I Know, I Know....

I didn't announce the new team today! My internet was down all day and I haven't been able to contact all the new team members!

I will announce the new team on Thursday... sorry everyone!

Kodak EasyShare Software

Reported by Carolyn King


I didn't even realize what I was buying when I purchased my Kodak EasyShare Camera/Software. I just wanted a simple digital camera---one that would not take me days to learn how to use and one that included software so that I could manipulate my (poor) photographs and make them look a bit better!


After doing minimal research, I purchased my first Kodak EasyShare camera and I am now on my third one (FYI--I am on my third one because of my own mistakes----I left one outside in the rain and I dropped one at CHA!) Currently, I have the Kodak EasyShareC633. I like the camera because it is lightweight and easy to use but for this review--I am going to focus on the software.


The Kodak EasyShare software is designed so that you can upload your photos and create an easy tagging system that enables you to organize your pictures by date or event. This makes finding your photos very easy. What I am most impressed about is the super-simple editing features it has. You do not have to be very technologically advanced to understand the software and get great results. Love that!

I use this camera/software for all of my cardmaking uploads. After uploading my pictures I can click on the Edit button and the software will enable me to perform the following functions:

Crop (Using the arrow you adjust the picture box to create the borders of the photo); Rotate; Red Eye reduction; Enhance (instantly enhances the photo for you); Scene balance (You adjust the exposure, shadow and highlights to get the look you want); Color Balance; Scene Effects (Black & White, Sepia, Forest, Scenic, Portrait, Sunset); Fun Effects (Spotlight, Coloring Book, Cartoon, Fisheye).

Here are a few of the fun effects. I used my daughter's picture from Halloween last year. Note: this picture was taken outside so there is plenty of light. On pictures I take inside (ie. cards), I often have to lighten up the pictures manually to get the results I want. You can do that with this software.


Here is the same photo, but I cropped it:

Here is the same photo, but I used the Scene Balance function and adjusted the exposure, shadows and highlights. I use the Scene Balance functions often on my photos of cards/projects.

Here is one of the fun effects--Cartoon! I had to include this because it is just fun. You can print these out so your children can color themselves. (Or, you can start a family feud by giving each child their sibling's photo to color!)

Here is the same photo with the Black and White enhancement:

PROS:

• I like the Kodak EasyShare Camera and Software because it is affordable and very easy to use and install.
• I can upload and edit photos very quickly.
• The Software is user friendly and does include a lot of fun editing features.

CONS:

• The Software is basic so there are a lot of functions it cannot do.
• You cannot apply a watermark on your photos using this software so I actually have to use another program to do that if I want to put my name on my photos.

You can find the Kodak EasyShare Camera/Software at stores like Walmart, Best Buy and most stores that have a camera section. The camera and software retails for about $100 but you can spend a lot more if you want more zoom or features on your camera. I always go with the basic model because I tend to break things and I don't have to feel as bad if I am spending less money.

In conclusion, if you do not want to spend a lot of money for your camera and software, this is a great camera for you. Additionally, the software is so user friendly that you don't have to have much computer knowledge to use it.

If you have the Kodak EasyShare Camera and Software, I would love to hear your opinion.

And now, I have to say goodbye. This is my last article with Craft Critique as my term is up this month. Thanks so much for warmly welcoming me. It was such a fun experience. Hopefully I am invited to write some guest articles in the future.

Wool and Synthetic Felt

Reported By: Susie Ziegler

One of my favorite materials to use in hand stitching and crafting is felt. Felt is readily available at craft retailers but there are several types. I went out and purchased a selection to compare for you, crafty readers.

The first and most beloved type is 100% wool. This felt is reported to have an almost mystical perfection but is really expensive and is only available online or at specialty outlets. I'm sorry to say that I did not purchase or test this felt. I can only go by the word on the street that says it is fantastic.

Another type of felt that you can actually find at stores is also commonly called "wool felt" but is really a wool/rayon blend. American fabric retailer JoAnns has a selection of this felt manufactured by National Nonwovens at about $10/square yard. I'll disclose right away that this is my favorite felt and I have a good sized stash of it in every color. JoAnns only carries a small selection, unfortunately, so I usually need to go online to get certain colorways.


Most commonly available in craft stores is synthetic felt made from acrylic or polyester. JoAnns and WalMart both carry a nice synthetic by Kunin Group made from 100% recycled bottles. Priced at under $4/yard for a large 72-inch width, this felt is an excellent value. Squares of this Ecospun polyester felt are stacked in the craft area and are about 20 or 25 cents each.
Finally, at Michaels and Hobby Lobby, I found 20 to 25 cent acrylic felt squares of unknown manufacturer. Hobby Lobby's acrylic felt was the softest and fuzziest. Michaels' was also soft, but thinner and more dense.
Wool/Rayon felt has the most "natural" feel for obvious reasons. Acrylic is slightly scratchy. Actually all felt is slightly scratchy and if you are allergic to wool, I suppose you would be scratchiest of all using felt of that fiber. I noticed that the acrylic felt has a slightly glossy sheen to it. Many people prefer it for this very reason. In this photo, my wool felt is the darker dull cut leaf on the far left.

Sometimes I use hole punches on felt to get uniform pieces more quickly. Whenever I've tried hole punching acrylic felt, the results are disastrous. Wool felt punches easily, although there are usually a few fuzzies to trim off with scissors. You can die cut all types of felt with heavy duty die cutting machines like a Sizzix. Thin dies designed for paper like the Cuttlebug will not work at all. Don't even try it. Just trust me...


One of my biggest problems with synthetic felt is that it is too translucent. I want my applique projects to stay true to their color and not have the backs of my threads and patterned fabrics showing through. Look how easy it is to see the paper behind this felt square from Hobby Lobby.

I was surprised to find that the synthetic felt squares I saw at Michaels were reassuringly opaque just like my wool/rayon blended felt. Different colors of synthetic felt will have varying levels of translucency.

I washed small felt squares and the felt all held up well in my regular laundry wash and dry cycles. Only the wool felt shrunk considerably and had marked change in its texture. The synthetic felts all came through the wash virtually the same as they went in although just a little bit fuzzier.

All felt will pill and fuzz over time depending on how you use it. Note on this purse applique that the blue synthetic felt has pilled the most. The other colors are natural fibers.

I use felt in little handstitched appliques and small felt mascot projects. Ease of cutting and stitching are important to me. I find that synthetic felt drags against my needle when I am stitching and resists my scissors when I cut. Friends of mine who hand stitch felt find that this does not bother them and they like the synthetic felt because of it's availability.

Wool Blend Felt
Pros:

• Cuts well
• Opaque and dense
• Natural feel
• Does not pill as much over time
• Considered "premium"

Cons:

• Shrinks when laundered
• Expensive
• Hard to find

Synthetic Felt
Pros:

• Ecospun is eco-friendly because it is made from 100% post consumer plastic
• Soft and fuzzy (this may be a disadvantage depending on your personal preference)
• Holds shape in laundry
• Widely available and inexpensive

Cons:

• Resists cutting and hole punching
• Translucent
• Pills and fuzzes over time

Synthetic felt is available all over the place. They might even have a stack of it at your local drug store. You can find 100% wool felt and wool/rayon blend felt online at A Child's Dream Come True, Prairie Joint Junction, and Erica's, as well as many other sources.

After doing these tests, I still prefer stitching with my wool blend felt. I'll save the synthetic for Brownie troop projects and things I expect to launder. Of course I love anything of any type of fiber that my crafty friends have made for me!

What about you other users of felt? Are you lovers of synthetic or do you prefer natural wool?

Clover Soft Touch Crochet Hooks

Reported by Dana Vitek

I hadn't been crocheting long when I realized how much it hurt my hands. My fingers ached, and sometimes the tip of my thumb went numb. Despite my mother's insistence that it was because I was holding the hook, and the yarn, wrong (and in the wrong hand), I knew it was because traditional crochet hooks are not ergonomically correct. Especially when crocheting tight fabrics in single crochet, like in amigurumi, there is a lot of pressure exerted over just a tiny area of the hook's handle.

