Today was one of those garage sale days where I felt like I was just spinning my wheels.  I realize that every time I go, I won’t find things I like, but today was just frustrating.  My girlfriend and I went to a bunch a really bad sales, only to talk to a man (at our last stop), who told us a town ten minutes from us was having their annual garage sale day.  We thought they had cancelled it because they are having two round-abouts installed, and the whole town is basically under construction.  (We’re talking about a town with only one stop light and that’s not even the spot that they used for the round abouts they are building.)  It’s crazy.

Of course as soon as he mentioned it, we remembered there’s a lady there that always makes really terrific desserts and we had to go.  She was sold out of most of the things we like to buy, but we both bought a loaf of sweet bread.  I bought lemon and she bought pina colada.  When that’s your big purchase for the day, you know it wasn’t a great day.  The town was packed with people and cars and we had no interest in fighting traffic or crowds, so called it a day.   We’ve only experienced sales like that once, and hated the entire experience.  There were so many people and it’s just overwhelming.  Like being in an amusement park where people think you are getting ahead of them for a ride.  Pushing, shoving, general craziness.  I think my friend and I are just too old to fight the crowds.  But frankly, I’ve never been crazy about crowds and don’t like being in them if I can avoid it.

As for crafting, I think today is a nap kind of day.  Rich and I went to a book sale and he’s working on one of my videos.  I’m not in the mood to do anything else, except maybe watch some movies later tonight.  We’ve had pizza and a movie every Friday night since I was working (at least fifteen years)…I’ve started to extend date nights into Saturdays and call it date night 2.0.  I thought it was kind of catchy.  Rich thinks I’m just conning him into making me popcorn two nights a week.   (I think he’s on to me.  Darn it!)

It’s hard to believe that the summer is already half over.  Oh, well.  Winter only lasts twice as long here, so I have that to look forward to..Yay!

I tried my gelli plate for the first time and I have to say, I’m not really very good at it.  I found it to be a lot messier than I expected and that I created things I wouldn’t use for anything.  I thought I might come up with a couple of background that I would like, but honestly, not so much.  Maybe it was just not really knowing what I was doing, but it wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.  It was kind of stressful, as I kept putting too much paint on the gelli plate and then it wouldn’t let me really press anything into it as it was so thick with paint.  I’m sure more practice will make it work better, but right now, it’s kind of a bummer.  I thought the plate I bought was bigger than it is, and instead, it’s one bigger and one smaller plate.  Maybe I’ll use it to do reverse stamp images instead of using it for a gelli plate.  Then what will I do with all of these crazy paints I’ve bought?

I think my problem is that I get really excited about something and buy all of the tools, only to find out I don’t like it or can’t do it.  I wish I had local friends who are crafty that have some of the tools that I don’t.  I could borrow theirs, so that I can figure out if I like a craft before I buy the things I need for it.  Wouldn’t that be great?

I wanted to try a fun fold card that said it was “easy.”  I’m not sure how her definition of easy works, but it took me five tries before I made the card correctly and two of them had to be thrown out as I couldn’t make the folds properly.  It was a pinwheel card and looked simple enough to make, therein lies the problem.  I was supposed to flip the paper over twice in the process.  The first flip is key and the second is probably even more important.  I’m not sure which flip ruins the card, but there’s absolutely no way to redeem the issues I was having.  Since it’s a pinwheel card, when you are finishing the card and folding it into the pinwheel, the last fold needs to “tuck” under the other flaps.  Let’s just say there was no possible way for me to “tuck”  into anything.  I just couldn’t do it.  So I watched the video again, and made another one.  This time I scored it wrong, so that was trash.  The next one I definitely forgot one of the flips, and on it went.  I wrote notes so I wouldn’t make mistakes, and I re-watched the video at least three times, and still couldn’t master it.  Finally, I made one correctly, and with the information that was missing, fixed another one to made it usable.  The third is on my desk with the possibility that it might work (or end up in the trash.)  So “easy” isn’t a term I would use to describe this card.  I’m not really sure if I can make a video with it because I was so confused while making it, I’m not certain I ever explained the process properly.  I’ll need to watch it and see if it can be edited to the point where the viewer can make the card.  Although I’m not putting a lot of stock in it, as my confusion is really obvious.  Oh well, one person’s easy card is another person’s garbage can full of “easy.”

