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Before I saved up for the Big Shot I was purchasing punches also. I admit they are big and bulky and take up quite a bit of room, but I didn't know about cutting machines at the time.
I also purchased the Stampin' Up Watercolor Crayons. I am embarrassed to say I haven't used them yet. I really don't know why ... guess I never think about them. Ok, now I really need to make a card with them. I have way too much stuff!
Pazzles machine. Think I took it out of the box once, installed the software, worked on making an image with it, but never got to cutting it. Went back into the box. Went to a scrapbook show and saw they have a newer version with "easier" software. Wished I waited!
Mine would be the flat plastic bow maker. I can't remember what it's called, but it gave me fits. Now I am going to buy a peg bow maker because it's easier to use for me.
Mine would be the flat plastic bow maker. I can't remember what it's called, but it gave me fits. Now I am going to buy a peg bow maker because it's easier to use for me.
Where are you buying the peg bow maker? I would rather order one than make one!
You bring up an excellent point here! I know I appreciate mine even more for the same reason!
(and yes, that Castaway pad . . . I kept thinking I was doing something wrong until I checked out what others were experiencing with it.)
I am another person having a problem with the castawy pad!! I thought maybe I just didn't use it correctly or something. I am glad to hear it is not me, but sad to hear this is a common problem.
I keep going back and forth about getting a tonic; but is sounds like a good investment??
I bought the MM trimmer that folds out and has the magnetic ruler, but I just don't get as good a cut as promised.
Ut! Oh! There are too many wonderful demos around to put up with one who would do this to you. I agree, the SU inkpads are The WORST to handle. Everytime I open one, I'm furious at how difficult it is. But their ink is The Best, I think. I just used their Craft Whisper White for the first time and a stamp I love, but have never gotten a crisp clean impression with, turned out soooooo perfect, I'm a Believer. However, I buy empty ink pads that aren't SU and use SU reinkers to fill them so I don't have to deal with the SU ink pads.
How about selling your ink pads and reinkers on the Forum here for that? I've noticed that SU products sell fairly fast because photos usually aren't needed and people who appreciate the SU quality know what they want.
Can you please tell me where you buy the empty ink pads as I haven't been able to find the.
Can you please tell me where you buy the empty ink pads as I haven't been able to find the.
Thank you,
Kate
Frantic Stamper has both the empty ink cubes and empty ink pads. The cubes are only $1.59 each. But the best thing is that she has BOTH foam pads for the thicker pigment inks AND felt pads for dye inks!
I've enjoyed reading through many of the responses; finding myself right there in the mix! I have so many craft hardbound books that I spent a fortune on (to learn new tecnhiques), that have become a library with a life of its own!
I have been designing and watercoloring cards for many years, even before I owned ANY stamps, embellishments or other tools in my arsenal.
I drew cute little children, with rapidograph waterproof thin lined markers, and then water colored the images (that I've been told look like they were the prototype for many of the sweet whipper snapper stamps).
Years later, my stamping addiction forced me to realize that I had way too much stuff. I rationalized that many of my friends had "even more stuff."
Several stampers and I have started having "swaps" for our stashes of "stuff" which is helpful, and I have been cleaning/reorganizing/perging
unused items from my art studio at least once a year.
First the items are listed and sent around to my card making friends, what remains are posted on craigslist or sold at my annual garage sale. Things go quickly to new homes, and I am always pleased with the "somewhat clutter free atmosphere" afterwards.
A month ago I cleaned and reorganized every shelf, drawer, bucket, cabinet and corner. I decided to quickly remove it from sight, so it went to a local teacher who was thrilled to receive boxes of art and craft supplies.
I admitted just last night that there are very few "GOTTA HAVES" at this point. Well, of course, there will always be the ongoing need for new designer papers/embossing folders/whismical stamps. Hee Hee some habits die hard.
While stamping is definitely an addiction... it is a creative one that helps keep my mind sharp. Who knows, it may very well be a reason Alzheimers will be kept at bay. I like that theory.
I thoroughly enjoyed this thread and appreciate everyone's comments. The one item I really, really, really, wish I hadn't purchased is the Wizard. OMG, the first time I used it I thought my arm would come off. I find it so difficult to use, even with the paper glider spray. I tried to use it several times but afraid I'll get a heart attack. It looks so easy when the owner uses it. I just can't get the hang of it. I think you need to be an actual Wizard with special powers and a magic wand to use it. LOL.
I love, love, love my Cricut Expression and Gypsy. I can make a ton of flowers or whatever in one felt swoop as opposed to making one flower at a time with the Wizard. You can even emboss or deboss. Creating cards is a snap.
