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Post by joblackford on Oct 4, 2023 0:52:13 GMT
Very cute cards azcrafty. I love the color scheme. I’m not following the cutting guide exactly because I have a mix of 12x12, 6x6, and scraps that I want to use. I’ve started 6 cards so far using a cut apart page for the focal image and they’re turning out pretty cute. Once I figure out sentiments I’ll be back to share.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 3, 2023 17:06:07 GMT
I have a random question, as I have not been to a Shimelle live in quite awhile. I pre-ordered her Christmas stamps for this year, has she made any announcements as to when these would begin shipping? I just deep cleaned my scrap room, and suddenly I have so much space for new goodies... 😉 I believe that the order was at the head of the manufacturer’s queue last week(ish) so she should be receiving them soon. Pretty sure I heard her tell someone that they hadn’t arrived yet. congrats on making lots of space!
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Post by joblackford on Oct 3, 2023 16:56:20 GMT
I’m in love with your fall mushrooms MichyM - such gorgeous colors! I love a good mushroom. They seem to be everywhere lately but some are either a bit too realistic or too cutesy. They really seem to glow in those colors. Very nice combo of stenciling, foiling, and embossing on your notecards too.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 3, 2023 2:08:07 GMT
(This might be a little rambling thanks to cold medicine) I don’t know exactly what Shimelle was thinking about, but I think that part of this comes back to the age old question of who the “average” scrapper is who is shopping in the big craft stores. I don’t think most of them are doing December Daily projects. I think they’re making a few pages of the photos they took at holiday get togethers and birthday parties and vacations, and to that end they’re going to the craft store looking for papers that go with their photos. I think that’s why places like Joann have open stock paper for all of the seasons, holidays, and events all year round. I don’t know if the average scrapper necessarily even knows about the new releases every few months. Maybe more so with the Designer Destination, although that’s only a selection of each year’s collections.
I guess if a designer paper does well or fits what a retailer wants it gets turned into an open stock paper. But the quality and selection aren’t great and there’s usually no embellishments from the collections to match them. Maybe the mythical average scrapper doesn’t mind that.
Some of the answers here sound to me like strategies to deal with the way things are done and have been done for a long time - stocking up when you see something good because chances are it will disappear and never be seen again. They’ve trained us well!
I think the system is about what retailers want and need more than what customers want and need.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 3, 2023 1:47:45 GMT
I missed this as I was on a cruise. Any chance anyone would be willing to send me the Crafty Al sentiments? Messaged you
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Post by joblackford on Oct 2, 2023 15:49:09 GMT
Beautiful MichyM ! That's more like the sentiment I thought those backgrounds deserved. Love the shine you got with the embossing dip. I haven't heard of that one before.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 2, 2023 5:00:04 GMT
Thanks joblackford - so a liquid glue right? 'cause my glue dots were an unmitigated failure, lol Yup, I think I’ve used a couple of different kinds of liquid glue successfully.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 23:53:03 GMT
I used up some random black "enamel dots" I made with Nuvo drops How do you attach the homemade 'dots' - I made some but attaching them is proving tricky I made them on waxed paper and glued them on with Bearly Art glue. I haven't noticed any coming off but I also haven't used them very much.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 19:24:22 GMT
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 19:20:36 GMT
I just posted some related cards to the Sheetload thread. More details there but here are the cards: SLoC September by jo.blackford, on Flickr close up: SLoC September by jo.blackford, on Flickr green set: Sept share by jo.blackford, on Flickr I was using up some old Paige Evans Pink Paislee paper I had bought under the influence of a YTer 4+ years ago. It was so pretty I couldn't bring myself to cut it for a long time, but in the end I managed to use every last inch of the 3 papers, including the branding strips! Here are the non-Sheetload designs I used for the 3rd piece of paper. A6? colored cardbases with a mismeasured cut that I decided I liked and repeated: Sept share by jo.blackford, on Flickr Scraps on A2 cards: Sept share by jo.blackford, on Flickr
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 19:09:24 GMT
OK, here are the other Sheetload cards I made with the second sheet of 4 year old Pink Paislee paper I'd been afraid to cut into. I decided to do some with the b-side showing, and grabbed some stamped and cut Waffle Flower x Helen Dardik images, layered on vellum half circles, for half of them, Lovely Layers sunflowers in place of the half circle for the others. I got a woodgrain die recently so I used that to decorate the horizontal strip. Sept share by jo.blackford, on Flickr
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 19:04:54 GMT
