The Card Castle: Stamping Tips

Showing posts with label Stamping Tips. Show all posts

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Replacing the Cartridge in the Glue Glider Pro

They say it's easy to do, but is it really?

What do you think?

Here is a link to the post where I did the Glue Glider Pro product review if you want to know all about this adhesive.

I'm editing to add that I should have given credit to my son for demonstrating the cartridge installation.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Organizing The Card Castle: Part 1

Here's what I did to make my craft space work for me. What works for me might now work for you, but if you are thinking about organizing a space dedicated to crafting, here are some quick tips to remember~

Knowing yourself is the key. Put things in places that make sense to you.
Be willing to make changes when necessary.
Location, Location, Location! If you have to hunt for it, you won't use it!

We've moved a few times over the last few years as I've mentioned before. Moving, especially relocating is unsettling. My desire is always to get set up and comfortable as soon as possible to speed up the whole transition-- for all of us. One of the things that make me comfortable is knowing where our things are and having them easy to get to (my biggest pet peeve is wasting time). I am a very organized person but I'm not disciplined (I'm working on it). I learned from all this moving that planning ahead is a time saver. Before the moving truck arrives, I know exactly where every bowl and cup is going to go in my kitchen. I look around the empty kitchen and figure out how much space I have and what will work better in which cabinet. When the boxes are all over the place, I don't have all those decisions to make. It really does make it all go easier. Actually this last time I had the teenagers unpack the kitchen while I was on a college visit. Because I'd already made all the decisions ahead of time, I could tell them exactly where to put things over the phone. For instance, I keep the cups in the closest cabinet to the refrigerator. The plates are usually near the dishwasher and the pots are near the stove. Things that are alike are together and within reach of where I use them. My baking utensil are in the drawers below the mixing bowls. Makes sense, right? But you didn't come here to find out about how I organized my kitchen did you?

I brought up the kitchen because I applied the same principals to my craft space. I have modular and movable storage pieces instead of built ins because we've moved a lot. ( I put that in past tense hoping to ward off any evil moving spirits) lol.

Designate a Work Space

~ The Desk ( Tools and Embellishments)

I started in a corner of our bedroom 3 houses ago. I now have a whole room to myself in the basement.
I began to get more crafting done once I had a designated space. Even if you start out with a fold up table and a few containers what I learned from my personal experience is that the basic thing to remember is accessibility. If you can't get to it quickly and easily, you won't use it, often.

This same desk is still a part of my work space but as you can see, I've added a lot to it since 1999. LOL.

I stamp standing up, so I can take advantage of height. I use the drawer storage units made by Iris (aka Iris carts). What I like about them is they can be taken apart and reconfigured to suit my needs. I didn't buy them all at once, but I've been adding to them over the years as my needs change.

I stacked the units on either side of my desk. I have the equivalent of two carts (the three deep draw carts) plus one drawer on each side.

Then I went to Lowes and for less than $10 I was able to purchase a piece of wood board ( 12 inches by 72 inches) in the section where they sell shelving. To dress up that piece, I asked my builder ( who happened to live 2 doors down with all his tools) to use his router and make the edge pretty for me. It barely took him two minutes. I sanded and stained, and polyurethane'd it.

Most of my frequently used items are within arm's reach while I stamp. On the bridge above, I keep markers, color pencils, adhesives including glue dots and pop dots, small scissors, post it notes for masking, blank cards, glitter, eyelet setter... you get the picture.

On the left "tower" I have envelopes, embellishments, including buttons and brads and 3d stickers etc.. I keep the extra Xyron and other adhesives in the side too. Just to the left of the left tower is where I keep my punches.

I prefer to keep my embellishments in drawers because I don't have any more shelf or table space, but I want to show you a beautiful alternative. My friend Dawn, designed this hanging/clipping system. It sits on the corner of her work space. See Dawn's embellishment storage .