Enter the Clover Soft Touch crochet hook. Isn't she a beauty? With a nice wide handle to spread out my grip, I don't feel that I'm squeezing it too tightly, like I did with the traditional model. And when I'm spending a lot of time crocheting (like I did while watching the Olympics), I can definitely tell the difference in the way my fingers feel the morning after.

Now, a long-time crocheter (like my mom, who is resistant to change under the best of circumstances), may not feel the need to fix what isn't broken. She claims that the bone in her finger has a groove in it right where the hook goes, thank you very much, and doesn't need any newfangled crochet hooks to make afghan after afghan (after afghan). But since I'm new enough to not be crotchety about my crochet, and I tend to make things with a tighter stitch, I'm happy to let the Soft Touch keep my finger bones groove-free.

If you hold your hook like a pencil, and not like a dinner knife, I can see where this hook may not make a huge difference in your grip, because you're used to having three free fingers anyway. But I'm a dinner-knife-grip kind of gal, and I can't say enough good things about it. Don't get me wrong, I've found some things I don't like too. In fact, let's get to that part of the article already:

Pros:

• Wide handle to spread out pressure from fingers
• Hook head is more like the Boye than the Susan Bates (crocheters know what I'm talking about, and if you're not a crocheter, I bet you're pretty bored right now), and I like it better.
• The finish on the metal is kind of, frosted maybe? Sanded? Not shiny smooth like other hooks, and I think the yarn slips easier, which I like. My mother hates it, as I'm sure you would have guessed.

Cons:

• All of the hook sizes are the same golden yellow color. That's annoying, because I can't tell them apart without reading them, and I'm lazy. They make the soft touch handles in different colors for their plastic light-up hooks, so I don't know why they didn't carry them over to the metal ones.
• I was going to say that they don't make them in those teeny tiny steel hook sizes where they'd be REALLY useful, but they do, so never mind.
• Oh my word, they're spendy. They cost $4.50 MORE a piece than the Boye hooks. Ouch.

I suppose you'd like to see a project that I made with the Clover Soft Touch crochet hook. I'm sure the future owner of this blanket would like to see it too, before he heads off to college... if I could just get it finished! (he's only a month old, I have some time...)

One super soft green blankey for baby James:

Yarn: Sensations Angel Hair Light Green (exclusively at JoAnn's)
Stitch pattern: linked triple crochet


Clover Soft Touch hooks are available online at JoAnn.com, Amazon.com, and directly from Clover. They retail for $6.50 each, but I think they're worth it. I see now you can get them as a gift set with a handy storage pouch, or just the pouch by itself, which looks like a good stocking stuffer for me, just as soon as I finish crocheting the stockings. Ahem.

So have you made the switch to the Clover Soft Touch hooks, or are you keeping it real with the old-school Boye and Susan Bates? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Memory Box Decorative Cardstock

Reported by Tracy Schultz

If you love nature and love to papercraft, then Memory Box decorative cardstock needs to be in your crafting stash. Even if you aren't a nature person, you can't help but fall in love with these whimsical and fresh paper packs.

I fell in love with Memory Box paper almost immediately after it hit the craft scene. The nature-inspired designs were clean and fresh and well-suited to so many applications. As a cardmaker, I loved that the designs worked easily with many of the stamp sets I already owned.

What I love most is their size- just six inches square. Perfect for cardmakers, but still usable by scrappers. I find 12" by 12" papers have designs that just don't render well when used on a card. Too much of the design and detail is lost when you cut them down. But these smaller papers are perfect for cards and altered projects.

Stamps: Sweet Bird by Memory Box; Manuscript background by Hero Arts; Simple Alphabet by Papertrey Ink

Decorative Paper: Inspire by Memory Box
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Hazel
Accessories: pink satin ribbon, prima flowers, clear dew drop

These cardstock packs are a nice weight, too. They're not flimsy like most decorative paper you buy at your local craft store. They're labeled as decorative cardstock packs, not paper. And you'll notice the difference the first time you hold them. The extra thickness means they'll take to distressing really well. You can use an edge distresser or a file to rough up the edges of the paper without ruining the rest.

Pros:

• Nature-inspired whimsical designs
• Cardmaker's 6" by 6" scale
• Reasonable price
• Large variety of designs available
• Heavier weight paper holds up well to distressing and other techniques

Cons:

• Limited availability online
• Even hard to find in local craft stores

Stamps: Itty Bitty Dragonfly by Lockhart Stamp Company
Decorative Paper: Grove by Memory Box
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Hazel
Accessories: Black organza ribbon, Copic Spica clear glitter pen, Versamarker pen, paper piercer, corner rounder punch

The only bad thing I have to say about Memory Box paper is that it's still not readily available in all stores. I have yet to find it locally [But my local craft stores leave a lot to be desired!]. And online it's still available in only a dozen or so reliable stores.

I'd rate these decorative cardstock packs a perfect 10 for their wonderful designs, size, weight, and reasonable price. They retail for $5 per pack of 30 sheets, and you usually get 10 different patterns (3 pages each) in one pack. That's only sixteen cents per page!

You can find Memory Box decorative cardstock packs at Ellen Hutson, Impress, and Stamper's Dream.

So, tell us, do you love Memory Box's paper line? What projects have you used them in?

Get Rollin' Memory Essentials

reported by Lexi Daly

Clearsnap recently introduced a new line of wheel tools in their Memory Essentials line. The Get Rollin' wheels are adhesive covered clear wheels, designed to use with anything you can stick to the adhesive and roll through ink, creating a wheel stamp of your own design.

Although you can stick anything on the adhesive--lace, rubber bands, or anything that will leave an impression--the main reason this new type of wheel caught my eye is that they are also billed as a great tool to use with clear stamps, which I have a lot of. Just stick them all over the wheel and get rollin'!

The wheel comes in two sizes, standard and jumbo and includes five layers of adhesive on the wheel. Refills are also available. The standard wheel is listed at $6.50, the jumbo for $8.00 and the refills for $4.00 and $5.00 respectively. You can buy inking handles and cartridges for use with wheels as well. For this article, I started off with the basic handles, using my own ink pads. But I also discovered that I could use the inking handles and cartridges I already have from Stampin' Up! Here is an overview of my supplies and the wheeled elements I made.

As with any new tool, my first play was just to try different images on scratch paper. Since my main interest in this new tool was a new way to use my clear stamps, that is what I chose to focus on. I thought letters and numbers could make great backgrounds, so that's what I tried first. I used the numbers on the standard wheel, lined up straight and in order (pictured on the wheel at the top right), and I used the letters placed randomly on the jumbo wheel (sample in center). I also wanted to see how a longer image would fit, like the fence above. It actually wasn't long enough to go all the way around, but having it mounted on the wheel did allow for more fluid curving, as though I were stamping the fence on a hill. For most of these samples, I simply inked up my wheel on an ink pad and rolled away. Then I had the idea to make a sheet of wrapping paper with the numbers and tried my Stampin' Up! inking handle and cartridge as I mentioned above--easy peasy and yet another use for something I already had!

After stamping and cleaning the fence, I noticed that the exposed portion of my sticky strip was not so sticky, so I decided to peel off a layer. It works basically like a sticky lint roller--peel off the top layer to expose another--but I did have trouble finding the end. It didn't tear automatically, so I had to be careful not to take off too much and then cut off where I thought it should be with scissors. It's not that big of a deal, but definitely something to be aware of.

Of course, I couldn't just stop with simple scratch paper stamping, so I used each element on a project...

baby mouse {the saltbox studio}, clear flower alpha, note card & ribbon {a muse}

all stamps {the saltbox studio}, note card & star twinkle stickers {a muse}

balloon mouse {the saltbox studio}, clear numbers, note card & ribbon {a muse}

So, to sum it all up...

Pros:

• easy to use
• a new twist on wheel stamping
• works with things you might already have

Cons:

• the sticky strip didn't seem to be perforated for easy peeling

The new Get Rollin' Adhesive Wheels can be found at various stamping and scrapping stores and online directly from Clearsnap. Do you have one already? We'd love to hear what you think and see what you've created with it!