I’m really excited because I finally got my favorite card making tools for beginners video online.  It’s got so much information in it that I had to link to my blog for viewers to read the details.  I think I covered most things, and may have missed a few, but will catch them on my next video.  I didn’t want to go into inks in a lot of detail, as you can talk forever about them.  Instead, I’m going to link the video I did that explains the different types of inks.  My next video in the series is going to be about embossing as it’s one of the big keys to making cards.  Then maybe die cutting and embossing folders.  There are just so many subjects to cover.

I made a card tonight that’s really fun.  It’s another fun fold card and it’s called a criss cross card and I spelled it the way the person I copied spelled it.  It doesn’t seem like it’s spelled correctly, but I thought I should be consistent with her. It’s a really fun card and I thought I’d send it to the lady I spoke about meeting at a graduation party last weekend.  She really loves my channel, so I thought I’d send her a card.  I hope she likes it.

I was asked by a viewers Crafts by Pwilli to make a video of my favorite tools.
Paper
For card bases: Recollections Heavyweight Card stock 110 lb. from Michaels,  in white, cream or black  $14.99 for 100 sheets (without a coupon.
For layering and techniques:  Georgia Pacific 110 lb card stock from Walmart 150 sheets for $4.88
Colored card stock Recollections 50 sheets 65 lb. weight five colors in a pack $4.99 (without a coupon)
Paper Trimmer— 12″ Cricut paper trimmer $14.99 at Joanns  (without a coupon). Two pack of blades are $4.99 at Joanns without a coupon.  Don’t make the mistake that I made which is buying a smaller paper trimmer when I started making cards.  I thought since cards are small, I wouldn’t need the 12″ trimmer, but if you ever buy 12″ card stock (and you will if you make your own envelopes), then you’ll need the 12″ trimmer.  I recommend this trimmer very highly.
Corner Rounder to make cards that have rounded corners which is popular currently.  Creative Memories ebay for less than $10
Score Board–Martha Stewart large score board  12″ Joanns $24,99 before coupons
Bone Folder–makes a professional crease.  Fiskars bone folder  large head on it so easier to use if you have issues with your hands or wrists $5.99 at Joanns before coupon
Nail file from any drug store or Walmart $1 approximately, gets rid of fuzz on cards
Pokey Tool— (Paper piercing tool)  Lowest price  Ribbon Pro  Pin Needle Detail tool in the clay department and there it’s 99 cents on Ebay,  You use this tool to take the backing off of tear tape, or to poke holes for brads.  There is another option by Tim Holtz and his is much more expensive, but is retractable.
Silicone large Baking Sheet for $1.23 from ebay #142156077801 to use as a craft mat.  Tim Holtz also sells a craft mat that is around $20.  For the price difference, I prefer mine.
Glue Products:
1.  Tape Runner– Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive $3.89 at Amazon Prime.  I just made a video comparing tape runners and this was the one that outperformed all others.
The big ATG guns I don’t recommend if you have hand issues or are left handed, as you can’t see where you are running the tape as the ATG is between you and the tape.  It is also heavy and cumbersome.
2,  wet glue Martha Stewart wet glue 99 cents at Tuesday Morning,
3,  Tear Tape, double sided tape, Craft Chameleon 1/4″ wide tape  50 yds $3.95 or 20 yds $2.50.  It is a very strong adhesive and works well for albums, scrapbooks, or any card that you need to adhere layers together
4.  Foam Squares $2.00 at a stamp show
5.  Foam Tape (double sided)  Check on ebay or Aliexpress for best prices for the foam squares and foam tape.  Craft Chameleon has good prices for these as well.  You will use foam tape and foam squares to make your card have dimension.
Scissors–Stampin’ Up Paper Snips $10 great for fussy cutting (cutting around small images)
or Fiskars Easy Action 5″ scissors $14.99 at Joanns without a coupon, also great for fussy cutting.  get either of these scissors and you’ll be happy with them.  The easy action scissors are recommended by the Arthritis Foundation.  There is a larger size 10″ for $24.99 as well.
Tim Holtz 6 1/2″ Tonic scissors–great for trimming rubber stamps, cutting through wire etc.  These are great as they have a surface that is non-stick.  $16.99 at Joanns without a coupon
You’ll need both a pair of fussy cutting scissors and the Tim Holtz scissors to trim rubber.

