In order to take a rubber stamp off of a wooden block, I use a very sturdy metal spatula and put it between the foam and the block. Pressing straight down, I remove the stamp. If it won’t come off, I have heard you can microwave them, but have never tried it.
If you can also remove the image from the front of the stamp, it’s nice to apply the sticker to your storage so you know exactly what your stamp looks like.
To create storage for your rubber stamps you will need:
3″ 3 ring binder
cereal boxes
8 1/2 x 11″ paper, whatever color you like
crop a dile or poky tool or 3 hole punch if you can get it through the materials you need to punch or very sturdy one hole punch
glue or hot glue
pencil
clear contact paper
good scissors, I recommend Tim Holtz short blade ones for cutting the cardboard
a piece of notebook paper with 3 holes or an existing rubber stamp storage sheet to line up your holes, you can use your three ring binder as a guide as well but I’ve never been very successful using this for the depth of the holes.
a brayer or rolling pin

Cut your cereal box to 8 1/2″ x 11″ using both sides of the box
then glue the colored paper to both sides.

Put your existing rubber stamp storage sheet, or notebook paper onto your colored paper lining up all edges. Take your pencil and make circles inside the circles where the holes will be.

Use whatever punch tool you have and punch through all layers on the circles you created.

On a large flat surface, unroll your contact paper and place your new storage sheet centered top and bottom on the contact paper about 4″ from the right edge. Wrap the 4″ around the side of the storage sheet and press firmly in place making sure there are no big creases or bubbles. Carefully, unroll more contact paper and roll your storage sheet onto it holding the contact paper tightly so you don’t get creases. Use the brayer on the back and front. You can now cut the contact paper on the edge or wrap around the back so you have a thicker surface. An additional layer of contact paper doesn’t hurt. Now using your scissors or poky tool, poke through the contact paper on your holes. Place in the binder.

To use stamps on this surface if they do not adhere.
Use Alene’s Tack it Over and Over in small dots on the back.

Place your stamp close to the top and corner of your page to conserve space and put the sticker of the image as close to it as possible. I overlap part of the sticker with my stamp so I can only see the stamp image and not the outline of the sticker.

If any of your stamps won’t stick to your acrylic blocks you can:
l. use Aleene’s Tack it Over and Over in small dots on back
2. Run tape runner over back but don’t overdo it.
3.. Use a glue stick on the back.
To clean your acrylic block, either use a baby wipe or alcohol to remove residue.

I hope this helps, it’s easy and saves a lot of money considering the storage sheets are about $1 each on sale.

To use a rubber stamp without the foam backing, get Aleene’s Tack it Over and Over and put small dots on the back and adhere to your storage sheets. Then use a rock a block or Misti to ensure a good image on a padded surface. I don’t buy stamps with foam backing any more as I’ve never had problems stamping without. If it is a larger image, put the stamp on the surface and ink it and then rub your paper over the image making sure it doesn’t shift while you rub it. Make sure to rub the entire image.

If you have stamps that aren’t trimmed, make sure you trim them as close to the edge of the image as possible to make sure you don’t get lines showing from the edge of the stamp.

Today is day two of our DIY week on Crafting for Almost Everyone and it was all about making our own inexpensive washi tape and washi tape storage.  At first I thought it would be great to do one form of storage for the tape, but then I found a huge empty box of aluminum foil and thought, great washi tape storage!  One storage method is very simple and very inexpensive.  The aluminum foil storage should work well and is very inexpensive, but I wish I had found the smaller box instead of the extra long.

Once I started getting ideas on different washi tapes, I couldn’t stop.  It was so much fun and I really thought they came out pretty well.  Of course I had some mishaps along the way, as usual.  I wanted to unplug the hot glue gun and spilled water everywhere.  I was making sure I didn’t have a mishap with the glue gun.  In theory, it was a good idea, but in practice, well, you know how things go sometimes.  I didn’t make a card with the washi tape, but tomorrow we are making our own Stamp A Ma Jig and we’ll definitely be making at least one card and I’ll make sure to include the envelope this time.  I use washi tape on every envelope trying to match the color of the card with the washi tape.  I wrap the tape around the bottom of the envelope about 1/4″ from the bottom.  It really helps to tie the envelope to the card and it is a tremendous way to use our stash of washi tape.  Please join me tomorrow for day 3 of DIY week.

I did my first video in the series DIY videos I am doing this week.  It was my normal catastrophe.  My workspace wasn’t large enough for the task at hand so the contact paper adhered to itself (naturally), and me (naturally), and had bubbles and waves and you name it, there were some pretty sticky issues.  I finally got them resolved but it is frustrating when you can do a project but not in the space that a video will allow.  Also, to be honest, my craft area is in a horrible disarray.

