Andrea's Review	Chris' Review	Heather's Review	Rebecca's Review	Robin's Review

Review by Andrea

Innovative Stamp Creations - images for the die hard stamper and scrapper!

Rubber Stamps are the pinnacle of reuse in the crafting world. You buy the stamp once and continue to use for life unless it somehow gets damaged. Very little will hurt rubber, so you have to try really hard to destroy it! Even if you mistakenly cut it, the stamp's image becomes "altered" which is all the rage today. Keep it in your collection to use in a brand new capacity!

Innovative Stamp Creations has a large variety of unmounted red rubber stamp sheets. They are mainly sold as sheets with select store fronts allowed to sell single images and mounted stamps. Betsy Griffin is the owner who takes great pride in her business. She has a staff of artists (as well as herself) that draw the plate images for the business with all images being exclusive to ISC. Not only are the images exclusive, but they are also manufactured by Betsy herself. As many stamp manufacturers, Betsy has an angel policy allowing the user to sell items made with her images for profit. What a great business opportunity!

I received two 7" x 9" sheets of rubber images: Faux Alphabet and Altered Words. There is an infinite number of projects that can be completed with either set. Scrapbooking, card making, you name it, these images will cover it, literally! The Alphabet set included uppercase 1 1/2" letters, A-Z. The font is somewhat of a stencil font with a grunge characteristic making the letters fully visible, but a bit weathered look. The Altered Words set has 18 words in a variety of fonts and sizes. Most are single words with some small phrases in the mix. These sheets range in price from $15-$17.

Since the sheets are unmounted stamps, I used EZ Mount Cling Foam on the back allowing easy use with acrylic blocks for the actual stamping. Please read our how-to's, Using the EZ Mount System and EZ Mount Tips for more information. The sheets were deeply etched, meaning that the image is raised to provide a quality, solidly stamped image. This doesn't make the sheet more difficult to cut because you're cutting around the image, the difference is seen when using the stamp. Another positive to ISC's rubber sheets was that the images were spaced apart enough for easy trimming.

The following layout is my first creation using both sets of images. I found the alphabet easy to line up on a long acrylic block so that it could be stamped in one pass. One of the Altered Words fit this scene perfectly - "beauty". Each stamp held the ink just fine and stamped on the textured cardstock without any difficulty.

Title: First Day of Fall
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Exclusives: Bianco)
Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations: Faux Alphabet & Altered Words)
EZ Mount Cling Cushion (Sunday International)
Ink (Ranger Distress: Spiced Marmalade, Frayed Burlap & Scattered Straw)
Leaves (Prima)
Fabric (Shoebox Trims)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

I continued to use the alphabet stamps for the next page using more pictures about the same event. I used paint as the medium this time, finding that it was just as successful as the ink stamping. The paint came off the stamps with some water and a stamp scrubby pad without any hassle at all.

Title: Sand
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics: Papaya Puree Dark)
Patterned Paper (Flair Designs: Autumn Harvest Brown & Autumn Squares)
Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations: Faux Alphabet)
EZ Mount Cling Cushion (Sunday International)
Paint (Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber: Cloudy Blue)
Fabric (Shoebox Trims)
Buckle (Nunn Designs)
Sketch (www.123-Scrap.com)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

ISC also is the creator of the first ever ATC Die Cut Holder. Betsy was nice enough to include a couple of these pre-cut white cardstock patterns in our packages, so I took advantage of the opportunity! Creating background paper from experimenting with different techniques is a favorite pasttime of mine, so I used a recently made Distress Ink background as the basis for my design. I trimmed panels from the glossy cardstock background paper to fit each side of the holder. The Altered Words were perfect to stamp on top of the pattern, so I used the same colors to stamp the words. Each section was adhered to the holder, then the flaps were folded in and glued. An alcohol inked metal frame was added to the front panel for some texture and dimension. All of the edges were finished with ink to complete the look.