Metallic Bright Markers

Reported by Heather Strenzwilk

During the flurry of back-to-school shopping, I discovered Metallic Bright Markers by RoseArt. The product packaging states: "designed to write on dark or light paper, glass, mirrors and dark or light fabric. The set of 8 bullet tipped markers are ideal for coloring or for drawing thick or thin lines." The product also claims to wash easily from skin.

The markers write very smoothly and worked equally well on dark and light cardstock. The pens draw very evenly and there were no issues with poling or blobbing. The ink dried within a few minutes however the ink smudged slightly with repeated handling, even after a few days. This probably wouldn't be an issue on a card but a frequently handled object such as a school notebook should be sealed for additional durability.


The markers have a bullet tip and like most markers, varying pressure will make various width lines. I tend to be heavier handed so my lines tend to be thicker. I didn't have great success using these for small or detailed design work, but but someone with a lighter hand might not have problems. I do hope they come out with a fine tip version though.


I decided to follow the recommendation from the Lucky Squirrel PolyShrink website and try Metallic Brights to create black shrink plastic charms. The results were amazing! I used an Intaglio Technique on the shrink plastic and let it cool. Then I lightly colored the raised parts on the image with the markers. I used a napkin to dab any excess ink, adding more color where it was needed and around the edge of the piece. Surprisingly, the ink did not smear much on the pieces but for extra durability I sprayed the pieces with Krylon spray to help seal the ink. The gold, silver and copper markers were the hands down favorites. I do think though there is potential to create faux turquoise with lime and blue.


For my next test, I used the markers to decorate an old pair of navy blue (95% cotton/ 5% Spandex) pants and on a piece of white nylon ribbon. The marker was easier to apply to the smoother ribbon. However I thought the marker appeared streaked and colors bled from section to section. The ink did give body to the ribbon which might be helpful for a project. The dark pants accepted the color well but the lighter (silver and gold) were the easiest to see. The darker shades (purple, green) held much less contrast and seemed to have lost much of their metallic sheen as they dried.

The package did not contain care instructions. I later washed the pants (inside out, normal cycle, Tide detergent) and the design did not fade or smear. I am not sure how the designs would hold up after multiple washings, but if they did fade you could color them in again. The markers had promise and I want to try them on an old pair of blue jeans or a denim jacket.


Pros:

• The ink does not stain your hands- it removes easily with a normal hand soap.
• Once dry, the ink is permanent on shrink plastic and fabric.
• Non-toxic and safe for children (ages 3 and up) and no smelly fumes
• Reasonably priced- under $5 and available and many major retailers.
• Silver, gold and copper shades are especially good on black shrink plastic.

Cons:

• Bullet-tip is not the best tip for writing or fine detail work.
• Flawed color selection- unusual shade of pink, blue has a very strong silver tone, and green has a bluish cast. The set could use a dark metallic green and a deep metallic red or maroon.
• Ink is not permanent on paper and can smear if handled excessively.
• Marker caps are very difficult to remove from the marker.

I really liked Metallic Bright Markers by RoseArt. They are available at Target, Walmart, Walgreen's, Staples and many national retailers for under $5. The markers performed well and were fun. As an added bonus the markers wash off skin with soap and water (no stained hands for me!) I was particularly impressed by how well they worked on black shrink plastic and for that alone they are well with the modest under $5 price tag. I rate these markers 8/10.

Do you like metallic markers? Have you tried this brand or any other brand? Share your experience with our readers!

Avalon Fix is Awesome

Reported By Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

I first became acquainted with Avalon Fix about a year ago when I took a class with Jan Beaney. Jan is a fiber artist from the U.K. and you should check out her wonderfully textural embroidery if you get a chance.

Avalon Fix is a water-soluble stabilizer. In case you don’t know what stabilizers are, here’s a great article from Threads Magazine. Essentially, a water-soluble stabilizer allows you to stitch into it like fabric and then it disappears or melts away in water. It’s an easy way to make your own lace or free standing embroidered embellishments.

Avalon Fix has two unique characteristics that I love:

1. You don’t need a hoop.
Most of the water-soluble stabilizers I’ve worked with resemble a thin plastic film. In order to work with them, you need to stretch them in a hoop. Avalon Fix is more like a woven fabric. You don’t need to use a hoop. This opens up many issues of size and shape. And, there’s less waste. (Always an important consideration for the budget minded.) Further, it’s still thin enough to see through, so you can place a pattern underneath your Avalon Fix.

2. It’s adhesive backed.

A popular lace technique is to sandwich loose fibers between two layers of water-soluble stabilizers and stitch a grid. When you melt away the stabilizer, you are left with a wonderful lacy fabric. The downside is that you can’t really control where the fibers end up all that accurately. Because Avalon Fix is sticky, you can accurately place whatever material you want onto the stabilizer. Love that!

I like to use Avalon Fix to make these bracelets:


Here’s a step-by-step demonstration of how I use Avalon Fix:


1. Adhere it to your work surface (I’m working on a piece of glass) over your pattern, with the sticky side up.
2. Begin placing your fiber where you want it.
3. Continue to fill your shape – you can see that I used felt to create some circles.
4. Place another water-soluble stabilizer (I used Sulky Solvy) over your creation so that your needle doesn’t get caught. It will stick to the adhesive of the Avalon Fix.
5. Machine stitch to secure all the disparate items together.
6. Place the stitched item into a bowl of water – warm or cold it doesn’t matter.

The stabilizer will melt away and you will be left with your finished shape. You can now embellish and use it as you wish. You can see that I used it as the centerpiece of my necklace. I also made a matching pair of earrings.


I couldn’t find either prices or product info on the manufacturer’s website, however a web search revealed that you can purchase Avalon Fix for as low as $15 a roll. I buy mine at my local quilt shop for $20.

I haven't found another water-soluble stabilizer that performs in quite the way that Avalon Fix does. I highly recommend it.

Renegade Craft Fair Chicago

Reported By:Martha Bonneau


Last weekend was the 6th annual Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago and as advertised, it does go on rain or shine as last Saturday & Sunday the Chicagoland area received upwards of 10" of rainfall. I wish I had lots and lots of pictures to share with you, but it isn't easy to juggle a camera and an umbrella. I can tell you that when Sarah and I arrived, we were pleasntly surprised to see that most of the vendors had already or were in the process of setting up their booths. As we began to walk around and talk to vendors we found out that several had to leave due to the weather and booths that could not withstand 2 days of solid rain...very sad. In lieu of pics, I am going to share links to the Etsy shops and websites of some of our faves. I also invite you to check out the Renegade Chicago site for a complete list of vendors and links to pics.


SwallowKisses...fun tattoo inspired designs on clothing and jewelry

Sublime Stitching of course

Ready Made...yay for $5 subscriptions!

Linty Fresh...cool shirts, great name.

coo-koo-ri-coo...great jewelry made from vintage bits.

Berkley Illustration...wonderfully charming illustrations of animals in suits.

Urban Rtro Styling...graffiti art on skateboards, lunchboxes and such.

Nice...the dreamiest lanterns made of doilies and other pretties.



This is just a short list of some of my faves, I invite all of our readers to check out all of the vendor links and show your support for indie crafts!

HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One Printer

Reported by Sara McKenzie

I have owned and used the HP Photosmart C7180 printer for about 18 months. I LOVE this printer- and I'm going to tell you why!

Of course HP, like most technology manufacturers, never sells the same model for a prolonged period of time, so the printer details that I am going to share are for the Photosmart C6380, which is currently available, and has mostly the same features as the printer that I own and use. The C6380 sells on the HP website for $199.99.