The right tower has become a life saver. I keep scrap paper in the smaller sized drawers sorted by color. Whenever I need say a purple piece of card stock, I check there first. When it's time to clean up (theoretically) I open all the scrap drawers at once like steps (with the lowest drawer opened all the way and the next one up a little less etc). I can clean off my desk very quickly that way (theoretically). Next to it, you can see it a little in this picture is where I keep my ribbon, also sorted by color and also in smaller drawers.

Under the desk and still within reach, I keep embossing powers, cutting tools (like Coluzzle) and paper trimmers with accessories, paints, chalks, bigger adhesives ( like the Xyron) and glues.

Other embellishments like flowers are stored in jars on the other side of the room. They are not as practical, but they make the room pretty. The light bulb shaped jars are actually salt and pepper shakers . I sealed up the holes on top and I use them to store micro beads and similar embellishments.

I'm going to do paper and stamps in part two to follow.

Organizing The Card Castle: Part 2

Paper
For the past couple of years, I've been storing 12 x 12 paper in the Crop In Style paper trays on my table top. I used to store this paper in 12 x 12 file boxes and an hanging file cart until my collection out grew the space. You'll see that the cart has been re-purposed in a few minutes. The paper is sorted by color with a very few exceptions. When I purchase a new paper collection, I keep that separate for a while. Some of the Stampin' Up collections as well as the Basic Grey and Chatter Box

were kept under the table in these drawers. I'm actually going thru and re-sorting those this week into the color section. Another exception is themed paper or multicolor paper. If a paper has too many colors to correctly choose one, I have a tray designated "Multi". I also have a few themed trays. There is one for holidays and another for baby etc.. I don't buy a lot of themed paper anymore so I don't need a lot of space for those. The 8 1/2 x 11 textured card stock is in file drawers that you see next to the table and you'll see the other larger file cabinet next to the Big Shot's station. It holds regular solid color card stock, specialty papers like vellum and glossy .

Stamps

As we transition from paper to stamps, let me show you something that used to hold paper and now is the home for my clear stamps and large punches. You can see in the smaller picture below was in a former life. There in the closet floor? Yup, it is a hanging file folder cart.

It was purchased at an office supply store and adjusted by me to fit the 12 x 12 hanging folders. It hadn't held those folders in two year and was bound for the trash pile when one day I saw on a blog or a gallery that someone was using a larger shelf like this to hold her punches. I rescued it and made it work for me. I went back to Lowes to the shelving isle of the lumber section. I bought one pine board and had them cut it down into two that would fit on this cart. Another note about this section of Lowes. They have stain grade and paint grade boards. Paint grade is a lot cheaper and that is what I usually buy for my craft space. Even for the bridge over my desk in part one, I bought the best paint grade one I could find and stained it.
And while I'm talking about shelving, notice the white 'bridge' I have above the paper table.

The two small shelving units were purchased in Target on clearance. The White shelving material was purchased that way at Lowes too. I went in there with the intention of buying and unfinished board to paint white. I was so excited when I found this. I'm pretty sure it was even less expensive than the pine boards. I love a good hardware/home improvement store.

So now this cart holds my larger lever type punches on top and basket on the shelves below. I keep clear stamp sets together and in clear CD cases in the baskets. So far, I have one basket full and two partials. One of the baskets on the bottom holds Nestabilities. So that means I have room for my collection to expand-- at least two more baskets worth.

Other than the clear unmounted stamps, I have wood mounted stamps. They are sorted by theme or category but not sets. Yes, even the Stampin Up sets with a very few exceptions.

This is my tulips drawer... well one of them anyway.

As for the other supplies, I keep them close to where I use them or easy to get to.

