Making My Heartfelt Creations Flowers The Right Way !!!

     I fell in love with Heartfelt Creations a few years ago and tried to copy their techniques without actually using their products. I can't complain about my results. They were OK. But then I had an opportunity to take a live class with them at a craft show and , of course, became addicted.

     I bought a set of the small Petunia stamps and dies and the mold for shaping them. The mold is a lot easier on the fingers than shaping by hand. I recently bought the large Petunia stamp and die set and immediately made a card with them.

I think the card looks pretty.
But the flowers did not hold their original shape. I had made them pretty tight. As you can see, though, they are more flat than cupped as they should be.

I had to give this some thought because I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE they way the flowers look when Emma Lou makes them.

The only thing I did differently was that I used Art Glitter wet glue instead of the HOT GLUE.

I made another card a couple of days later using the hot glue on the flowers. 

BOY WHAT A DIFFERENCE !

These flowers, though only one layer thick, are hard as rocks and haven't lost any height even days later!

So often it is just a little thing that makes a BIG difference.

UPDATE ON THE COPIC PEN COLOR ISSUE (and honorable mention of the products and companies I support)

     As I noted in my last post, I have almost all of the Copic Ciao colors but still don't have some of the colors that Alyce Keegan(of KITAND CLOWDER) uses. So I did a little research and found that the Copic Sketch has many more colors than the Copic Ciao. While I would love to have every single color of Copics I have sadly had to come to the conclusion that I am not such an artist that I "NEED" to spend so much money on alcohol ink pens when I have so many other craft commitments.

     My first love is anything having to do with CRICUT ! I not only love using my CRICUT but also love teaching newbies to use theirs. I used to teach at Joann's and Michaels but found their systems awkward due to poor internet connection. I then began teaching in a consignment store but they had to close due to illness. And now, of course, the pandemic interferes.

    Watercoloring with ARTIMPRESSIONS is another addiction which is so rewarding, but also expensive as I feel I NEED every stamp they make! 

Oh, I forgot to mention my love of HEARTFELT CREATIONS  flower shaping tools!

    Over all, though, my PASSION is CARDMAKING ! All of the other ventures are in support of the card making.

Me and My Copic Pens

    I am so excited!!! I follow Kit and Clowder coloring classes and have purchased almost every color of Spectrum Noir pens. I like these pens and have always gotten satisfactory results with them. BUT...... When I am watching the tutorial for the classes I cannot keep in mind which of my colors coresponds to the color that Alyce Keegan is using so I get distracted and mess up. 

    So I decided to beging replacing my Spectrum Noir pens with Copics whenever Michaels had a sale on them. But, of course, now with the quarantine I have not felt comfortable shopping in stores unless absolutely necessary. Then I came into a minor windfall and ordered a 72 piece set B of the Copic ciao markers. 

    They were delivered quickly and BOY WAS I EXCITED! But my excitement didn't last long because I still was missing some important colors. Well, I figured that, with the exception of a few colors missing from the A set, If I ordered the 36 piece set E I would have everything I needed. It appears though, that Alyce has some colors that are not listed for any of the sets. OH MY! 

     Any way, I'm still so FREAKING excited to have as many of the colors as I have and wanted to show you my latest effort using only Copic pens!

What To Do With Paper Scraps

 

  I am experiencing an emotional dilemma concerning keeping or throwing away paper scraps. Let me begin by explaining that I have a very elegant organizing system for paper scraps that I purchased from Totally Tiffany. It is a system that I highly recommend for those who, like me, don't like to waste.

     So now, you might ask, what is the problem then? The problem is two fold. Majorly, every folder is  completely full. The scraps that I am looking at right now are quite small. It should be an easy decision then, but it is not.

     The problem is the shape of the scraps. They are perfect strips that could be used on the inside of cards as embellishments.

     I was hoping that if I started writing this post the answer would come to me. And I fully expected the answer to be, "Throw them away!"

