Collector Or...

One of the Yahoo groups I am on has a post going around about what brands of paper you like and if you're a collector. I kind of found this interesting for a few reasons. I recently organized all of my paper for the 10 millionth time and noticed some interesting trends. There are definitely a handful of companies that I have been really fond of in the past, but the things they've put out for the last year or so I am just not into. These were my die hard always go to places, too.

Makes me wonder if my tastes are changing or if their style has been changing. So I went looking on their websites and I have noticed one company in particular has really changed what they're putting out. I used to love their products and now you couldn't give them to. I'm kind of sad and frustrated with this change in direction.

I am also realizing my tastes are changing. I have so much paper and I have really cut back on my purchases. With this, I really try to only purchase paper to go with photos I already have printed or taken or to go with an upcoming trip, event, or holiday. Cutting back was really hard to do initially, but once I say how much paper I have, I realized it was really necessary. I have more paper than many stores I have been in. That's frightening! For the first time ever, it all is neatly organized and has a home. I stare at it all whenever I am using my studio. That has really made me stop and think.

So my challenge to you.....

Paper Collector

or

Paper Hoarder


Whichever one you are, are you happy with it? Is it time to take a step back and really consider which you are? If you're happy and it's all working for you, that's great! Seriously, it is and you should be proud of that.

If you're not happy or if it's not working for you, can you see your floor, table, chairs, walls, etc? Are you stepping over piles or boxes with things hidden? We ALL do it! There's no shame in it. If you have a significant other (or have ever had one while being a crafter), chances are about 99.99% you've "hidden" a purchase.

I admit I have done it more than I care to count. My husband works from home. In our old house I could be sneaky since it was 2 stories and he was upstairs all day. In our new house, it's one floor and I have to walk by his office to get to my studio. So my hiding days got nipped in bud. Not really a bad thing. I think that also helped me take a step back and think about how much I was spending and where on earth I was going to put things. All of my paper bins are stuffed. Stuffed to the point where the bins fall out when I pull one out. I have bruised toes to prove it!

In my world, it's time for a lot less shopping and time for more creating! This holds true not only for my paper life, but my fabric life. And my credit card is happier. My monthly payment actually makes the balance go down. I've paid off two cards! Well, one now has a balance since CricutMachine.com has had cartridges on sale for $19.95 including a bunch of Imagine cartridges. Cartridges....oh that's a whole separate addiction!

Until next time *

Be happy with your creativity!

Things Are Happening!

As you've probably noticed, I have been pretty quiet on the blogging as of late. I've been working on some business ideas and the education I would need to go along with them. Well, finally I have made some major progress. Unfortunately, none of it is super speedy and I have no patience so I am going to try and speed things up as much as possible.

For the business ideas running in circles around in my head they are also making progress! I can't wait to be able to share what they are, but I can't yet. They are going to be amazing!

I do have a new gadget to share with you! I'm the proud new owner of an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Printer. Why is this news worth sharing? I can now print 12x12 papers/photos/layouts!! Exciting I know!

If you're looking at getting one, Staples has a great deal right now. I returned an old printer to be recycled and they gave me $50 off the sale price of $300! I also got a rebate of $80 coming to me. This printer normally goes for $400 and it's mine for $170!

You're thinking oy what about ink? Yup, ink can be a royal pain as we all know. But Staples has a rewards program so I should be getting a coupon for the rewards from the printer. I also returned 3 ink cartridges for recycling so there's another $6 towards my ink pile. Staples also has a discounted box of all the colored inks in. It doesn't include black, but I'll take the discount and say thank you!

Next week, I'll have some news about some of the classes I am looking forward to taking!

Until next time *

Have you recycled today?

Ranger Has Arrived!

Tim Holtz Distress Reinkers
Ranger Archival Ink Pads
Mister stand

Teresa Collins in Atlanta

The first weekend of March, there was a Cricut Circle Meetup in Atlanta. Shannon from Provo Craft brought us all kinds of goodies. She's crazy fun, too!

We had a very special guest join us for a few hours. The very fabulous Teresa Collins spent the afternoon with us! She's such wonderful person and mother. She's very down to earth, friendly, sweet, and kind. There's no crafty diva in her. She talked to everyone. I had spoken with her on Facebook a few weeks before and she remembered our conversation!