Additionally,  I’m not sure what I did, but lost my favorite Tim Holtz scissors and had to use the long ones.  Another major problem because I can’t really work them well, so I just hacked at a rubber stamp until I got it trimmed.  I am a master craftsman. as you probably already know.  If people only watch my videos to see what dilemmas I create, it would be worth it.  I know I often laugh at myself during videos, but I am kind of a mess.  I took the sticker off of the back of a rubber stamp and before I could adhere it to the new storage system, I lost it.  It was there one moment and gone the next.  Still nowhere to be found.  Where could it have gone?  I even watched the video trying to find it and it was there one moment and poof, gone.  I’ll bet Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire never have these problems.  To be fair though, they do a voice over so all of their mistakes can be hidden or deleted and if they lose something, they probably just delete the video.  If I took that approach, I probably wouldn’t have any videos, well what’s the fun in that?

 

I got inspired today.  I’ve been thinking about what projects I should do for my next videos and decided to do a week of DIY crafting projects.  Here’s what I have so far..;.

1. Taking wood stamps and removing the stamp.  Then creating a page for them to stick to, that will fit into a three ring binder.  Also, trimming stamps and demonstrating how to use them without the foam backing.
2. Making my own washi tape and washi tape holder
3. Making my own stamp a ma jig and demonstrating it beside the original
4. A second round of metallic inks only this time, using existing inks and showing how to decant the mica powder.  Creating different colors of mica powder.
5. Creating envelopes 4 or 5 different ways
6. Make my own bow jig
7. Make my own stencil, a four leaf clover

So those are my ideas and if you would like me to do something else, please comment and I’ll look into it.

Oh, and did I mention I’m looking for ideas on how to increase viewership on You Tube?  If you have any ideas, please let me know.  I’d really appreciate it.

 

I had a whirlwind of ideas for videos today and can’t wait to get started.  I have been thinking about how to increase subscribers.  All You Tubers talk about the way they use social media to add to their subscribers, but I’m not really using social media, but I know that my viewers do.  So I started thinking about having a contest for the person that refers the most subscribers to get us to 500 subscriptions.  I’m not exactly sure how it will work, but I’m going to put together a very extension package of gifts for this person.  I have so many really great ideas for things to include in the basket of goodies, now all I have to do is figure out how to make this work.  If you have any ideas, please let me know.  It’s only fair that everyone can participate so if you are subscriber 490 and you get 10 subscribers t get us to 500 and that’s more than every other referrer, than you would win.  Again, I’m not sure how to keep track of this or if You Tube has any kind of tracking, but I’m going to get to the bottom of this dilemma and get the contest started asap.  I think it will be a lot of fun and someone will come away with a significant basket of prizes.  Let me know if you have any ideas.

Today I was given the ok to spend 50% of my time upright.  That’s 30% more than before so I’ll be in the craft room going crazy tomorrow.  I’ve been so fortunate to have so many nice people keep us in food and treats and crafty things.  I’m not sure how soon I’ll be walking like an Egyptian, or like myself, but I’m hoping it’s soon.  I walk, just not really well.  I’m not sure what the deal is, but every time they replace a weight bearing joint, I have to relearn to bend my knees when I walk.  Isn’t that the weirdest thing?  I just don’t know how one day I bend my knees and then a couple days later, can’t remember to bend them.  I think I’m alone in this malady as I’ve watched other people walk after replacement surgery and they bend their knees like normal.  Maybe being abnormal is the way to go as it seems to give me more balance and I don’t take too large of steps so it minimizes my chances for failure.  Unfortunately, it slows my recovery process as well.  Maybe it’s a little give and take.  I’ll take it.

Tomorrow is the big day!  I’m going to see my surgeon so it’s the first time I’m allowed to go anywhere in a car since my surgery and I’m hoping he will let me do more, like go out for lunch.  Go to the Dollar Tree!  Experience life again! YAY!  I can’t stand it, I’m so excited about it.  I’m thinking on too grand of a scale.  Maybe he’ll let me do one additional thing than I am currently doing.  I’m not sure what that is, but whatever it is, it will be fabulous!

So the crazy groundhog prediction was yesterday and today the weather was in the high 50’s and even low 60’s.  Tomorrow, SNOW!  The weather here has been absolutely crazy and I think it’s because I couldn’t go anywhere.  The weather works adversely to my ability to move about.  It’s a conspiracy between that groundhog and, ok, I’m not sure who else, but geez, the whole time I couldn’t move, the weather was fabulous.  The actual moment I may be given my freedom, say it with me, snow.

l am not saying that groundhog has it in for me, but he and I are going to have words.

