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At times I swear I'm always late to the crafting party... Am I alone?
On my last couple cards I wanted to completely cover the card front with paper without a border.
In the past I would cut the paper to size of the card and fiddle around with laying it perfectly down on the card base. Then it hit me I had a aha moment.
Instead of adding adhesive to the back of the paper, I added it to the card front, lined up the straight edge of the paper to the folded edge of the card and pressed it down. After it was glued to card I trimmed the excess paper off! Perfect coverage every time.
Why didn't I think of that sooner?
Have you had light bulb moments while working on your projects?
What are they?
The following 10 users liked this post by Bohodiva:
Oh my gosh my mouth is just dropped open about this. You know why? I learned this tip last night reading a paper crafting book! I thought that was the most brilliant tip. I was like I have been doing this wrong for years!
I am dyslexic so I blame my dyslexia for this. All those little tiny pieces we need to glue- I always put the glue on the tiny pieces. Now, I will humble brag I am quite the expert about the way I glue, it only takes like ten minutes for me to add that glue to each of those teeny tiny little pieces. I can do it, ROFL!
One day I was watching a video and she was adding the glue to the base of her paper where the tiny piece was going to go. I am like "Wow! That is so much easier than fiddling with this glue piece for ten minutes!" ROFL!
You would think paper crafting for four decades I would know better.
__________________
The following 7 users liked this post by lylacfey:
I had an aha moment one day at a scrapbooking event. Use a ruler! I was always eyeballing and having to recut and retape things on my pages. Now I use a ruler as a staple, like scissors and tape.
Mary Beth
The following 5 users liked this post by lutheran:
I have a lot of duh moments watching Jennifer McGuire videos. The latest was her video about creating a "jig" for stamping multiples which is actually similar to how she stamps on die cuts. I'm seeing lots of people sharing that tip now...
But as for my own, I think the only thing I have done is to relax on the size of my card front. I've always stuck to pre-ordained sizes but if I want to make something some random size why not? The lightbulb moment was seeing how much I stifle my own creativity.
But as for my own, I think the only thing I have done is to relax on the size of my card front. I've always stuck to pre-ordained sizes but if I want to make something some random size why not? The lightbulb moment was seeing how much I stifle my own creativity.
This is so true. I think we can all learn from this experience. I always chuckle a little bit when I hear YouTuber celebrities tell me that I have their "permission" to step outside my comfort zone or "break the rules." We don't need any professional crafter/designer/artist to give us "permission" to step outside the confines of the limitations we set for ourselves. Enjoy!
I used to think every card had to be perfect. Like the recipient knows the flaws??? No.
My “Ah-ha” moment is letting go of every card being the same or every card being perfect. Really—-no one cares!
The following 9 users liked this post by stampwithjoanne:
My lightbulb moment came when my CTMH demo suggested using my paper piercer tool to get adhesive-backed embellishments off of their plastic sheets. Brilliant!!
__________________ Lorraine
Wife to an awesome DH, Mommy to an adorable DS who is on the spectrum for autism, and Twin Sister to Linda
I had an aha moment one day at a scrapbooking event. Use a ruler! I was always eyeballing and having to recut and retape things on my pages. Now I use a ruler as a staple, like scissors and tape.
Mary Beth
Lately I've been using my rulers more for tearing paper to get a soft ragged edge.
I found rulers with a top handle (at Hobby Lobby and Target) so you can hold it in place easier.
The following 2 users liked this post by Bohodiva:
My lightbulb moment came when my CTMH demo suggested using my paper piercer tool to get adhesive-backed embellishments off of their plastic sheets. Brilliant!!
I couldn’t find mine awhile back so went to my kitchen silverware drawer and found an old, thin paring knife. THAT is now my tool to get sticky embellishments off their plastic sheet! Works really slick!
The following 3 users liked this post by stampwithjoanne:
Oh my gosh my mouth is just dropped open about this. You know why? I learned this tip last night reading a paper crafting book! I thought that was the most brilliant tip. I was like I have been doing this wrong for years!
I am dyslexic so I blame my dyslexia for this. All those little tiny pieces we need to glue- I always put the glue on the tiny pieces. Now, I will humble brag I am quite the expert about the way I glue, it only takes like ten minutes for me to add that glue to each of those teeny tiny little pieces. I can do it, ROFL!
