More Tools of the Trade

Tools, just so you know, you don't have to be a man to like tools! 

Close To My Heart has some great tools to work with, especially for stamping. Our stamps are clear and pretty darn rugged. The best thing next to clear stamps are the thick clear blocks.

The reason why clear stamps and blocks are the way to go is because stamping isn't always perfect. uhhhh What do you mean not perfect?!

Remember, there are no scrapbooking police, but some of us like to try to be almost perfect! So there is a little spongy pad that comes with every stamp set and you really need to have a clear spot to put the pad down, place the paper/cardstock on top of it, then ink up your stamp and press down firmly. Lift the stamp and block off and behold your work of art!! 

oopsy  You say it's not perfect. Maybe you didn't press evenly, maybe there was a wrinkle you didn't notice on the pad...who knows. BUT IT'S NOT PERFECTTTT.

You can see where the ink is still on the stamp and not the cardstock. Well, No Problemo! Just stand up and maneuver the stamp back into position and try again.

Even with aging eyesight, I can line up the ink to the no ink spot then, 

Ahhhhh you achieved perfection

 Always remember to "season" your stamps. This just means to place each stamp on a block and stamp them several times on scratch paper until you achieve a complete image.
By the way-this is really important!

I will now make a confession. Forgive me Father, for I did not want to stamp. 

I just wanted to use CTMH's stickease (really, really, thick stickers that coordinate with the papers, which btw-I love). All the CTMH papers have coordinating stickease or dimensional elements. If you really don't want to stamp, you don't have to. But, I have to tell you how much I like to stamp now. I'm not really happy till I have ink up to my elbows and embellishments stuck to my jeans. Yes, I found a star on my pants that was going into the wash. See, I AM A STAR!!!

So much fun and it feels so good to create, even if I use someone else's instruction. We each make it our own in some way. 

A long time ago, the girls from work, me included, would go out for lunch. Of course we were always on a diet...so we would go shoe shopping. WooHoo!! Our work was not in the best of areas and the outlet shoe warehouses catered to some other working girls-if you know what I mean. There was a line of shoes (very fancy shoes) that had a motto engraved on the soles "too much is not enough". I always thought that was funny. Well, decades later when I embellish I find that motto comes back to haunt. Appropriate for October, right?

Thanks for stopping by!!
Dorothy