 

Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow today making it the first time I can ever remember that we are supposed to have an early spring.  Considering that the temperatures in Pennsylvania have been in the upper 40s and low 50s, I think it was safe to safe that Phil would have had some egg on his face if his prediction was otherwise.

How did it come to be that we let a rodent determine our weather for the next six weeks?  Is he some mythical being?  I have to know.  Time for some serious research.

According to Wikipedia,

Punxsutawney Phil fans say that there is only one Phil, and that all the other groundhogs are impostors. It is claimed that Phil has made weather prognostications since 1886, making the Punxsutawney groundhog a legendary rather than factual figure, since groundhogs only live up to six years.^[2] It is publicly unknown how many groundhogs have actively played Phil.

According to the Groundhog Club, Phil, after making the prediction, speaks to the Club President in “Groundhogese”, which only the current president can understand, and then his prediction is translated for the entire world.

The Groundhog Day celebration is rooted in a Celtic tradition that says if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2, the Pagan holiday of Imbolc, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend says spring would come early.

The ties in Pennsylvania may actually come from Germans, when clear skies on Candlemas Day, February 2, were said to herald cold weather ahead. In Germany, the tradition morphed into a myth that if the sun came out on Candlemas, a hedgehog would cast its shadow, predicting snow all the way into May. When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, they transferred the tradition onto local fauna, replacing hedgehogs with groundhogs.

Each year two scrolls are prepared by the Vice President of the Inner Circle: One says early spring and one says six more weeks of winter. These scrolls are placed during the ceremony on the stump and after Phil is awoken by the crowd, Phil communicates in Groundhogese to the President who is then directed by Phil to the proper scroll and forecast.

Ok, so I’m from Pennsylvania and I always actually thought they used some sort of lighting to see the shadow, but now I read that Phil “speaks” to the President in Groundhogese, what kind of hooey is that?  And then the president picks up the scroll that Phil has directed him to?  Really?  Sounds more bizarre than I originally thought.  Don’t get me wrong, any occasion for a festival in the middle of winter in Pennsylvania is a great idea.  I’m just not really onboard with Phil #26 (or the original Phil according to the people of Punxzy) making weather predictions, although he is often more accurate than trained meteorologists.  Let’s all go out and soak up some of this 50 degree weather, since we never know when or if Phil’s predictions may go awry.

 

If you saw the video I made on what watercolor pencils work best for me, I had purchased a small set of Derwent Inktense pencils and six loose Inktense pencils from Dick Blick.  I only tried a couple of them out to know that I didn’t like them and called Dick Blick and asked if I could return them.  Of course, no problem, because they don’t want anyone to have products they aren’t happy with. Great, now all I have to do is find them in my crazy cluttered mess of a craft room.  All of my haul purchases keep piling up and there’s no room in the inn.  I have tried to organize things so the surfaces are at least clean, but still no pencils.  Where could they be?  I’m very obsessive when it comes to locating anything I purchase.  I almost always have a fairly good idea of where I put things.  This time, I have absolutely no idea.  Of course we need to keep in mind how many things I dropped on the floor that are now in a box (courtesy of a friend who felt sorry for my mess.)  At the time, I forgot to ask her if she saw the pencils so it’s too late now to ask. Additionally, the last time I saw them was before my surgery so it’s been at least two  weeks.  I’m fixated on them now.  I can’t let it go.  In my head I keep hearing that children’s song, “Where oh where did my little dog go,” so there’s a good chance I’m losing my mind over pencils.

Now I’m the ribbon hoarder with a crazy song going through my head over them.  I need to let it go.  Or not.

I never know exactly how a video will land with viewers.  I made one that we just put up a few days ago of a duct tape zipper coin purse.  It was so easy to make once the duct tape and I made friends.  It went really long (I thought) and I made a lot of mistakes along the way.  I was really worried that I would get a lot of thumbs down and that people would be disgusted that it took me almost 30 minutes to finish the project.  Instead I got nice comments but one in particular really inspired me.  Here it is.

“I love your videos.  If someone wants shiny and perfect they can look elsewhere.  You show the reality of crafting with all the challenges and resourcefulness to overcome them.  And your personality means we get to enjoy the process even more when things go wrong.”

I don’t know if I have ever gotten a comment from this particular viewer before and was blown away at how she got right to my insecurities about this process.  I am so grateful for the subscribers I have and am committed to making so many new and different videos because of it.  Of course my first love is paper crafting, but I’m really looking forward to getting back to my workspace to create new and different things with everyone.

I never thought my channel would appeal to everyone, but I’m so proud that it has appealed to the ones who continue to watch.  I’m so grateful for every person who takes the time to watch even one.  And will continue to make the mistakes I’m prone to making along the way.