Pretty basic but good for new card makers I guess. That's my feedback from almost all of the classes I've watched. If that's who they want to appeal to I think that's great. I probably don't need to sign up if that's what they're offering though. Hope you get the printing issue figured out. Why would they configure for 12x12 when 98% of people are printing on A4 or Letter? Very odd. If you have to send them out to be printed it's probably not worth the bother.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 19:00:54 GMT
Not much today. I've watched Daniel West but you can get the concept from the thumbnail. There were only a couple of extra details that might not be obvious, and his freebie was sort of unrelated, some kind of Copic marker guide. I'm currently watching the Quick Cuts video, Lauren Hinds, a Creative Memories person. It's a Sheetload/One Sheet Wonder type of sketch thing. Not efficient enough use of pp for my taste and my patience for specific paper cutting guides is limited. Everything else looks like not my thing or so obvious I don't need to watch. I might put Tania Ahmed on if I'm in the mood later. MichyM the embossing layer background yesterday was cool I liked her card a lot right up until she added the sentiment. I would've made a different choice there. But the technique was great. Can't wait to see what you do with it I got to the sentiment part and turned it off. So many other choices for an easy sentiment and she did that? Eh, not my fave either. I just completely finished my first one with sentiments and a couple things to zhush it up a bit. Not 100% happy with it, but I've made several more of the card bases, so I'll futz around a bit more today till I get them "perfect" and then will post. Are you going to try the background too? I watched Daniel over coffee this morning. Man, could that guy BE any more laid back?!? I liked what he did though, and if I had some critter/scene stamps I'd give it a go. I liked the example made with the holiday tree bottle brush stamps yesterday (cute stamp set) and maybe give it a go with a tree stamp I have on hand. I don't have any of the crayons and at $4 each I'm going to hold off, but I think I can replicate the look with oxides dabbed onto the stamp. I've watched several more over the weekend as well, but have already forgotten them. CRS strikes again! Daniel is verrry chill. lol. He's a good antidote to the manic/ADHD energy of some of the crafters I watch. I don't think I'll be doing any embossing any time soon. It's in my "too much trouble" file for right now. But if I do it I might try using more stamps on a block at one time so I can ink and stamp the first layer in one go. I think I could probably do the same for the second layer too, filling in the gaps. I have a set with lots of different snowflakes. I would do a layered die cut thing in the middle, either florals/foliage with a small sentiment or just a big bold sentiment. I wondered why she didn't glue her printer paper sentiments to a thick cardstock for stability at the very least. The embossed layer over the top was an interesting idea for giving printed sentiments some extra stability and gloss though. Maybe one day I'll see a use for that tip.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 17:52:50 GMT
I am so glad the bundling period is over at Ali's. Now its time to count the days til my box ships. I bought some items knowing I would not use them all, so I plan on re-selling some of the items I won't be using. Finally! I didn't shop DD this year, I've just been following along for fun, and it seems like eons ago that y'all started shopping! I hope everything gets out fast, arrives safely, looks good, and/or gets resold easily
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 17:46:57 GMT
Not much today. I've watched Daniel West but you can get the concept from the thumbnail. There were only a couple of extra details that might not be obvious, and his freebie was sort of unrelated, some kind of Copic marker guide. I'm currently watching the Quick Cuts video, Lauren Hinds, a Creative Memories person. It's a Sheetload/One Sheet Wonder type of sketch thing. Not efficient enough use of pp for my taste and my patience for specific paper cutting guides is limited. Everything else looks like not my thing or so obvious I don't need to watch. I might put Tania Ahmed on if I'm in the mood later. MichyM the embossing layer background yesterday was cool I liked her card a lot right up until she added the sentiment. I would've made a different choice there. But the technique was great. Can't wait to see what you do with it
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 17:31:32 GMT
I used up some random black "enamel dots" I made with Nuvo drops And I used every last inch of 3 gorgeous fall leaf papers I had been hoarding/intimidated to use from Paige Evans. I bought them under the influence of Lisa Fonseca when she was on the DT for Pink Paislee about 4 years ago! (I just found the video that made me buy them). I even used the branding strips.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 17:22:07 GMT
I would really love some inspiration to use up my older stash. I’m talkin 10+ years older. Can anyone recommend youtubers who feature older stash busting? Bourbon Creek Crafts does cards, craft fair type crafts, and scrapbook pages and often uses older supplies or paper pads. I've also seen she does a Bringing Back Basic Grey collab that might be of interest www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTBlJ_UFBKf_GrKyWz1TDgid5VOcN8si_Not sure how old she goes but she is very productive and might be inspiring.
