Boring dither about EI plates - look away now if you're not a Glendaphile!

[Wellington]

OK - so hubby says yes, I can have a stamp plate for my birthday :D...And I'm stuck...:confused:

Do I go for one of the fabulous collage plates - daisy is still just about edging it with me...Or...one of the fantastically lush new brocade plates - probably the same one as Anna_Fran treated herself ('grungy')to rather than the one that I think is being billed as 'background'.

And then...where from? JS has the collage plates, but not the Brocade plates as yet (if ever?). And being frugal I kinda didn't want to pay p&p from Graphicus. But I have found Jane Aldridge handmade cards (http://www.janealdridgecards.co.uk/Shop/) which does carry the Brocade plates (but OOS ATM), with only £1.25 p&p - anyone ever used this site before?

I'm actually contemplating maybe hanging fire, seeing what other pennies I might get for my birthday & treating myself to 2 plates, plus maybe a couple Tim Holz distress inks of which I have none so far...Can I wait as long as a week though LOL I wanna be playing with my pretty stamps on my birthday :D

Please help a chrionic ditherer make a ruddy decison. It's always the same on my birthday - I get money & vouchers & take a bliddy age to spend them cos I'm not used to having 'guilt free' finance available

I expect I shouldn't mention the fact that I'd really also quite like to join the Graphicus Guild, but that would have to be instead of an extra stamp plate...

[Phree]

Hi Welly, first of all congrats on getting hubby to agree to buying some crafty stash for your Birthday. Now I am the wrong person to ask about which plates to buy cuz you know what I would say....have 'em all. But for once I am going to try to be sensible.

The new Brocade plates are fab - but so are the Collage plates so my question would be which one's would you get the most use out of? I know you have the Butterfly Bliss CD - so straight away there is something you can co-ordinate with the Butteryfly Daisy collage plate. It also has those wonderful ornate corners stamps - they will work with the Damask Delight CD which I also know you have. There are stylised flowers on the Butterfly Daisy Collage plate that also have patterns similar to the Damask CD - one again more co-ordination with existing stash.

As for other goodies my thought would be invest in those Distress inks you want - extend your ability to do different stuff with the stash you already have. I am sure you have been watching Sheena Douglas on Create and Craft as I have and been enjoying watching the stuff she does.

Hope this helps.

[Marie]

Ooh Wellie, that's a nice dither to have! Personally being a Guild member, I think it's worth the money just for the newsletter and the paper! Mostly I love getting the newsletter, even though I'm not buying stuff ATM, it's nice to get ideas and the "teaching" element is great. And I don't think you have to be a Glenda groupie to enjoy being a member - anyone who enjoys stamping and other ways of papercrafting will get ideas from the newsletter, I think it's really good!

And it's nice to be part of the club, I don't feel additional pressure to buy more stuff just because I'm reading about it, just going onto the Guild pages to see what others are doing is good. And the best thing is it lasts a whole year!

As for the plates, I already have the Harlequin Rose and it is gorgeous, but the next set of stamps I want is the Brocade and in fact I like the look of the Brocade plate (I think there are 2, both gorgeous) more than the Harlequin Rose which is difficult as I adore that one!

I know what it's like to be on a stash diet, but in fact it's nice not to have everything at once as I've got lots of nice things to look forward to and most months can treat myself to one or two little things. So next month will probably be one of the Brocade themeplates then I'll get the other when I can.

Guess it depends whether you want lots of stamps to play with straight away or would prefer to join the Guild and just have one themeplate. Knowing what i do about the Guild, personally I'd join the Guild and buy one themeplate with my birthday money and then save up for the next themeplate next month!

Wonder what others woould go for?

[anna_fran]

Oh what a dilemma. I find myself agreeing with both Phree and Marie. Get one at the moment that marries up with the CDs you already have but join the Graphicus Guild, you'll get a pack of deliciously strokable papers, a comprehensive guide to ink pads (may sound a little boring but really useful) a monthly newsletter, with techniques and offers. GG members get first dibs at all offers and if your order is over £15 you get free p&p. There was also a fantastic sale in January of many EI themeplates (and other stuff but I concentrated on the stamps:), they were going for really low prices, again GG members got first call.

Of course you could also use your feminine wiles to get DH to buy more than 1
themeplate.

