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I just bought a bunch of Distress Ink minis on sale, and was laughing to myself about my first Distress purchase years ago. It was Walnut Stain, and I bought it because it was on sale and I really liked the color. But I tried to stamp with it and obviously the results weren't crisp and I thought Hmmm. Wonder what this ink is for? And then put it on the shelf and never looked it up or tried to figure it out and didn't use it again LOL
I'm now addicted to water coloring and doing other inking techniques with Distress and can't believe I had such a lack of curiosity about it. I still have that pad and it's still pretty juicy :mrgreen:
And then there is the heat embossing that I keep doing without melting all of the powder � sometimes even get as far as putting the panel on the card and feeling rough gritty areas before I realize ::slaps head:: ;)
Ahh we all have those moments where we anticipate something, it isnt wuite what we expected so we continue on oblivious. I bought a fiskers outline plate thingy at a trash and treasure with butterflies, thought ohh this should be real easy. Then discovered I needed this blade thingy to actually use it and was stunned how much it cost but what the heck I had taken e first step so I bought the additional bits. Then started my night of wasted card stock and achie hands. It didnt matter what I did I seemed to pull and tear, I watched you tube and tried and tried again and then I donated all together to local thrift shop.
As for embossing, when you are heating get your heat gun hot, I often turn on and wait a minute or so before I start heating embossing powder. Not too close to paper as you dont want to singe keep moving around so it doesnt heat just one spot. You can see the powder going from gritty to glossy then you can move on. Sometimes it also helps to hold the heat gun under the paper again not too close. Practise will get it working perfectly for you. Sometimes (only sometimes) the embossing powder is too old and needs replacing. Hope this helps
Early in my stamp in life I was so excited to find SU! Stuff at a yard sale. I bought one set and was so excited but when I got home I realized it didn't have all the stamps to the set! I'm careful now when looking for a bargain, but if I know its not a complete set I still sometimes will pick it up if I like the stamps that are in it. But at least now its my choice to purchase with a missing piece. Nor surprises when I get home! LOL
....finish a card, stamp the back side with your "by me thing" and realize you did it upside down.
....make an envelope with a particular DP and realize that it is upside down and you cant fudge it.
....stamp images upside down.
...die cutting the wrong side of the DP
General goofs:
Missing coloring a section...
Forget to attach a die cut and then thinking "that's not right"
Grab the wrong EP or glitter color and now it's on there.
Cant find a die you just took out and finally use something else..and then it's RIGHT there.
Fussy cutting and getting startled and off comes her head! (which is why now I do it before I color)
This is three things:
I am rushing
The "why is it everytime I sit down to card, DH needs something or the phone rings" distraction
I am being thick.
Buying...I am thinking my Justwrite Alphabet sets. I wanted a way to build my own words in straight lines. I cant do that with loose block stamps. I didnt understand I had to also get the blocks they pop into. Got those. Never used. So hard with the tiny letters.
I was all out ignorant here on SCS several years ago. Someone was looking for Magnolia stamps.... being oblivious at the time, I proceeded to share multiple links for stamps with the magnolia flower on them :-/ .
I couldn't figure out why she couldn't find them! LOL
wave, I just figured out recently that patterned paper has a right and wrong side once it's die cut. Duh! ::whoops:: I cut so much solid colored paper I didn't figure that out right away. Wasted a few sheets on that project.
PS and I still struggle to figure out which way the die should go on the paper to make sure that doesn't happen. Well, since we're confessing :-)
Just now...DH wonders what the thing is hanging on my waste can. Its the baby wipe I cleaned some stamps with. Wouldn't it make a pretty background for a card? LOL
Just now...DH wonders what the thing is hanging on my waste can. Its the baby wipe I cleaned some stamps with. Wouldn't it make a pretty background for a card? LOL
When I had a color laserrinter I copied the pretty wipes onto cardstock (probably used the inexpensive Georgia Pacific).
I like that it is unique, yet I could make duplicates.
My daughter once used a paper towel from decorating Easter eggs to create a project for 4H! It looked a lot like your baby wipe - and she won a ribbon ;) .