Inks–Basics
You will want to have Versamark ink for heat embossing and using different mediums like chalk or mica powder on cards
$9.99 at Joanns
Versafine Onyx Black Ink–it’s a very dark black ink and dries slowly so you can use it with embossing powder. It’s the ink most stampers use for stamping their sentiments on cards $9.99 at Joanns
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink- for use with alcohol markers.  So if you intend to color with alcohol markers, you’ll need this ink as others will smear. $6.99 at Joanns

Stamping tools–  Either
Acrylic blocks $14.99 for a set of 4 pc of Recollections blocks  or the
MISTI the ultimate stamping tool that allows you to stamp and re-stamp over it as many times as necessary.  I recommend this tool for people with hand/wrist issues.  $60 My Sweet Petunia.
Tim Holtz is coming out with his version of it that is $34.99.
Stamp Cleanser—make your own with a spray bottle and
10 parts distilled water,1 tsp baby shampoo,1 tsp glycerin that you find in the nail department of Walmart or a drug store.  Put them in your bottle and shake it and you have a great stamp cleaner.  You could also use baby wipes for cleaning your stamps as well.
Blending tool–Harbor Freight Liquidators sells 1″ chip brushes for 69 cents each or $9.99 for 36.  Cut off 3/4″ and make a straight edge on the brush.  You need one for every color family and twice as many if you are going to use dye and pigment inks as you can’t use the same color brush for both types of inks.  I like this tool because I can hold it easily and it leaves a light colored finish behind.
Stamps and Dies–go to Ebay and Aliexpress.com before shopping elsewhere for them as their prices are lowest.

We spent the day going out to lunch with old college friends and then to a movie.  I know, it’s tough being retired!  When we got home, the weather got pretty nasty and the dogs decided they’d had enough of thunder, so Rich, Honey and Bella went to the basement for some quiet time.  Aggie and I are hanging upstairs, as she can’t really hear the thunder and the stairs are a hassle for her (and for me if we’re telling the truth.)

Since we were near an A C Moore, I decided to do a little bit of shopping and bought some things that I definitely didn’t need, but wanted to try.  I bought one of the knitting looms at a garage sale and bought some yarn to try to make a scarf with.  I’m not even sure if I can do it, but I asked and they said I can return the unopened yarn.  If I open one skein and can’t use it, it won’t be a big deal.

I found some pretty papers that were 70% off and lately I can’t pass up anything that is pink.  I bought some deep pinkish purple ink and paper from Stampin’ Up and some pink texture paste and just love anything pink.  I think I might make some pink glitter spray and play with that as well.  I have some card ideas I’d like to try that are fun folds, but just made one that should go live in the next few days that is really cute.  I really like fun fold cards and especially ones where I can layer papers and add something fun in the way of embellishments.  I think I mentioned in the blog that I found matching paper and washi tape and can’t wait to make a card with that as well.  So many ideas and so little time.  Ok, that’s not really true, as I have the time, I just don’t have the ambition that I really should have.  When we have such changing weather, I just can’t get any momentum, so I’ll just keep buying things on AliExpress until I find the will to create things.  It might take me a few days, besides, Rich has a lot of videos that need to be uploaded before I’m going to feel any real pressure.