Here are some specs for the C6380:

• Dimensions: 17.79 x 15.97 x 8.17 in(w x d x h)
• Weight: 16.4 lb
• Print speed: 33 pages per minute black and up to 31 ppm color
• Copy: Up to 50 copies, reduce/enlarge: 50 to 400%
• Paper handling: 125-sheet input tray, 20-sheet photo tray,
  50-sheet output tray
• Connectivity: 2 USB (front and back), 1 Ethernet, 1 PictBridge, 1 Wireless 802.11g/b
• Print Technology: HP Thermal inkjet
• Scan size: Maximum 8-1/2" X 11-3/4"
• Uses the HP 564 Black Ink Cartridge(~250 pages), HP 564 Photo Black Ink Cartridge (~ 130 photos) and the HP 564 Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow Ink Print Cartridges (~300 pages).

And here are some the GREAT features:

• Print a 4" X 6" photo in as little as 18 seconds from the separate photo paper tray. No need to waste an entire sheet of photo paper for one small print.
• Borderless printing capability, up to 8-1/2" X 11".
• Flatbed scanner allows you to scan bulky embellishments on your cards and scrapbook pages.
• You can connect wirelessly with your computer to print documents or pictures.
• Your camera memory card can go directly into the printer, by-passing the computer altogether if you prefer.
• Comes with the HP Photosmart Premier software that allows for quick import, simple editing (rotation in small increments, cropping, red-eye, brightness adjustment, and resizing).
• Compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OSX v10.4 and 105. operating systems.

So, what do I love about this printer?

• It is compact, and doesn't take up a lot of desktop space.
• It is truly plug and play. You can load up the printer driver on your computer and be printing photos within 20 minutes.
• I love the wireless capability. I also have a laserjet, that is hard-wired to my computer. It was nice to be able to find a printer that I could place across the room, and not have to worry about a cord lying across the floor. There is a comparable model that is not wireless, if you prefer.
• The print quality is superb. Photos come out great, with wonderful color. I also "worked" it last year when I had to print 100 photos for some photo Christmas cards that I was making. It took some time, but every page came out great and usable.
• I actually bought this because of the flatbed scanner (in addition to the HP brand name). Most of the cards that you see on my blog were scanned with this equipment. The resolution is great, the color is true. And the software that came with it makes it incredibly easy to give a little adjustment to the scan before saving it- such as when I don't line the card up straight on the bed, and it has to be rotated a few degrees.
• The software itself really is intuitive. It only takes a few minutes to figure out where to click and what it can do for you.
• Ink cartridges are really easy to replace and have been very reliable. (I have only used HP replacements, so I can only speak to those.)
• The computer tells you when the ink cartridges are getting low. You can print to the very end of the supply, and then replace with a fresh cartridge.

Complaints?

Only one- and it has actually gone away. I work on the Windows XP platform, and early on, I had some problems when I tried to scan, getting a message that another computer was "using" the scanner. Huh?!? It was clearly some kind of glitch between the operating system and the HP software, and it was easily fixed (with HP online chat guidance) by clearing an HP process in the Windows "Task Manager" window.

This problem happened a couple of times, and then never happened again. Go figure....

Cons?

Well, as with all inkjet printers, they get you with the replacement cartridges. They are $9.99 for the C6380 HP 564 cartridges. You can get a larger print cartridge for $14.99, for twice as many pages. I could not tell you how many pages I got- but I have only replaced the set of cartridges once in the 18 months that I have had my printer. You can find the ink cartridges readily at major big box electronic and office supply stores, and of course from HP online. You can also get off-brand ink cartridges, but I have never been brave enough to try them!!

Other HP Photosmart Printer options:



There are few other printers in the Photosmart series, with slightly different features, and at different price points. They are:

• C4580 $129.99. This is a slower printer, with a lower monthly capacity (1000 pages), and no separate photo tray. It uses a single Tri-Color ink cartridge in addition to Black. It has wireless capabilities.
• C5580 $149.99 This is a faster printer with a higher monthly capacity (3000 pages) and a separate photo tray. It uses the Tri-Color ink cartridge and has wireless capability (bluetooth).
• C6280 $159.99 Like the C5580, but it uses individual color ink cartridges, and does not have wireless capability.
• C7280 $299.99 ($269.99 with rebate). This is like the C6380, reviewed here, but also has fax capabilites.

Of note: My printer, the C7180, also has fax capabilities, which I have used a couple of times, with no problems whatsoever. Again, the setup and use is very intuitive. The reason I did not review here the C7280 is because they have changed the paper feed for the fax feature, and I cannot speak to how well that works (although I assume it does, given HP's reputation).

Conclusions:

This is a great All-in-One machine!! You can print, scan, and copy with ease. (And with the C7280, you also get fax capabilities). There is a version that will fit every pocktbook. Online support is terrific (well, as long as you are at least a little patient). It has a reasonable speed for an inkjet, and the print quality is GREAT.

I give it a big thumbs up! Let us know if you own one, and what you think.

Page Maps

Reported by Julia Stainton

One of the most challenging things about creating a papercraft project is deciding exactly what kind of a layout or design you want your project to have. Whether you are just starting out or have been papercrafting a long time, most people will be constantly searching for new ideas. Break out of that box of the simple layout and try something new. The PageMaps web-site is one of the best resources I know of to help with this problem.

Page Maps is a fabulous on-line site that can help you in a few ways. Started in April 2004 by Becky Fleck...Page Maps has a wealth of ideas and sketches for you to use for personal use. Not quite sure where to start with a design? Simply scroll through the sketches to find a design you like that works for your photos? If you're in a rut using the same layouts over and over, challenge yourself to using a new design. The Page Maps layouts are easy to use and have great up-to-date layouts to make your projects well balanced and unique.

Patterned Paper and flowers by Prima Marketing, Art of Framing and Everyday Petites stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms

Each month great new sketches or "maps" are released from Page Maps to keep you challenged. These Page Maps come in a wide variety of options making this a fabulous site for any scrapper. You'll find sketches in 12x12 format, 8.5 x 11" format, layouts with one photo or layouts with many and a few double page layouts as well. Each layout comes with fabulous samples by page designers in a variety of styles. These samples are wonderful for inspiration, cool ideas and you'll find digital designs as well as paper layouts.

Patterned Paper by Fancy Pants Designs and My Mind's Eye, chipboard letters from Chatterbox Writer's Block and Beautiful stamp sets from Cornish Heritage Farms

The great thing about sketches is that they are mostly timeless. Change the papers, colors and embellishments and you have a new up-t0-date look. Rotate or flip the sketches for even more design options. Love an 8.5 x 11 page maps but scrap in 12x12? A few alterations and you can still use it! Don't be a slave to the maps. Make them your own and get creative!

Thomas Kinkade Masculine Series paper, Leaf and Acorn stamp and Friendship Centers stamp set by Cornish Heritage Farms

Page Maps is not just limited to great sketch layouts. Since April 2005 Becky has been producing Card Maps each month as well. I'm loving these beautiful layouts for quick card inspiration. While not released monthly, Page Maps also has a great resource of tag maps, round maps (round scrapbooking layouts) as well as side maps and mini maps.

Patterned paper and flower by Prima, chipboard by Maya Road
Story Book stamp set from Cornish Heritage Farms

Each month the Page Maps site provides a link to their latest page of great sketches. While I love this page of sketches combined with beautiful samples...my favorite resource is the PDF link they include each month. Easy to use and print out for easy reference, you can find all sketches for the month on one printable page. As my scrapbooking area is quite a distance from my computer, this makes it so easy to print out and store in my craft room for easy reference and inspiration. The sketches are clean, well designed images. I love how the sizes of the photos printed on the sketch....makes it super easy to digitally crop my photos for a particular design, print and get right to work.

On most on-line sites, you'll find something called TOU, Terms of Use. This is something you should always read when using a site. If you are using the resource for personal use or commercial, it's only proper to make sure you are respecting the terms of the site. The Page Maps site has a great TOU, making it very easy to use. Of course....good etiquette when using these sketches for inspiration is to give credit where credit is due.

Patterned Paper and tape by Prima Marketing, felt by Queen and Co., Mocha Chica stamp set by Cornish Heritage Farms

While I'm actually reviewing the Page Maps web-site, I just couldn't write this article without mentioning a great book Becky has had published called Page Maps. Full of great sketches and ideas...my favorite idea is the accompanying cards with a sketch on each one. These are perfect for taking with you if you scrap at crops. You can check out this book right on the Page Maps web-site.