You could definitely copy that and use it for backgrounds - it's beautiful!
Counting....I have trouble counting. I wanted to make a Christmas banner for my stained glass class. There are 6 the class and I had one already made. So I get my Cricut humming and start cutting. There are 5 layers and 3 snow flake cuts. I assemble them and find that I have cut out 12. 12? I ask myself. So I say oh, well and trash the cuts. Come on saving them would just clutter up my already much cluttered space. Then I do a recount I only need 5 not 6!!!! So I have an extra banner all made up.
Oh gosh Edie! I have those scissors!!! Yikes! I have stabbed myself in the hand a gazillion times and dropped and stabbed my leg with pointed stuff but not the torso yet.
Kathy...I couldnt do a tie dye on purpose that looks that good. I know. I have tried. Repeatedly.
South...when doing a big run like xmas...You dont want to know how many times I have counted rhinestones, do I have enough glitter, double sided tape, or something...now I just always make sure to have extra. B/c you will always run out on the day the LSS is closed or they will be out of it themselves....
Poppy-I am glad you did this thread. Good for people to know they are not alone, and it's ok. Just take a deep breath and keep going.
I still am impressed with people who manage to not only cut DP the right way, but pull out specific sections they want for the image. Some of the layering I have seen in the gallery is so amazing and cool!
When I say it took *years* for me to loosen up about paper...I was always doing the prototypes on copy paper to "protect" the "good paper"-which at that time was actually not good CS but I didnt know it...my teachers kept saying "It's just paper" over and over...I am not kidding. And of course it didnt look the same once I did it on CS. Sometimes for the worse.
Last edited by wavejumper; 07-05-2015 at 05:13 AM..
I had a classic "retirement" moment when I was decorating my holiday cards with some bling. Those rhinestones seem to get away from me sometimes; the dogs have worn them, the vacuum has spit them out, etc. My most embarrassing event was when I was using red rhinestones, went to the front door for an expected package delivery via USPS of craft supplies, and had the letter carrier note I must have been crafting again (obviously he knows my packages!). I didn't think about why he said that until I returned to my craft area and saw 2 red rhinestones positioned perfectly on the front of my white shirt (you know where!). I had a laugh about it, and I am certain he thinks I am a bit off! Diane
Mybaby wipe is in the beginning stages of becoming a card! LOL I started by gluing it to a piece of card stock and trimming to fit a base. It was hard to decide where to trim because I didn't want to lose any of the pretty colors! Did you know baby wipes have designs on them? I didn't realize it until it had color dried on it! Oh the things I learn......!
....finish a card, stamp the back side with your "by me thing" and realize you did it upside down.
....make an envelope with a particular DP and realize that it is upside down and you cant fudge it.
....stamp images upside down.
...die cutting the wrong side of the DP
General goofs:
Missing coloring a section...
Forget to attach a die cut and then thinking "that's not right"
Grab the wrong EP or glitter color and now it's on there.
Cant find a die you just took out and finally use something else..and then it's RIGHT there. Fussy cutting and getting startled and off comes her head! (which is why now I do it before I color)
This is three things:
I am rushing
The "why is it everytime I sit down to card, DH needs something or the phone rings" distraction
I am being thick.
Buying...I am thinking my Justwrite Alphabet sets. I wanted a way to build my own words in straight lines. I cant do that with loose block stamps. I didnt understand I had to also get the blocks they pop into. Got those. Never used. So hard with the tiny letters.
Yup - been there for most of these moments. The most memorable was cutting out reindeer for Christmas cards several years ago. I figured I was home sick, I might as well do something productive. Fussy cutting when you sneeze every 3 seconds is not good - so many poor amputated deer.
Poppydarling - thanks for the great laugh re: not melting the embossing powder. I've have numerous missteps over the years, but my most recent one is just this week when I am working in my very first art journal and discovered that the 2 page spread that I'm working on is upside down bwahaha.
Nancy - love that your daughter won a ribbon for the egg dyeing paper towel - what a classic !!
