Crafty creativity: Utah-based Stampin' Up! adds digital products

Inspire. Create. Share.

When it comes to the art and craft of stamping, the theme of this year's national Stampin' Up! convention says it all, says Shelli Gardner, co-founder and CEO of the 20-year-old company.

Card-making, scrapbooking, home decor, gift items, apparel — whatever you do, however you find your creative outlet, she says, your life can be enriched.

Through these crafts, "you create tangible products, but you create something of value on many levels," Gardner says.

"And then you can turn around and share it with others. True inspiration causes you to stop and think, but it also so powerful that it moves you to action," she says. "A lot of fulfillment comes from that."

One of her favorite quotes comes from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said: "In life, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire."

Through these crafts, she says, "you are able to create the most valuable thing of all — relationships. That's the thing that most of our stampers talk about. Fun and enthusiasm are contagious and meant to be shared."

Stampin' Up! was started in 1988 by Gardner and her sister, LaVonne Crosby, when they got hooked on stamping and looked for a home-based business opportunity that would let them buy and sell rubber stamps. Finding none, they decided to create their own.

Today, there are some 40,000 Stampin' Up! demonstrators worldwide. The products are sold through in-home workshops and demonstrations and (at a slightly higher price) online. Today, the catalog has expanded to include not only stamps but paper, punches, art supplies, die cuts, stencils, home decor products and more.

Some 3,000 of their demonstrators gathered at the Salt Palace recently for the national convention. What is so fun, says Elizabeth Gray, public relations spokesman for Stampin' Up!, is "that they come from all walks of life, all ages, all stages of life. Some do it mostly so they can get their own products at a discount, some own their own businesses, and some even support their families."

At the convention, two new product lines were introduced and will be available this fall. The first is digital crafting software called My Digital Studio, which enables crafters to digitally design scrapbooks, cards and calenders as well as create multimedia outputs such as video, says Brent Steele, vice president for creative services at Stampin' Up!

Digital is becoming an increasing part of the scrapbook and crafting world, says Steele. "It's bringing in a whole new group of crafters: computer geeks, husbands and other men, younger crafters."