STAMPtember® Feature: Impression Obsession
Hi readers! TGIF! Welcome to our second to last brand feature for the month! *sniffle sniffle*. Did you know that Impression Obsession has been in business for 17 years?! This brand continues to offer a wide variety of stamps in cling, clear, and mounted, as well as some well loved die designs. I found their bio quite interesting. Read on below!
I know people are curious sometimes about who the people are behind the anonymous-looking website. Impression Obsession was formed in March 1998 by Mitra Friant and Charmaine Jackson, two high school teachers who thought it would be fun to run a stamp business part-time after school. We published our first stamp catalog with 92 images in August, 1998 and we were off and running.
We had a lot of success with that first catalog and continued adding images (and customers) until the company became too busy to be a part-time job. In September, 1999, I (Mitra) quit teaching and started working at the stamp business full-time. Charmaine, meanwhile, had a baby and decided to continue teaching so she got out of the stamp business.
2015 marks 17 years in business…I can’t believe it! IO has come a long way since then. We now have 10,000 images in production at any given time and have expanded into offering clear stamps, cling stamps (stamps with gray cushion that temporarily stick to acrylic blocks), and metal dies. We are proud to offer designs from Dina Kowal, Seth Apter, Lindsay Ostrom, Yvonne Blair, Alesa Baker Designs, Heart Art Studios, Melissa Gordon, Leigh Hannan, Gary Robertson, Gail Green, Claudia Tenorio-Pearl, Kalani Allred, Hannah Davies, Tara Caldwell, Aislinn Adams, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, and Joanne Fink. With so many different artists, we offer stamps in a wide range of styles. There is truly something for everyone at Impression Obsession.
I am helped (greatly) by 8 full-time and one part-time employees who work in our warehouse pressing rubber, trimming stamps, indexing wood, and packing orders. I truly can’t remember what it was like when Charmaine and I made all of the stamps ourselves (I think I’ve blacked the memory out). I’m lucky to have a great staff who has stuck with me (several of them for years and years) through all the ups and downs that come with running a small business.
It’s been a great ride so far and we’re still going strong. 2016 will bring lots of new products, new designs, and new techniques. Happy stamping!
We want everyone to pick a favorite Impression Obsession item and try it, so in the spirit of that, we are offering a limited time 20% discount off all Impression Obsession products when you use code IMPRESS2S. Please know that this code is not valid with other codes, nor can it be used for previous purchases. This code will expire at 11:59 PM eastern time on September 27th.
In addition to their blog and online shop, follow along with Impression Obsession on Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest!
I reached out to Impression Obsession designer Jeanne Streiff to make a card showcasing this fabulous brand in celebration of this feature. Isn’t this card lovely? Just add a PSL and be ready to experience Autumn’s full bounty! :D Be sure to check out Jeanne’s blog Inky Paws for lots of inspiration!
Stunning! Love the buttons as a fantastic anchoring feature!
Gorgeous fall colors! Jean, you really did an awesome job on the card. I feel like I could reach out and touch the leaves.
I love seeing fall-themed cards!
Especially like the Fall/Autumn Leaf stamping.
Melissa
“Sunshine HoneyBee”
Jeanne’s card captures beautifully the pile of leaves swirling about my front yard. So gorgeous! “Love” is right…
~carol
Great card and great stamps! ;-)
Beautiful card!! Love the color!
-Berina
Moxie Craftie
Love the Autumn colours!
Gorgeous colors! Loved the background leaves- it’s so beautiful.
WOW! Wonderful card! Love the watercolor looking background and the big love die!
Beautiful card. Love the gorgeous fall colors and adding the buttons.
Gorgeous fall card! Love the colors and the whole design is awesome! ♥
love the font and size of the “Love” sentiment!
17 years is a long Journey ! Thanks for the information on IO stamps and sharing a lovely card !
Stunning card! do like the fall colors.
stamping sue
http://stampingsueinconnecticut.blogspot.com/
What a fun story behind IO…congrats to them for 17 years! Great products.
nice…we can’t be out of things already…..we have a few days left in stamptember
Such a beautiful card, love the vibrant fall colors!!!
I love IO stamps. The ladies reflect many of the users – their size is the most important feature.
they are always doing such fun things.
Keep up the good work in designing for us mature stampers.
I love the leafy background, fall is the best!!!
Beautiful card! IO has the best backgrounds!
Gorgeous card!! Love the colors!
Beautiful card love the color !!!
I love the background is so beautiful!
What a beautiful autumn card! I love the watercolor look, buttons, burlap and black outline details.
Pretty Stamp set
Fun Fall card. Love the bright colors and the little buttons. Have several bought Impression Obsession products and they are all my go-items. Thanks for creating and building such an awesome company, Mitra
Beautiful and stunning! Love the card and the colours!
unique and lovely
Wow, I love that rusty-orange of the background!
it’s “funny” how much i love background stamps and yet I only have one…weird eh?
What a lovely card… I love the orange leaves!
Love the stamp!
Beautiful card. Love the leaves and colors. Beautiful Fall colors.
I love IO products! Jeanne’s Fall card is gorgeous.
Lovely card with great inspiration for Fall. I have more IO dies than stamps but think they are a great company!
Great card. Love IO stamps. Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s stamps are awesome. Michelle t
This reminds me of making leaf-print cards when I was younger. The leaves turned out so realistic with the distress ink. Love it!
Such a lovely card! It doesn’t surprise me IO has been in business for 17 years, they make great products!
The BG-stamps from IO are so great! And in these colors it looks great; real Autumn!
Gorgeous background stamp! Love the watercolour look.
Gorgeous card! IO products are the best!
What’s not to LOVE !?!?!?!?!!!
i/o is just the BEST! Super steal coupon code – yay!
Oh my, that stamp is gorgeous!
LOVE the LOVE die! Great Fall colors to start the season off!
Beautiful card! Great company!
Such an interesting story! Just goes to show you that if you have
the desire to do something, give it a go! This is such a gorgeous card.
The colors in this card are awesome!
The leaf stamp is beautiful in this card. I’ve always considered Impression Obssession one of the best places for rubber stamps. I’m so glad it is successful as America has been built on small businesses and the Dream.