Title: ATC Holder
Products used: ATC Die Cut Holder (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Glossy Cardstock (King James Cast Coat)
Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations: Altered Words)
EZ Mount Cling Cushion (Sunday International)
Distress Inks (Ranger: Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade & Aged Mahogany)
Alcohol Inks (Ranger: Butterscotch & Terra Cotta)
Metal Frame (ScrapWorks)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

I found both sheets and the ATC Die Cut Holder to be everything they promised they would be - high quality and easy to use. I know that I'll get a lot of use from both sheets in making scrapbook pages and cards. My altered projects will definitely benefit too! I'm putting some more sheets on my wish list - you should check them out too! If you stamp or want to learn how, pick up some of the stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations, you'll be thrilled you did!

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Review by Chris

Innovative Stamp Creations is manufacturer with an online store. They have unique rubber stamps, as well as a variety of stamping and scrapbooking supplies. Their rubber stamps are sold unmounted in themed sheets. The stamps are designed and pressed by the owner. The designs are creative and unique and the rubber is deeply etched with fine detail.

I received a sheet of textured background stamps and one of ATC elements and backgrounds. (Special thanks to Sunday International for the EZ Mount to use with them.) I also received die cut blanks for two boxes perfectly sized to hold my collection of ATC’s (Artist Trading Cards). How fun!

After applying the EZ Mount to the back of the stamp sheet, I began to cut out the individual images. The rubber was soft and flexible and the images were spaced far enough apart to make this an easy task. Now on to the fun of stamping.

For my first project, I wanted to make a layout about autumn, my favorite time of the year. The background stamp used here is perfect to emulate the crisp texture of fallen leaves. I stamped around the outside edge of the background cardstock. I also stamped some colored cardstock and punched small leaves to use as an embellishment on the page. Just the effect I was looking for!

Title: Autumn Splendor
Cardstock (Prism, Prismatics)
Patterned Paper (Flair, Autumn Splendor Collection)
Background stamp (Innovative Stamp Creations, ATC Elements)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Ink (Ranger, Distress Ink)
Chipboard (Fancy Pants)
Punches (Marvy Uchida)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner, The Glue Tube, A Fine Line PVA Glue)

The mosaic background stamp was perfect for creating a colorful mosaic for this Halloween card. I stamped and embossed the image and then colored in the small sections with markers.

Halloween card
Patterned paper (Reminisce)
Stamp (Innovative Stamp Creations, Textured Backgrounds)
Ink (Tsukineko, Brilliance)
Embossing powder (Creative Beginnings)
Markers (Marvy)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Tape Runner)

Of course I had to make a box or two to hold my small, but growing, ATC collection! For the background of the first one, I tried a new technique called “Frog in a Blender” using Adirondack Alcohol Ink and Future floor wax. (NOTE: "Frog in a Blender" technique credited to Rockin Robin (Caldwell) as seen in the October Technique Junkies Newsletter.) I love the result and the box has a wonderful smell thanks to the floor wax! The cardstock of the diecut held up nicely to being immersed in the floor wax. After the background dried, I stamped various images using stamps from the ATC Elements set and the Textured Background set. This die cut has a unique design so that when you close the lid, it is held shut by a small flap. Awesome!

Title: ATC Box
Box diecut (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations, ATC Elements and Textured Backgrounds)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Ink (Tsukineko, StazOn; Ranger, Brights)
White glue

I hope to expand my ATC collection through some swaps, and since my next theme will be “beach,” I figured I’d make a special box just to hold those cards. I tried another new-to-me technique of creating a textured background using various mediums, painting it with PVA glue, and then applying alcohol inks. The texture reminds me of all the “stuff” washed up on the shore by the ocean waves. I completed the front with a piece of mica and some shells.

Title: Gone to the Beach
Box diecut (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Ink (Adirondack Alcohol Inks)
Mica (US ArtQuest)
Rockettes (Little Black Dress Designs)

Finally, I had to make an ATC to put in my new box! I love that my new ATC Elements stamps included a stamp for the back of the ATC where I can write all the relevant information. The little figure is an Innovative Stamp Creations stamp from my stash.

