Stampin' Jo is my home-based Stamping business. I specialize in stamped items such as cards and invitations, as well as in 3-Dimensional objects. Basically, if I can stamp on it, I will. I do a few craft shows throughout the year, but mostly I sell through word of mouth, online and (hopefully) through various Farmers Markets throughout the region. Please check out my Galleries as well as my Products and Pricing Page for more information.
I got into stamping in 2004, when I went to an in-home demonstration of Stampin' Up Products. I had always been a 'crafty' person, but had never really found my own niche. I loved what I saw at the demonstration, and signed up soon after as a demonstrator. I was working at the craft store Michaels at the time, so I was surrounded by crafts all day. I used this as an opportunity to learn as much as I could about various tools and products. With the guidance of my Stampin' Up Upline and other Stampin' Up friends, I learned a lot about techniques and ideas in the time that I was a demonstrator. I took a sabbatical from demonstrating in 2007, as I had started teaching piano full time, and did not have the time to devote to it as I had in the past. I re-joined as a demonstrator in 2009 after moving to British Columbia and am working on building a successful SU business again while mainting my goals of selling my cards and other items. (Please visit my Stampin' Up website here)
I enjoy experimenting with all sorts of crafts and projects, but I always tend to fall back on stamping. As I said, stamping seems to be niche that I fit into quite well, and I enjoy it immensly. I find it very relaxing, and it's a good creative outlet that takes my mind away from my other creative outlet, Piano!
I use mostly Stampin' Up supplies for my projects. There are a few reasons for this. First off, I am a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, so of course, the majority of the supplies that I own are from Stampin' Up. I also find that the quality provided by Stampin' Up is very high, and their products are more reliable then the average craft-store variety. I love their paper, and the fact that all of their inks and paper coordinate make it very easy for me to pick my colour pallettes! I use mostly Stampin' Up wood-mounted rubber stamps, but now that SU has introduced acrylic-mounted rubber, I plan on experimenting with those as soon as my next order comes in! (I can see this saving me a TON of space in my studio!!) I have experimented a little with Polymer stamps, but I always come back to rubber as I like the quality of the images much better.
The only things that I use that are not Stampin' Up! products are some of my ribbon and embellishments, Staz-on Inks (SU only sells black and white...), Adhesive (I go through so much that I invested in a Scotch ATG - that stands for Automatic Tape Gun, and the refills are much cheaper then any adhesive I can find anywhere else. It is also a professional grade adhesive that is acid-free, so I can use it for my scrapbooking too!)and of course the 3-D items that I stamp. I collect those from various sources, such as dollar stores, craft stores, and other such treasure-filled places! I also use the occasional texturing tool or die-cutting tool that is not SU, like my Cuttlebug embossing folders and my Cricut.