That's all I have for you unless you have any specific questions. If you do, go ahead and leave a comment or send me an email.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Installing the Cricut Blade Assembly

I wish these pictures came in the instructions for the Cricut. This would have saved me many minutes of frustration. Just in case there are others who may have the same issue, I took pictures once I figured it out. I found these instructions for adjusting the blade depth which require you to remove the assembly. (but no instructions for initial installation)

Here are Cricut's instructions (page 14 of the manual) with my pictures:
To remove the cutting blade assembly, locate the thumbscrew and turn it counterclockwise until it loosens enough that you can swing the thumbscrew to the right. Be careful not to loosen the screw too much or it will fall out.

Once you get it open, insert the green blade assembly as shown. Close the arm and tighten the thumbscrew around it.

Now that you know how to do insert it, you are supposed to remove it when you need to adjust it. Page 15 of the manual has two charts for speed adjustment and pressure adjustment. It makes sense that you would need to adjust it based on the thickness of the paper or card stock. My Gingerwood friends also gave me tips on speed and pressure. Susan posted a chart that she keeps taped to the Cricut for easy access.

I would benefit for a "Cricut for Dummies" book. I'll add more tips as time permits and I figure things out.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Stamping Tips: Moving Your Craft Supplies

After 6 moves in 17 years -- three of which were in the last 4 years-- you would think I’d be an expert at relocating. At the very least, I should be used to it. But our last move was by far the most complicated of them all. I have two college-age daughters, so, immediately upon arriving we started visiting the colleges they had applied to. Once that was done, I set about the tasks of getting the phone, Internet, and cable installed and getting the other three kids registered in the local school district. This was definitely one of those “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong” situations. Nothing went smoothly the first time. Well, almost nothing.
The good news is all was well with my craft stuff. When I was finally able to stay at home long enough to start unpacking my stamping supplies, I was pleased with how it all got here.
I would like to share some tips from my experiences that will hopefully make your move and more importantly your unpacking, to go smoothly. These tips are recommended if you are doing all the moving and packing without the help of professionals and whether you are moving across country or just a few miles.

Plan Ahead:
As with any task, it’s important to prepare ahead. A lot of things need to be done before moving day.

Inventory: As painful as it might be, take an inventory and at least have a general idea of the value of your supplies. If you don’t already know the value, estimate to the nearest hundred or thousand depending on the size of your ...ahem... ‘collection’.
Quick Access: Pack a bag or box of basic card making supplies to take with you in case you need to make a card in the interim. It may take days or weeks to unpack and reorganize your entire room. The family tends to frown upon mom unpacking her stamping supplies before --let’s say for instance-- the kitchen. Besides, it is hard to enjoy stamping with people constantly whining about being hungry.

Moving with Professionals: I could tell that our moving professionals had never handled a room full of rubber stamping supplies by the way they left the room scratching their heads during the walk-thru.

Communication is Key: Make sure you know what you want, and make sure you communicate it to all of the packers (and your husband or other family members who they might ask)-- not just the driver or the person in charge. You should also tell them how you want things to be labeled. If not, you will get 63 boxes marked office supplies. (Been there done that!) Don’t assume they know what a wood mounted stamp is.

Preparing and Packing your Supplies

Plastic Carts (or any plastic storage): Although they don’t need to be emptied, they definitely should be packed in boxes.

Examine each drawer or container for heavy items that could damage other contents in the drawers. Remove those items and wrap them separately.

Pictures 1A and 1B: These items were removed from the drawers of this unit and placed with the stuff that was individually wrapped.

Make sure everything else is secure and doesn’t move around too much by stuffing the drawer with wrapping paper, newspaper, or something similar.
If you have them stacked, break them down to no more than the equivalent of 6 small or 3 large drawers
Remove the wheels and place them in the bottom drawer.

Pack storage in corner of box and fill with other items.

Place one set of drawers in the corner of a medium or large box. (One moving company used dish pack boxes for my carts.) Fill the box with other wrapped items from your room. Heavier items should go on the bottom.

Ink pads:

Use rubber bands to secure the lids to the pads. I banded two pads together with their lids to save time and energy.

Take ink pads out of the shelves or drawers and rubber band together.

