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So after a year of collecting supplies I have finally started making some cards. I am getting better at various techniques and learning some new ones. My biggest problem is that I'm a slob. It seems I'm constantly getting ink stains or other random things on my cards. I'm kind if a perfectionist and I just can't keep a card if it has something like that on it. I was making a card for my mom the other day and I'm embarrassed to say that it took me 4 tries and so many wasted supplies before I was satisfied. How about you , messy or neat? And any hints to be a neater stamper for a newbie
Neat, unless one thing goes wrong. Then four more things follow that first one. On the same project.
However, I'm usually able to avoid the dropped ink pad or laying my card down in a puddle glue or glueing my panel on upside down or numerous other gotchas by having "zones" on my desk. Plus I keep a container of baby wipes handy as well as hand sanitizer.
I always score my cardstock before I cut it, so I only have to score a full sheet once. But I never fold my cardstock until I'm actually doing a project; that way, if I want to stamp inside, I still have a flat surface to stamp on. The top of the card is not getting in my way.
I basically have 3 zones or surfaces when I'm working on a card, and by making it a habit to keep the zones separate, I have pretty much eliminated the gotchas. I have a huge box of dot matrix paper; I use a stack of that to house my in-use inks. So any open ink pads go back there and I know not to lay a card there. I also have a huge box of computer printout paper (ledger size); I use a few sheets of that on top of my Darice stamping mat, which is the same size, and that's where I stamp my images. If I'm adding embellishments that need a liquid adhesive, I put a blob on a post-it and that's put with my inks. Finally, I have the ScorPal with the cutting mat insert. That's where my card gets folded, so I try to make sure nothing is on the mat. If I have a panel that completely covers the front of my card, I bank the card against the left and upper sides of the ScorPal. By banking the panel in the same way, this almost always guarantees perfect alignment on top of the card. If the panel is smaller, I can line it up on my card with the rulings on the mat to help.
If I'm using my MISTI, it goes on top of the stamping mat.
Those 3 zones are sacred. However, the rest of my craft room while I'm in a frenzy of creating? It's a combination of World War III, the Bermuda Triangle and a black hole in outer space. I call it The Crafter Disaster.
__________________ Linda E
Caution: You are entering an artistic zone. This is not clutter - this is creating. These are not pajamas - it's my work uniform.
Messy! Doesn't help that I'm a little clutzy! I tried a technique of using vaseline with coloring pencils; saw a tutorial on youtube. Well, after one coloring with it, I decided it's not for me, and back to using baby oil, as I got vaseline on my hand and it got on the background I had colored with chalks, and made a place on it. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad, and I was able to cover it, but I've learned that if it's easy to get messy, I will do it!
Inky fingers are a sign that I've actually be crafting...and the glitter on my face that my husband pointed out while we were out at a restaurant, a sign that I had finished a project that morning.
I start out neat tho....and spirals out of control from there!
extremely Messy!! When I'm at my winter place I have to stamp in the kitchen. I make a huge mess but I have to clean it up as soon as I'm done for the day. At my summer home
I have a craft room in the basement and I can just leave the mess after a day of card making. My craft room gets to be a dangerous place!!! LOL
__________________ Bev
Organized People are just too lazy to hunt for things!!!
Stick on embellishments were invented to cover smudges! Sometimes my finished card is much different than my original design because I have to cover my mistakes but I don't give up on a card very often! If it's too bad, I trash it....it's only paper!
I think it's a bit of personal style-some people like being messy. Some dont. Some people feel it is part of the experience/process to be free and messy.
I guess I am in the middle.
For me, I dont care about getting ink on me, but I do care about getting it on the work. I have work clothes that I use to craft/clean the house. Stained up, bleach marks, dont care. I think nothing of wiping a finger on a rag or my shirt after a quick spritz of simple green so it isnt perfect, but I wont transfer ink or stickles or whatever. Just old shirts that I or DH were going to dump anyway. Or cobbler jackets which I wear now only for company. Come summer I use them for the garden too for example. I have a lot of them at this point.
