Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Bad joke alert

I heard this one and had to share it with you. Or rather, share it with myself... Since I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that reads this...

Q: what does a nosy pepper do?




A: it gets jalapeño business....


I laughed so so hard when I heard this one. 😝❤️

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

A pretty cool thingy.

TOOL CRUSH ALERT

I am always looking for multi-purpose tools that are easy to use, well made, and portable. This crafty tool checked all three boxes on my wish list..... 
 
What is it??
It's called the Imaginisce Score N' Piercing tool. Its a scoring AND peircing tool in one clicky pen format. Love it! There are 4 points in this tool, three scoring sizes (2.0 & 1.5, and 0.5) and one piercing tool.
 
I've had it for about three months now, and I absolutely love it.  I didn't realize how often I would reach for it! I use this most often when I am trying to get stubborn little paper pieces out of intricate dies. Love it. 








Wednesday, January 14, 2015

There's nothing worse than a "crafty tool tease"...

So as I mentioned in my last post, the CHA 2015 show was last weekend....  I wasn't able to go myself because I'm not a retailer, a designer or super famous blogger (yet).  *tear*

Well, I did take advantage of the classes that were offered by Sandy Allnock and Copic.  I also lived vicariously through all of the Instagram and Facebook posts that filled my feed.  #jealous #greenwithenvy #craftytorture  Those are the mental hashtags that are going through my head as I think about everything I "missed". 

ANYWAY -  I digress. 

While at the CHA2015 show, Sizzix released a sneak peak of their newest Big Shot designs and I just about fell out of my chair with excitement.  What is it?  It's called the "Big Shot Plus", and the platform is 9 inches wide.  *DancingInMyDeskChair*  It does all the things the regular Big Shot does, but it can now accommodate a full 8.5 x 11inch piece of paper WITHOUT having to trim it down.  *MoreDancingInMyDeskChair*

Sizzix posted a sneak peak video on Facebook, so this is kinda where the "crafty torture" comes into play.  Now that I know this exists, I am super super SUPER excited and can't wait for it's release.  ...in May 2015.  So, there is over four full months of waiting is ahead of me.... I don't think companies should do this to people like me.  If I know it exists, I want it now!  like, RIGHT NOW.  *sigh*..

How exciting is it to be able to save time and maximize card stock by running the FULL 8.5 x 11 inch piece of carstock through the Big Shot Plus?!  I will never have to trim down my card stock again just to fit it through the machine!! HALLELUJAH!!  This is the best crafty news of 2015 so far.  However, shame on you Sizzix; you are being a Crafty Tool Tease!   




PS: Husband - I want one for my birthday. pretty please. *bats eyelashes*




Sunday, January 11, 2015

Weekend of classes

This week was the annual Craft & Hobby Association show, aka "CHA". All my favorite YouTube celebrities were in town and some of them were actually offering classes! Wahoooo! 

I met Sandy Allnock, Colleen Schaan, and Sherrie Siemens! So exciting!! I took 3 copic classes with Sandy, and one with Sherrie! There is nothing better than spending time with crafty women and coloring. So far, 2015 is shaping up to be a good year! 


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

New Product Envy

I had one of those "I Need, I Want, I Have to Have" moments.  *sigh*  Again. 

haha, you laugh, but seriously....  this happens all the time.  I really should stop watching YouTube! 

The latest, greatest, stamping tool is now on my Wish List.  What is it? 

Well, it's only the "Most Incredible Stamping Tool Invented" or just MISTI for short.  I'm serious.  That's what it's called.  :)  The person who developed this fabulous tool used to make them herself; and now, because it's the most awesomest tool ever and demand is so high, she now has these manufactured by a third party. Here is a link to her facebook page, pure awesomeness and she has lots of videos on YouTube too... of course.  :) 

I will probably place my own order sometime after my next payday.... gotta pay off the last of the Christmas bills first.  I can't wait to get one of these!  It's going to make bulk card orders and precision stamping SOOOOO much easier.  I think the price is super reasonable - especially if I consider how many headaches  I am going to avoid, how much card stock I will save, and how neat and clean my final projects will look.  Plus, Jennifer McGuire has already raved about it, so I am pretty much jumping on the MISTI Bandwagon before I even get it in my hands.

 Yep - My cart is already loaded and ready to go... come on payday....



Monday, January 5, 2015

Inspiration from Space


Success! Another Spiral Circle Pull Card completed! I started with the "You Mean The World to Me" die from My Favorite Things and it all kinda came together from there...  After I finished piecing the earth I realized the finished circle would fit nicely in the "Spiral Circle Pull Die" from Elizabeth Craft Designs... And I started looking through my card stock scraps and found a few alien and star ship images that had been partially colored and WHAM! Space card inspiration hit me... It does that sometimes. Sneaks up and hits me over the head. Kinda hurts. 

I then finished off the card with the "Tiny Star Background" stamp from Hero Arts. I just received this one from Amazon. Yay!! And did a little embossing with a sparkle embossing powder from Hampton Art.

