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I have got to say the stampa-ma-jig as I use it all the time. Could not be with out it. Even my granddaughter uses it to line things up and make sure things are straight.
Sheri
Ditto. I bought mine on clearance a few years ago for $3.50. I don't know WHY it was on clearance but I'm glad it was. Now I have two - one to take with me and one that stays in my stamping desk.
Kimberly
__________________ "There is a very fine line between hobby and mental illness." -- Dave Barry
I've given up beading, so I have several of the plastic containers with the compartments. When I was laying in bed this moring, I thought of a good use for them. I put misc. shapes in them that I have cut/punched out for certain projects. (Hearts, stars, circles, etc.) I was keeping them in dixie cups, but this is much better!! I will put a pic in my gallery.
__________________ Cindy Please visit my BLOG I'd love to know what you think!!
Last edited by Luciesfloozies; 02-10-2008 at 08:00 AM..
Reason: spelling
i have a centering ruler, where the 0 starts in the center of the ruler and on both sides it shows the 1", 2" etc. so i know exactly where the middle of everything is, and can cut accordingly. elaina
I actually gave these to some of my friends one year and they LOVE them. Mine is still sitting in the "package" yet to be pulled out to be used. Two of my friends pull it out everytime they stamp and LOVE it. I think they were under $2.00 at Mike's too
I love the flexible cutting mats found in the kitchen wares department. I find them in the 99 cent store (2 in a package). They are about the same size as the SU gridded pad of paper. I put the cutting mat on top and use it to cut straight lines. When the mat gets really cut up I use the reverse side. And when there are too many gouges and cut marks I toss it and use a new one.
I have a glass mat (definately was not cheap) but I can see through it to my SU gridded paper and also it has grids on it too. I find that the blades on my pen cutter last so much longer with this glass cutter.
Although the flexible mats are cheap at the beginning, the glass mat saves you & in the long run. Just something to consider
Now as for the coolest, inexpensive tool I have would have to be my pen cutter. I actually don't know what it's called but it looks like a pen except it has a blade instead. The blade is maybe 1/8" wide (not really wide like an exacto [sp?] knife). I've had it for over 2 years and I've only had to change the blade once.
I know we all spend a small fortune on supplies for our craft. But what are some of the inexpensive items you have purchased that really make a difference in your stamping?
For me, it's my Heidi Swapp edge distresser! I think I paid 99 cents for it and I just love it!
What's yours?
Coletta
Mine is my piercing tool - I use that thing for everything! Scraping glue, picking things up when my fingers aren't working right, untying knots that I messed up, moving tiny little gems or beads I could go on and on!
I routinely use a paperclip to score. It works really well because it is such a narrow edge and then I just smooth the fold with the back of my thumb. In order to get a straight line I place my cardstock in my paper trimmer and use the cutting track as my straight edge.
I routinely use a paperclip to score. It works really well because it is such a narrow edge and then I just smooth the fold with the back of my thumb. In order to get a straight line I place my cardstock in my paper trimmer and use the cutting track as my straight edge.
okay - i didn't even know there was such a thing as a centering ruler - how GREAT! on my next trip to Mike's I will look this up - in what part of the store did you find it?
this is a fun thread!
i also use my pampered chef scraper tool as my bone folder - they're free, and a have 5 or 6 of them laying around my stamp space, so i can always find one. I have an actual bone folder, but i prefer my scrapers.
i also use those plain cardboard photo storage boxes from michaels that go on sale every once in a while for about 1.50. i buy the plain white or black ones and they make my stamp space look very organized, even though it's not! i have tons of them on the shelves, but still need to work on labeling them. i think they look nicer than the clear rubbermaid type shoe boxes, and some of them hold messy stuff, so i am glad you can't see through them - i do need to get on those labels though!
__________________
Marni - SCS #14788 and SU Demo
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate. Thornton Wilder
Let us not forget the Crayola marker!! It works great in a pinch when you can't fine the bone folder or the PC Scraper because it looks like a craft bomb went off in my craft area.
__________________ Semper Fi !!! Still Suporting US forces in Iraq & around the world!!
I like my collection of sharpies... that way I always have coloured staples in the colour I want...
they are also great to add colour to other metal embelishments.
I also use a push pin to pierce for a brad. For the mat behind the push pin I use a cheap foam backed stamp I got before I knew what real stamps were. The rubber side down keeps it from slipping and it's small enough to go anywhere.
To clean out my eyelet punch (pre crop-a-dile) I used the round container that SU eyelets come in. I poked a hole in the lid then put one of those same cheap stamps, rubber side down, and glued a push pin into the foam. Put the lid on with the pin poking through the hole and tape it all together tight. Then I just pound the eyelet punch on it and in two taps the full punch is clean.
I also use the Pampered Chef scraper to clean any Modge Podge residue off of my desk after altering lunch box tins.
Instead of expensive acetate I use heavy weight page protectors. If you secure them well to the front of a card you can't tell the difference and the savings is HUGE. I use them for shaker cards too.
LOVE the wooden scewers for everything and they are so cheap I don't hesistate to throw them away.
Toothpicks are a MUST HAVE for me. I keep them in a lipstick holder that I altered.
Now that I am looking around my craft room, I don't have very many expensive tools at all. I am the queen of cheap so I have found alternate uses for almost everything.
My crop-a-dile is the most expensive thing I own. And now I want the new one. The big bite (or something like that). Anyone know where an island girl can buy one?
Mahalo
Two of my favorite tools are my mousepad and a piece of plastic canvas. I use the mousepad to stamp on (extra cushion helps me get better images with my bad hands... repetitive strain syndrome) and as cushion when I pierce paper. I use the plastic canvas to help me align brads or eyelets, and as a guide for paper piercing... nothing like that perfect grid to make sure that things line p just right! And the plastic canvas comes in shapes, too, which makes it easy to do piercing on things like my punched circles, too!