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 3:11:00 GMT
I finished the rest of my cards today! It was a bit late to take a photo but I’ll share tomorrow. I made 6 in fall colors, 6 in greens. Should I take half of the bonus?
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Post by joblackford on Oct 1, 2023 0:00:48 GMT
I’m not a Tim Holtz fan so this was an easy pass for me. I realize stamps and dies aren’t cheap to produce but $80 for stamps and dies is just plain ridiculous especially when they are geared to one specific occasion. I’m rating this Stamptember a C- and I’m being generous with that. Does anyone know what happens to these sets that haven’t sold now that the month is over? I never paid that much attention in the past so I was just wondering. I don't think there have ever been so many leftovers at the end of the month before (long time StampTember followers ?am I right?) but I would think they'll be in the shop until they sell out and then won't be restocked. I don't think they'd be dumb enough to trash them like a fashion brand might. I don't think they'll be clearanced though.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 23:57:49 GMT
joblackford . Thank you for posting this. I have today set aside for card-making, so I watched the layered embossing one, and then pulled out a Reverse Confetti snowflake set and my oxides and made a panel using that technique. It is gorgeous, and it’s my first time doing something like this. Talk about no fail! I’m going to set myself up to make 6-8 of them in a bit. For the first layer I’ll still use a clear embossing powder, but for the second I’m going to use BMonroe Fairy Dust which is clear with a little fine glitter in it. Just to give it a little zhush, ya know Anyhow, I would not have known about this had you not posted. It’s a shame they don’t get the word out better on SM. Will watch one or two others later on. Thanks again! Glad to hear that technique worked well for you. The example card didn't wow me so I didn't watch yet but it sounds like it's worth a watch so I'll take a look tonight. This summit was announced while I was still in the middle of the Get Organized HQ and pretty soon after the holiday card one so I was feeling a bit fed up with the endless summitting. If you like this kind of thing the people to follow are Laurel Beard and Justine Hovey, who organize them, and Ardyth and Crafty Al who are always on the presenter list. The quality of the presentations is a bit hit or miss and I think they're mostly aimed at beginner cardmakers.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 20:37:21 GMT
Another person with a different style (although still a painter) is Jill Foster for Penny Black’s YouTube channel. She creates very simple stash kits using a grouping of stamps and dies and batches the work so she can work in a small cloffice space and not get overwhelmed. She has several videos talking about avoiding decision fatigue and several using her holiday card supplies that’s kind of a capsule/kit. I think there’s value in the videos even if the cards themselves are not your style. Her storage methods are also very very simple - a couple of photo boxes with basic paper envelopes to hold the dies and die cuts, etc. youtube.com/@pennyblackinc?si=GQxVgkKb7LG3f1a8
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 18:17:09 GMT
I'm watching Jennifer McGuire's video using the TH set. I had been wondering about making myself some cardstock coloring stencils like she's making, glad to see that it's not too difficult and it looks really nice. I think they would definitely be worth the trouble for mass producing colored images if you prefer ink blending. I also love her Santa coming off the edge of the card. If I ever find a Santa I like I might try that layout. And CZ's masked frame was another technique I had been planning to try. And I think I know which stamp set from my stash would work to try both techniques
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 18:09:50 GMT
Yes, I'm getting the same whether I try to load it directly or try to go from page 2.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 17:35:58 GMT
Dies are apparently very close to being sold out! 1:35pmET Makes sense that they didn't want to overproduce those.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 17:33:04 GMT
According to Tim in his live, he had no idea the dies were being produced. He found out last night. That was SSS. I think the pricing reflects that. And I think it was poorly thought out on SSS part. I missed the beginning, so thanks for sharing that detail. I was wondering because two days ago when I looked there was only one TH listing. Most of the shapes are not terrible to fussy cut, except the reindeer, and I don't think TH would use dies in his style of art anyway. I applaud SSS in the sense that it will be a great money maker for them, even if only a small portion of buyers get the dies. I like the sweater (Laura's rainbow ones esp), the Santa, and snowman. I don't actually have a Santa stamp, even though I make hundreds of Xmas cards every year. I don't think I have a snowman either. But I think I prefer die cutting to stamping these days, and I prefer buying pre colored ephemera even more!