I needed to make a sympathy card for my friend whose dog had passed away.  I wanted to make it simple and have dies from Impression Obsession that are a variety of dogs.  I used black paper and glued the die cuts together, some two, some three and some four high.  It gave the card a lot of dimension.  I took the Stampin’ Up Fine Tip Glue Pen #138309 that works well for me as I can get the tip to work well and the lid goes on and off easily.  It’s $7 online.
I have a “with sympathy” die and cut it out in black and put Versamark ink on it and then clear embossing powder and heat set it.  I glued it in the center near the top of the cards.  I glued the dogs all over the card and didn’t have any that were on the edges of the card as I couldn’t cut them because of their thickness.  I used the stamp set that’s retired from Stampin’ Up called “D is for Dog” and used the sentiment for the inside of the card and a paw print for on the back of the envelope.
This is a really fast card to make but carried the message in a simple yet personal way.

Finally, the tape runner video is live.  I was beginning to think I’d never get the supplies together or do the demonstration.  I tried hard to be consistent with the amount of tape I used, but don’t think I was successful, as viewers have sent me notes saying they thought my demonstration wasn’t really fair.  I guess I did the best I could and in the end, I am confident that the tape runners I chose were good ones.  I’ve learned from doing the YouTube channel that I have to roll with the punches (so to speak.)

You’ll be amazed that I made a card video that’s under four minutes.  I know what you are thinking.  What’s up with that?  I know!  Rich was freaking out that I deleted at least two portions of video clips, and I had to verify that he wasn’t missing anything.  It is a really simple card and I don’t think many people will really love it. It’s a layered die cut card that has a sentiment stamp inside and that’s about it.  It’s a sympathy card for a friend who lost her dog.  I have a variety of dog dies and used them with black card stock (her dog was black), and then glued them together to make different heights to each dog.  I used black embossing powder on them and they looked pretty interesting on kraft card stock.  I guess we’ll know tomorrow if people are going to like it or not.  I’m guessing they’ll like the length of the video, but not the content.

I forgot to tell you about something really sweet that happened this weekend.  We went to a graduation party for my cousin Shelli’s son.  A lady that worked with Shelli named Linda, wanted to meet me as she loves the YouTube channel.  She said she was really nervous getting the opportunity to meet me, and I was blown away by her.  She was so grateful for the channel and thanked me for everything I’ve done.  It didn’t just make my day, but probably my year.  Rich was so happy because this YouTube channel isn’t just my baby, but his as well.  Since this is the first time a stranger has introduced themselves to me to talk about the channel, it will be one of those firsts that I will never forget.  Rich and I always tease about strangers saying “Don’t I know you from YouTube?”, but it’s always been in jest.  Linda made it a reality for us and we’re forever grateful.

One of my viewers, Heidi, asked me for this comparison back in December.  I went to Splitcoast Stampers and asked that community of crafters which tape runners they liked best and used their input to order tape runners.  I figured if they already liked those particular brands, that I was already starting out with good choices.  I have fifteen brands and will give you my results at the bottom of this information.  The prices below were the prices I paid for them or the lowest prices I found them on the internet, so you should price shop before buying them to ensure you get the lowest price.