Another regret, I just purchased the Purple Cows trimmer. Fortunately, I bought it on sale at Costco. It is not made well and IMHO not worth $50.00 and you need to press very hard to get a clean cut. Oh well, live and learn.
Best, MJ
Last edited by Mollyz; 05-11-2011 at 09:47 PM..
Reason: MTA: I tend to purchase wonderful cardstock and not use it because I like the paper so much. I'm just plum crazy.
A friend brought her Wizard to a crop and I'm very glad she did. I was debating on whether or not to get a Wizard. After using hers it was easy to decide NOT to get one.
My worst buys were the crafters companion ultimate board, the helix craftroom and the WRMK magnetic ruler and varied cutters - they are not user friendly IMHO.
For me, like many of you, it's tons of patterned paper that I'll probably never use, especially the big 12x12 pads. Oh my gosh, I have so much of it and I'll be lucky to use 10-15 sheets of it. It never seems to match any of the card stock I have, or it's too busy to use for my scrapbooks and the scale is too large for cards. The other things...a lot of embellies I just "had" to have, but haven't used. Most of the adhesives I've tried over the years are now sitting in a drawer since I bought my pink ATG. (Love that thing!) My Marvy markers pretty much just sit. I should probably get rid of them. I love my Prisma pencils and tend to use them the most, but started picking up Primacolor Art Markers and Copics and learning to use them. And finally, I have a collection of trimmers/cutters that never cut a nice, straight edge (CM, Fiskars and...can't think of it right now). LOVE my Tonic guillotine cutters. Have the small one and the 12x12 and am now a happy camper!
My big stash of patterned paper is probably one thing that I should have given more though to. I mostly make cards and the patterns are too big for some of the cards.
I have the original Slice. I love it. I had a bit of a problem in the beginning, but now after two years of hard use it's still going strong. I always feel sorry for all the crafters that have had problem with theirs.
I have the little purse shaped embosser from Sizzex. I like it and use it alot but I wish I would have waited and got a Big Shot so I could use Nesties, etc.
I love to emboss, but for some reason those Fiskar plates just do not emboss well. I have run them through the big shot, that is what I thought I would do with them when I bought them. After bringing them home, running them through a number of ways, just did not get a very nice impression. I then bought the little Fiskar tool you run over it and it was so much work that I gave up on that idea. It didn't give a very good impression either, in fact it was actually worse.
I saw a tutorial on youtube using the bigshot and embossing plates. (I can't remember the link). You have to make sure you are using the embossing mat or whatever silicone rubber thing you have. But she didn't follow the instructions on the platform. she sandwiched everything between the 2 acrylic plates and set it directly on top of the completely closed platform. She said it was hard to crank through, but it did go and the embossing came out as if it was in a embossing folder. No water or anything else. I saw lots of different tutorials, but hers was the best. I wish I could find the link for you. Do a youtube search for texture plates and big shot tutorial. She sold me on the texture plates. I'm looking to buy some now thanks to her.
I use these plates all the time. I use them with the silicone mat and black plate that Sizzix sells for their Texurz plates, which are identical in thickness to the Fiskars texture plates.
The trick for me is to mist the paper with rubbing alcohol. It immediately penetrates the paper fibers, does not change the finish of the paper, and gives the most crisp impression! Best yet, the paper dries immediately into the new shape.
The Crafter's Companion.... looked so inciting on QVC but I have rarely used it! And the enveloper.... another QVC incitement! (Maybe I need to stop watching QVC!!) Other than that, I use most of the stuff I buy....sooner or later. I figure, it all comes around again and what['s "out" one week in "in" the next.
I would love to see your birthday books. Do you have a picture in your gallery?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmlopez
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's reply.
I bought a Cricut for Christmas and I am just not feeling the love. Too much work and adjusting because it rips the paper all the time!
My BIA does collect dust, but twice a year I whip it out and make books for my childrens' birthdays. I saw the idea at an Archiver's. What do you do with all of their birthday cards otherwise?! I bind their cards plus pictures (they make 4X6 sleeves) from their party into a book for each year. they LOVE looking at them! I also had a request from someone to bind all of her wedding anniversary cards into a book after she saw the kid's books.
I keep going back and forth about getting a tonic; but is sounds like a good investment??
I bought the MM trimmer that folds out and has the magnetic ruler, but I just don't get as good a cut as promised.
