Monday, December 31, 2012

State of the Stash #12: Smell That Photopolymer

Another overdue State of the Stash, but for this one I have a better excuse: this ought to have gone up on the 22nd. But by then I was at my parents' house for Christmas, and I hadn't edited the photos before I'd left.

I mean, the photos aren't that great anyway, but they look a lot better edited than unedited!

Anyway, that week's haul consisted of stamps from Joann, which hit me with a 50% off online stamp sale. After using the Hero Arts and Lawn Fawn stamps I'd bought in the last few weeks, I was feeling very much that I needed more photopolymer stamps.

They're just completely different than acrylic stamps. It seems unfortunate that the craft has grouped acrylic stamps and photopolymer stamps as "clear" stamps -- for beginners like me, it's very confusing. And for makers of photopolymer stamps, the lack of differentiation has got to be hitting them right in the wallet. After all, if both types are just clear stamps, why should I bother paying more for photopolymer? Of course, now that I've had a little experience with both I know exactly why: they're a heck of a lot better. Think of all the things that annoy you about "clear" stamps... yeah, photopolymer doesn't do that. Or that. Nope, not that either.

Also they smell a little funny when they're new. The sweet smell of quality.

So I bought some stamps! I know Stampendous uses photopolymer (hint: anyone who uses photopolymer probably says so explicitly), so I picked these cute swinging kids and some cause ribbons.

Then I looked at all the rest of the stamps on the Joann website. Literally. I'm pretty completely sure that was not a good way to spend those hours. But I did find some more photopolymer sets that appealed to me.

I have a tropical foliage set by Inkadinkado ("Flashy Floral") that I use a LOT. Well, I used it a lot before I started doing challenges, because for the lifetime of this blog they've pretty much been Breast Cancer Awareness, Halloween, Fall/Thanksgiving, and Winter/Christmas. None of which really scream "tropical foliage" to me.

But anyway, when I saw this set by Technique Tuesday, which is very similar except a) it's photopolymer and b) it's delightfully sketchy, I knew I had to have it. Heck, I know I'll use it!

And then I found these delightful silhouettes of children playing, which could only be more wonderful if they were children reading. I admit I didn't read the description carefully and thought they were going to be a 4"x6" set, but heck! Since bookmarks are skinny, and that's what I want them for, small is actually better.

I was all excited to discover Crafty Secrets, the maker of the happy children, because hey, here was a stamp company whose website I hadn't stared at for hours yet! Unfortunately this stamp set is just about the only one of theirs I like... I guess I only like vintage when it's full-body silhouettes.

And that was all the photopolymer I found that I couldn't resist. But dang it, I bought more Inkadinkado inchies, acrylic though they be, because gosh darn it those cat inchies are way too cute. And I like the pretty holiday scrollwork. And those firework-y things are definitely useful all year. And... oh heck, Inkadinkado, why do you have to hire designers whose work I find appealing?

Joann stamp haul:

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