1 Elmer’s Craft Bond Tape Runner-permanent and refillable, 8 meters, 26.25 ft at Michaels $3.99,  two refills $7 at Amazon
2. Plus Glue Tape Runner TG-610BC refillable, 22 meters $3.78 Amazon
3.  N Nicole from AC Moore permanent, refillable, 3 pack $8.99
7.6 yds in each runner
4. Duck Double Sided Adhesive-4 pk 7.1 yd each $9.69 at Amazon and $14.99 at Joanns without a coupon
5. Sticky Thumb by Lifestyle Crafts-permanent adhesive 26 ft $1.49 at Tuesday Morning
6. AdTech Permanent Glue 8.75 yds $2.77 Amazon Prime
7.  Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive-39.33 ft refillable at Amazon $3.89.  The refills for a 3 pack $6.74 12 meters in each.  I was told that the Stampin’ Up snail refills will fit into the Tombow case and they do.  So if you have any snail refills and don’t have the original case for it, the Tombow case will work in place of it.
8.  Stampin’ Up Snail- permanent, 13.1 yd, or 12 meters $7, and $4.50 for a refill.
9.  Tombow The Craft Collection-permanent, refillable, 40 ft, $7.99 Scrapbook.com.  Really substantial in your hand compared to the others..
10. Ki by Hampton Arts 16.25 ft, permanent, acid free, $1 at AC Moore
11.  Recollections from Michaels 3 pack $8.99 permanent, in the 3 pack, you get one that is a permanent dot, and one permanent and one permanent repositionable.
12. Scrapbook Adhesive by EZ Runner, permanent, 33 ft, $5.39 at Walmart.com.
13. Paper Studio 3 pack, 1 tab, 1 strip, 1 dots. 16.4 ft each at Hobby Lobby $7.99 without a coupon.
14. Crafter’s Tape Permanent Glue Runner- Darice- 2445-97BV double sided pack of six from Amazon Prime $7.33 permanent and refillable, 315 inches 26.25 ft each.
15.  Kokuyo (long), Jennifer McGuire’s current favorite. Amazon $5.32
dot liner, comes in a variety of sizes.  3 pack at 16 meters each $7.41 Amazon prime and then the crickets Aliexpress 8 meters and a two pack is $2.05 called the petit size.

I tested the tape runners on four different paper surfaces.
A. Taping thin paper to thin paper
B. Taping thin paper to 65 lb paper
C. Taping 65 lb paper to 90 lb paper
D. Taping 90 lb paper to 110 lb paper

I kept track of my results and the only tape runners that I chose to be most effective were ones that worked on all surfaces.

My favorites are based not only on how well they work, but how easy they are to use:
1. Tombow Mono Permanent Adhesive $3.89 Amazon Prime
2. Sticky Thumb by Lifestyle Crafts (found at Tuesday Morning) $1.49
3. Crafter’s Tape Permanent Glue Runner by Darice #2445-97BV
$7.33 for a six pack at Amazon Prime

Honorable mention–these work well but have issues with the tape leaving a long string behind.
Ki by Hampton Arts $1 at AC Moore
N by Nicole–AC Moore three pack, $8.99
AdTech–$2.77 Amazon Prime

 

I’ve been wanting Rich to upload the video I did on small tape runners, but it’s a really long video and required a ton of work.  Today was the day.  He has spent all afternoon and late evening working on it, and it should be up by tomorrow morning.  It’s a really thorough look at fifteen different small tape runners and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

I haven’t done a fun fold card in a week or so, and I have been wanting to continue doing them as they are a lot of fun to make, so tonight, I decided to make a tri shutter card that Lindsay make a very long time ago.  I liked the idea of it and since I haven’t seen many tutorials on this card shape, I decided to make one.  I wanted to use a layered stamp set from Sunny Studios that was all about popsicles and they were horrible to work with.  I know the Aliexpress layered stamps were difficult, but honestly, the popsicles were so much worse.  I washed them with soap, then used a nail file, and I still couldn’t get the ink to be consistent on the stamp.  If you can’t get a consistent layer, your results are really splotchy and gross.  I had to make several popsicles before I made one that I was happy with.  Actually, I didn’t like the die that I bought with the set either, as it didn’t seem to cut the popsicle properly.  I have to say, I was disappointed with this set and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. The card came out pretty frisky and I hope you enjoy it.