I LOVE my tonic guillotine cutters! I have had SO many bad paper cutters, that I thought I'd never find one I liked until I tried this one at a LSS. I have the 12" and 8" - bought on J's website with coupons
Thanks for the technique. I was just about to sell these plates. I will try it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lynnephelps
Put rubbing alcohol in a mister, and spritz your paper before you emboss with the texture plates. Ditto for the Sizzix and Stampin' Up Texturz plates. The alcohol immediately saturates the paper fibers and it allows the card stock to really mold to the plate, then it dries instantly with the most crisp impression!!! Gorgeous!
wish i didn't buy the cricut expression--thought it was so cool that it has cartridges with multiple images. but i was less than enchanted with peeling the cardstock off the sticky mat. and found myself turning to my big shot instead.
wish i didn't buy the cricut expression--thought it was so cool that it has cartridges with multiple images. but i was less than enchanted with peeling the cardstock off the sticky mat. and found myself turning to my big shot instead.
That's the one thing I don't like about the Cricut too, the sticky mat.
That's the one thing I don't like about the Cricut too, the sticky mat.
I tried using a Cricut years ago, and at the time, I didn't really like that the cuts weren't crisp, nor the fact that letters are still cut out individually for phrases. Because of that, I could never justify the cost of the Cricut. My non-crafting friend bought the new Cricut Expression recently, so I borrowed it for 3 weeks to see if I would like it any better, and I could justify the cost of it. Well, the first 2 days was an exercise in getting to know this machine and how it worked. I wasted quite a bit of cardstock, but wanted to really ensure that it wasn't operator error that was clouding my judgement. I did manage to get a few things cut relatively well, but I still didn't like the unclean cuts for some small images, nor scraping them off the sticky mat. After 1 week, I never touched it again, even though it was right there, plugged in and ready to go. Too much work for not enough reward. This is not to say it is a useless tool - just not practical for me and my purposes. For others, they say they couldn't live without their Cricut.
__________________ Elizabeth
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Hand over the chocolate, and no one will get hurt!
The Crafter's Companion.... looked so inciting on QVC but I have rarely used it! And the enveloper.... another QVC incitement! (Maybe I need to stop watching QVC!!) Other than that, I use most of the stuff I buy....sooner or later. I figure, it all comes around again and what['s "out" one week in "in" the next.
Me too!! I didn't buy mine from QVC, but it was not a good purchase for me .
I thought it would be great to make envelopes with it. I have made a grand total of 5 envelopes LOL And that is only because I needed square envelopes for some cards I made
That thing needs a new home
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
my regret is buying the original red sizzix machine, all of the alphabet sets, & loads of dies. All of that was VERY expensive when it first hit the market. Now I am hesitant to buy any other die cutting manual type. I have the cricut, barely use it. I want, and have wanted a cuttlebug for my cards, but honestly, if I cleared out everything I have & don't use, I would be down to the basics. I stopped scrapping & stamping for a couple of years, and I'm now starting back up. I'm having to replace alot of things! Cardstock that was "archival", didn't last very long! Now I am careful of what I buy for scrapbooking, thats for sure! For cardmaking, archival is not so important, so thats where my colored CS & PP go now.
I've used Cuttlebug embossing folders/thin dies with my Big Shot to show how versatile the Big Shot is. Wouldn't they also work with the red machine? You might have to use an adaptive platform of some kind. As you can see, I'm not familiar with the red machine. As far as dies are concerned, they're addictive, no matter the machine! There are charts that indicate which dies will work with which machines, but I don't know if they were posted on Splitcoast or elsewhere.
I too had the red machine and I regretted buying it - I later sold it on eBay (as well as the Big Kick). I love the dies though, so keep what dies you already have, you may find a dream machine in the future.
I have been loving the Cuttlebug, but after a few years a piece recently broke off the bottom so it no longer suctions to my glass table - useless.
I just got the Vagabond last week - I love the "no cranking" and it's QUIET - but it's REALLY HEAVY. I have the same issues w/ certain dies as I did in the CB or Big Kick going through my Vagabond and GrandeMark. So it's die issue, not a machine issue. There are a lot of good die machines out there. The CB is probably the best value and takes up the least amount of space, but I am sure a die manufacturer will come out with something more spectacular in the future ... Now, if they'd only electrify my GrandeMark, it'd be a perfect world
The Crafter's Companion.... looked so inciting on QVC but I have rarely used it! And the enveloper.... another QVC incitement! (Maybe I need to stop watching QVC!!) Other than that, I use most of the stuff I buy....sooner or later. I figure, it all comes around again and what['s "out" one week in "in" the next
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbara Jay
Me too!! I didn't buy mine from QVC, but it was not a good purchase for me .
I thought it would be great to make envelopes with it. I have made a grand total of 5 envelopes LOL And that is only because I needed square envelopes for some cards I made
That thing needs a new home
Yup!! Me too, worst purchase EVER!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by meeplelover
Good to know about the Crafter's companion, I was def. looking at purchasing that.