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 17:25:02 GMT
Thanks for the link joblackford . I thought I had signed up but ...perhaps not. I may or may not watch videos over the weekend - mostly depends on how time works out. I am kind of summit-ed out at this point Out of today's I'm mostly interested in Crafty Al and Jess Crafts and then on Sunday - maybe Erin Reed, Nicki Baxley, Tania Ahmed, and maybe Lauren Hinds I can fill you in on what Alicia and Jess did if you don't find the time. Honestly you can probably get 98% of it from looking at the thumbnail. But Crafty Al did a really nice job of her presentation and has a nice sentiment printable freebie. I'm resisting the influence of Tim Holtz/StampTember on YT right now but I'm about to switch back and see if there's any more videos worth watching on the summit.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 17:18:50 GMT
Wait, why am I even considering spending $50 on a single stamp set?! I would never buy those stencils or pastes so they're $0 value to me. Regardless of how much I like the stamps I just can't justify that price. I might look for a font that is similar but I'm going to save my money.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 16:52:45 GMT
And Tim Holtz is a "no" for me as well. Which is a disappointment. Not crayz about it at all. 49.99 for stamps, two small stencils and two mini pastes. Heidi of SSS surprised him with producing the dies to match, which never happens with TH stamps anymore, but they are 29.99 more. So $80 for a "meh" set. No Stamptember for me at all. When I thought the dies were included for the $50 I was going to get it. I don't really care about the pastes or stencils but I really like the sentiments (esp the font) and the images look pretty fun and easy to color. But am I willing to either stamp on shapes/panels (yes, probably) or fussy cut (a few of them, maybe)? Because I'm sure as hell NOT paying $80 for the set with dies. Very disappointed with how they split/priced that. I'll have to give that some thought. I can live without it. The more I look at the images I think I only love a couple of them so it's probably a no.
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 15:12:35 GMT
I felt like all of those were aimed at beginners. Ardyth always impresses me with her tightly edited videos and I liked that she was able to show multiple options without dragging it out too long. Still beginner friendly but not coma inducing. Ardyth is the only one I've watched at regular speed without any jumping forward. I find Ardyth to be very professional in general. Her videos are always so well done. She has such a calm presence. I'm surprised she doesn't get snapped up by design teams, but I guess that's not her thing, she's more independent? I forgot the summit was this weekend and meant to sign up, but I'm doing C&CD so not enough time, anyway. Have fun, I enjoy reading your reports, everyone! I believe she's worked with Crafty Meraki, maybe one or two more small companies, but she seems to be happy doing her own thing and making affiliate money. I believe she's an accountant IRL so she probably has a better sense of how much getting free DT stuff costs in terms of space, commitment, and perhaps taxes. Enjoy C&CD! You're not missing much over here
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Post by joblackford on Sept 30, 2023 5:37:25 GMT
I liked Juliana’s card and process, but did not need to live through every.single.second of it. I guess if you were a beginner it would have been more relevant. I did like the technique though. Also watched Desiree- again nice to see her technique, but way too much content LOL I actually couldn’t watch that one. Between the silver glitter nails (so distracting) and the teeny tiny foam dots I couldn’t concentrate on anything else! Hope that doesn’t come across as snarky, just my honest reaction. Not snarky, no, not to me. I agree. All three could've benefited from some fast forwarding/super-fast-sticker-mode as Shimelle calls it. Or at least some more pre-preparation or different adhesive choices in Paige's case. I kept thinking those foam squares won't hold up well in the mail anyway, especially with the thin stickers hanging off the edges, but they were also just so awkward to watch! And some of her designs were more sticker sneeze than expert designer. They were beginner friendly though. Juliana's one was OK, maybe because I was doing something else while watching, but I couldn't handle her hovering each stamp trying to decide where to place it. That's where making a sample ahead of time would've helped. I liked that she showed multiple ways to use one ink, that was good, though not new info to me. I fastforwarded through Desiree after the first flower. I don't find watercolor relaxing to do and I'd rather hoped she was going to show something looser or messier that I could try without having patience. I felt like all of those were aimed at beginners. Ardyth always impresses me with her tightly edited videos and I liked that she was able to show multiple options without dragging it out too long. Still beginner friendly but not coma inducing. Ardyth is the only one I've watched at regular speed without any jumping forward. Natasha was OK. I couldn't watch Justine mask and stamp. I will try to watch the 3D poinsettia tomorrow, and maybe the die cut mass production one, but meh... maybe I should just sit down and make some versions of Ardyth's cards and call day 1 good.
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