If you store them in plastic drawer units, return them to their drawers. I removed my ink pads from their rack, so they became filler items at the top of a plastic cart box.

Re-inkers, Paints, and All Other Liquids:

Keep upright if possible.
Encase bottles in plastic bags.1-3 per bag depending on the size bottle or bag. The idea is if one leaks, you might have 1- 3 messy bottles, but you won’t have ink on all your bottles.

Paper: Prevent shifting, by packing the paper tightly. Use smaller boxes because paper is heavy.

File Cabinets:
Option 1: This is my preference. Keep the paper in their file folders and pack them in small boxes or book boxes, because there is less of chance of something going wrong.
Option 2: If you have a very sturdy file cabinet, leave the paper in the locked drawers. --Locked so that if they are picked up the wrong way, the contents won’t spill out.
Paper Trays:
I have 12 x 12 paper stored in stackable paper trays. I combined two trays worth of paper to make it as full as possible. I then turned the empty tray into a lid.

Pack paper as compactly as possible.

Rubber Stamps:

Leave stamps in storage drawers.

Stored in Drawers: If you use plastic drawers as I do, follow instructions for plastic carts.
CD cases or other small boxes: leave them in the cases and pack them as they would pack CDs. Never stack them flat.
Binders: Contain each individual binder in a plastic bag or envelope. Pack several binders in a small book box.

Leave stamps in Clamshell boxes.

Clamshell Plastic Boxes:
A lot of rubber stampers store their stamp sets in the boxes they are sold in. Because I don’t personally keep my stamps in boxes like these this, I sought packing advice online. Several of my friends on the stamping board at Gingerwood (http://www.gingerstamp.com/) offered this tip.

Leave the stamps in their plastic boxes. Pack them on their ends in a book box to prevent crushing the rubber.

Pens, Markers, and Pencils:

You probably have your coloring utensils organized by color family, right? Spending a little time now will save you lots of time on the other end. I made this mistake only once. The packer carefully wrapped a big bunch of my color pencils separately from the clear plastic holder. It took me an hour or so to sort the pencils back into their color group during the unpacking stage.

Rubber band the individual sections together. Leave in storage containers.

Markers and Pens sorted by color family.

Miscellaneous instructions:

If you have any other small items that are not already in a drawer or container,

put them in a plastic bag or small box. Doing so will prevent those items from getting lost in the wrapping paper. An inexpensive way to do this is to recycle juice pouch cartons and cereal boxes. There is always an abundance of them at my house.

Conclusion: Once the truck is loaded, take a deep breath and get ready for the next phase … the unpacking.

Packing done!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

More grapes

...still cleaning off my desk. I declare to you that it is messier today than it was when I got the bright idea to clean it off on Friday!

Finished Card size: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Grapes(Biblical Impressions) Cherish (SU)
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Gable Green, and I don't remember the name purple (SU)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukenko), Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Ranger)
Coloring Medium: Prismacolor Pencils
Other: Word Window Punch Ribbon
Background is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.

Here's a tip,

you can always add color to ribbon with a marker. I used Fabrico marker, but any marker will work.

Remember I was using what was on my desk. This ribbon sort of coordinated with the green and the brown, but I wanted to use that purple background and the grapes.

I just added a purple stripe in a light area and changed the color scheme a little.

I love doing this with gingham ribbon. As a matter of fact, I buy the black and white and change it to black and whatever as the need arises.

Busy day today. I spent the day on the road picking up my daughter from college. I'm glad she's home for Christmas break. I think she ended her first semester on a positive note! I'm on my way to the Dentist office to work out some confusion there. Life is exhausting....

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Look alike Stamps: Trends or Copying

Between the holidays and parenting, I haven't been in a creative mood. Sometimes I long for the days that diapers and potty training were my top concerns.
I don't have a card to show, but I do have something I want to talk about.