Pros:

• It's free, free, free!
• Lots of variations in layouts and designs and sizes of projects
• cards, tags as well as layouts
• unique fresh designs
• print out the PDF files and keep in a binder for easy reference
• new designs each month

Cons:

• I'm really stretching here trying to think of one.... site may take a while to load
• card sketches are designed for more scrappy style layouts. If you are a stamper looking for large image panel sketches...this may not be for you. Of course...stretch yourself and try one...you may love the style!

If you like Page Maps, Card Maps and all the samples on this site, you won't want to miss any of them. Sign up for e-mail updates right on the site at the bottom of the page.

To sum it all up...Page Maps is an incredible resource that you won't want to miss. Well worth your time and the ink to print out the maps! Click on your mouse and check them out. I guarantee you...you'll be just like me...waiting for the beginning of next month to see what Becky has up her sleeve this time. Do you like Page Maps? At Craft Critique...we love to offer our opinion and hear yours as well! What do you think?

Canon A570IS Digital Camera

Reported by Kim Fox

In this digital age, taking pictures is something that can often be taken for granted. Digital cameras can do it all; they can certainly do more than your mother's Polaroid. That is the case for my camera, the Canon A570Is Digital Camera. Just one in a huge line of Canon products.

Here are some of the specs:

• 7.1 mega pixels
• 4x opitical zoom
• optical image stablizer
• pictbridge

I don't have an allegiance to any particular line of cameras. I've been eyeing the Nikon D40, which my step-dad recently purchased and I can't wait to play around with it. I previously owned a HP digital camera and for $60 I got a lot of mileage out of it. But I've definitely come to like my Canon A570IS. Notice I said like and not love. I've owned this camera for just about a year now and there are probably a thousand features that I don't use and another thousand that I don't even know about. It's an exaggeration, but you get the point - it's a busy camera.

The Canon A570IS is easy enough to use though. All of the basics are there: easy to just point and shot; just as easy to transfer the pics from the camera to your computer and simple steps to erase pics directly from the camera. I do encourage you to flip through both of the camera's manuals - one for basic features and one for advanced functions.
The main point on first using the camera is to set the picture size. That way, if you don't have a large memory disk, you won't inadvertently fill it up. Another point as it relates to the memory, is to get a nice sized memory disk. I think at least 1G is enough. I have a 2G. That's plenty, but would you believe that I recently filled it up. I was shooting a lot of video. The other problem with a 2G memory disk is that I tend to use the camera for storage instead of removing the pics from the camera. Right now, I have 872 pics on my camera waiting to be transferred to their permanent home.

Back to the task at hand ... one feature that's advisable to learn early on is the self-timer feature. It always happens that I take lots of pics, but rarely am I in them. The self-timer can solve that issue along with preventing you from just taking the camera and pointing it at yourself. It's a very easy feature to use, you just need to have a tripod or somewhere to put the camera while it is unattended.

So that's the simple stuff ... it's the advanced settings that give me pause. There are 13 shooting modes to chose from. This is a good thing because it gives you a chance take a picture using a basic mode or to do something more advanced. Four of the shooting modes are labeled as the creative zone - manual (M), program (P), shutter speed (Tv), and aperture (Av). because that is where you can adjust the lighting, the ISO and so much more. I must admit, I have not spent much time in the creative zone. I like having the options, but there are just too many symbols to identify. There are symbols for white balancing, macro, red-eye and so much more. It can be a bit overwhelming especially when you don't have time to fiddle with the camera.

It's in the creative mode where I think the magic happens because of the variety of options that you have. For me though, it has just turned into a missed photo opportunity - while I'm trying to figure out the appropriate camera settings, I've missed the shot that I am preparing for. The shooting modes that I use most frequently are indoor, landscape and night snapshot along with the auto mode.

I'll briefly discuss the video mode. I have used it countless times. I like it. The video is clear, shaky at times, but that's user error and not camera function. Additionally, the audio was good quality. There is software that you will need to download to transfer the video from the camera to the computer. Another easy process. There are some editing features that accompany the software as well.

So although I don't offer a great deal of insight about this camera, I do know that I like it. I take it nearly everywhere I go and I use it almost daily.

It's currently available on Amazon.com for as much as $249, but there was one for $139.99 (I paid $172 for mine from Amazon) and it should include the following:

• the camera
• wrist strap
• 2 AA-type alkaline batteries
• AV cable
• interface cable
• memory card (16MB)
• software

Other places to purchase this camera are at Sears and Staples. Remember to seek out any online coupons before you make your purchase so that you can get the best possible deal.

There's good news for me (and you if you have or decide to purchase this camera), there are lots and lots of places to get info on using this particular camera.

Pros:

• good quality video and audio
• a variety of shooting modes for point and shoot or for more creativity
• 2.5 inch LCD monitor; it also has a viewfinder
• there are a variety of accessories to compliment this camera including several lens, a waterproof case and more

Cons:

• not a slim camera; has a bit of bulk and many not fit in your pocket
• setting the settings could take some time to adjust (and you could miss the shot you were setting up)
• new cameras are released so often and they offer many improvements over previous versions; I don't know if it's worth the money to splurge on this version when you could get something newer and snazzier for about the same price

Tips:

• read the manual; lots of good, basic info
• use lithium batteries; they will cost more, but they will last so much longer
• if all else fails, just point and shoot
• get a memory disk of 1G or higher
• invest in the AC adapter kit or rechargeable batteries especially if you'll be connected to the computer for long periods of time

Rating: 10 out of 10; very good camera for the price and I'm sure I will love it when I become a better photographer and begin to take advantage of the numerous features.

Here's the full review that I visited before I purchased the camera.


NOTE: I use a PC, so I am uncertain of how it operates with a Mac, however, on the Canon website there was a
pull down menu that included downloads for Macs. Also, I did not use any photo editing on the photos except I used Google's Picasa 3 to add text.

It's That Time Again!

Just a reminder that the deadline is tomorrow! So get those applications in, we can't wait to read them!

Time to invite YOU to be a part of Craft Critique! We are looking for a few new reporters. If you are interested please read on... This call will be OPEN to international Crafters too!

What we are looking for: Bloggers who have been blogging for at least 6 months. Crafters of all types; paper, stamps, fabric, yarn, beads, crayons, clay... whatever you are into. Bonus points for crafters with multiple skills. You don't need to be on any design teams or be some sort of crafting superstar... but what you WILL need are good English writing skills, the ability to take a decent photo, and an opinion. If you applied before and were not sellected... PLEASE re-apply!

What is in it for you? We have a dream here at Craft Critique... and that is to get you some free goods on occasion to review. But since we can not make any promises, and you won't get paid... you might be asking yourself WHY you would want to participate. Well, you WILL see increased traffic to your blog, you will meet some new people, and you will be the envy of all your friends. Besides, it's fun for goodness sakes! And don't tell anyone... but we have some BIG plans for Craft Critique coming soon!

To Submit: Email me at sarah@craftcritique.com before September 20th (by midnight CST). Include your name, location, blog link, links to any online galleries, A little bit about YOU, and and a short article about your favorite craft product. Include photos (attach them please) of projects created with the product you review. Use the posts here on Craft Critique to help guide your article. This should be an article NOT formerly published on your blog. By submitting this article you grant us permission to use the article and accompanying photos on Craft Critique.

Feel free to post any questions here or email me. The new team will be announced on September 30th. Good luck! I can't wait to see your application!

Provo Craft - Knifty Knitter

Reported by: Katie Renz

Provo Craft has a plethora of products available to the crafty consumer and not all of their items are geared towards paper crafters. The Knifty Knitter is an example of a product geared towards individuals interested in knitting. Provo Craft carries a full line of Knifty Knitter Looms in a variety of sizes, shapes, as well as accessories to go with them.