I LOVE my $2.99 piercing tool from Making Memory. I have the foam and template kit from SU but nothing to pierce with since I didn't want to get the $40 set (I already have a lot of what is in there). I am piercing A LOT now
I recently bought a tiny X Xyron to help me stick down my CB alphabets. It is so handy! I wish I'd bought it years ago! I've been reading and hearing about Xyrons, but never knew how they worked or why they were so handy. I'm hooked now!
I love my centering ruler. Helps find the center of a project and if I want to place a brad or eyelet or something in the same place, but opposite ends (get that?), I can see where they should go.
I saw the T-square on someone's blog and it looks like something I could use too. Great ideas everyone.
Use a desk pad - the sort that companys give away - they're free.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pyinfrisco
One of the best "tools" I bought was a pad of 18" X 24" newsprint at Michaels. I found it in the isle with all the watercolor and art paper pads. The reason I like it is because it covers and protects such a large area on my craft table top. The brand is Bienfang and it comes in a pad of 100 sheets. The sheets hold up a long time so I don't have to change it too often.
I thought that I replied to this thread earlier today, but it isn't here, so here goes! If this is a duplicate post, well, you'll just know how much I like my new teeny Xyron. I am probably the last person on the planet to get one of these nifty little tools. I always wondered what they were and how they worked. After I got bitten hard by the Bug, I had to buy the little Xyron to stick down all of the alphabets that I was cutting out. This is a seriouly great little tool and at under $8, it is worth every dime!
One of my "cheap tricks" is using a Pan Scraper instead of a bone folder. Besides the cheap price, 99� at most kitchen gadget places, I like the way it fits in my hand.
Here's a picture.... Scraper
OMG! I have one of these I got for free at the Southern Women's Convention a couple of years ago in Nashville. I like it even better than Pampered Chef scrapers because it has a nice "grip" on top. Perfect tool to replace the bone folder!
Thanks for the link, I've been wanting to get a couple extras but didn't know where to find them.
When you use mono adhesive and it sometimes gets stuck on your surface, you can put waxed paper down on your surface first so it doesn't make sticky spots your card will stick to. One day when I went to the post office to buy stamps, ( I buy several sheets at a time) they gave them to me in, you guessed it, a waxed envelope. WHALLA!!! I cheap, free, mat for you to put under cards the when you mono-adhesive and it goes off of the edge, just rub it off. try it
craftyteaspoon, have you considered mechanical pencils? I have some I bought at Office Max in a set of four and I wouldn't be without them. I use the ones that take .5 lead, which is pretty small. I just hate sharpening pencils all the time.
craftyteaspoon, have you considered mechanical pencils? I have some I bought at Office Max in a set of four and I wouldn't be without them. I use the ones that take .5 lead, which is pretty small. I just hate sharpening pencils all the time.
Makaren
Do they erase well? that seems to be a huge problem for me. Now matter how light I make the pencil line after erasing I can still see it, and it bugs me.:mrgreen:
__________________ Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
I don't have very many stamp pads, so my favorite tool has been my versamark pad. It is perfect for backgrounds. I recommend that you try it because it takes the color of your background and makes it just a smidge darker. WAYYYYY CCCOOOLLLLLL!!!! it's magic Because of this pad I haven't needed a ton of stamp pads which gives me more $$$ for stamp sets ;)
Use plastic needlepoint canvas to mark for eylets or brads. That way they are always straight. Just need a small piece the width of a card and a few rows wide. Works great!
I buy spices from a bulk food store. They come in plastic dishes with lids. I take my hole punch and punch 4-5 holes (usually 2 or 3 holes together so you get a longer opening) and put in several bobbins of ribbon with the end sticking out. Then I put 4 pieces of magnetic tape on the bottom and stick them on the side of my filing cabinet. I can easily see the ribbon and they don't take up any space on my table.
I put clay embellishments on my cards sometimes, and for a rolling pin (so to speak) I found a white plastic roller piece kinda like a pvc pipe, that came out of our fax machine at work. It is used with the film for the fax (ink?)
It also has a slight texture on it, so that is kinda neat for my clay play days.
__________________ Ginny , A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. -Douglas Pagels
I like using chalk but not the applicators I've used in the past. Now I use the one from Pebbles Inc. I love it and its kinda fun to work with. Here's a link because I give terrible descriptions. I bought the applicator and box of pom poms for around $5 at my LSS. http://www.qbaroo.com/pebblesinc/mai...productoid=188
I have a metal skewer that I love, I use it all the time, usually when something is broken and I have to poke it out, wrapping wire around, poking ribbon through things, it also makes holes when nothing else is close.
I also have free surgical needle holders from work that I love (you can use it like a needle nose pliers but it has scissor handles.
My small hole punch is the most used item in the house for threading ribbon to placing brads and eyelets it rocks.
I save all the community ed and similar booklets from the mail and use them when I glue things - just turn the page to a clean sheet.
__________________ Kyloe
The lesson from Charlie Brown: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
About the mechanical pencils -- I use a Magic Rub white eraser and that seems to take it right off. Using a light touch helps, too.
Makaren
I was just going to say, that with any pencil, using a good eraser is the ticket for results. The Magic Rub is a great one. The ones used for removing quilting marks are really good too. I love the Mirado Black Warrior pencils. Makes a great mark and erases easily.... lol..lol I'm mechanical pencil challenged. I always keep breaking the lead off....
I took an regular paper clip and un clipped it into a thin metal line, then took some pliers and bent one corner over like a hook? ( and smooshed this pretty flat) so it will go through 1/8 and 1/6 holes.
I put ribbons into the folded part and pull them through the holes with it.
WOW!!!