Title: Inner Self
ATC blank (Zsiage)
Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations, ATC Elements)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Ink (Ranger Distress Ink)

The designs of the Innovative Stamp Creations stamps are unique and finely detailed. The rubber is deeply etched giving a perfect impression when stamped and they are easily cut from the rubber sheet. Everything a stamper could ask for! They were fun to work with and I look forward to creating more ATC’s and stamped backgrounds using these stamps.

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Review by Heather

Let me tell you a little bit about my stamp collection. I have quite a few stamps. Those who have seen my stamp collection, presume to think that I am an avid "stamper." A closer look will reveal that many of these stamps have never been used. In fact, the majority of my stamps are unmounted stamps that I purchased years ago. And there they sit - STILL unmounted and unused. I fell in love with the designs, but just never have the time to get them mounted. "No time for mounting stamps?" you ask. Yep...'tis true. The mere time and effort to mount them has kept me from even taking them out of their boxes. I purchased a set from a friend last year and she generously mounted them for me, knowing that I would never do it on my own. And guess what? I have used that set over and over again. So why do I tell you this? Unmounted stamps have always been extremely daunting and even *impractical* for me. So you can imagine my first reaction when I was assigned to review the unmounted stamps by Innovative Stamp Creations.

I received two different collections of stamps by Innovative Stamp Creations - "Scrapbook LO's - Words" and "Journey of Discovery." Accompanying the collections of rubber stamps, was a sheet of EZ Mount courtesy of Sunday International. I won't lie - my first thought was, "Oh heavens...this is going to take me FOREVER." Ya know what? It DIDN'T!!!! Being assigned this review forced me to do something that I have put off for literally YEARS with my other stamp sets. The rubber was very easy to cut through and the EZ Mount, even easier. Call the papers! Heather White has mounted an entire set of stamps...and seriously AWESOME ones at that!

I was very excited to see that I received a set of word stamps for my review. I am all about words, and the fonts that Innovative Stamp Creations used for their stamps are very unique and fun! The stamps were very easy to use and left a very good ink impression on my pages. I have found with some stamps, you have to press extremely hard or even stamp over the same spot a few times to get a good image. I pressed very lightly on my page and still received a very clear image of each stamp.

The first words that I cut out from the rubber stamp sheet all seemed to be about love and relationships. With all of the great words and fun fonts, I knew I wanted to use a collage of all of the words as part of a background for my first layout. I picked a few pictures of my close friends for this page and love how it turned out.

Title: Irresistible
Products used: Cardstock (Bazzill Basics)
Scrapbook LO's Words Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Patterned Paper (All My Memories)
Ribbon (All My Memories)
Blossom (Bazzill Wings of Imagination)
Large Silver Brad (All My Memories)
Chocolate Paper Stain (All My Memories)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner)

When I first saw the "Journey of Discovery" stamp set, my first thoughts naturally went to more "vacation/travel" themes. However, I wanted to try and come up with a theme for my second project that stretched the meaning of "Journey of Discovery" to something deeper than that. What I came up with is the journey of discovery that my little ones have ahead of them - the journey through life. I found this precious picture of them from earlier this year, and thought it was perfect for the theme and feeling of the layout. Again, I used one of the stamps (the postmark) as a background stamp and another (Beginnings) to create a border around the photo. I used the "Journey of Discovery Stamp" by itself and as a focal point on the layout. I love the result.

Title: Journey of Discovery
Products used: Cardstock (Bazzill Basics)
Scrapbook LO's Words Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Journey of Discovery Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Patterned Paper (Rusty Pickle)
Chocolate Paper Stain (All My Memories)
Bronze Mini Brads (All My Memories)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner)

After testing the stamps on both patterned paper and textured cardstock, I found that the stamps left a darker impression on the textured cardstock and a lighter impression on the patterned paper. I like that it was lighter on the patterned paper, as it makes it look like the words are actually PART of the patterned paper, instead of stamped on. These stamps look great on both textures and mediums.