The other stamped & colored images are from a set called "Out of this World" from There She Goes Stamps. Unfortunately TSGStamps closed their doors over a year ago. Which is super sad, because I LOVED their super creative, punny stamps. But I think I will enjoy the stamps I was able to purchase from them for a really long time. 

Super cute results. Even my husband thought it was fun! 


Sunday, January 4, 2015

Most amazing glue ever

So I was watching YouTube....

That should be the name of this blog.... 

Anyway, YouTube. Yes. In a recent Karen Burniston video, she said she likes to use this Neutral pH glue from Lineco and a Fineline applicator bottle to apply adhesives on fine detail projects.  

I'm always looking for adhesives that are easy to use and don't break the bank. Amazon had both of these items on Prime. Score! I loaded my cart. Two 20-gage Fineline applicator bottles, and one 8-oz bottle of Neutral pH Lineco glue for less that $18. 

In the long run this will be waaaayyyyy cheaper than a 0.5 oz bottle of Ranger Multi Medium Matte (still one of my favorite adhesives, but it's $5.50 for a tiny bottle on Amazon) or 0.88oz bottle of Tombow Mono Multi-Liquid Glue ($5.41per bottle!!) 


Plus - I love how easy it is to apply glue to tiny pieces with the Fineline bottle. 

Anyway - just wanted to report on a new favorite.  

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Awesomeness

OMG - *crazy girl scream and hand/arm waving* - Karen Burniston commented on my pinterest posts (the froggy card I posted yesterday)! The rational part of my brain says that mayyyyybe a marketing/social media staffer posted on behalf of Karen Burniston - but my inner craft-crazy fan girl says "awesomeness....Karen likes my stuff!!"  Great way to start the New Year. :) 


 
  
 



Friday, January 2, 2015

New Year Crafty Resolutions

If you are like me ....if you have an unquenchable need to window shop and eventually buy crafty things.... you likely have a growing pile of new supplies just waiting for your next hour of free time.  

I sat down to my craft table at 8:00am on New Years day (1/1/15) to clean up my crafty corner and put things away.  My desk was piled high with half finished projects, scraps of card stock, sprinkles of glitter, tangled bakers' twine, and LOADS of products that I had purchased but had not yet used... 

I wanted to start the new year fresh and organized.  HA! *giggles* And, most importantly, I wanted to get a head start on one of my new year resolutions: actually USE the precious crafty items that I had purchased or received as gifts. 

Step 1: clear disposable items, wipe up glitter flakes and take out trash.  I don't know why I wait so long to get rid of the release paper from double sided foam tape and adhesive sheets.  Oh and scraps of card stock.... how small does a scrap need to be before I feel ok with putting it in the trash?

Step 2: Sort like items, and put away.  If there is no place for them - make an new box!  (I made a few open boxes, with ribbon pulls to store most of the adhesives, Embossing powders, glitters, foam dimensionals, etc...)  This took about 2 hours...  I'm not sure why. 

Step 3: The 1st half finished project found....  Panic sets in....  I stare at it for a full 60 seconds and try to decide if I should finish it now, or put it away for later.  It wouldn't take much to finish... but it would side track me from my main task....clean & organize.  On the other hand, if I put it away, who knows when I will finish it...  Decision Made.  I finished it. 

Step 4: After finishing project, take pictures and post to Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest....  an hour later, I continue cleaning stuff up. 

Step 5: Reach into my "New Product Box" to try to organize things. This is where I put all of my new products when I bring them home from the store...or receive them in the mail.  When I have some free time, the goal is to sort the new products into my various organization systems.  For example, clear mount/cling mount stamps are put into a stamp cases, labeled and put on my shelf. I don't buy wood mount stamps.  Embossing folders are sorted by style and put in one of my snazzy embossing folder organizers.  Dies are removed from packaging and placed in one of the 4 magnetic die storage cases... (it might be time for a new die storage system...Suggestions are appreciated!  I'm looking for a portable option!) Ribbons and twine are put in a shoe box, copic refills are put in the refill box, stamp pads and refills are put in the color caddy,  8.5 x 11in card stock is sorted by the rainbow and put in the magazine boxes. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the 12 x 12 card stock... 

Step 6: Find an awesome sentiment on a new stamp set from Technique Tuesday that would finish off one of my other half finished projects....  20 min later, project is finished, pictures are taken and posted to Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest....

Step 7: Decided I wanted to die cut a bunch of frogs from my new Hoppy the Frog die from Elizabeth Craft Designs so that I have them when I want to assemble a quick card....  Assembled 6, and then decided to actually make a few cards with them.... might as well.  :)  And hey, lets use a few of the other dies in the New Product Box too!  I used the Lorna Label and Agatha Edges from Elizabeth Craft Designs and  the Happy Birthday Stamp & Dies from Simon Says Stamp.... and of course, my favorite Stampin Up card stock...    and of course, pictures are taken and posted to Facebook, Instagram & Pinterest....




Step 7: get interrupted by a hungry husband.... it's dinner time, it's also almost 8:00pm.... time files when you're having fun!

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