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[ Spend your money on the stamp sets, cardstock and ink at SU! It is not just SHIPPING, it is handling and OVERHEAD. They have to pay people to fill your orders. And if you have ever had an issue with an order, SU is the most phenomenal company to work with. I have nothing but praise for SU and their customer service.
This is JMHO!
Chill gals! We all love SU and saving money for our SU purchases. i highly doubt anyone here on this site will stop buying SU products! :lol: It's also ok to save a little here and there to support our hobby!
Try using your old brown eyeshaddow to distress edges.
5 bucks for 250 glue dots sounds good to me. And you don't have to cut, store, then heat. Geesh! Too much extra work for me. I'm all about convenience.
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Wheeeee!
I wasn't by the computer til now...but I just got some dry wall tape by swapping with my favorite carpenter he had his eye on one stamp!
Thanks whoever it was that made that suggestion (I think it was here on SCS)
This thread remindes me of the things I had to do while raising my kids, modify, substitute, or get creative in order to afford to do the things we wanted to do. Thanks for the fun thread and great ideas!
Chill gals! We all love SU and saving money for our SU purchases. i highly doubt anyone here on this site will stop buying SU products! :lol: It's also ok to save a little here and there to support our hobby!
When buying storage solutions, you will almost always find it cheaper at a home improvement store (like Lowe's or Home Depot) or at an office supply store (like Staples) than at your local craft store.
When I travel with my projects I like to use what I call flat plastic shoeboxes to store each project in. I first saw these at Hobby Lobby and bought them for 9.99 each ( I needed 5)
Boy, was I burned when I saw the EXACT same flat plastic shoeboxes at Staples the next week...for $3.99 each. I bought one and took it home to examine. Only difference was the ones from Hobby Lobby had a pink closure and Staples was black.
I have learned the hard way to always compare apples to apples when I am trying to save money. Sometimes you can get the exact same product or one so similar that you don't notice (or care) about the difference somewhere cheaper, especially when you have a great coupon to work with.
P.S: I have to applaud MamaKimberly. She is a stamper who knows what is out there, and will give you an honest, unbiased answer about what will really save you money and time while not compromising your stamped art work. So if you are confused about mixed messages here, ask Kim, or your friendly, knowledgeable neighborhood demonstrator!
__________________
Milette
The dreamers of the day are dangerous people,For they dream their dreams with open eyes,And make them come true.- D.H. Lawrence
Is it acid free? Will it hold up over time? Is it safe for our scrapbooks? If the answer is yes, then I might try it.
Gee! I would hope so! We use it on our eyes, afterall! :lol: :lol: :lol:
__________________ "Life is much too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde Proud to be a member of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT! My BlogMy Gallery
Actually, you would be very surprised to learn what all is in makeup. Pressed eyeshadow has binders in it that make it stick, and I don't have a clue what's in it. Do you?
As it may be safe to wear on our faces for a short period of time, I don't think I will take a chance with it by archiving my precious photos.
Perfect Ink Refresher is on sale for $3.79 for a 4 oz spray bottle at www.wilde-ideas.com. They have multiple shipping options, including regulat first class mail and priority (which to me in CO would be 3.11 and 3.85 respectivelty). Just save me one bottle............LOL
My local K-Mart has ink jet transparencies in a package of 20 for $10. Half the price of SU. I *think* they're heat resistant, but I'll have to double check.
I have some Michael's paper from before I converted to SU!, and sometimes I use it to work on an idea before doing it up "for real" with SU! Every now and then a scrap of Ultra Smooth gets mixed in with the off brand neutrals and I can immediately tell the real stuff by the crispness of the image.
I've used transparencies when I wanted to heat emboss--otherwise it is a step down from window sheets to use transparencies. Same with the PolyShrink--SU's is artist grade, Michael's is craft grade.
My biggest waste of money--Tombo markers; next biggest--cheap, papery ribbon.
Most of my Michael's mistakes I've set apart for use by kids (if/when I let them use my SU! stuff, I feel like I need to supervise too closely).
I still spend the same amount of $, so its not a $ question, but it is a quality issue, and, increasingly a space issue. I want a work space that is filled only with materials that are coordinated and tools that "earn their keep." Wasted space is wasted $. There's a learning curve for cardmaking and scrapbooking, and I realized on the late side that the only way to compare was to literally put things side by side. So I think I save money by buying SU!