To avoid oops:
For me, I need open space to work and not try to work in a square foot. So I can put stuff down and *away* from where I am working-glue puddles, ink pads, jars of embossing powder, etc. I trained myself to do that automatically without thinking. I ink and put it down almost arm's distance. No more accidently putting my arm down on a pad. :rolleyes:
Stuff still happens, but I have reduced it. I say I have to "baby proof" my space from myself so I dont knock over the soda can on the 10 cards I just finished, etc.
I'm kinda of messy....meaning, when I'm stamping, everything sits in a pile on my desk.
I use a item and just stack it in a pile on the desk. Paper, stamp set, ink pads. If I need to reuse something again, I have to grab it without knocking the whole pile over.
Messy messy messy!!!!! I'm always losing things and then say once, and if, I find things I say I will never be messy again; however, it hasn't happened yet!
Glitter - if my dog and I don't sparkle, something is wrong
Messy! I had made a matching envelope to my sister's birthday card. I put the card in a safe place and thought I had the envelope with it.
A few days later, I looked for both and only found the card. Where is that envelope? I had set it down on top of my practice paper where I stamp off, test a marker, etc. Now the envelope is a messy practice piece of junk.
__________________ We can't all be stars but we can all twinkle.
I think I may be a little envious of all you messy, but creative people. I tend to be pretty careful and deliberate when I'm making something.
I relate to the saying, "measure twice, cut once." I do a lot of assembly line card making, and make each part of the cards, and have them in little stacks ready to go.
My table usually has a lot of stuff on it, and I may have trouble finding something, but when I find it, I stop and think a minute to get my ducks in a row. I'm retired and have the luxury of time, so I take my time when I'm creating. Thinking about what I'm doing is part of the process for me.
Of course, I make mistakes. Everyone does. When that happens, I see if I can "fix" it, or maybe pitch it and start over.
From the Urban Dictionary: "Easy Does It. Don't make a task overly hard. A relaxed or calm effort will produce the desired result."
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I have finally realized that I create best in a little chaos. I still have a few habits that help prevent total disaster :-) I have a shelf right above my craft table that holds my most used items like ink, embossing powder, glues etc. I replace the lid on the ink immediately after using it, put the cap back on the embossing powder before I turn on the heat gun, put the glue cap right back on after squeezing out what I need, and then back in its basket. I stop and wipe my craft mat regularly as I move along in a technique. After I finish working on a card, I have a couple of safe places where I lay the piece to dry before putting it into a clear envelope and filing it into the "finished" file box (a new habit which is saving a lot of finished cards). I now have a basket and little bowl for precut die cut pieces and other card elements I want to save but keep off my work area.
That said, there are still some oops, and messes and even disasters, but I consider those unavoidable! It's all part of the creative process.
Last edited by poppydarling; 03-13-2016 at 11:53 AM..
Messy, way too messy! I too start with a nice clean area to stamp/create, but by the time I am done (with just one card), the space is down to inches! Recently, I had a completed card on top of my mess upside down, so I grabbed it and started to work. It turned out to be the back of my finished card. What a Disaster. But I am trying to do better. Now at least, I put away my most used things in the top drawer of my desk and clean my stamps before I stop working. Ideas for newbies? Lots of storage drawers and a label maker.
__________________ My word for the year 2024 is CLEAR
I have to be neat because I only have a space to stamp that is about 2' x 2'. I have to be really careful not to get glue where it shouldn't go and ink sometimes goes where it's not supposed to.
Chalk me up as another slob--mainly because I'm a major klutz!
