Of course, sometimes you just NEED a certain stamp- it may speak to your other hobbies, or remind you of a certain person, or have sentiments you love.  As a hobbyist, those were often the deciding factors when I bought stamps. Now, however, as a demonstrator I have to consider other things as well.  Does it have broad enough interest to please class members? Can it be used in multiple ways so that I can use it for more than one class? Does it have sentiments that are flexible for use with several occasions? I recently used those criteria to choose some new stamp sets.  Here are the sets I bought:

First is Perennial Birthday.  This is a simple but fun set that is clearly for birthdays, but has a number of flower and leaf stamps, as well as a couple of sentiments that could be used for other occasions- “today blooms just for you”, “wishing  you the best on your special day”, and “here’s to celebrating you”.  It’s also great for using the Stamparatus for the hinge-step technique to make multiple stamps in a linear pattern, like this:

Next is Seaside Notions- I think this set is VERY versatile!  It has great line drawings, and sentiments that say “here’s to you”, “with gratitude”, “happy birthday”, and “thinking of you”.  This fun bridge card is what I made:

I bought two other sets with the same criteria, Capture the Good, and Over the Moon:

I haven’t had time to play with them, but can you see that they might be used for several occasions, right?  If your stamp budget is unlimited, just buy what you love, but if you want sets that you can use  in different ways, keep these sets in mind!  The annual catalog is full of others, too, so browse around- you may find just what suits your needs. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy stamping,

Michelle