After I read and commented on this post on Nicole Heady's site, I thought I would mention my own thoughts here, because it's been something that has bothered me before. Let me say upfront that I don't know Nicole and I haven't even purchased any of her stamps, although I admire her work. I don't even intend this to be a discussion about her company or what may be happening to her. I'm talking about the stamping industry as a whole.

To answer the question emailed to me, no, I don't know any more about Nicole's specific situation, but I've been a stamper for 9 years now and I do a lot of observing (translation: shopping). I feel very connected to the stamping industry for other than the obvious reasons, I've designed stamps for a couple of companies and am still contemplating selling my own stamps. As for my stamp line, I can't seem to find a substantial break in my parenting and life in general to get things going, but one of these days...

Similarities: Following a trend or outright copying?

Have you every noticed that a lot of companies will have similar stamps or similar styles at the same time. A few of years ago, I searched for the perfect swirl or flourish stamp. I found two. -- a really huge one (too big) and one that was a part of a set for $20 or $25. Of course I didn't like any of the other stamps in that set (too much to spend for one stamp). Now because of the recent trend, I have a drawer full. They are all different, but each company has it's own version and everybody is happy. I still think that somebody was following me around and listening to my thoughts (lol)
Why do they do it? Because we buy it. Everybody wants to get on the band wagon and sell the "latest"and "greatest", the "what's hot" While it may not be illegal or even unethical to follow a "trend", we as consumers need to support those companies that consistently bring us new and innovative designs.
At one point Biblical Impressions went out of business. Around that same time, I was seriously working towards getting my stamp business going. I remember talking to a stamp company owner and expressed regret that some of my best work wasn't available and had vanished with Biblical. I was advised by a that if I changed the design by at least %10, I could redraw the images and not violate any copyright laws. This particular case involved my drawings and a company that had gone out of business. I don't know copyright law, but if that 10% rule holds true for anything else, I can see how companies get away with putting their own spin on an original idea.

On the other hand:
I believe creative people with the same goals and tools can very easily come up with the same idea, innocently and independently of each other. Then it becomes a race to get it to market first. Whoever gets there first is perceived to be the creator.
I know of a couple of ideas I had and didn't or couldn't do anything about that I later saw in reality. I have no regrets, because I am first a wife and mother and nothing is ever put ahead of that in my life. But let me give you an example:

The concept of covering candy bars is not new. I remember way back in the olden days when I was pregnant with my first child, I saw candy bar baby announcements... very expensive candy wrappers for the regular sized Hershey bars that were on the market. I guarantee you that those wrappers would be too big to fit the candy that is currently sold. Now, I would never purchase something that expensive I could make myself. We all know that had I actually decided to do this announcement myself, I would eventually spend far more in supplies and time that the original design. The point is, the wrappers were designed based on the candy that was on the market.

Fast forward to today, or actually a couple of years ago. I almost always put candy in my teacher gifts. I used to exclusively use the mini Hershey's bars, but a few years ago Hershey's came out with the Nuggets. Their shape is very interesting, wouldn't you say? I actually thought about wrapping nuggets for a split second, but who am I kidding, it was the night before the Christmas party when I bought the candy, so there wasn't time to do anything but open the bag and dump it in the container I had altered. However, it doesn't surprise me that someone would design a rubber stamp for that purpose. The idea of wrapping candy isn't new. Thank Hershey for the inspiration. But if company A's designs are almost duplicates of company B's and even the samples look identical.... makes you want to say "hmmm". Even if they are within their legal rights, I wouldn't support the copy cat company.

What does it all mean to me (or you)?
We rubber stampers need to be aware of what is going on. We need to keep each other informed. ( I'm not talking about complaining or whining, lets let our purses do the talking). I mentioned before, that it's not illegal for another company to jump on the bandwagon with certain types of designs as long as they put their own spin on it. But, as consumers we have a responsibility to all that is good and right to support those who consistently come up with the original, unique, and innovative ideas. While it's impossible to know if two creative people came up with original but similar idea totally independently of each other, sometimes we can tell and we shouldn't support them just because they save us a few bucks.