One day I was watching a video and she was adding the glue to the base of her paper where the tiny piece was going to go. I am like "Wow! That is so much easier than fiddling with this glue piece for ten minutes!" ROFL!
You would think paper crafting for four decades I would know better.
re: your glue story. Love it! I now use a cotton swab and gently dip in in a small pile pile of glue, and light wipe the paper where I want my thingy to be. Works magically! Lol
The following 3 users liked this post by stampwithjoanne:
I had a moment the other day. Once again I couldnt find my embossing tool and certain things on my desk, as they blend in so easy. I ended up wrapping a piece of thin bright green duct tape around it, and now I easily see it. I am also using the idea of using cardstock scraps to add height to images instead of always using foam tape. Easier to get the height you want and easier to glue down.
The following 11 users liked this post by hoptownracer1:
I had a moment the other day. Once again I couldnt find my embossing tool and certain things on my desk, as they blend in so easy. I ended up wrapping a piece of thin bright green duct tape around it, and now I easily see it. I am also using the idea of using cardstock scraps to add height to images instead of always using foam tape. Easier to get the height you want and easier to glue down.
Cotton swaps... I've been using them to color small areas on stamped images, as well as smearing glue around.
In Vicky P's recent video she using mini blender tools to color images.
I'll stick with the cotton swaps, I got a gazillon of them on hand and they work just fine.
..
The following 3 users liked this post by Bohodiva:
When I learned to count the pattern repeats on 12 x 12 paper online so I could better gauge it for making A2 cards. (still mess up sometimes)
When I decided to stop making card bases in advance. Just takes up way too much room till you get around to using them. (because I had to make all kinds of paper bases of course )
That a 2 buck plastic T-ruler was way better than a regular one for lining stuff up and having a grid mat for working on really mattered. As well as gridded acrylic blocks since I have issues lining stuff up. Esp before the platforms.
__________________ Margot
I am a proud fan club member
The following 3 users liked this post by wavejumper:
Welcome to the club, hoptownracer1! I never use foam tape, hate the stuff, always have. The cardstock scraps I use to make elements 3D are from the backs of used cards, so no waste there either. You can create the exact height you want and you can cut the cardstock to just smaller than the size of the element, so that it's fully supported and won't get squashed during mailing. And much more environmentally-friendly - I bet that foam tape takes centuries to break down.
Lynda
The following 4 users liked this post by lyndaejane:
When I decided to stop making card bases in advance. Just takes up way too much room till you get around to using them. (because I had to make all kinds of paper bases of course )
In a class I took with Jenn Shurkus, she said she always uses white card bases. That way, you'll have white inside for sentiment/message, and you can add a card front of colored cardstock if you want. Now I can make just white card bases ahead of time which saves storage space, and I'm saving money using half as much colored cardstock.
The following 4 users liked this post by vgpeterson:
I do that with my Martha Stewart score board........! Really is a game changer when it gets your card front to adhere perfectly.........the first time.....LOL
In a class I took with Jenn Shurkus, she said she always uses white card bases. That way, you'll have white inside for sentiment/message, and you can add a card front of colored cardstock if you want. Now I can make just white card bases ahead of time which saves storage space, and I'm saving money using half as much colored cardstock.
Ah ha...but there are different weights for bases. I might pick an 80# if I am layering so it isn't as heavy. Or a 110 for single layer. In both white and ivory and few black and kraft in different weights....And by different companies...Then there are WC panels-which of COURSE I did not think to label hot and cold press....plus panels to line colored cards inside with...in white and ivory. I dont even remember them all now.
Oh yeah, I went way off the deep end in the name of "convenience" LOL. I should have known better really. The colored ones were mostly pre-buys with a special fold feature from a clearance bin...or using up a large scrap...
__________________ Margot
I am a proud fan club member
At times I swear I'm always late to the crafting party... Am I alone?
On my last couple cards I wanted to completely cover the card front with paper without a border.
In the past I would cut the paper to size of the card and fiddle around with laying it perfectly down on the card base. Then it hit me I had a aha moment.