I have no idea how, but I always end up with ink on my fingers and then I'll touch something and transfer the ink. Or I'll be gluing something and the glue will ooze and look shiny where I don't want it showing. And for some weird reason, I am always spilling, splattering or knocking things over. (My computer monitor has a fleck of blue paint on the screen that I can't scrape off--it's a spot I missed when I wiped off the other two dozen or specks)
It's funny - I'm technically a CAS stamper but I have a lot of accidents. Thank God for the sanding block - I can sand most of them off! Jennifer McGuire uses an exacto to gently scrape accidents off - it happens! I enjoy the process and am not so good at focusing
I'm not as messy as I used to be. I don't have drinks on my work table unless they have screwed tops on them and I screw them shut after every sip. I put the top on my inks and glues immediately after use, and put them in the bins. I don't eat when I'm crafting, nor do I have finished cards or card stock around food. These lessons were learned at a high price. :-)
I still will tape a top upside down on the card front. If I do, and can't pull it up, I cut the card in half and glue the top down on another card base. If I smudged the card front, it either gets a light sponging with ink so it looks deliberate or one of my millions of embellishments gets to hop onto the card.
My Big Shot is on a metal filing cabinet with magnetic sheets all around it. As soon as I pop the die off, it gets slapped against the side of the filing cabinet. No more lost dies, pulling my hair out looking for a tiny piece of metal in a pile of stuff.
My craft area is pretty picked up. The kittens are almost 1 yr old now, so they don't get into everything like they used to. I've had to put my stuff away pronto this last year or who knows where it would end up.
My problem is when I'm going through my paper to pick out what I need for a specific project, I'll see something that will make me think of a different project so I take that paper out and put it aside "for later so I don't forget" and then go back to my original project.
So...I have little piles on my table for upcoming projects
I'm untidy but careful. Does that make sense? I don't put stuff away as I work until I have to but I'm very careful about things that will mess up my supplies or my project. So here are a few tips.
1. Wipe/clean your hands and tools often. My skin is oily, paints and inks are messy so I'm always wiping my hands on a rag. I don't use baby wipes because I will do one of two things, 1-leave the wipe out then set something on top of it where it will leave marks on my supplies or my project or 2-leave the container open and they will all dry out. Besides, rags are better for the environment. Old tshirts are fabulous! I've even used the more pleasant parts of a pair of old undies! I have a water spritzer bottle or hand sanitizer on hand depending on the nature of the mess and then wipe! Along the same lines, I wash my stamps right away after use and use an absorber to clean them which goes immediately back in its container with a lid. It's rare but I've messed up some supplies but leaving it out and setting something on top. My worst sin is leaving stamps up with ink on them. Also clean stencils, paint brushes and other tools right away. Not only will you make fewer messes but you prolong the life of your tools in some cases they will last a lifetime with good care.
2 Always, ALWAYS clean up after messy techniques thoroughly. The best way? Work inside of a spray box or even better, a phone book or big catalogue. When you are finished, turn a bunch of pages or just close it if you are done. Mess contained. Always stamp on scratch paper too. Even when you don't realize it, you may stamp over the edge or put a stamp that's been inked down and that ink may not dry depending on the surface it's sitting on. Just lurking, waiting to find a finger or paper to soak into.
3. Leave your ink pad lid upside down on your desk and after inking your stamp, set your ink pad into it. It's all contained without really taking any time at all. You have to put the pad down anyways. It doesn't take long to remember to flip it over into the lid. Now the lid wont be exposed and neither will the ink pad.
4. Make sure water containers are secure. If you need painting water, place it in a not too big, not too tall container. Not too big so things don't easily fall inside and not too tall so it's harder to knock over. If you are very klutzy, set it on a piece of absorber (faux chamois) which minimizes the damage it will do if tipped. And drinks need lids or set them on a surface behind or beside you like on a shelf or other surface nearby. Just not on your main work surface.
5. If you have a product that's very messy or staining like ink in a bottle or spray mist or other thin mediums you plan to take the lid off of, clear your desk before using it. It may seem like a pain but when I use my bottle of calligraphy ink, I clear my desk off. That way there is less than can accidentally get set on top and with fewer things on my desk, I'm more aware of each thing that is there. If you are really desperate, grab a tote bag, flat box or even a cookie sheet and pile everything up on there and set it aside. It only takes a couple of minutes but can save a lot of cleaning and angst.
HTH!
Last edited by Rebecca Ednie; 03-17-2016 at 06:43 AM..
Are you a neat or messy stamper?
