One of a Kind

Hi, Stampers! Hope you had a lovely Christmas. This is going to be a “catch up” week for me so I can get ready to hit the ground running in 2018!

End of Year Sale and Stamparatus Reservations

Speaking of 2018…There are only a few days of 2017 left, which means you don’t have much more time to take advantage of the Stampin’ Up! Year-End Sale. Lots of products are discounted – and retiring products from the 2017 Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog will be gone after January 2, so order now. They’re only available while supplies last, so don’t miss out on your favorites.

You also only have through December 30 to reserve your Stamparatus.

If you reserve your Stamparatus now, it will ship sometime after March 19. You’ll need to add payment information when you reserve it, but you won’t be charged until your reservation is moved to your shopping cart (and you’ll be notified, so you can buy or cancel).

The Stamparatus in Action

The Stamparatus is a stamp positioning tool, and it’s different from any others out there. It was designed by Stampin’ Up! with the help of a group of demonstrators (the Leader 2 Leader, or L2L, team). I was so excited to have been part of this process – and even more so when I found out those of us on the team could preorder the Stamparatus early. Mine arrived Friday – just in time for Christmas!

One of the cool things about the Stamparatus is that it has two hinged plates, so it’s perfect for two-step stamping, or for stamping multiple images. But there’s more! The plates are removeable, so you actually have four sides. AND you can move the plates up and down, so you can line the same image up perfectly – like this.

I placed the top bird from the 2018 Occasions Catalog Stamp Set Petal Palette at the top of the cardstock, then closed the Stamparatus plate over to adhere the stamp to the plate. After inking, I stamped, then moved the plate down one hinge and stamped. I repeated until I had all four birds. (One little birdie didn’t get completely stamped, and I could – and should – have re-stamped it to finish filling it out. But I was excited and wanted to finish playing.) I colored the last bird with Bermuda Bay and Wisteria Wonder Stampin’ Write Markers, then added some Clear Wink of Stella, just to make him a little more unique.

The sentiment is from another set from the upcoming Stampin’ Up! Occasions Catalog – Lovely Wishes. I have a stamp positioner from another company, and I always tuck the cardstock in the corner of the tool to be sure it’s in the same place every time I stamp (in case the magnets move). When I did that with this sentiment – which is a photopolymer stamp – it came out horribly, and stamping it over and over made it a little too bold. After initial disappointment and some chats with friends, we realized that the corner of the Stamparatus is near the hinge, which makes the stamp too high to actually hit the cardstock. So I stamped it on a scrap piece, cut it out, and added it to the front of the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then I went back to figure out what I was doing wrong.

No More Stamping in the Corner!

Photopolymer stamps do not work well near the Stamparatus hinge. Hmmmm. What to do now? I decided to trust the very strong bar magnets that come with the Stamparatus. I placed the cardstock at the center top of the Stamparatus and got a perfect image. Then I stamped again (over it), and it was exactly in the same place. You do not need to stamp “in the corner” any more. YAY!

Other options – If you’re a control freak (like we can all be at times) and can’t totally trust the magnets, you can add a little shim (2-3 pieces of cardstock) under the foam mat. This will raise the cardstock so the stamp hits it better.

You will definitely want the Stamparatus once you play with it a little. So be sure to “get in line” so you can have yours soon!