Crafters Anonymous

I have a confession to make today.  I know I'm not alone (my sister for example is, if anything, worse than me).  I am a massive hoarder!!  Not like you see on the TV on programmes like 'The Hoarder Next Door' or 'Hoarders: Buried Alive' but enough to cause issues to do with storage and containment.  Of course my hoard is mostly made up of craft materials.  I admit that I am addicted and can't stop buying - even if I don't need it.

The latest example of my problem happened only this week.  I had seen Crafter's Companion advertise their new die cutting machine around Christmas time and knew I had to have it.  Not too much of a 'problem' you might say but I already have a perfectly working Ebosser.  My sister (always more sensible with other people's spending than her own - sorry Kate) asked what it did differently to what I already had. erm....  It reverses!! was my only answer.  Not quite the amazing breakthrough machine I had waxed lyrical about but to me that was all it needed to justify spending £170.



Now, I hear some of you say, that doesn't sound much like a hoarder to me. Surely this is just an update on a machine I use every time I craft.  However, if I tell you it's my fifth die cutting machine (all of which are still in my craft room), despite the fact I've only been seriously crafting for about 4 years, then you might begin to see what I'm talking about.  Again, of course, I can justify each and every one (and I DO intend to sell my Ebosser - yeah whatever) so to me it doesn't seem that bad.

But then it got me thinking about what other multiples I have.  That's when I realised just how bad I am.

To name but a few of my items I have 6 trimmers, 7 scoreboards, 4 pokey tools, 6 bone folders, 100s of pens of all makes and 16 pairs of scissors!!! And that's just the basic tools of the trade.  I dread to think how many 12x12 paper pads, card kits, punches, stamps and, most importantly, dies I own. I really think I have a problem.  I'd like to say it's because I'm getting better products each time but that isn't necessarily the case.  Often it's because I can't resist a bargain - a serious problem for an over stocked craft room.  It's no surprise that a hobby that started with a carrier bag, a shoebox of embellishments and a 12x12 paper pad is now threatening to spill out of an entire bedroom.

Now I know I'm not alone and the crafters among you will think this is just normal but I'm beginning to think it might not be.  When I won't fork out £30 on a new pair of work shoes because I can't justify the cost but I'll spend over £100 on a new die cutting machine (to be honest not only because of the pause and reverse thing but also because it looks so sleek and is purple!!) then I might have to re-evaluate my spending habits.

Ah who am I kidding?  I nipped into the works earlier and spent £20 on 'bits and pieces' - more gems and tape and pencils and pretty things.  Whilst my obsession continues then my hoard will increase.

Stamp of Approval

When I first started crafting, and before I bought my die cutting machine, I thought stamping would be the way to enhance my scrapbook pages and cards.  I thought it would be a really easy way to add to them.  After all most of us start stamping at a really young age with potato printing right?  How hard could this be?

I'd see the gorgeous stamps in their packaging with the samples of how they could be coloured in.  I knew I wasn't particularly great at colouring (or interested in it really) but I thought that I could paper piece (stamping the image several times onto different papers and then cutting out the different bits) them instead.

Right from the start however, I knew stamping was not going to the easy option I thought it would be.  I tried allsorts of things - different blocks, different inks, sitting and standing to get the pressure right - but whatever I did I always made a mess.  The most infuriating thing was that I would generally leave this bit to the end of my project and then make a complete mess of thing I'd been working on for ages.  A lot of my early craft pieces have a random butterfly or flower on them that was never intended to be there. 

It was so frustrating that I eventually gave up.  I was fed up of smudged images, half inked sentiments and ruined cards.  I collected all my stamps together and put them in a box out of the way.  But then I'd watch people like Phill Martin or Chloe Endean on Create and Craft, they moved channels, and they were always able to make stunning cards with their stamps.  Now I know they are professionals but how could they get perfection every time?  I thought it must be their particular stamps so bought some of theirs - still no success.  It was clearly me!

As I progressed I got into die cutting and stamps became a thing of the past.  If I lost my crafty mojo I'd turn to my Hunkydory kits and makes lots of cards otherwise I would spend hours playing with my dies.

Then recently I bought a bargain kit of papers and embellishments.  In the pack came a large stamp and I loved it. It was a beautiful girl and I just had to have a go. Because it was so large I took the paper to the stamp and for the first time I had complete success.  When I took the paper off I had a clear, unsmudged image.  I stamped her over and over again.  I was so pleased with the results that I set about making cards with her.

 

Using paper from the pads that came in the pack, Spectrum Noir pens and ink pads I did a bit of paper piecing to create this fresh feeling card.

 

This was a little more advanced as I embossed the 'waste' that was created when I heat embossed this Tattered Lace panel die (pictured) and used it as a background.  This time I coloured her in with my Spectrum Noirs.  A much more girlie image I think.

 

 

I think I may have discovered a liking for stamping now but perhaps I will save up and treat myself to a TODO so it can do all the difficult stamping bit.

I'm Back

I can't actually believe it has been so long since I last posted on here.  I'm not sure where all the time has gone although life has been pretty hectic.  I've started teaching again 3 days a week and I have to say I love it.  Due to the nature of supply work, it means I can do the bit of the job I love without all the stresses of targets, marking and scrutiny.  I really believed this time last year that I would never go back into a classroom - how wrong I was.  I'm back at it and I'm enjoying teaching again.

It also means that I also have plenty of time for family fun as well as getting into my craft room. It really is my sanctuary (although a very chaotic, messy sanctuary at times) and I can lose myself in creating new samples.  I was very busy before Christmas as I had a couple of craft parties and actually went out to a Christmas Fayre.  Although it wasn't the most successful experience it did show me that people liked my cards and that there is a market for them (if I can get the setting and prices right)

 

I had lots of orders from family and friends and it kept me out of mischief during those long Winter evenings.

 

I've also been continuing to make samples for Tattered Lace that have been on TV, on their Pinterest site and also on Crafting.co.uk as examples of what can be made with the dies.  It really has been so rewarding.  I have loved getting these dies and embossing folders before anyone else and really being able to play with them.  It is such a thrill to see the hours you put into your work being appreciated and used by the company.  It's something I hope to keep doing (obviously as long as they want me to) as I really feel like I am doing something with my crafting.

 

 

It still astonishes me how far I've come from my little bag of embellishments and one paper pad that I started with 4 years ago.  As people begin to start talking about the Rio Olympics it takes me back to those first evenings, watching the London Olympics with a glass of wine and my new found hobby.  I've gone from there to an entire spare and it's more of an obsession these days.  I start every week telling myself not to buy anymore crafty goodies and have usually been shopping by Tuesday.  I had a big sort out of my dies a couple of weeks ago (I'm terrible for not putting things back where they belong until I can no longer find anything) and I could not believe how many dies I actually had.  I try not to think about how much I've spent on them in just under 4 years because it is what I love.

 

 

Well I'm off back to it now.  Got some new panel dies I've been experimenting with.  Hoping the results will be good.  Determined to post on here more now, despite being busier than I was before, and I hope you will continue to have a read.

 

Bye for now