Instead of adding adhesive to the back of the paper, I added it to the card front, lined up the straight edge of the paper to the folded edge of the card and pressed it down. After it was glued to card I trimmed the excess paper off! Perfect coverage every time.
Why didn't I think of that sooner?
Have you had light bulb moments while working on your projects?
What are they?
I did this for the first time about a year or two ago and just slapped my hand against my forehead...WHY had I not been doing it like this all along?!! I use heavy card stock for my card base, so trimming off the excess is so easy. The card edge basically guides my scissors along. One thing to remember though is to be sure to line up the top paper with the folded edge of the card, because trimming off at the fold side was harder for me. I had one or two oopsie moments where I nicked the folded edge as I trimmed.
Karen
I used that tip tonight, and wow, made it so much easier! Covered a die cut with paper, and instead of tracing and cutting the paper shape out, just glued it to the die cut and trimmed around it. SO MUCH EASIER! Thank you BohoDiva!!!
One of the things I try to remember is to use this site MY CUT SEARCH whenever I need to find something specific to use from my Cricut cartridges. So much quicker than flipping through booklets or my printed handout pages looking for it.
The following 2 users liked this post by hoptownracer1:
As I looked around my craft room tonight, I had an “Ah-Ha Moment.”
What if I used EVERYTHING in this craft room before buying another stamp set, paper, ink or an embellishment? I’m SURE I have enough stuff to make cards til I go to the grave!
The following 8 users liked this post by stampwithjoanne:
As I looked around my craft room tonight, I had an “Ah-Ha Moment.”
What if I used EVERYTHING in this craft room before buying another stamp set, paper, ink or an embellishment? I’m SURE I have enough stuff to make cards til I go to the grave!
Oh yes, same here. Actually, I think I could just use half of it and still have it last for my entire life!
Karen
Since the great purge of craft supplies I'm more creative and USING what I already have on hand.
Also, I'm recycling the cardboard boxes by using them as a firm backing on die cuts, punched images and sentiments. There's no need to cut multiples images from cardstock to layer up for backing.
That trick takes me back a few decades before metal dies became popular.
The following 3 users liked this post by Bohodiva:
My Ah-ha moment came when Scrapjanny suggested I use Evernote to catalogue my stamps. It is so much easier to find things now and I'm not missing all the small images that come with each set. It took some time to get everything in the program, but it has sure been a game changer for me. Being able to create tags that I can search by subject is so handy.
__________________
"The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake--you can't learn anything from being perfect."
-Adam Osborne-
Last edited by ComradeBunny; 07-03-2022 at 08:14 AM..
Had a moment last night when I was coloring with some Distress Oxide inks and a stencil. I was wiping off my blending brush between each color (they were different shades of one color), and I noticed how pretty they looked on the rag, and I thought "Why am I wasting this pretty color?" So I started wiping my blending brush on a piece of card stock, so when I finished I had blended card stock backgrounds for future cards in pretty colors.
The following 2 users liked this post by hoptownracer1:
Had a moment last night when I was coloring with some Distress Oxide inks and a stencil. I was wiping off my blending brush between each color (they were different shades of one color), and I noticed how pretty they looked on the rag, and I thought "Why am I wasting this pretty color?" So I started wiping my blending brush on a piece of card stock, so when I finished I had blended card stock backgrounds for future cards in pretty colors.
That's good stuff! They'll make good backgrounds and cut elements. I use a mixed media paper pad to clean off my brayer when gel printing; as well as baby wipes that have been used to clean up color off my mats. Eventually, I'll work them in to my projects..
When stamping with a large background stamp, (mine are still on their wood blocks), I ink the stamp upside down on my work bench, as many do, but then in order not to get the ink all over my fingers and eventually spoil the cardstock in the process, I lift the top piece of the stack of old computer paper I stamp on and flip it over the top of the cardstock on top of the background stamp and rub with my hand, or another ah ha, use my brayer for even coverage.
The following 2 users liked this post by jeanne3579:
I don’t know if this has been mentioned but I always cut off my gems and enamel shapes from the main sheet leaving the backing on so I can move them around on my project until I find the perfect spot! Then I remove the clear backing and stick them down!
__________________ "God designed the human machine to run on Himself. HE Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn..." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
The following 8 users liked this post by stampergrl:
Light bulb moments
