Maya Road Office Sheers

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Reported by Julia Stainton



I have this addiction for finding fun and unique products to use in my designs. I love embellishments and innovation and quality have drawn me to Maya Road products again and again. When I first discovered the Maya Road Office Sheers line while surfing on-line, I couldn't resist trying them out. These embellishments are unique, fun and have a fresh trendy attitude.

Before you even open up your Office Sheers you will notice the fabulous tin that they come in. Maya Road makes some of the best packaging on the market. If you are addicted like me, you'll love how neatly you can store a few of these tins. Best of all....when you are done, you have a beautiful tin to embellish, store other items in or use as gift packaging. On the back of the tin, you can see the variety of styles included in each package to help you make your purchasing decision.

Inside the package you will find 40 or more semi-translucent Office Sheers. These flexible plastic embellishments are printed in black with various sentiments and have a slight texture to them. Each one is designed journaling box style. If you are a scrapbooker, you'll be familiar with journaling boxes...the perfect place to add information or thoughts to your project. The journaling boxes are perfect for quick projects and it is easy to add your information on the Office Sheer and incorporate it in your layout. Many scrappers get overwhelmed with large amounts of journaling and this product limits that to a small amount making it easy.



To journal on your Maya Road Office Sheers you will need a permanent marker. Gel pens that are formulated for writing on non-porous surfaces will also work. To add color and dimension, the Sakura Souffle line of gel pens are a great product to try with the Sheers. I find that the darker the ink, the more visible the writing. You may want to layer your journaling sheer on top of a fairly light piece of cardstock so that the writing is more legible. Experiment with the size of the pen you use. A heavy marker will be too bold. The one I had on hand, a Copic 0.05 worked well but was a tad too fine. I've since ordered a slightly thicker nib that I think will be perfect.

The Maya Road Office Sheers are also extremely easy to incorporate into cards and altered projects as well. Don't be worried about writing on all those journaling lines if you don't wish to! I love using the Office Sheers as a place to anchor other embellishments and/or my sentiment on a design. I love the fresh look they give my projects.



One thing I love to do with my Office Sheers is to stamp on them. This product is extremely easy to stamp on it you have the correct ink. Regular dye ink is not an option as it will not be absorbed. Using Stazon Solvent Ink by Tsukineko is a great solution to this problem and it comes in a myriad of colors. Be sure to clean your stamps well when using this ink. The Palette Hybrid Inks by Stewart Superior also work well on the Office Sheers. It does take a little longer to dry and the image will be a little more subtle but it does work and may be an option for you if you want a more flexible ink. To show you the difference I stamped the below card in both inks...the top sentiment is in a brown Stazon and the below pencil stamp is stamped in the Burnt Umber Palette Hybrid ink.

There are a few more ways to personalize your Maya Road Office Sheers. If you wish to use it over a dark element, you may want to brush a little acrylic paint on the reverse. I love the look this gives...a little bit of attitude. This is the same trick you can use with transparencies to highlight a part of your design. These embellishments are also easy to add embellishments such as snaps and eyelets to if you have a sturdy eyelet setter. I love using my Crop-a-dile to do this.


Adhering your Office Sheers to your project is very easy to do. While the Office Sheers are a heavy, durable plastic, they are flexible enough to attach easily with a stapler. I love this look as you can see from most of my projects and it is so quick and easy. If you wish to use a less visible method such as an adhesive, remember that some glues may show through and some may not be suitable for adhering plastics. My favorite adhesives for adhering the Office Sheers are glue dots and Sticky Strip. These are super-duty adhesives, easy to apply and you only need a small amount to secure your project. Hiding your adhesive under the black printed sections of the Sheer as well as under embellishments are both good options. As the Office Sheers punch well with a heavy eyelet punch, securing them with brads or eyelets is another great solution. I was very excited to find that the Office Sheers were also attachable with a tool near and dear to my heart. Put in a heavy duty sewing machine needle and stitch away. Just go slowly and carefully as the slippery surface can cause skipped stitches.


Pros:

• These are a really unique embellishment that adds a great look to your design
• The Office Sheers are very sturdy and would hold up well on an altered project that would get a lot of use
• I love the packaging and plan to use it for a fun project
• Extremely flexible product...goes with almost anything and I love the variety of
  styles available in each tin
  

Cons:

• You need permanent markers or specialty ink to write on them
• I'm not sure if I really see it as a disadvantage but some crafters may find it difficult to work around their semi-translucent properties. I love it for its unique look.
• Due to their size, the journaling boxes are not suitable for including large amounts of information on a layout
  

A few on-line sources:

• Maya Road
  
• Frantic Stamper
• Two Peas in a Bucket

The Maya Road Office Sheers retail at $8.00 US for a tin of 40 or more journaling sheers. This works out to 20 cents an embellishment which I think is great value. The Maya Road Office Sheers are extremely easy to use and I would give them a rating of 10 out of 10.

As you can see, I'm quite sold on this product! I've purchased 4 tins and can't wait to see what new options will be available next month at release time. Maya Road also has other fabulous products in their sheer line such a albums, ribbon, and die-cut sheets that work perfectly with their Office Sheers. Check them out as well as you won't want to miss them. I think Maya Road Office Sheers are, well....sheerly fabulous! Have you tried them? I'd love to hear what you think!