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How's this for an endorsement? I don't have a single SU stamp, but that's what I would choose. After seeing all the wonderful cards on this site and looking at the catalog, I think they win hands down. Now I just have to find a demo in my area. (I know - check out the site)
CTMH has some nice stuff, but SU looks more like the types of images I would like to have. Don't know anything about TAC.
I have no experience with the companys other than SU. The stamp sets can be a little pricey but the quality is there and I have an SU demonstrator five minutes from my house. Can't beat that. And it's nice in a lot of ways to have a themed set of stamps.
I'm an SU girl all the way. I don't buy from anywhere else because SU has everything I need. I also prefer wood mounted rubber stamps, and since neither TAC nor CTMH sell those, there really is only one direct sales stamping company for me.
I have the CTMH, TAC and SU catalogs. I have bought stamps and supplies from all 3 companies. With that said, SU wins my vote hands down...that's why I signed with them. They have better images for my needs and I like the feel of wood...can't stand acrylix and having to remove/reapply to the blocks all the time. If I need a certain image, I always check with SU first and then broaden my search from there.
My first stamping party I went to years ago was CTMH (back when it had another name). I didn't buy any stamps from them & I had never heard of Stampin' Up! at the time. I signed up with SU! soon after being introduced to the company. That was almost 10 years ago! I looked at some of the other companies catalogs with an open mind but still couldn't find any that made me have to have them. I prefer SU! all the way!
Bev
OK - I was just surfing through the threads and had to pop on here and say your siggy just gave me a great laugh! LOVE it!!:mrgreen:
SU! not only because I'm a demo. I just like their designs better. I have TAC stamps and LSS stamps and always go to the SU! sets, the others just take up room.
Stampin Up. Love it and always go back to it for everything. Love the stamps, love the cardstock, love the ink, love the markers. Completely happy with everything in their product line.
CTMH like the patterned paper, but not so much the cardstock for cards or other paper crafts -- prefer the thickness and nonwhite core that SU has. Also don't care for the acrylic.
TAC love the prices of the rubber stamps but not always up for mounting and I have boxes that I have to organize as I have no idea what the pile of blue is anymore.
I voted SU! because....THEY ROCK!!! I love everything about them and when I am happy with something, I see no need to change! I have always been satisfied with SU! I think they are just a great company all around!
I was sucked into SU several years ago - love the images, the coordination, the presentation. I'm a hobby demo just for the discount
I have some TAC sets that I like very much - but very few, the doodly cutesy style just isn't for me and there aren't many that aren't that style in my experience.
I have never seen anything CTMH that I liked.
__________________ Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the whole truth or the only truth. -Charles Anderson Dana
I was a CTMH and SU customer but when it was time to sign I went with SU. I like the idea of acrylics but when it comes down to it I rarely want to go through the process. Plus, the rubber and stamped image isn't the same quality (IMO, of course). I like SU's selection better, and all of the coordinating products, especially now that they're coming along with more scrapping products.
I do miss CTMH white core paper sometimes. It was fun to distress. I do still have a stash tho
I have no experience with TAC.
Definitely SU provides quality of products, variety of stamps and good mixture of unique colors of cardstock, inks and matching accessories.
My original intro to stamping was via CTMH. At the time, (2000) I would mostly buy ink pads because I couldn't find stamps that appealed to me.
A year later I met someone who introduced me to Stampin' Up. I found more to interest me but still would buy other companies stamps.
Two years ago I started to use more unmounted stamps. Discovered TAC. Too often disappointed in the quality of their art design of the stamps (simplistic, like drawn by children) and didn't find a lot I could use. The last two recent catalogs were especially disappointing.
The lack of appealing stamps from TAC actually drove me back to visiting card classes of an SU demo. I started to better appreciate the variety and also the coordination of their sets.
I think SU stands out as the premier of the three companies.
If that scenario came to be- where I could only buy from one of these companies- I would probably just stop stamping.
All my paper comes from SU, all my rubber comes from TAC- without buying from both of them, I couldn't stamp. I have no plans to buy rubber from SU- it's too expensive, and while TAC's paper is nice, my preference is for non-textured- so I couldn't go with just them.
You didn't have an option for None... please don't flame me
I don't like direct sales type marketing. In a lot of ways I'd rather buy them from ebay even if it costs a little more... sorry - nothing agains the companies themselves or the awesome demos- just I don't like the way they work..
But if I'd have to pick for any reason.. I'd choose SU, only because I seem to like their images better than the other two companies.
Stampin'Up! hands down. CTMH cannot even compete. SU has everything and it all goes together. That is so important. The customer serviceis second to none.
I have a feeling that this poll is going to be uneven due to all the SU demos...
lol Very true!
But Stampin' Up! has won the Creating Keepsakes Reader's choice award for rubber stamps each year since 2000, for stamping inks each year since 2002 and each year since 2003 for its Idea Book.