When I decided to review the Knifty Knitter I had heard of them, seen them in the stores, and even knew friends and family who had used them, but I had never personally touched one let alone made anything with one. My background consists of knitting traditionally with needles and in general, I believe that's the image that most individuals think of when the word "knitting" is mentioned. I was intrigued by the Knifty Knitter and had heard that it made knitting very quick. I had even had an opportunity to see a couple of hats made from the loom. My mother-in-law had sent my twin boys a set of matching hats last winter that she had made. You can see that it has survived almost a year. I would have shown it with a model, but mine was being temperamental.

I also have to state that I did not purchase a kit, but rather borrowed the kit like the one in the above picture. The kit includes 4 different sized round looms, a hook, and a simple direction booklet all housed in a clear plastic bag. The round looms are generally used to make hats but can also be used to make flat items such as scarves. The blue loom is used to make baby hats, the red loom is for toddler/child sizes, the green loom is for adults, and the yellow would be for individuals with lots of hair or larger heads. The difference in the loom sizes are not only their circumference but the distance between the pegs. This space alters the "gauge" (the number of stitches in a specified amount of space) of the knit.

The direction booklet comes with a handful of projects that you can start right away. Because this was my first experience with the loom, I literally made the very first project and the easiest. I am a directions person and am not a great experimenter when it comes to knitting. I did not find the directions very helpful, but luckily, Provo Craft has provided an excellent beginning video tutorial that I found extremely helpful. You can find that tutorial by clicking HERE.

I purchased a skein of Lion Brand Thick and Quick Yarn and went to work. Once I got started things went very quickly. I can't say exactly how long it took me because I do things in very short spurts in between all the normal child caring chores, but it was very quick - probably just a couple of hours.

Here is a picture of what I started with. The loom, directions, and the hook are part of the kit. You will still need the yarn, a needle, and a stitch counter (or scratch paper and a pen). Then its just a matter of winding the yarn around the pegs and using the hook. It is really that simple.
This next picture really showcases what I feel makes the knitting so easy. First are the pegs with the slightly larger top. The top part of the peg keeps your stitches in place so they don't fall off. Secondly, if you notice, there are grooves in the sides of the pegs. This channel allows a fool proof way of hooking the bottom stitch in order to loop it over the top stitch.



For my pattern, it required 34 rows or times around the loom. At this point, your hat is essentially a tube. The next step is to cut the thread leaving a long enough tail to thread through the last loops. Then cinch tight and weave the end into your knitting. Another option is to leave top square and add tassels as in the child's hat pictured above.
And here is the final product. The hat is a bit large for me, but works if I just keep rolling up the bottom. It fits my husband just fine though - it honestly depends on the look you prefer. I couldn't find my "model" so I had to use myself unfortunately, but you get the idea of how the hat fits on me.

There are a lot of choices with the Knifty Knitter system. The looms are available to purchase in a couple of kit packages as well as individually. There is also a relatively large community of Knifty Knitter enthusiasts that offer free patterns and video tutorials. It is just a matter of using a search engine to find all that is available. Plus the main Provo Craft website also offers free patterns and help guides. If you are a hands on individual, there are also many pattern books available to purchase too.

The Knifty Knitter is indeed a great tool for anyone. It is one of those crafts that you could literally buy and make something in the same day. As I stated earlier, my mother-in-law enjoys hers very much. She has a crocheting background and is great with experimenting so she can do wonders with the Knifty Knitter. At the other extreme, I have a neighbor friend who is only 10 years old and she receives the same enjoyment from it. If you don't knit, but would like the satisfaction of creating something with your hands and aren't ready or willing to invest in a bunch of needles then I suggest you try Provo Craft's Knifty Knitter.

With that said though, I personally enjoy my needles. I might borrow the looms from my friend again, but I don't plan on purchasing the looms for myself. But either way, I have to admit there is something so comforting and pleasant in the handling of the yarn. I love how it feels in my hands and that pleasure is still there no matter what kind of tool you are using to knit with. Plus, the sheer enjoyment and pride in creating something with your own hands is immeasurable.

Pros:

• The Knifty Knitter is really for anyone interested in knitting; child to adult
• The process is very fast and the results are clean and even stitches
• There are lots of accessories and tools available
• Lots of online resources for books, patterns, and videos to help you with the Knifty Knitter

Cons:

• As with many kits, I wish that other essential items be included in the kits. In this case a needle and a stitch counter would be nice
• I find that the looms can be large and bulky
• Items made with the looms tend to be either loose or bulky items.

The Knifty Knitter is readily accessible in many of your local craft stores but can also be found at many online stores. Here are 3 online resources: Joann Fabric and Craft Store, Amazon, Create for Less

• Retail Value for the Knifty Knitter is $19.95
• The Knifty Knitter is very easy to use - child to adult
• When the kit is purchased the value is excellent
• I would rate the Knifty Knitter a 9 out of 10 for ease of use, construction, and accomplishing what its supposed to.

We at Craft Critique would love to read your responses about the Knifty Knitter. Are you an experienced knitter that loves to make a quick project here and there or are you a new knitter or a future knitter that might just purchase the Knifty Knitter for your collection?

Industry Blogs

Reported by Kristine Fowler


According to Wikepedia - A Blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.


And...in the scrapbooking and paper crafting industry - they are abundant! Need proof? Just look at the sidebar of the page you're reading right now, listed there are over 100 direct blog links. Plus, in our list of Recommended Vendors and Products - 1/3 of them have blog links listed on their home pages, and within the list of Posts by Topic you'll see the label Blogdump that displays 2 posts (3 if you include this one) where you'll find over 30 more links.


Since blogs are obviously so popular (remember, you are even reading one right now!), I thought I would do some industry blog surfing and see if I can't figure out what might be readworthy (or not!). To be fair, I didn't choose any 'personal' blogs, but focused instead on manufacturers and magazines.


So let's start with the Manufacturers.


Prima Marketing Inc. - Prima Blog
My Rating: 9 out of 10

Sepcial Features:

• Monthly Build-a-Page sketch contest
• Gallery of past Build-a-Page sketches with sample pages linked to sidebar.
• Other contests on a seemingly regular basis (at present there is Build-a-Book)
• Monthly product giveaway (valued at $100o retail) to readers who 'shop' the Prima Sidewalk Sale

Pros:

• Updated daily.
• Both scrapbook layouts and cards are featured so there is inspiration for everyone.
• Detailed supply lists for most featured projects.
• Lots of links in blog sidebars, aiding in blog navigation.
• Posts carry labels although the categories are quite broad.
• Overall appearance is inviting, uncluttered and clean.

Cons:

• While occasionally reader projects are showcased within the blog posts (click here for a darling example), the Galleries seem to be otherwise restricted to Design Team and Guest Design Team projects. It would be nice to see more reader art permanently featured or perhaps provide it with it's own Category so we can find it quickly.

Cosmo Cricket - Cosmo Cricket Blog
My Rating: 6 out of 10

Pros:

• Updated fairly regularly.
• Julie connects on a very personal level with her blog readers - she writes as if we are all her 'friends' and not just folks she's relying on to buy more product - there is a pleasant mix of personal ancedotes with business news.
• Reader projects are showcased.

Cons:

• No project galleries for reader inspiration.
• Posts are not labelled or categorized, so in order to find something specific you need to go back through the archives of all posts.
• I would like to see more pictures of projects created with Cosmo Cricket product -- this blog is a bit text heavy for my taste, and where pictures are included, quite often they are of product or people, not projects. The project gallery on the main website is awesome! Even pulling some of the projects forward to the blog and discussing them in a bit more detail would be a great start!

Papertrey Ink - Capture the Moment
My Rating: 9 1/2 out of 10 (if you're NOT a scrapbooker, considerably less perhaps if you are)

Special Features:

• It looks to me like this blog began as Nichole Heady's personal space on the web, and it has evolved over time to be the place to get news about all things Papertrey.
• The content is awesome! You can spend a great deal of time here, believe me! There are templates, tutorials, seasonal project ideas, instructions for unique cards and more. The best part is that all of this content is available via links in her sidebars, making it very easy to find!
• Each month Papertrey makes a new product release and the release is celebrated with a Release Party Contest. Nichole solicits comments from her readers on a specific theme (September was "What is your favorite holiday memory") and then a Random Number Generator chooses the winning responder. What a great way to get blog readers feeling involved!
• Guest Star Stamper contest each month (for September's rules/regs click here, unfortunately though the deadline is past). Once winners are chosen, they are announced on the blog and their projects are posted permanently in the official Papertrey gallery, the Inkpad.