My number one way to save money (for) stamping is not to waste it on other things especially drive-through or junk food.
Incidentally, I tried heating low temp glue sticks to make something once. Ooooh, yuck.
__________________ "I like work. . . I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart." J.K.Jerome
WOW~Now that's an old pad, I didn't even know they had such a color! :shock:
SU should bring back fun names like that.
OOC, would it be similar to green galore or gable green?
The Window Sheets that SU sells - can you get them somewhere else? I went to a workshop that we used them for the cutest cards - but 2.95 for just 3 sheets seems very pricey - tack on to that 10% shipping and sales tax. Does Michaels have them? I love my coupons at Michaels - and I know that a lot of SU stuff is another brand with their name on it -- I much prefer to buy stuff like that at Michaels. I KNOW it is the same quality because the same manufacturer makes them....
I've used overhead transparencys (sp?). They are about $10 for a box of 100 at most local office supply stores.
I just have to make a comment (I have just gotten home after dealing with 8th graders all day). I finally got through this whole thread, that I enjoyed yesterday, and I just want to make one comment. There are some of us, i am definitley one, that are of the more frugal type. I dont' mind sharing tips and tricks to get some supplies for a little less. I do not see myself as not being loyal to SU, I am just trying to support my habit. I know that there are some of you that can't understand people like me but I don't like being chasticed for being thrifty.
That is just my opinion,
kath
I wouldn't use make-up in your scrapbooks. I know that most make-up contains lanolin(sp)...which is indeed the grease that sheep produce when they sweat, great for moisturizing our hand and binding lipstick, eyeshadow and blush. And I don't think make-up companies test whether they are archival.
I save money by punching or cutting out the inside of the back layers of cardstock; I have baggies of 1 3/8 inch squares and circles arranged by color family. It's time consuming, but particularly helpful if I'm using more than 1 or 2 layers to help reduce the weightiness of the front of the card.
I also save money by coming to SCS to check out the super fantastic gallery so that I have lots of good ideas to play with. Nothing says "waste" to me more than buying something and having it sit in a box. The Dirty Dozen gallery is absolutely the best internet value around!
BTW, about a month ago I was so fascinated with the idea of "kissing" cardstock and embossing it--not so pleased with how hard it is to get a satisfactory image (lots of wasted cardstock, and the lipstick kinda oozes through so I couldn't just flip and try again).
__________________ "I like work. . . I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me: the idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart." J.K.Jerome
I know that someone already posted this, but it is SUCH a great money saving tip that I jsut have to share it again!
My best money saving tip......I SIGNED UP TO BE A DEMO!!!! You know, just b/c you are a demo does not mean that you have to demo! :lol: You can get the discount and support your habit! And....to make it even better....I have a CTMH demo and a CM demo that I swap with!!!! We help eachother make our quotas and save money!
I too use the leftover rubber and use as popdots. My new demo cuts and mounts all my stamps, but every once in a while I will tell her not to. I then us my dh's band saw to cut mine. I get great smooth cuts of left over rubber. I to use drywall tape, my dh is still looking for it. LOL
Try using your old brown eyeshaddow to distress edges.
Is it acid free? Will it hold up over time? Is it safe for our scrapbooks? If the answer is yes, then I might try it.
Also, does it need to be sealed?
Just a tip meant for cards.LOL! I also used it on my dominoes then sealed with CE.
Right now there are small packs of photo paper in 4x6 size at Dollar Tree. It may not be good for everything but I just works great for crayon resist and wax paper on a card.
I also found some cool pens there that are great for stamping and beading in cool colors with black ink (3/$1).
Thanks for posting this thread. We frugal stampers love it and all decide which things are worth saving money on and which are not.
Now, I am all about saving money if I can. That is exactly why I signed up to be a demo. The discount I get saves me the tax and shipping amount. Plus, based on my sales, I get an extra little check at the first of every month. I don't sell to anyone but myself, BTW.