TAC. I hate paying for a wood block I won't use. I also really like that they have so many realistic looking stamps. Besides the price difference. I buy all my punches from SU though as well as chipboard. TAC chipboard just isn't as good a quality.
I first was attracted to matching paper and ink, then you add markers, Designer paper, ribbon and other embellishments that also match, and even a color-challenged person like myself can make it look good. I also love the variety of stamp designs that coordinate.
Debi
Read my new blog htp://lookwhaticando.wordpress.com
I think all three make wonderful products. I want to order some TAC stamps sometime. I have a ton of SU and love how it all cordinates. I dont use my CTHM stamps as much, but I am starting to use clear stamps more now.
TAC because of their unmounted system for storage and price. I like the more artistic and ecclectic images.
Also their true angel policy and not a policy with restrictions on where and what stamp has to be on your items that you sell.
I also like that TAC has lots of different papers cardstocks and inks and don't get locked into the same colors and what matches what. I think there is alot more creative freedom with out it all matching - kind of like coloring outside the lines.
__________________ Heather Scott - aka stampez
check out my Blog - stampez.typepad.com
Last edited by stampez; 11-29-2007 at 12:36 PM..
Reason: typo
So, if this was a way to help you think about signing up as a demo for one of the three companies, I'd say your answer is pretty clear, lol!
Seriously, while it's a good thing to find out preferences from a customer's perspective, if you are thinking about signing up with somebody, you'd do well to find out the demo's perspective as well. IF you're thinking that way, I mean...
If you haven't actually experienced all of these companies, I guess you would do well to attend at least one workshop/party for each of them to get YOUR perspective, lol, kwim? Because at the end of the day, how you feel about them is the most important.
So, if this was a way to help you think about signing up as a demo for one of the three companies, I'd say your answer is pretty clear, lol!
Seriously, while it's a good thing to find out preferences from a customer's perspective, if you are thinking about signing up with somebody, you'd do well to find out the demo's perspective as well. IF you're thinking that way, I mean...
If you haven't actually experienced all of these companies, I guess you would do well to attend at least one workshop/party for each of them to get YOUR perspective, lol, kwim? Because at the end of the day, how you feel about them is the most important.
Actually I'm already a demo for one of the 3 companies. I did the poll because I wanted to see what everyone's favorite products were and if there were any other people out there like me who has a hard time choosing just one company for everything. I am a hobbyist demo so, I'm in it for the discount and all my minimums are met by me and me alone. Not a single person in my family stamps or scrapbooks. I'm not into holding workshops and home parties so, I don't even attempt to sell. Sometimes I can't find everything I need and want from SU. This year I was disappointed that I had to order from CTMH to get some decent Thanksgiving images for cards. But, with the release of the bi-annual catalog SU, IMHO changed there style and everything looks a lot alike. Which is disappointing because when it comes to quality, they have the best rubber. I like TAC for the palette inks and chalk inks as well as their scrapbooking papers and embellishments. Don't care for there stamps a whole bunch though. I wonder what the results would be if I were to post this on another forum. One not dominated by SU demos and customers. And I am a SU demo. Probably will be for the rest of my life. I joined without ever attending a workshop or stamp camp or ever purchasing a single product from them. I took one look at the catalog and new there was so much in there I wanted it only made sense to sign up. I don't like having to track down a demo every time I want to place an order and it only made sense to take advantage of the discount. Then, they pretty much discontinued everything in the catalog that I was in love with, stamp wise, and there was no way I could purchase it all before the end of the SU year.
I'm a hobby demonstrator with SU!. I have a very good friend who sells CTMH. I have gone to TAC parties several times. I buy stamps from several other retailers, companies, etc. (Stampington, Penny Black, blah, blah, blah)...anyway...
that being said, I still believe SU! product, (especially rubber, chipboard and designer series papers), to be of exceptional quality in comparison.
I love CTMH acrylics for the same reasons as mentioned...you can see where you are stamping, but the image quality always, always needs to be adjusted in my world. If there is an image problem with SU! rubba, it is the operator and not the tool.
__________________ Deb G. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2: 8-9
I prefer SU (I'm a demo) because of the wood mounted rubber...
I am a very messy, chaotic stamper so the grab and go convience of wood for me is TOPS... (you should have seen my friend and I looking for a small papertrey acrylic swirl one night among all our paper mess...:( )
I do own both TAC and CTMH stamps (and Papertrey and Verve Visual and Green Grass :rolleyes: - I know I am a stamp ho) and I am seriously thinking about mounting some of the rubber UM ones I use the most (mainly sentiments)
__________________ Jenni -Happy SU Demo - MY GALLERY & MY CHAOTIC LIFE One kid makes you a Parent - Two makes you a Referee