Pros:

• Regular Updates
• Awesome photos! With some great closeups to show detail when necessary.
• I love the look of it overall - the color scheme is so calming.
• Posts are full of great tips and suggestions regarding how to put their products into play - with a big focus on maximizing your investment.
• Everything is literally a click away with a ton of sidebar links.
• Reader projects are showcased monthly through the Guest Star Stamper announcement.
• Nichole responds to reader requests! Today in fact she posted about color comparisons between Papertrey and SU. She gets so many questions on this, that she's added the post and permanent links in her sidebar!

Cons:

• There is no blog gallery for inspiration - for this, you need to visit the Inkpad. Surprisingly I couldn't find a direct link to the Inkpad on the blog either -- that would be helpful for sure!
• Very little content exclusively for scrapbookers and while many of the stamping techniques can be used in your scrapbook, it would be nice to see a bit more of this.

Making Memories - Making Memories, Be Inspired
My Rating: 8 out of 10 (if you're a scrapbooker), but perhaps considerably less if you're not.

Special Features:

• This one is 'blogged' by the Making Memories design team so there are a variety of contributing styles/approaches.
• There are weekly Designer Challenges and each of the team takes a turn responding somehow. This weekly 'theme' brings a lot of continuity to a line of communication that could otherwise get confusing given that you have several people posting. In a way it's not unlike what we do here at Craft Critique. Here, we tend to group posts also - for a week or two for instance, all the reports are about Coloring Media, and then the next series might be about books.

Pros:

• Lots of guest designer spotlights. From what I can gather, these are regular folks that send their artwork to the blog for consideration of a spotlight spot. In no way are the guest designers compensated for their contributions.
• Despite the fact that there are several blog writers, there is continuity in the content.
• A couple of galleries, but only one can really be classed 'inspirational' as the other do not contain pics of completed projects.
• Some blog posts include labels, and they are linked up to the sidebar - although the categories are few.
• Lots of great ideas are shared for using various MM products - this week in fact is 'Education Week' so there is more right now than usual.

Cons:

• The bulk of the content here is related to scrapbooking. Since Making Memories products can (and are) used by ALL types of paper crafters, it would be nice to see a bit broader of an application on the blog.
• It would be nice to see the Guest Designer series of posts linked up to a permanent place on the blog page!
• Unlike many of the other manufacturer blogs, there doesn't appear to be a lot of regular product giveaways or contests.

Chatterbox Inc. - ChatterBlog Make it Meaningful
My Rating: To new to Tell


Special Features:

• This one is a relatively new entrant to the blog world - with the first post on June 10, 2008. (That would explain my ranking) I will however be following this one for a while, it has intrigued me.
• The overall 'tone' is light and fun, very friendly - makes me want to keep reading! Don't believe me, read this post from last week (Are you ready for some fun?)

Pros:

• Small gallery of layouts, presumably by the Chatterbox Design Team for inspiration
• Reader projects are showcased.
• Great photos! Lots of close-up detail.

Cons:

• Again, there are no categories! This might have more to do with the fact that the blog is new, but am I the only one that thinks these are important?
• Content is currently limited (again due to blog age), but expanding. I think there is a LOT of potential here but only time will tell.
• Updates aren't incredibly regular - a couple of times a week seems to be the norm. I would like to see more!

So that concludes my review of manufacturer blogs, and of course there are tons more out there -- some good, some not so good I would think. If you haven't done so already I would definately suggest popping over to your favorite manufacturer's website, and see if they have a blog link listed (it should be somewhere on their home page). There's a wealth of inspiration out there.



Magazine Blogs

While I have to admit, I'm not a regular reader of any of them (magazine blogs that is), it seems that many of the scrapbooking and papercrafting magazines now have blogs associated with their brand. I guess, like the manufacturers, a blog is quite simply a way for magazine editors to connect with their readership. So let's look at a couple of them.

Memory Makers - Memory Makers Editors Blog
My Rating: 3 out of 10

Pros:

• Updated daily
• The content of each post is truly focused on 'inspiring' the reader to create. On the current main page there are at least 3 posts that are prompting the reader to create. One is based on color inspiration (Yellow and Gray), one is topical (Currently), and one is a template (file folder). There is also a tutorial-type article using digital paint in Photoshop which at it's end prompts you to play with paint (digitally or otherwise) and post your layouts in the Making Memories gallery.
• There is a Search box at the top of the blog allowing you to do a full text search of blog posts if you're looking for something specific.
• Because there are multiple contributors, there are multiple styles showcased.

Cons:

• In my opinion, the appearance is rather drab and didn't entice me to spend much time there.
• My monitor resolution needed to be adjusted in order to view full article text. (Currently I view the web at 1024 x 768 -- and I needed to change that to 1280 X 1024 to view it properly.
• Unlike the Making Memories blog, which also has multiple contributors, there are no weekly (or even monthly) themes so there is no continuity in the disucssions. It's great that you get varied approaches and opinions, but it almost seems a little disconnected.
• The only way to access archived posts is to scroll through the calendar at the top. I personally find that a list of archive months/dates is more efficient, although it does take up more space.
• Other than the calendar archive link, there are no other links in the blog sidebar that are useful for blog navigation. All included links take you 'off-site'.
• No galleries.
• Posts are not labeled or categorized in any way.

Scrapbooks & Cards Today Magazine - Scrapbooks & Cards Today Blog
My Rating: To new to Tell

Special Features:

• Weekly Giveaways - Freebie Friday
• Another 'young' blog site with the first blog post in June 2008 - and there is lots of potential here. I'm looking forward to reading more for sure!

Pros:

• Blog content is very structured so the reader knows what to expect when. This blog post explains it all.
• Daily updates
• Reader submissions showcased every Thursday
• Great how-to project tutorials (check out this super star!) with lots of photos.
• CATEGORIES! Love them! (As you might have already figured out!)
• As the name of the magazine suggests this site will appear to both scrapbookers and cardmakers alike! There is indeed something for everyone.

Cons:

• No Galleries
• While not a con per se, but something that they haven't included yet from what I can tell are sketches. I know they put them in the downloadable mag -- so I think the blog should have them too but that's just a suggestion.

Anyhow - that's about it from me, but as I said before, there are many many more industry blogs out there. Since it would be literally impossible for me to find (and visit) them all, I'm now putting the task out to you. What are your favorites? Why do you like them? Are there any that you just can't go without reading? We'd love to hear what you think!

Photoshop Actions

Reported by Emilie Ahern

Lately I have had a bunch of people ask what camera I use to take my photos. You'll be surprised by the answer. A normal...everyday...little Sony digital DSC-W5. Fits in my purse. No lenses to lug around. And the best part? Set on auto mode with the flash turned off. No aperture and ISO for me...I don't really know what those things are. So how do I get such good photos? The answer.....Photoshop Actions.

So what are "actions"? Say a fancy-shmancy professional photographer takes some photos and loads them onto her computer to enhance (or "proof") them. She might sharpen the image. Adjust the lighting. Enhance certain colors...all to get a certain effect. As she proofs her photos, our imaginary photographer records and saves every step that she takes. She can then save all of these steps and turn them into an "action". So, an action is a set of photo altering steps used to achieve a certain look. Get it? So instead of a amateur like me actually learning about how to use every single little tool in Photoshop to make a photo black and white and enhance the contrast...I can just buy some genius' Photoshop Actions and they do it for me.

You plunk any photo into Photoshop and hit a play button and the steps do ALL of the work for you. And there are infinite numbers of actions to try from making your photos into comic book characters, making them look warn and vintage, sharpening, rounding corners...and much much more.