After all that, you might want to pray that my creativity comes back and that I have less time to think.....

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Prayer of Serenity

I just discovered that I haven't posted a purple card since June 23rd. You probably thought someone else had taken over my body, right??

I'm going to have to box up my computer in a few hours so I thought I would leave you with my favorite paper again (You may be pleased to know that I've used it up... for now) I'll be back online in a week or so. Thanks for all your encouragement and prayers. I really do appreciate it.

About the cards:

Finished Card size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4
Stamps: Prayer of Serenity(PSX),
Printed Paper: Vineyard Jersey Stripe and Vineyard Flowers (Heidi Grace) still my favorite!
Ink: Brilliance Victorian Violet( Tsukenko)
Other: Ribbon, Corner Punch

Here's a tip: Bonus flower!

Just before I stuck the focal layer to the card front , I realized that I was about to completely cover up one of the beautiful flowers in the paper.

Using a craft knife and mat, I cut out that area, then cut out the flower with micro tip scissors.

And here is the card made as a result of the leftovers I found when cleaning off my desk. The flower accent is from making the first card shown in this post and paper was left over from the 12 x 12 sheet that I've been making cards with over the past month.

Finished Card size: 7 x 5
Stamps: Prayer of Serenity(PSX)
Printed Paper: Vineyard Jersey Stripe and Vineyard Flowers (Heidi Grace) still my favorite!
Ink: Brilliance Victorian Violet ( Tsukenko)
Other: Coluzzle, Fiskars Corkscrew Paper Edgers

About the Prayer of Serenity:
I remember seeing this poem on a plaque or a pillow at my grandmother and aunt's house when I was a little girl. I had it memorized long before I understood the words and many years before I experienced it.
There is very little in our lives that we have control of. I want to make sure I am doing the best I can with those things. With God's help and strength, I can do all things...

And for the things I cannot control, I don't want to waste time whining and complaining about it. I want peace, God's peace as I watch Him take over and handle things. That "wisdom to know the difference" is the key.

Proverbs 6 says : For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Mommas and Grandmommas don't underestimate what those little eyes see on your refrigerator or in the plaque on the wall. Surround them with Scripture and positive uplifting words. (... and then be sure to model the principles too, with God's help)

One more thing: I've had this stamp for several years and have yet to give someone a card using it. Now that I've made two new cards with it, I still don't know when I'll give it to anyone. Help me out?? What occasion or circumstance would cause you to send a card like this?

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Tulips in an Row

OK ! OK! I made you suffer long enough without a purple card :)

Stamps: Flourish (SU)
Cardstock: Purple (Provo Craft) Black( ,White card(Georgia Pacific)
Ink:Vintage Violet (SU)
Other: Markers( Marvy Brush Markers), Cloud and Stamp Paper Edgers

I would have prefered to do this with watercolors instead of the markers. Maybe next time when I have more time to play...

See Stamping Tip: Punch Coloring below.

Stamping Tip: Punch Coloring

I punch out one shape before I start coloring so that I can get the coloring porportioned correctly.

Punch as many as I need.

Here is another example.

This beats punching twice in different colors, then cutting and pasting them together!

Monday, June 18, 2007

Stamping Tip: Isolation

I'm sure there is more than one way to to this. When I tried inking only one part of a stamp, sometimes, I'd accidentally get ink on the part of the stamp that I didn't want to ink.

Here is what I do to fix that. ( Yes, I'm still walking around with Dinosaurs and stamping with wood mounted stamps. ... and I like it here

Step One. Clean the stamp thouroughly.

Step Two. Use tape( I use clear gift wrapping tape) to cover the part you don't want inked.

Step Three. Ink your stamp. The tape might get inky, but the stamp won't.

Step four. Remove the tape and stamp.

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