Kitchen Sink Stamps: I'm Impressed

Reported by Julia Stainton

Don't forget to head on over to THIS POST at the Kitchen Sink News to enter a contest to win some FREE stamps! (See Monday's post for all the contest details.) You have until tonight at Midnight (PST) to enter.


Well I must admit, I've never had quite so much fun with the Kitchen Sink! Doing dishes is not my favorite thing but not too long ago the fresh fun style of Kitchen Sink Stamps caught my eye and I just had to go check them out. What I found was fresh, up to the minute designs that would work so well in today's market. I couldn't wait to try them out to see if they would live up to my first impressions. After all, if you have been stamping for any length of time, you'll know that all stamps are not created equal. The quality of the product and the image quality can vary greatly. A stamp can have a really fabulous design, but if it is not easy to work with, well... it tends to get pushed to the back of the drawer really quickly.

The stamps I chose to work with are the Three Step Daisy and Thanks with Style. Beautifully packaged, I was so excited when they arrived in the mail. One thing I really liked right away was how the clear stamps were adhered to a printed, in color no less, acrylic sheet. This makes the sets so easy to use, especially the three step daisy. The colors of the daisies work from lightest to darkest so that you know exactly which step to use the darker ink on. This is a great feature for new stampers. Another thing I like about this is it is so easy to see whether you are missing a stamp when it is time to pack the set away. I've had clear stamps go missing before unfortunately and this is a great way to overcome that.

When I opened my package, I was pleased to see that the photopolymer stamps had were nice and thick and very sticky. A good adhesion to an acrylic block is essential for clear stamps. The stamps also were a good thickness and firm to touch. One difficulty many have with using polymer stamps is getting a good impression and that is really what I was most interested in. How exactly would these stamps perform? Would the ink bead up? Would the I get a crisp impression? I pulled out my cardstock and my inks and went to work.



I decided to get right to the heart of the matter and try my dye inks out right away. I started up with my Thank You set and inked a few of the designs up with Stampin Up dye ink and I was so impressed...a clean impression stamped right away. Usually I have to season clear stamps a bit by inking them a few times or rubbing their surface with an eraser. I didn't have to do that at all! Ink...stamp...done. The polymer stamps were a great firm quality and it was so easy to get a great impression first time around. I was really impressed. I mean...really! These stamps also work extremely well with watermark, craft and chalk inks. Maria also sells mini chalk ink pads as well as acrylic blocks right on the web-site for your convenience.



Another thing I really love about these stamps is their fresh funky style. They are so unique and really stand out. My teenage daughter is more of a scrapbooker and is totally not into stamps. When these arrived in the mail, she was there and actually perked up seeing these. With designs so trendy, I think I actually may get her stamping one of these days! For my above design, I decided to try out the Thank You set with some cool colors and flocking that is so hot right now. I love its funky look and all those cool flourishes. I can think up lots of fun ways to use these sets and you don't really even need an image.



While designing with my two sets and also looking at the designs on the Kitchen Sink Stamps web-site, I was also impressed with how well thought out and designed these sets were. The flexibility of each set is fabulous. Each set includes a multitude of ways to use it and included in the sets with sentiments, are numerous sentiments for different uses and occasions. The style of these sets works well with simply stamping techniques or for combining with patterned paper, whatever your style may be. I also love how you can play up the style of these stamps in a very modern or also, traditional way.


I really enjoyed using both the 3 Step Daisy set and the Thanks with Style set from Kitchen Sink stamps. I've been on the lookout recently for a great solid floral set and this one is fabulous. I especially love the variety of image sizes with both sets. They work so well together. When stamping the daisy set, it was very easy to line up the layers of the daisy stamp. Marked right on the sheet is the sections on which the daisies line up making it easy to follow. When using the daisies, it was fun to experiment with different color combinations to make each one as unique as nature itself.


The Kitchen Sink stamps were really fun and easy to work with and I was really impressed with their quality. I just can't wait to see their soon to be released Christmas sets. Kitchen Sink Stamps are perfect for card designing as well as scrapbooking. I know that more of the Kitchen Sink stamps have now made my wishlist and they will be designs I'll turn to again in the very near future. Seeing some of the previous days samples have convinced me I definitely need that fun alphabet as well. These stamps are now a staple in my craft room. Try them out. You won't be disappointed.