Are Stampin Spots good for starting out??

[faithfulmom]

I am new to stamping and I dont have a lot of money to invest at one time. I am in a Stampin Up! monthly club, so I know I will build my collection a little each month.

My Q is:

Are the Stampin Spots good for starting out since I can get a variety of colors at one time, then build up to the larger pads one at a time?

So far I just have a journaling and background stamp. I am going to buy the Sweet Talk for V-day cards for my daughter.

Any advise is appreciated!

[novicestamper]

That is what I did. I could not afford to buy full size pads of all the colors, and the spots let me try them all out. As I see which ones are my favs, I order the full size pads. I think it's a great way to get all the colors.

[dstfrommi]

Yes, the spots are a great way for starting out. And somehow those little guys last a long time. And you can buy the reinkers and even reink them.

[Oddstamper]

I bought all the stampin spots and one black ink pad and stamped for a year, before I purchased my classic pads. I still use my stampin spots for backgrounds too! It is a great idea! Audrey

[k_cove]

I have only been stamping for about 8 months and I have slowly been buying the different sets of stamping spots. I have found that the colors which I considered buying in the full size pads at the start are not actually the ones I use most often - glad I didn't buy the full size to start!! It also gives you a greater selection of colors at a fraction of the cost.

[rubiestone]

I strongly recommend that you go straight to the stamp pads. I too am in a monthly stampin up group, and I add to my stamp pads as I can afford them. I usually buy the matching marker, and perhaps the cardstock, if my budget permits. Sometimes the color decisions are determined by a specific project I may want to duplicate, or use as my inspiration for something else. I also REALLY like the color wheel. I am good with colors, but have continued to find awesome combinations I'm not sure I would have put together without seeing them on the color wheel. I believe, and my stampin up rep concurs, that the spots are a waste of $$$. Happy Stampin!!!!!

[needsmorestamps!]

Another thing is to look at how you ink up your stamps. I've started watching myself one day and I almost always inked up my stamps by turning them over and putting the ink pad in my hand and tapping it down onto the stamp so I could see the coverage issues. When I figured that out I figured that the spots would work pretty well for me

[Innocent BySTAMPER]

My dd likes to jump right in and buy the stamp pad since she knows that she will find a project to use it on. I like to see what the color actually looks like on cardstock. Spots are a good way to "check out" many colors without being pricey. When I find a color I seem to use a lot......I buy the stamp pad. To each his/her own.

[Suzanne]

I think they are fabulous not just for starting out. I had all the full size pads when I was demoing, but I sold them all on eBay and now use only the spots. I have StazOn pads & the white & vanilla crafts in full size. I haven't found anything I can't do with the spots & they sure take up a lot less room.

[ScramperNut]

I bought all the spots and LOVE the fact that I have all the colros. If I notice I use certain colors more then I buy the pad. I couldn't afford to buy all the pads at once either so I bought the spots. I think it's the way to go when your on a budget!

[Lisa62]

I totally agree with buying the full stamp pad.I never bought the stamp spots too small.for me.You see the square and lines where you stamped on the image.put the money into the classic stamp pads you'll be glad you did.earth tones rich regals and soft subtles are the best by far.much nicer colors greens purples.blues.pinks.yellows

[faithfulmom]

Wow, what a difference of opinions!

Well, I am going to invest in the rich regla stampin spots and see how I like them. Then I can decide to buy more or to start buying the bigger pads one by one.

Thanks for all the great posts! Love all the opinions

[momsquiltn]

I guess the bottom line is you have to do what is best for you. When I started I bought full size pads in about 4 or 5 colors of the earth elements because I was making Christmas cards. I love the EE colors so it was a great investment. The next ink purchase I made was the RR spots. Oh, do I love my spots! Yes, I still have full size pads in colors I use often and am filling out my EE set. I have found that the spots ink up even the large BG stamps beautifully. I also use them to "color" parts of a stamp differently like the stem and flower. Just as a sidebar for those of you who do use spots I have found that I love to store mine in the clear stamp cases. You can fit one set of 12 into the large size and 24 into the extra large case. I also stamp the color onto the little white circle on the bottom of each ink spot just in case the top some how is separated from the bottom.

Hope this helps you make up your mind.

[gailism]

I started out with a few full size ink pads. Then I ended up purchasing (throughout the year) all of the full size ink pads except for Bold Brights. But, as a demo I started to purchase the stampin' spots since at a lot of my workshops I'll use the full size for a background stamp and will use the matching spot in the same color for the wording or other stamps we are using in the project. It helps speed up the workshop in addition to sales of the spots.

I think the spots are great for anyone new to Stampin' Up. It's a great way to get used to the colors. It's also a cheaper alternative.

Right now I can't afford all of the craft pads, so I purchased all of the craft spots during the promotion a couple of months ago. I do have the full size craft pads of my fav. colors, but wanted to have the others on hand just in case!

It really is a personal choice. Good luck!
Gail

[ninatar]

I bought the Classic full size pads first, (always with a reinker!).