Some of us here feel that they are being chastised for being frugal. I'm sorry you feel that way. I don't believe I've seen anyone say a negative thing towards another. All I have witnessed is some posting how they save money on less quality items, and others say they would rather pay more for better quality items. I don't believe that is chastising anybody. It just shows difference of preferences. We all are entitled to them. There is really no reason for any one of us to take any of this personal. However, one thing I think we should all remember. Everyone is welcome here, of course. But....the reality is this site is primarily used by SU stampers. When someone comes and posts what seems to be anti-SU posts, as in, don't buy this from SU, buy a lesser quality item from such and such a place, those of us who are die hard SU people do take it personally. SU is like our baby, and we come here to talk and share all things stamping, moreso SU. We certainly don't like it when we feel we need to defend our pride and joy because it may carry a higher price tag.
I know that this post will offend a whole lot of people. It certainly is not meant to. But I think that this is starting to get ugly. Why do we think we need so much controversy in our lives? After all, don't we all do this for enjoyment?
Have any of you used nail polish on cards? I have gotten some really neat effects that way.
Also, if you have a friend who is an X-ray tech they have some clear stuff like transparencies and give them away to people. I have made my own stencils with them as they are thicker than transparencies (more like the plastic stencils). You can cut them with exacto knives very easily I did my striped ones just by running the knife along the edge of a ruler. Also you can punch through them to make dry embossing stencils or sponge through them.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. Today I bought round cosmetic sponges like the kind for compacts and they make fantastic round shadow stamps. Just attach to your acrylic block and they are wonderful! Pencil erasers make great small dots too. You can also cut those cosmetic sponges into shapes for shadow stamping. I often stamp right on them, like my Fine Print umbrella. Then cut out the umbrella shade part and now you have a matching shadow stamp that looks really cool on your cards!
I just have to make a comment (I have just gotten home after dealing with 8th graders all day). I finally got through this whole thread, that I enjoyed yesterday, and I just want to make one comment. There are some of us, i am definitley one, that are of the more frugal type. I dont' mind sharing tips and tricks to get some supplies for a little less. I do not see myself as not being loyal to SU, I am just trying to support my habit. I know that there are some of you that can't understand people like me but I don't like being chasticed for being thrifty.
That is just my opinion,
kath
AMEN !!!!
__________________
Stephanie
mom to Meaghan 4 Dakotta 3 and Sean 29
"you took the shackles of my feet so i can dance I just wanna praise ya you broke the chains now I can lift my hand and I'm gonna parise ya "
OK So I agree with some of the others here....quality vs price, convienence = payinf a very cents or even dollars more. My opinion is for those of us that are demos here, how would it look to our customers if we are doing a demo using "cheaper" products but asking them to buy the same thing from SU at a higher price. Do you think they A: they are going to trust you if you are "cheating" them, and B: it makes our sales go down because they too will go else where to get it cheaper, especially if they are fairly new and don't know about having safe products, ie. acid free, buffered, etc. To make money, you must first spend money. Granted I am a new demo, but I have learned this from prior experience as a CTMH demo. Also if you think you can "fool" your customers by getting by with the cheaper stuff just for a demo, your wrong!!! They "look" for reasons NOT to trust you, to give them a reason NOT to spend their money. Plus, it makes you look like you don't have pride in the quality of the items you are selling. I don't know about any of the rest of you, but I take alot of pride in the product that I am selling from SU! Otherwise why would I, or any of the rest of us for that matter, be doing what I love with a company that I love?!
Just my 2 cents!
Ellie
PS, My party that I flubbered by not even talking about the catty....closed out at $523!~!!! Just goes to show, people know quality when they see and are willing to pay for it!!!!
And if you have ever had an issue with an order, SU is the most phenomenal company to work with. I have nothing but praise for SU and their customer service.
This is JMHO!
I have found this to be totally true...for example when they will replace the rubber to a stamp that I messed up for only a shipping charge...that is awesome!!! I have also never had a problem when I have had any trouble with my order...they have always made sure I am a happy customer....and of course so has my demo!!! I love SU!
__________________ Wherever I Go...There Go My Stamps!
I can't ever go cheap. I always end up with cheap looking stuff when I do that. I'm not great with fine motor skills, so a lot of these cheap things just annoy the heck out of me.
PLEASE NOTE: As I was typing what follows, it sounds like I'm arguing, but I'm not - I've actually been laughing as I read this things and I try to imagine myself doing some of them, and saying "yeah right!" I am a klutz!!