These unmounted stamps by Innovative Stamp Creations do take some effort to mount before use. Would I have purchased them before this review? Probably not. I'm busy and I would pay more JUST to have my stamps mounted for me. But after this review? Is it WORTH the effort? Has Innovative Stamp Creations changed my mind about unmounted stamps? ABSOLUTELY! Without question. The images are beautiful and the fonts are detailed and unique. I would definitely recommend adding Innovative Stamp Creations' Stamps to your list of must-have stamp collections.

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Review by Rebecca

My scrapbooking hobby started as a rubber stamper with wood-mounted stamps that I used on cards and occasionally on my layouts. Innovative Stamp Creations intrigued me with the unmounted rubber stamps that are pressed and cut at home by Betsy, the owner of the company.

I received two stamp sets from Innovative Stamp Creations for my review. The first was a 4" x 8" rubber sheet called "Winter-Autumn Season". This set has seven images. The images are of snowflakes, pumpkins and hollies. The second set I received was "Angelical Holidays" which is a 7" x 9" sheet consisting of 6 images. At first look it is easy to notice that these rubber sets both have intricate details such as dots, lines and wording that I have not yet seen replicated on acrylic stamp sets.

To use the stamps I had to trim the images from the rubber sheets and mount them with the EZ Mount Cling Foam I received. I found that unlike other unmounted rubber stamp sets I have used, these sheets had plenty of space for cutting. I did not have to worry about trimming into adjacent images or making lots of careful cuts at different angles just to get these mounted. The stamp sets were attached to the EZ Mount Cling Foam and cut out quickly.

I started my review with the "Winter-Autumn Season" set that was perfect for a pumpkin patch layout and a card. On the first layout I stamped the image in black and colored it in with watercolor pencils. For the card I embossed with platinum embossing powder and on the envelope I used colored embossing markers with clear powder.

Pumpkin
Products used:
Stamp (Innovative Stamp Creations, Winter-Autumn Season)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Cardstock (Prism Papers)
Patterned Paper (Crate Paper)
Ribbon (Crafty Keepsakes Monthly Kit Club)
Chipboard Alphabet (Heidi Swapp)
Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Brushed Corduroy; Versacolor Ultimate Pigment Ink)
Pen (Micron by Sakura, Watercolor Pencils by General Pencil)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner)

Thanks Card
Products used:
Stamp (Innovative Stamp Creations, Winter-Autumn Season)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Cardstock (Prism Papers)
Patterned Paper (Crafty Keepsakes Monthly Kit Club)
Letters (Leaving Prints)
Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Brushed Corduroy; VersaMark, Watermark Stamp Pad)
Embossing Powder (Ranger, Clear and Platinum)
Pen (Marvy Matchables, Wet Looks Embossing Marker)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner)

With the "Angelical Holidays" set I was ready to create some holiday layouts and cards. I embossed the holly block on my "Her Smile" layout with colored powder first and then silver powder for a second layer. I also embossed the holly stamp and used it as a corner stamp. On the Peace On Earth card I just stamped the two images with black ink and I did not think the images needed any more embellishing than that.

Her Smile
Products used:
Stamp (Innovative Stamp Creations, Winter-Autumn Season and Angelical Holidays)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Cardstock (Prism Papers)
Patterned Paper (Sweetwater Scrapbooks, Crate Paper)
Chipboard Alphabet (Heidi Swapp)
Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Brushed Corduroy; Versa Mark Watermark Stamp Pad)
Embossing Powder (Ranger, Silver)
Paint (Ranger, Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber)
Pen (Micron by Sakura, Wet Looks Embossing Marker)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner)