Great thread - so many fun stories
__________________ "May your mind whirl joyful cartwheels of creativity." - Jonathan Lockwood Huie.
Wavejumper, My mantra is "It is only paper." But my friend's 7 year old daughter said it better when I was dithering about using some of my paper stash by saying "Suck it up buttercup".
Since it's just between us :-) I will also admit that I cut the top off of every craft package that comes into my house, always forgetting that there's that little sticky flap at the bottom that will allow me to retain the clear plastic sleeve. Every single time! I usually take items out and file them in acid-free page protectors anyway, so that's my rationalization for this mental block.
And then I see a crafter on YouTube opening up a package from the bottom and think oh they have so many new items! Derrrr. The nice thing about a failing memory is everything is new again LOL
Queen-that is a great Woodstock moment! hmm...you could say it's the foreign language section of your book-I have seen directions that do that when they switch to Spanish or another language.
Kathy-that card came out great! I am glad you were able to do it! Now we will see if you have started a new trend!
South-are you saying a 7 y/o said "suck it up buttercup"??? Omg!! I think I would have fallen over! That's a riot! I think I am going to adopt that expression! LMAO!!! Oh please...let's not start with DP and how I can act like it is woven with real gold or something! When I goof up a die cut or something....you could think I was a sailor the way I swear! Or that I am the long lost Schultz Peanut with a huge "aaauurrgh!"
I would have been totally shocked to hear a child use that expression! I've always though it to be a rather vulgar thing to say, but thinking about it i've never heard anyone in the UK actually say it, only on TV programmes.
__________________ Ruth
Last edited by BathBelle; 07-07-2015 at 11:28 PM..
How about printing the verse on the inside of the card, folding it to work on the front (which you already had the pieces cut and stamped for), walking away from the table, returning after a few minutes, picking up the card, adhering all the layers and pieces and ribbons and pearls, finishing the card. And then you pick it up to admire your handiwork open it up to read your greeting once more and discover that you had put all your card front pieces.........on the back of the card!
And another one I've done is have a completed card that took more than an hour to complete. But it's missing 'something', so I decide it needs a greeting in that rather blank area and ink up and stamp a greeting. Upside down!
Going to a craft workshop in which we were given name tags to wear which said "hi my name is ..." - then forgetting to take it off and going about the rest of my days errands wondering why people gave me funny looks until the grocery clerk said my name and pointed out I still had my name tag on.
Queen ..... how about putting some funky arrows on your journal piece so that the upside down is intended to give you and others a new perspective of your art?
I really don't like working with actual glitter--too messy for me. So I buy Glitter Glue--I usually bought CTMH brand. I hadn't used it in awhile, so when I did, I shook it all and opened the cap and nothing would come out. So I squeezed...still nothing. Squeezed harder and a trickle came out. A little harder squeeze.......
and the tip of the bottle went flying across my craft desk, along with a burst of glitter glue. It went on ME, the desk, the wall, the craft supplies I stored on my desk...just a BIG FAT MESS.
I managed to get it all cleaned up.
About 2 years later it happened AGAIN...you would think I'd learn my lesson, but nope. I squeezed too hard, and the tip fell out again, but THIS time, it didn't make so much of a mess. I tossed ALL those particular CTMH glitter glue bottles OUT in the trash.
I had my i-phone (screen side up) lying on my desk while stamping. I then proceeded to think it was a black ink pad and tapped my stamp onto it....took a bit to figure out why it wasn't stamping right.
Terry - yours is the funniest. I use to paint with acrylic paints and would have a coffee cup of water to clean the brushes on my worktable along with a cup of coffee. Yep! You guessed it. Sometimes I would drink the painty water and wonder why the "coffee" tasted "funny". And it happened many times over the years. I am obviously a slow learner. Hugs...Bobbi
Aloha and mahalo for the laughs! My DH is probably wondering what's up. Anyway, have definitely done the mix up with the back ending up decorated. . . upside down sentiments (good thing we like layers!). What a great thread! Thanks again for the laughs!
Slightly embarrassing crafting moment? :)
Mistakes I've made, more than once!
