting from scratch now how would we know where to begin and what to get? It's almost like all this "stuff" just appeared at our houses! I started with scrapbooking - really really basic stuff and found a Close To My Heart consultant years ago by accident and starting buying more and more strictly for scrapbooking and she was actually the person who introduced me to Splitcoast and then it was really down hill from there. I would look at everyone's gorgeous cards and have to figure out how it was done and saw someone talking about pencils and gamsol and took off to my LSS to get some gamsol! I stole my daughters pencils back once I realized they were Prismas and she was coloring with a dollar something each pencils!!! My ex had given them to her because he wasnt using them anymore and I just took them all back. Splitcoast members have given me tons and tons of motivation and inspiration I am at awe of the talent that all of you have. Now it's just really an obsession I am happiest when I am crafting.

A co-worker introduced me to her SU demo, who I thought might motivate me to get into scrapbooking. I remember looking at the cards at first and thinking they were cute, but not what I wanted at all. Then I went to a couple of her workshops, and here I am, 4 years later, a card-making fiend with ZERO scrapbook pages to my name! :mrgreen:

Well back in late 98 early 99 during my 1st pregnancy my mother introduced me to scrapbooking to give me something to do with my time. She wasn't into it but seen it on tv and a magazine and thought I would love it. SO she took me to M's and bought me a lot of supplies to get me started. I scrapped for a few months but it didn't stick. Then summer 05 when my 3rd DD was 1.5 years old I was looking through old albums and came across the one I started for my 1st DD. And it just hit me I wanted to get back into scrapping but wasn't sure where to get started. So I go to ebay just to see if anyone on there sold any scrapbook stuff and what it looked liked compared to back in 99. And boy did they have scrapbooking stuff on there andplenty of different looks to go with. And I started from there. I lived in a small town with no scrapbook stored of any kind not even walmart so I ordered some stuff off ebay; paper, scissors, stickers and an album and got started. Then a couple weeks later I invested in the sizzix machine and a couple dies and within 6 months I had half my bedroom taken up with scrapbook stuff. And now 3.5 years later I have my own studio which is full of scrapbook supplies and stamp supplies. I am completely addicted! If something new comes out I MUST have it!

I actually bought a stamp at a home-schooling convention one year. Thought it was cute but never used it. Five years later, I was a member of a craft of the month club and received a stamp kit. Didn't use it. A year later, DH enrolled in the seminary and we would be sending out a lot of thank you cards so I thought it would be cheaper to make cards. Saw an ad in the school paper for a stamp class so I went. It was a CTMH demo and I bought a stamp set. I went to HL, Ms and JAs and bought odds and ends to make my cards but still not a real big stamper. A year after the CTMH demo, I got invited to a SU! show. I WAS SOLD! Within three months, I had been to five shows, hosted my own show and bought between $300 and $400 worth of stuff. My demo talked to me about joining since I was spending so much as it was. After talking it over with DH, I decided to join. That was 6 years ago (this coming March 14th). I have my own room now. My collection has grown exponentially. I go to stamp conventions, go on road trips to stamp stores with stampersisters, and when I go on vacation, I have to visit any stamp store in the vicinity.

I'm addict and I don't want to be helped.

The first spark was in a LSS. I asked how they made a card on the wall and the nice women there showed me. I only played alittle with stamps after that. I got really hooked after a SU party. You can't take stamps away from me now!!!!