     But that is not what happened. I recently wrote that I started a box of A2 pre embellished card fronts. They caught my eye as I was writing this post and that gave me the answer. I am going to start another container of perfect embellishments.

     What prompted this decision is a book I just started reading "the life-changing magic of tidying up" by marie kondo, which was loaned to me by a friend who has been in my house and knows how much I needed it.

     So, you ask, how did that help with the decision to keep the scraps? The major theme of the book is to keep only those things that, when you hold them in your hands, make you feel joy! And as I was writing this post I remembered that when I picked up those scraps that is what I felt. I would rather throw away some ragedy edged piece of paper than a perfectly shaped strip that could quickly and easily be used to enhance a card.

     The decision to make a special box instead of utilizing the larger system is so that they will be close by where I am working and will be seen and easily accessed.

Let me know if this post inspired you about how to think about the scrap issues you are facing!

Musings On My New Craftroom Rules

As a result of using the CraftMyLife App helping me to get VERY organized I have come up with some, much needed, rules to help me continue to have an organized and more productive way of crafting.

One of the first ideas that came to mind, when I was trying to locate something that I had just used, was to have a tool tray. I thought about how, before surgery, a tray, is loaded with all of the expected surgical tools that would be needed. Besides knowing where everything is I now have a larger work area.

If you follow me then you know I teach a monthly card class. Due to the quarantine, we have not been meeting and the group has decided to delay that for at least another month. I thought I would make up some card kits from all of the leftovers I have from prior classes and send them out to the group members. This was a lesson in frustration as there was no demonstration card in most of the kits. So my new rule is to either finish making the leftover cards right away while the technique is still fresh in my mind or put all of the leftover pieces in my RGBIV files to be used randomly.

Lastly, I realized that I have too many little bags and containers of embellishments that would probably never get used if I didn't find a way to store them. This was a real forehead-slapping moment as I have a ScrapRack from Totally Tiffany! Now all the little tchotchkes are safely stored.

Oh Yeah, I forgot one last thing. I must clean my work area after each project !!!!

HOW COLORMYLIFE ORGANIZING APP HELPED ME SOLVE A NAGGING PROBLEM

    Several months ago I came across a small rectangular label die that did not appear to go with any of my sets. I took it to my craft group to see if I had accidentally taken it from one of them, but no-one claimed it. So I took it back home and, frankly, forgot about it.
   
     Tonight, while I was continuing to organize my craft supplies in my newly acquired organizing app, COLORMYLIFE, I realized that the die did not match any of my sets. It is a Spellbinders die and had a number stamped on it.

I took a chance and googled it and, lo and behold, it turns out the die belongs to a hot foil set that I own. I was so happy to be able to return it to its rightful place and was also reminded that I need to catalog those dies also.

I cannot stress enough how much I love the COLORMYLIFE APP. 

OMG The BEST Craft Organizing Tool EVER

Before I tell you about the BEST Craft Organizing Tool EVER I want to give a shoutout to Slayernite Crafts for her post on AIRTABLE. I did download and start using it before I learned about the one which inspired this post.

The name of the BEST Craft Organizing Tool EVER is COLORMYLIFE and I learned of it through Justine Hovey on YOUTUBE. The app is downloaded to your smartphone and can catalog all of your stamps, dies, inks, cardstock, etc. Many popular items are already in the app and are easily loaded into your database. Justine's Youtube made it very easy to navigate the app so I highly recommend watching it.

Please don't take this as a bash against AIRTABLE because that program is actually meant for a different kind of use, but Slayernite Crafts had adapted it for her own purpose.

I won't go on and on, but strongly suggest, if you want an elegant way to catalog your supplies and find what you need quickly COLORMYLIFE is definitely worth looking into. Also, since you will have it on your phone you can quickly determine if you already have items that catch your eye while shopping. I know I have unneeded multiples of a few items.

I would love feedback if you try the app.