Born to Stamp - Dee Gruenig's Story

From the second she answered the phone at her California home, I knew that I was going to thoroughly enjoy my time talking with Dee Gruenig. Her voice was filled with enthusiasm and sounded just as I'd pictured. If you've ever seen her on television or in person, you know what I'm talking about.

It's this enthusiasm and passion for her craft that has been the key to the success of rubber stamp "Head Cheerleader" Dee Gruenig. As designer of the popular Posh Impressions rubber stamp line, Dee's name is synonymous with stamping. She is a businesswoman, a designer, a teacher, an author, and an innovator. She has personally taught more than 75 types of classes to more than 30,000 students. She's authored 8 successful rubber stamping books. And she is a favorite guest on such television programs as the Carol Duvall Show, ABC's Home Show, Aleene's Crafts and more!

Hooked on Stamps

It all began with three stamps - George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and the American Flag. As a teacher for 17 years, Dee often used these stamps on her students' papers or for holiday projects. But it was during her summers off of teaching that she really discovered what rubber stamps could do. Each summer she would delve herself into all kinds of artistic hobbies - ceramics, pots, weaving, and interior design to name a few. It was actually at an interior design gift show in California that she ran into a little stamp company, All Night Media, and discovered that the world of rubber stamps spanned much more than just American symbols.

She immediately brought these new stamps into her classroom, and into her side interior design business, called Posh Presents. Dee soon began focusing more and more on stamps. In addition to teaching full time, she was also managing a thriving stamping business on the side. "When I found that I was spending 15 minutes on each child's paper decorating it with ice cream cones with different colored scoops, I knew it was time for me to pursue stamping full time," Dee said.

And pursue it she did. First, she opened her own stamping store with tons of classroom space for Dee to share her love of stamping with others. Then, she began to design her own solid rubber stamps, to serve as palettes for blending lots of colors directly onto the stamp to achieve a watercolor effect. "And so my stamps were out there," she said. "My passion was to show the world how colors went on the back of the stamp." She soon began to create accessories to go with her stamps, such as stamp markers and stamp holders. They all sold very well, and the rest, as they say, is history…

Art Without Anxiety

The key to the recent stamping rage, says Dee, is that rubber stamping is so simple and quick. Everyone, not just crafters or artists, can pick up a rubber stamp and create something beautiful. And it's perfect for all ages - kids through adults. Through her teaching, videos and books, Dee aims to broaden people's imaginations about where they can go with stamping. It's not just for cards or wrapping paper or students' worksheets.

Dee's special love is combining stamps with photos to create a story. "Many people might shy away from creating a scrapbook because the project seems just too big," Dee says. "The best way to start out is to chronicle smaller events, such as a family vacation or graduation weekend." There are so many ways you can jazz up your pages of photos. "There's nothing worse than a plain photo on a plain page," says Dee. Get creative. Perhaps Dee's favorite non-stamp scrapbooking tool is the color copier. It's great for enlarging photos, and it enables you to cut your photos into shapes without destroying the originals.

Some of Dee's Fondest Memories

• Selling a Blue Bonnet stamp to Lady Bird Johnson in Dallas
  
  
• Camp Casey, Korea - After learning to stamp, a US Army Master Sergant picked up a Posh stamp to create a note for his girlfriend, who he hadn't seen in more than a year.
  
  
• South Africa - Scrapbooking was completely foreign to the South African crafters that attended Dee's workshop. "They were hungry for stamping," says Dee.
  

Back to top