Retired teacher Linda Talbot displays some of the various stamps she inventories against shelves of stamps and stamping supplies. A hobby of hers for a couple of years, Linda started demonstrating her wares for "Stampin' Up!®" last June. She provides home demonstrations and has her customers learn by doing. According to Linda: "Crafting is the quilting bee of the millennium," a spirit which is evident in her workshops. Photograph by Walter Horylev.

It seems that everyone is doing it - stamping, that is - rubber-stamping to be exact. Collecting, creating and congregating are the main symptoms. Women are hit the hardest. As the Stella Stamper set from Stampin' Up!® says, "It started out with just one stamp which led to two - then three. Now I'm a stampaholic and don't want recovery!"

In the past few years stamping has grown tremendously as a hobby/activity. There are stamping stores, catalogs, workshops/classes and even stamping web sites.

This craft-turned-art involves more than just rubber stamps. There are a slew of other products that go with the stamps and many different techniques to use. There are colored pencils, markers, various colors and textures of papers. There are special paints, such as radiant pearls, and various techniques such as embossing, layering, punching and cutting with decorative scissors and punches. There are templates and cutouts … everything imaginable … and what you can not imagine, someone else will.

There is no limit to what one can create with various stamps, different colored inks and papers. The obvious is greeting cards and stationery. And, with email communication becoming the quick, immediate means of connecting, a homemade card becomes a rare gift these days. A card made especially for you by a friend sends the message that you are worthy of a personal creation. Besides cards there are other applications - walls and furniture (like stenciling) candles, clothing, such as T-shirts, gift bags and lamp shades. Many people have started making memory books (or scrap books) using stamps and accessories combined with photographs. Stampers can get their supplies and ideas from craft stores such as JoAnn, Etc. or Michaels. There are also special stamping stores such as The Stamp Pad, owned by Lynda Pleckan, or Stamps to "Di" For, owned by Diane McKinley. Another source for the stamps, supplies and even workshops can be found at Tupperware-like parties, called workshops, given in homes (congregating) from a Utah based company called Stampin' Up!®.

Spencerport resident Linda Talbott said she has stamped for years … students' papers, little holiday images on envelopes. Talbott has just retired from Churchville-Chili Central School and has started stamping on a much larger scale.

"About two years ago, my daughter, Kimberly, had a Stampin' Up!® workshop in her home," she says. "I was so fascinated with the variety of ways in which you could use stamped images, in addition to the variety of products available for the craft. I placed my first order. Then I went to two or three more workshops, and my enthusiasm increased. I decided to become a demonstrator for a couple of reasons. For one thing I hoped to earn money to pay for my own stamping habit. Then, with retirement in the future, it seemed like a perfect small business for me which incorporated a teaching element and flexible hours."

Stampin' Up!® was started in 1989 by two sisters in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. One of the sisters took a second mortgage on her home for start-up costs. The rest is "successful history," Talbott says. Talbott attended the annual convention in Minneapolis for three days last July. Over 6,000 demonstrators attended.

Talbott says that stampers do not necessarily have to have artistic ability. She says, "I love visuals. In spite of this love, I am not an artist by any means. My limitations for free-hand composition are great. Then I got into stamping. Not only is there a variety in the designs, but there is variety in the color and layout. While I could not create an image, I can take a variety of stamps and compose a layout and select colors that are especially pleasing to me."

Talbott has monthly workshops in her home where women get together, share ideas, learn new techniques and socialize. She also does workshops in other people's homes. The hostess receives free stamps and/or supplies based on sales from the workshop.

Spencerport resident Michelle Case Abraham made her own wedding invitations, has made baby shower invitations and is now making wedding invitations for her sister.

"I like the creativity. You can do so many different things," Abraham says. "I am just getting into scrap booking with Stampin' Up!®."

Laurie Meyering of Brockport has been a stamper for years. Talbott says that she has started a card ministry for her church. She makes several cards and leaves them out at the coffee hour following the church service. People can sign and address them and send them to shut-ins.

Terri Knighton, also of Spencerport, says, "I like to give gifts that are made straight from my heart and like to give someone a little something of myself. Plus I enjoy the new and old friends you see when you get together. I look forward to learning and good times with friends."

Talbott says that people find getting together and stamping "very relaxing." In a busy world it is nice to have a hobby that connects women with each other in a creative and social way.

Web sites to check out are inkedimpressions.com and stampinBuddies@theonramp.net.