She brought us all a Make n Take. We got to use the Your Story Photo! We made a little photo book with papers and die cuts from Teresa's new Cricut Imagine Cartridge! She has a few Imagine cartridges coming out this year. They're not out yet. We were the first to get to play with pieces from them. They are just fabulous. I love her designs and style....very chic and fun!

Who's the gorgeous girl? She is Teresa's daughter Gentry. I just love her name!

The papers are in typical Teresa Collins fashion - damasks, animal prints, polka dots. The die cuts are also very true Teresa Collins - chandeliers, crowns, jewels, keys, frames. I just love her style!

The colors work for both female and male photos. They also work with photos from different occasions and they work for people, kids, events, parties, pets, pretty much anything! Love that!

The 5 page Make n Take photo book has a silver book cover from Your Story Photo. I assembled my book, but I haven't put my photos in yet. I was trying to figure out what to put in it. Teresa signed one of my pages at the Circle Meetup so why not put Teresa in it? I need to get my photos printed and put this baby together!

Until next time *

Have you used a Damask today?

Blog Updates

Notice anything new? Any updates on here? I've been hard at work adding links. You will see down the right side a long list of labels. The labels link to every blog entry that topic is mentioned on.

On the left side there's a few new categories. There's a list of my favorite blogs. In the blogs list are also designer's blogs.

A little further down there's a list of store's websites. These are brick and mortar stores as well as online stores. This list doesn't include any manufacturers even though many have online stores.

Below the stores is the long list of manufacturer's. I will add to this whenever I find a company that I have to have some product from them. So I imagine this list is going to be quite long and added to frequently.

Finally, I have added a list of kit clubs. At one point, I belonged to every club on the list.

No one on any of these lists has paid me any compensation to be listed. These are companies I use and work with. If I am ever compensated - monetarily, merchandise, etc - I will clearly state this.

Keep checking the lists because they will be added to over time. I have already added several items since I created the lists. Almost every blog post has an addition.

Don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

Until next time *

Have you played with your ink today?

Permanent

This piece kicks off a series I am in the process of creating. It's about as Mixed Media as you can get!

Let me introduce you to "Permanent." He was inspired by the song, "Permanent" from David Cook who was our American Idol in 2008. He wrote this song with Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace. "Permanent" is about his brother, Adam, and his battle with brain cancer. Adam fought bravely for more than 10 years and sadly lost his battle on May 2, 2009.

What's What? How'd I do that?

This is a combination of inks, acrylic paints, texture gels, Liquid Applique, Swavorski Crystals, and crackle medium. All of that Inky Hot Mess is on a 10" x 20" canvas panel from Dick Blick.

It all begin with 4 acrylic paints -  Black, Purple, and White from Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint and True Navy from Apple Barrel/Plaid. The Anita's paints are from Hobby Lobby and the Apple Barrel one is from WalMart. Really those are the only paints used! I mixed and mixed and mixed until I had the colors I wanted. There's a few layers of paint also.

In person, you can really see the purple under the crackle medium. I love crackle and the whole distress look so whenever I can use something to make a piece look older, distressed, antiqued, worn, pretty much anything but brand new looking,  I can and do! The base looks blue in the photo, but it's really purple.

There's a very thick layer of Crackle Medium from Folk Art/Plaid. Then there's various blues on top. It crackled very well. The secret to a good crackle is a very thick layer of the crackle medium and let it dry completely. I leave things overnight at a bare minimum. Many times I'll leave things for a day or two. It depends on how crackle medium happy I got.

There's lots and lots and lots and lots of Iridescent Bright Silver Ink from Liquitex. The puffy clouds were created by using 3 tubes of White Liquid Applique and a heat gun. That stuff puffs up like crazy with the heat gun. Be careful not to over heat it or it will burn.

The bottom, as you can see, has a great deal of black. There's a couple layers of black acrylic paint, crackle medium, and more black paint. One thing I did with a few areas was use the heat gun to speed up the paint drying.