But I just starting buying the CRAFT stamping spots that are new this year. I just absolutely love them. More control for direct to paper, and I can try out which craft colors I will use more often - important because they cost a little more.

I am a big Craft ink pad fan!

Nina

[smallpigpig]

Im a newbie stamper, but I thought ,"hey if Im gonna do it, do it right the first time" and bought all 4 sets of craft spots.

Unfortunately, I made one slight boo boo. I should have bought the classic spots instead. I found that the craft spots stained all my stamps. despite that I clean religiously with a stamp cleaner, the stain is there.

my stamping buddy has the classic spots and I found that her ink wipes away really easy with a wet cloth

i bought the craft spots because I figured its more versatile, and I can emboss with it, but I realized that I might as well just have bought a versa embossing pad. Opps.

other than that, I would strongly suggest the spots. I like playing with color for what I use it for, it last me awhile. besides, you can always get the full size pads once you figure what color you use most

its just sometimes hard when you are trying to ink a background .... aie

hope that helps!
Peggy

[jeninmt2001]

I bought the stampin spots in two paper colors and the large stamp pads in one other paper color. I am about to order full size pads, but I love the spots for the little stamps! They work great! But, the spots are lots of work for the larger stamps!

I belong to a monthly SU group, also, and there are four of us who want the full set of markers and the carry case. So....we're ordering a set each month and each month for 4 months we get one set of 12 markers and one of us gets the carry case - that way, we don't have to buy them all at once and break the budget! At the end of 4 months, we have a carry case and all four color families of markers! (Of course are fabulous SU demonstrator is helping us with this - she's a great lady!)

Have any of you got the SU color caddy for the pads? Do you like it? Let me know!

[thuskins]

I have the spots and love them. I first had the classic RR spots and then got the other three families in craft ink. I wish that I had them all in the craft becuase then I'd have all colors and can use them for embossing. With clear EP you can emboss in all colors. Then for the colors I use most I can get the large pads in classic ink. Now I'll have to do that in craft for RR. I was introduced to SU last March and am totally hooked. It's a great way to get all the colors at once. I like the advantages of both kinds of inks but don't want to spend all my money on ink. I want stamps and paper too. I'm so greedy.

Taryn

[lizzier]

when i first started stamping, i bought spots because i wanted all of the colors. now im a demo and i slowly, well, not super slowly, bought all of the big pads, but i still find that when i stamp at home, or make my samples, i still use spots, then i take the large pads to my workshops. then i started taking my large pads and my spots to workshops so customers would have less waiting to use them, and i've sold a lot of spots this way. i really like them, they lasted a long time, and they are more afordable. i say spots are a must have for any new stamper.

[Grape]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeninmt2001

Have any of you got the SU color caddy for the pads? Do you like it? Let me know!

I have the SU color caddy and I like it. However, after I bought it I saw a caddy I liked even better. It has a place to store your matching reinkers and markers along side the pad. My husband is in the process of building me a new caddy that will help me to keep all of the pieces together.
All in all, the SU caddy is good, but if you want to keep everything together, there is better.

[mastamper]

I bought all the craft spots during the special last year, also. I love them because I have all the colors and they do not take up a lot of space.

I haven't had any problems with them staining my stamps. I stamp off the ink on some scrap right away and then clean the stamps on a baby wipe and then my stampin scrub. I started using the the pre clean with baby wipes after reading on these forums that that helps keep you from getting your scrub gunked up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smallpigpig

Im a newbie stamper, but I thought ,"hey if Im gonna do it, do it right the first time" and bought all 4 sets of craft spots.

Unfortunately, I made one slight boo boo. I should have bought the classic spots instead. I found that the craft spots stained all my stamps. despite that I clean religiously with a stamp cleaner, the stain is there.

my stamping buddy has the classic spots and I found that her ink wipes away really easy with a wet cloth

i bought the craft spots because I figured its more versatile, and I can emboss with it, but I realized that I might as well just have bought a versa embossing pad. Opps.

other than that, I would strongly suggest the spots. I like playing with color for what I use it for, it last me awhile. besides, you can always get the full size pads once you figure what color you use most

its just sometimes hard when you are trying to ink a background .... aie

hope that helps!
Peggy

[kgladney]

I love the spots when I just want to use part of a stamp. The bigger stamp pad just won't work for part of a stamp as well.

Karen

[inkymommy]

I LOVE my spots. Especially if you stamp while traveling. I have most of the classic pads or craft pads. I have all the classic and all the craft spots. I use my spots more. If you are a scrapper, the spots are perfect for Alphabet stamps. Also, you mentioned the Journaling stamp, I use versamark for that to have only subtle lines showing. Versamark makes great background paper.

Go for the spots, Versamark and Neutral full sized pads to start out. Just my $.02

[mopsandt]

I wish my SU demo would have mentioned the spots to me when I first started stamping. I would have gotten them in a minute. It took me a long long time to buy all the pads. I did get the craft spots a few months ago, just to have them and to travel with. Go for the spots and then add. JMHO