I tried using the foam and rubber instead of pop dots a long time ago, what a pain. (Call me fumble fingers!)
I can just see me trying to get a string of lights under a pyrex dish, trying to angle the dish so I can work on it, etc. etc. No thanks! - I got my nice light table from Michael's a long time ago, with a coupon, and I can even let DD borrow it when she wants to trace. It's lasted a long time, never had to replace anything, and it's VERY handy and easy to grab and use.
I'm willing to bet money it would take me more than a minute to cut up a glue stick and I can't imagine bothering to do that and then have to heat the darn dots every time I wanted to use one. (Call me lazy too!)
I'm also one of those people who hates running around to the dollar store, Walmart's (I really dislike that place, too claustrophobic), and all over the place, when I can sit and wait for my box from Brown. (BIG smile)
My now-upline is a great one for finding all kinds of bargains, and she would use the extra foam and she would color the ribbon - OH..... !!!
Coloring ribbon! Yeah! I tried that! I wanted a nice saturated color like you can buy. Well - I saturated it so much, when I put it in the card, it started leeching into the card stock! The ribbon would NOT DRY! It was hysterical. So yeah, I wasted the ribbon and ruined the card.
I guess that's why I've mostly given up on "cheap alternatives."
I do admit I've gotten lots of fibers at Michael's, not the ones where they threaded the colors all together (ARGH!!! Stupid!), but there were seven different fibers (a lot like SU!'s) and each was distinct, and it was more yardage for less. Obviously I couldn't demo them. But I'll even use a coupon on them.
And yes, some of SU!'s tools are exactly sold in other stores, I think they must include them because maybe some people just can't get out for them or live where they aren't near shops... or something.
Oh yeah one more. Magic Mesh.
I got some dry wall tape. I was told to make sure it's sticky on just one side (ok), and get the "fabric" kind, not the "plastic" kind. Well, the places I looked only had one kind. So I take it home and play, first I'm wondering how to brayer color on before you put it on the cardstock? (I have since heard to try wax paper.) When I did try it on scrap paper, it brayered about an inch on either side of the dry wall tape, but not much color was on the tape. DH suggested simply rubbing the tape on the ink pad, so I cut a piece, held each end, and did that and got great color (classic Ruby Red). Awesome. Set it aside to dry. The next day, when I rubbed my finger on it, color came off - although the tape stayed well colored. It was almost a week before no color would come off on my finger!!!!
Now that was only $4 of tape but I probably won't use it very often.
Oh, I did find that the plastic cases for storing fishing lures in sporting goods stores run about $4-5 for ones that have 32 spaces - much cheaper than the ones they sell in craft stores. I keep all my non-SU! brads and eyelets in there.
__________________ Kathy Wrose "Fun must be always." - Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks "It was fun." - Kirk, Star Trek: Generations
I also buy the envelopes at office supply stores, but man, they need to be putting more sticky on those things! Geez. I may have to go back to SU! if they don't start making them stickier. I hate it when you lick it and then have to tape it too. I mean, what's the point of saving money when you have to spend it on tape! LOL
I know you can simply clean your stamps with a damp rag. The SU! mist has a conditioner in it. Obviously if you dilute it, you're diluting that. It'll clean just as good and you probably won't notice the difference. Well, maybe in 10-15 years, if you compared your stamps with someone that used the conditioner straight up, you might see a difference.....
__________________ Kathy Wrose "Fun must be always." - Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks "It was fun." - Kirk, Star Trek: Generations
By the way, someone said they were cleaning their stamps with Windex.
So I googled cleaning stamps and ammonia. (Windex DOES have ammonia in it.) Not a good idea, apparently.
Now if you just said windex generically, and are using some other brand, they don't all have ammonia and should be okay to use, you just aren't getting any conditioning.
__________________ Kathy Wrose "Fun must be always." - Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks "It was fun." - Kirk, Star Trek: Generations
windex to clean your stamps? reminds me of friend of mine--he uses wd40 :shock: granted windex might be cheaper than stampin mist (or whatever brand you purchase from your lss) but i've seen several recipes for it and that route is not only cheaper than windex, but better for your stamps too!
I was told to be careful with what you use to clean your stamps...for instance, some use baby wipes....won't hurt your stmaps but may damage your ink pads with the residue that's left on the stamps. So this is just a word of caution.