I was a bit impatient I'll admit it. I've had this in my head for a few weeks and have been collecting the necessary items so I really needed to get this out of my head and onto canvas. My impatience created a bubbling effect. An effect I do not recommend unless you either outside, have amazing air circulation, the windows open, a fan going, something for ventilation because bubbling paint stinks! It didn't photograph very well unfortunately. I do plan on taking some more photos outside on a really sunny day and am hoping I can get some better shots with natural light.

The black paint was covered with the Black Lava Texture Medium from Liquitex which I purchased from Dick Blick.  The glitter in it shows up very well in photos. There's a ton of hard, rough, black specks all over where you see the glitter.

The "Permanent" lettering was a very difficult thing to do. The inking was the easy part. Finding the stamps and stencils I needed was such a huge challenge with the look I had in mind! The "P" is a stencil from Hobby Lobby. The rest is from Inkadinkado's Coffee House alphabet clear stamp set. It was done with Jet Black StazOn. Coffee House is in a photo below so you can see more of the alphabet. It's a whimsically, cursive inspired set. Something different. I have been looking for uniquely different alphabets. Not an easy thing to find, I tell ya!

Wondering how I used an ink pad with a stencil? Easy! I used a dauber. I left it out overnight to dry and it's still soft and spongy. I wasn't sure if I would be able to use it again since I used StazOn which is a solvent based ink.

The white star is also done with StazOn. I recently purchased a few of the Opaque ink pads. I used Cotton White.

To clean my stamps after using StazOn, I used the StazOn cleaner, baby wipes, and a hand towel. After they were cleaned, I stamped the stamps and blocks on newsprint to dry. It's extremely important to thoroughly clean your stamps - especially clear stamps - immediately when using StazOn. It will damage your stamps if you do not clean them quickly. I left the stamps on the carrier sheet to dry overnight. Then I put them in their packaging. I never put away wet or damp stamps. I live in the South and I always worry about mold with our humidity.

I used the Bingo Alphabet My Acrylix Stamp set from Close To My Heart for the white star. Be sure when you're looking at purchasing an alphabet set to see what else is included. Sometimes there's brackets, dollar sign, ampersand (I learned that word on Wheel of Fortune and it's one of these &), question mark, exclamation point, flourishes, stars, hearts, etc. Extras that match an alphabet are always a good thing!

The final detail is the two teardrop Swarovski crystals coming off the base of the "P." I recently purchased them from ArtBeads. They have tons and tons of Swarovski crystals. You don't need to purchase 100 of them either. If you want one, you can get just one and they don't charge you extra. Their shipping is extremely reasonable - Free on orders $10 or more! They are attached with a tiny amount of Diamond Glaze.

That's all of the pieces and parts I used to create "Permanent." I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I need to order a frame from Dick Blick ASAP! I really want to hang it up in my studio.

Until next time *

"Is this the moment where I look you in the eye?
Forgive my broken promise that you'll never see me cry" ~ "Permanent" ~ David Cook
Want to see the rest of the lyrics or hear the song? Here they both are on YouTube.

DeNami Design

A few months ago, there was a stamp expo in Columbia, SC and I had the opportunity to work for DeNami Design. They have some fantastic products! A girl can never have too many stamps, buttons, or ribbons. :)

DeNami Design designs their own line of wood mounted rubber stamps. One of the big things they have that I love is their line of chickies. Who doesn't love a little chicky? DeNami Design has a chicky for every holiday and occasion.

They also have a fabulous line of buttons! I already had several colors and now I have every color they carry. I just love buttons and can never have enough.

Their buttons come in zipper bags. I have put each color in a plastic jar with a cap and label. Each label says who the buttons are from and what color they are so restocking is easy as pie!

The last item I purchased was glitter ribbon! Seriously GLITTER RIBBON!! You really did read that. When I worked for them I got the silver one. And now I have the black one. They have a few other colors. I have never seen glitter ribbon anywhere else. The spool is 25 yards and is about $11!! Unbelievable Price. Loving the sparkle!

If you place an order on the DeNami Design website and you spend $100, you get free shipping! I am all about the free shipping! They also do lots of promotions. If you join their Facebook or Twitter, you'll see all of the promotions, videos, and blogs. They're a very nice family to work for!

Until next time *

Got glitter?