Peace on Earth Card
Products used:
Stamp (Innovative Stamp Creations, Angelical Holidays)
EZ Mount Cling Foam (Sunday International)
Cardstock (Prism Papers)
Patterned Paper (Sweetwater, Basic Grey)
Flower (Poppy Ink Monthly Kit Club)
Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Brushed Corduroy; Versacolor Ultimate Pigment Ink)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner)

The unmounted rubber stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations are the best of both worlds for me. I like that the images are deeply etched and have intricate details that I appreciated in my wood-mounted rubber stamps. However, they are easy to store and carry to crops like acrylic stamps. I highly recommend these stamps and encourage any scrapbooker or rubber stamper to add Innovative Stamp Creations to their supply list!

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Review by Robin

Until recently I had only used letter stamps in my layouts. I have a bunch of stamps, I just haven't used many of them yet. So I was happy that I was going to be able to not only try some new stamps, but I would be using them in a layout.

I received 2 sheets of unmounted stamps. One was a sheet of Christmas stamps, the other a sheet of what looks like a combination of Pumpkin and Christmas stamps. Each sheet was accompanied by a sheet which showed the stamped images.

When cutting the stamps to mount them on EZ Mount, I realized that my micro-tip scissors, although very sharp, weren't working very well cutting the rubber. I tried some other scissors and never found a pair that were easy to cut through the rubber, but I was able to get the stamps I wanted to use cut. I mounted them on EZ Mount, then used a acrylic block and played with them for a little while. I have to say that these stamps have really nice designs. The art is very intricate and realistic looking.

For my first project I decided to use the pumpkin stamps. I had the perfect pictures for them, my older daughter painted pumpkins at our new library recently and they would work well. At first I stamped some cardstock in different colors. I used that instead of patterned paper (if you look at my layouts I almost always use lots of patterned paper). On each sheet that I stamped I decided I wanted one of the stamped images to stick out. So I used my daughter's colored pencils and a blender pencil to color in the stamped images. I really liked the way it looked. Then I stamped one of each image onto cream paper, colored it in and cut it out (I did figure out that if you are coloring it in, it is much easier to color first, then cut). I then used Adhesive Tech's 3-D Design Blocks to pop the images up on the page. I really liked the results.

Title: White Pumpkin
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics)
Unmounted Rubber Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations)
EZ Mount (Sunday International)
Colored Pencils (Crayola)
Tim Holtz Distressed Ink (Ranger)
Fabric Paper (unknown)
Acrylic Block (Close to my Heart)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner, 3-D Design Blocks)

I was starting my holiday card planning, so these stamps were a perfect fit for that. I tried out a few stamps, but the one I kept coming back to was the one with the tree framed by music notes on one side and words on the other. I made the card, stamping the image onto patterned paper. It looked really nice. But the next morning the ink had faded and I didn't like the way it got lost in the patterned paper. So I stamped the image onto cream cardstock and cut out the tree only, I used Adhesive Tech's 3-D Design Blocks to pop up the tree. You can still see the rest of the stamped image in the patterned paper, but the tree really stands out. The cards were very easy to make.

Title: Christmas Card
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics)
Unmounted Rubber Stamps (Innovative Stamp Creations)
EZ Mount (Sunday International)
Old Olive Pigment Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Paper (Sweetwater)
Ribbon (Colorbok)
Mini Brads (Queen & Co)
Acrylic Block (Close to my Heart)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Glue Runner,The Glue Tube)

Other than the minor cutting problem I had, these stamps were great. When I used them, all of the image showed onto the paper. Unmounted stamps are easy to store and don't take up much room.

I really enjoyed using the unmounted rubber stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations. Their stamps have wonderful detail and lifelike designs show up really well on paper. These stamps will not be sitting in my stamp drawer untouched, they will be used.

A note from Randi. If you find you have difficulty cutting out unmounted stamps, be sure to check our our Sunday International review. The KAI scissors provided in their starter kit are PERFECT.

For more information visit Innovative Stamp Creations