Thursday, April 4, 2013

{SOME} of my favorite crafty tools!

Hello all! Tonight I thought I would just share of my favorite things that I use all the time!! I am going to try to post at least every other day, sometimes maybe more, but I will for sure have a craft to share next! 

1st off is Tim Holtz Distress Ink! LOVE it!!! So many things you can do with it, so many beautiful colors! Highly recommend trying these out! There are lots of YouTube videos to show you exactly how to use them. They are AWESOME! I store them upside down so they are nice a juicy when I reach for them. I also have no organization for my blender pads, because I have tried everything. So I finally just marked my browns with the initials for the color, and that's it. Not too hard to tell the rest of them.
2nd is my OttLite! Awesome light! They are a bit pricey, so watch for sales. They offer a beautiful white light that make colors appear more vibrant, and it doesn't make my eyes do weird things like yellow light does for some reason. This one can be ran off batteries, or a plug, but it doesn't come with a plug which stinks, because the batteries really don't last too long. But we found a plug sitting around that worked. But I highly recommend getting a plug for it.
3 has 3 items in it! First off is my Hero Arts Scrubber Pad. Ummmm wish I had bought one when I first started stamping. I was cleaning mine with baby wipes, and I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but the clear stamps have this stickiness to them. And it was making little hairs and pieces of the wipes stick to it! This one comes with a top pad and a bottom pad, you spray the bottom one, which is what I use my little Ranger Mini Mister for, clean off the stamp by rubbing it across the bottom pad and dry it on the top. That is really all I use my mini mister for, I am not a huge fan of the water look with the distress inks. But defiently having a little bit of water around is always a good thing when crafting! And lastly in this pic my Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Perfect stamps every time...love this ink pad. I will always have one of these!
Xyron sticker maker! This is the Teresa Collins version which is OH so cute. I actually currently have two of these, one has re-positional stuff in it. If you don't have one of these and you DO have my next item you seriously need to get one!
My Cricut Expressions 2! Now, before you all start telling me how much they stink compared to the Cameo, I will say this. I would LOVE a Cameo. But I refuse to sell my Cricut. I love it too. So until the day I can reasonably afford both machines and have the space for both, I will be sticking with my Cricut. That said, you will love having a Xyron sticker maker if you have a Cricut. You send the little tiny pieces through...eyes, mouth, little embellishments. Cleaner image because you don't have to hassle with glue! Love my E2 though. I started out with a Create, and loved it, but love the bigger size!
Cuttlebug! I started out with the Sizzix Boutique...which is a great beginner machine. But then my MIL gifted me some embossing folders and one of them was a 5X7. I was still kind of on the fence about moving up to the cuttlebug but then I saw it at Joann's for 40 percent off! So I snatched it up! And I love it! Small footprint, folds up nicely, and does so much! Highly recommend it!
My Fiskars paper cutter. LOVE! So I have a Provo Craft cutter, which is great. But no where around me carried the replacement blades and it was really needing a new one. Plus I wasn't crazy about the lifting the bar to get the paper under thing. What did I do? I bought a cutterpede and oh that thing was evil. I know some people like them, but I gave it away because I just couldn't stand how it worked. I knew I wanted to find a swivel one. So I found these on sale at Michael's and decided on this one. And it works GREAT. It's easy to cut with, the only thing I really don't like about it is it's notched on one end for the blade to pop out and be replaced. And I store it standing up, so it falls out if I don't make sure to put the other side down. But other then that I love it! :)

So these are just some of the things I regularly use. I will for sure be sharing a craft in the next couple of days. Got a couple ideas going, so check back soon!

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1 comment:

  1. Oooh... Tami, GREAT POST!!
    I think Ishould do something like this too.. Ummm.. TOP TEN TOYS... Or something.. lol..
    You've got some great stuff, and yes, I'm in the same boat with you on the Cricut/Cameo issue.. :)
    Thanks for sharing... So proud to be a follower now too!! xoxo

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