And yes, some of SU!'s tools are exactly sold in other stores, I think they must include them because maybe some people just can't get out for them or live where they aren't near shops... or something.
Just curious which tools are the same... Is the crimper or the paper trimmer? Are the hand hole punches Fiskars? To be honest I am afraid to even ask.... I swear I am loyal to SU! It's just that I have a 50% coupon for joanne's and I would love to use it on an SU! applicable item. It was hard to tell from the catalog pics, and I have been afraid to ask my upline.... I don't want to be turned in for being a trator!
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Originally Posted by LDSDinks1993
The Window Sheets that SU sells - can you get them somewhere else? I went to a workshop that we used them for the cutest cards - but 2.95 for just 3 sheets seems very pricey - tack on to that 10% shipping and sales tax. Does Michaels have them? I love my coupons at Michaels - and I know that a lot of SU stuff is another brand with their name on it -- I much prefer to buy stuff like that at Michaels. I KNOW it is the same quality because the same manufacturer makes them....
I buy overhead projector sheets at Office Depot. They're a lot cheaper and work just fine. Also you can emboss on them because they're made to take the heat.
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Originally Posted by dot2dot
Also, if you have a friend who is an X-ray tech they have some clear stuff like transparencies and give them away to people. I have made my own stencils with them as they are thicker than transparencies (more like the plastic stencils). You can cut them with exacto knives very easily I did my striped ones just by running the knife along the edge of a ruler. Also you can punch through them to make dry embossing stencils or sponge through them.
I used x-ray transparencies at a workshop, they were cut into stencils with a die cut machine. A word of caution, though....do not clean them with baby wipes! We did this and something in the baby wipes was making the transparencies disintegrate (sp?) and turn sticky. Good old water is the best!
I love that some people can save all of these bits of paper, rubber and more. I don't have the patience for it. I'd rather just buy new packs of stuff (on sale if possible) than scrape the bits up and save them. My grandmother never threw anything away. That's why we all have to find our own line between thriftyness and insanity. Good thing we all get to define that line for ourselves!! :lol:
My motto has always been, "The less you spend on any one item, the more money you have to spend!" I'm frugal with some things and extravagant with the things that are important to me....like stamps! I've stopped counting the number of SU! sets that I own!
With that said, I've used many of the money-saving ideas I've read here. Some have worked out for me and others haven't, but there's certainly nothing wrong with trying to save money.
I don't think that SU! has their own eyelet factory, or ribbon factory, or Aqua Brush factory, or....well, you get the idea. They contract these items out, so you are probably buying the same item from other sources, just without the SU! brand name on it.
Demonstrators, I can understand why you would want to use all SU! products, but a lot of us on the site are just customers, and we can't see the point in buying an SU! heat gun or crimper when we can get the same item for MUCH less money elsewhere.
__________________ "Life is much too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde Proud to be a member of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT! My BlogMy Gallery
One of my favorite things about spending money on SU paper but saving money using it is you can stamp on the other side if you screw up!! (not that that EVER happens to me!!! :oops: *)
I also love that you can find clearance items at these big name brand stores!!!!!!! I just went shopping for a friend who was ill and a group of us thought it would be nice to put together a stamp scrap basket for her!!! Well, I bought some SU some nonSU there is certain stuff I will only buy form SU...other stuff SU doesn't carry....you know like Scrap paper in a good vintage selection in pink...etc....
DO YOU KNOW I GOT ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS WORTH OF STUFF FOR TWO HUNDRED???????
I mean I went to the flea market, I went to two other craft stores...I really shopped around but it was a blast!!! So much fun!!!!!!! And when I sent the basket, there was a non SU Scrabble stamp set that I had gotten for HALF PRICE.... and it was actually a stamp set she had seen on line and was on her wishlist!!!! LOL So really there are deals out there...I will not trade quality for quantity but I will find the best way to use my money... To some that is what is important... Cheaper is not always best...using my money wisely and knowing how to make a dollar stretch is DEFINITELY important...and just so you all know, sending someone the card you have made, that is the best investment you can ever make!!!!
* Don't ever take apart the cards I send you...LOL You would not believe how many have mistakes on the back!! LOL!!!!
