Adventures in Stamping - My First Success

I've recently taken up stamping.  I started out with a Salon Express set which you can get at Sally's, Walgreens, and various other places for $10 or less.  It comes with all the tools needed to get started with basic stamping.  I would recommend it for anyone who wants to try stamping before making a the investment in expensive plates and kits.  The plates are cute and decent quality.  I've had trouble with the stamper though.  I purchased some Bundle Monster plates but I couldn't get the Salon Express stamper to pick up any of the images.  I read some tutorials and got some tips from expert stampers and got a few of the images to pick up but I still wasn't having a lot of luck.  So I decided I needed to try a different stamper before completely giving up.  I picked up a double ended Konad from Amazon and a squishy silicone stamper from Winstonia, the first generation Winstonia plates jumped in my cart too.

After trying out both of my new stampers on the Bundle Monster images I had trouble with before, I was able to pick up the images right away on both new stampers.  I will caution that I had to "prep" the squishy stamper just a little before using it.  I washed it with dish soap (I use Ajax antibacterial).  You want something without moisturizers.  Then I swiped it with acetone just to get the sticky stuff of it until I could get an image to pick up.  Since then I've only used a lint roller to get excess polish off of it based on recommendations from other stampers out there.  From what I gather acetone can break down the silicone on the squishy stamper.

For this manicure, which I call my first successful stamping mani using my "grown up" stamping supplies.  I used OPI Schnapps Out of It as the base and stamped with OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons (both from the Germany Collection).  The image is Winstonia W111 from the first generation set.  These pictures are a few weeks old.  I've been practicing so I'm getting better.  These aren't perfect but for a first attempt, I'm really pleased.

All products purchased by me.