Welcome!
Sea life mobile, inkspired
As I was thinking of doing my next blog, it occurred to me that perhaps a few of you would like to know what tools I find most useful in my Craft/Stamp Studio.
Let me be clear -
I do not get paid for anything I say or show on my blog. I have never received any product of any kind for free or reduced prices. (Not saying that wouldn’t be maybe nice, just saying it has never happened!)
What you see here is simply what I like.
And I think you might like it too!
I adore my Cricut Explore Air 2 cutting machine. From the first day I got it I have had fun with it, in so many different ways! I still feel like I have barely scratched the surface of what all it can do. Here are a couple of my projects that I made with my Cricut.
Created for a friend’s Farmer’s Market table, selling homemade honey.
Bookmarks made for a teacher friend’s students.
Apertures, accessories & words cut with my Cricut.
My next foray will be felt. Little gnome and fairy felt figures to be exact!
Suzy Woozy, Pinterest
The next large investment I have made and loved since the very first day-
My Spellbinder’s Platinum die cutting machine.
These 2 machines I leave out on my counter top as I use them almost every day. I also have a Sizzix Sidekick for quick, small die cutting projects.
Some indispensable Cricut tools are:
Painter’s tape. If you are not familiar with this tape, prepare to fall in love. It is a low tack tape that is temporary and peels off (mostly) without a problem or sticky residue left behind. It will hold your metal dies in place so they don’t slide around on your cutting platform. When your Cricut mat has lost some of its stickiness, painter’s tape will hold everything in place so you can still get cutting life out of your mats. It also is a great way to keep tiny metal die pieces together and not get lost. When I want straight lines on my cards, such as when I am sponging ink around an edge, it works great. It is reusable many times before you have to throw a bit away.
I use my paper cutter every day. Really! Invest in a good one and you will never regret it. Here is a ‘guillotine’ style I prefer. Mine also has exchangeable decorative blades.
Card by inkspired
In no particular order, here are other tools I often find helpful. There are a couple kinds of scissors I like. The ones with the closed handles are great for relieving hand stress and muscle cramps. Basically you only have to squeeze them together; the spring will force the blades open for you. The next pair are regular mechanism, but have shorter 2-3” blades and very sharp tips.
For detail cutting and inside corners you really need a shorter blade, like these 2.
I love these straight, needle tip tweezers that stay shut until you squeeze them open. I also have a curved tip pair I use all the time.
Vlvstamps.com
Otherwise you can find pretty good tape from Hobby Lobby/Michael’s. Stampin’Up! sells a good one too. Just be sure you get permanent and not temporary hold.
My new favorite glue for all purpose but especially paper items is art glitter glue. You can purchase a special tip that is super tiny and just perfect for all those little pieces added for embellishment. It also holds layers of cardstock together without warping.
Valentines with hand punched flower embellishments; by inkspired
I love my Bead Scooper tool. It just comes in handy for all sorts of different jobs.
If you don’t have a label maker, you are missing out! I have a Brother label maker that I use all the time. It helps me so much to be organized so I spend my time crafting instead of looking for things. (Think “now where did I put my keys?”).
You can see quite a few things I have labeled!
Without going into detail here are a few more tools I find myself using almost daily.
I hope you have found this helpful, and perhaps you have seen something new-to-you that you would like to try out.
Questions? Just ask me!
‘Til next time,
inkspired
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