[LynneH]

I have been dithering on how to spend my birthday money too Welly. It's hard when there are so many lovely things to choose from.

I'm another one that likes the Graphicus Guild, so I think I'd probably go for that. As for the themeplates I like the Daisy Collage one as you get a good selection of stamps on that. You have butterflies and flowers, not to mention those gorgeous corner stamps.

[Wellington]

Ta peeps! Mind you, I knew I shouldn't have been for a peek on the Graphicus site...just spotted another new plate 'Retro Florals', there are tonnes of stamps on it :rolleyes:

I think, after more careful consideration that I'll get the daisy collage plate from hubby - nice idea Anna, but bog all chance of getting more than one crafty thing out of him regardless of any charm offensive :o Then I'll see what pennies I get for my birthday & decide what to treat myself to - may give priority to some new ink pads so I've got something fab to play with my new stamps with :D

[Phree]

Dammit Welly you were not supposed to go peeking on the Graphicus site! I was SUCH a good gurl yesterday - I deliberatly chose to NOT mention the Retro Florals and Retro Vases themeplates as I though you had enough to sweat over. I won't mention the fact that the Brocade stamps are going to have a co-ordinating CD soon then shall I :p

[Marie]

Well I hope you enjoy whatever you get Wellie, they are all gorgeous!

[Wellington]

Dammit Welly you were not supposed to go peeking on the Graphicus site! I was SUCH a good gurl yesterday - I deliberatly chose to NOT mention the Retro Florals and Retro Vases themeplates as I though you had enough to sweat over. I won't mention the fact that the Brocade stamps are going to have a co-ordinating CD soon then shall I

La la la la la...not listening...:p

I check Graphicus & Glenda's blog before I get on here each time I go online (along with FoilPlay) - it's like some form of masochism LOL Just drooling over the themeplates, knowing I just can't buy them, even more than ever these days :o

I'm still working on seeing if I can get to the Aintree craft show next month. If I didn't have the spine of an amoeba, I'd save my birthday money for that - but I want it now please!!

[Marie]

Thankfully I don't like the Retro plates so I'm not tempted by them!

[Phree]

Don't be too sure Marie - I have said that about Glenda's new designs in the past - and then I see sample cards made by the Design Team and find myself thinking OMG those stamps ARE fab. I was really sure I was not going to like the "Oliver Twitter" themeplate until I saw the sample cards and I ended up buying the stamps!

[Prudence2]

Has anyone been tempted by the mask stamps. I like them but think I would have a very limited use for them.:confused: Might just go for the guild stamp. and make do with that.

[Rainbowwand]

Has anyone been tempted by the mask stamps. I like them but think I would have a very limited use for them.:confused: Might just go for the guild stamp. and make do with that.

Yep very tempted :D not done anything about it yet! though

[anna_fran]

Not tempted by those yet, perhap after I see some samples. But I want the other Brocade plate And wouldn't mind the Butterfly CD either and the new Brocade CD but my card is locked away after recent excesses. I'm in craft buying purdah.:(

[Rainbowwand]

Not tempted by those yet, perhap after I see some samples. But I want the other Brocade plate And wouldn't mind the Butterfly CD either and the new Brocade CD but my card is locked away after recent excesses. I'm in craft buying purdah.:(

yep i want nay need!!! that one too :D

[Wellington]

Have to admit the carnival/mask plates ain't my thing really - though I can see the fun you could have with them if they were.

I ordered the Daisy Collage plate from JS yesterday morning - no sign today so I assume it'll appear tomorrow. Now all I've got to do is wait to see what pennies I get (if any I suppose :eek: ) next week & order some thing to mount them with. I'm trying to reduce the amount of orders I may place & try & get most stuff from one site, so I think I'm going to be trying U-Mount for the first time from One Stop Card Shop - simply cos they also have some TH distress inks plus the Cosmic Shimmer mists. One nice big order :D

[Phree]

Welly U-Mount is exactly the same as Ez-Mount except as far as Glenda's stamp plates go it's BETTER cuz it bliddy fits the plate. I like to stamp the unmounted stamp sheet onto the back of my sheets of foam before I mount the rubber sheet - then tht way I can see stuff like words and know that I am stamping them the right way up. Because I do this I don't pre-cut the stamps out and I find trying to fit the sheets onto the shorter length of EZ-Mount sheet is bliddy tricky at times.