(click to enlarge. Courtesy of Mindy's Photo Actions)

You can always use Google to search for free actions to try out. A good resource for free actions is Action Central and the Adobe Photoshop Exchange. The Pioneer Woman offers a free set on her blog.

You can also buy some if you can't find free ones you like or find a certain photographer whose proofing you really love. Before you purchase any Action sets make sure they are compatible with your particular program. Some are only for Photoshop Elements and others only run in regular Photoshop.

A popular site is Itty Bitty Actions. Their sets run for around $100 and you get a large number of actions (around 50). But my favorite set is perfect, inexpensive and worth every penny. Mindy's Photo Actions Vibrant Color set. I bought them at http://mindysphotoactions.blogspot.com/. Mindy herself will help you install them and answer any questions you may have. This makes them perfect for a beginner who is unsure about installation and utilizing them. She sells them for cheaper in small sets so you can just buy what you want and add more later as desired. I use her "Vibrant Color" on pretty much every photo I take and often use her "Soft Indoor Light" as well. Here's a little before and after so you can get the feeling of what these actions can do for you.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:


I'm not being overly dramatic when I say that Actions have changed my life. They have enhanced my photographs so much that I felt proud enough of family photos recently to frame them and hang them in my Living Room. I just can't live without my (I mean Mindy's) Actions.

I'd love to know what you think. Have you ever tried Photoshop Actions? Would you like to try them? Do you think they are worth the money or do you prefer more traditional photos? Do you have a favorite set you want to share? Please leave a comment!

Needle Felting Kit by Sinco

Reported by Nan Beyer


Today I am going to review one of Sinco's Needle Felting Dog Kit's.



What is needle felting you might ask? One takes dry loose wool fibers (also called roving) and "needles" the fibers together to form a product or material. Note, the needles are extremely sharp and are barbed. The "punching" of the wool interlocks the loose fibers into material or project. (Please see the below video for a needle felting demonstration).



I started needle felting after reading the book Fleece Dog: A Little Bit of Magic Created with Raw Wool and a Special Needle by Nobuko Nagakubo creator and owner of Fleecedog.com by Sinco. The whole process facinated me. Take raw wool and needle it into a dog? Amazing.




In order to properly needle felt, you will need the following:

• barbed felting needles(multiple sizes and types)
• loose wool also called wool roving
• wire spindle and string or pipe cleaners but it may not have the same effect
• needle cushion or mat
• eyes and/or embroidery floss
• awl or Phillips screwdriver if you do not own an awl tool
• needlenose plyers

If you are new to felting and do not want to purchase all of the above, Sinco sells various needle felting dog kits. I did the fawn pug dog kit. This kit will include everything except the needle mat, awl and plyers. Out of the aforementioned, you really do need a needle mat and I bought mine from Clover. I also bought extra needle holders from Clover and Sinco. As well as extra wire spindle and finishing needles from Sinco. I highly recommend buying extra needles because they break rather easily.

The Sinco kit comes with fantastic instructions. Each step coordinates to a package with a color coded sticker and the drawing are easy to read.

At a high level - this is how you felt and create the dog:

Form the skeleton of your project with plyers.
Slip on the string to protect the pointy ends

























Wrap the fleece around the skeleton and start "needling" to bind the loose fiber together. The fiber will go from silkey smooth to a bit rough looking - however the fiber is still very soft so don't think it feels like "scratch wool". You will see in the picture two types of needle holders. The single needle holder by Sinco and the Clover Needle Holder. I didn't like the Sinco needle holder at all because the needles mostly bent and broke. It was easier to not use the needle holder and just use the needle by its self. However, if you have to felt the body and make sure it binds together, use the 5 needle Clover holder. That holder has a protected sheath so that you do not hurt your fingers. You will see in the below video that felting can go very fast, hence you need protection from breaking needles if that occurs.























Continue adding layers of fleece on the body with multple colors so as to form your project. I recommend using a single "finishing" needle to get the fine details created.

































































(Gosh I did such a good job, I don't know which one below is the real pug. :) )







































All joking aside, this is a very fun project. The most frustating thing for me was not getting the feet *just right* and the needles breaking. Also, I do not recommend this craft for kids. These needles are DANGEROUS. I bled a few times which was not fun. If I knew they sold felting needle thimbles, I would have bought one.

Pros:

• Very user friendly instructions that are color coded and drawings that are easy to read.
• Everything that you need to create a fleece dog is included in the kit except the needle mat.
• I like the fact that I could buy extra eyes and wire. The quality of the wire, eyes and wool roving exceeded my expectations.

Cons:

• The Sinco needle holder is not the best. The needles broke more when using the holder than not using the holder.
• I wish I could buy Sinco products in the United States but the shipping from Japan is extremely quick.
• This is not a kid friendly project. If a kiddy wants to do this, adult supervision is a MUST.

The Sinco pug dog kit retails for $21.40 USD and you can only purchase this kit from Sinco. However you can buy the book, Fleece Dog: A Little Bit of Magic Created with Raw Wool and a Special Needle by Nobuko Nagakubo at Amazon or any local book store. You can also buy Raw Wool at Joannes, SuperBuzzy or Hobby Lobby. If you don't want to order your needles from Japan, Clover sells their own brand as well mat's, roving, patterns.

Tutorial on how to Needle Felt:

Do you have this product? Let us know what you think! What are your tips and tricks for making it work? We can't wait to hear from you!

Un-Mounted Stamping Part 2

Reported by Katie Skiff

Yesterday I shed some light on the world of un-mounted stamping. I briefly explained how to use the un-mounted rubber stamps with your acrylic blocks. Today I plan to go in to more detail. I am a huge fan of Stamping Bella stamps, and for the first little while I used the rubber only with double sided tape and my acrylic blocks. Then I placed my first order for EZ-Mount foam. I was blown away by the difference in my stamped image. It was much darker and even. I quickly mounted all my Bellas with it, and keep many sheets on hand for other rubber only stamp images.

EZ-Mount foam comes in sheets of 8.5 by 11 and also now comes in a thinner black version. Along with the original grey sheets, they are super sticky on the one side and clingy on the other. Once you get your rubber and place it on the super sticky side, you will need to trim it out. You can use scissors, and I love the Kai brand, but have heard rave reviews about Tim Holtz’s new scissors. Simply trim out around the rubber and you are ready to use. You can also use a Kraft Hot Knife to trim around the rubber.

Mounting to the EZ-Mount foam is only done the one time, and your Bella’s or other rubber stamps are ready to cling to your blocks anytime and stamp away. No other need for a cushion. Once again, if you notice they are not clinging so well, simply wash with soap and water and let dry.

A sheet or EZ-Mount foam will last you through at least 8 or 9 Bella images and maybe more of smaller images. These sheets retail for about $4.00 each.

Supplies: Wreathabella, Stamping Bella; cardstock, designer papers, ribbons - Stampin' Up!

Saving space was a primary focus when the call for un-mounted stamps arose. Most crafters are using their family room or bedrooms as a craft space and wood mounted stamps do take up a lot of room. Sets like those from Close to my Heart come in a plastic case and the company also offers a hard box to store multiple sets in. Other companies like Gina K send their sets in metal DVD-like containers, while Papertrey Ink sends their sets in plastic CD cases. Both of these options take up little space. Sets from companies like these, range from $15 to $20, depending on the size of the sets. Wood mounted sets comparable to those sets listed would be well over $30.

Other companies like that of my favorite Stamping Bella, sell only the one image for around $7. I have talked to many customers on their storage solutions and many of those opt for using their own CD jewel cases for their rubber stamps mounted on EZ-Mount foam. New companies, like Little Monkey's Stamp Storage, are also popping up creating line of storage solutions for un-mounted stamps.

In today’s market, crafter’s are watching their pocketbooks and knowing that by using un-mounted stamps saves them money and they are more likely to purchase more. They also enjoy the extra space. While I still love my wood mounted stamps, I am hooked on the un-mounted, space saving way as well. I hope you enjoyed our 2-Part series and most of your questions or concerns were answered. However, we love to hear your input and would even like to see some of your ideas for un-mounted stamp storage. Leave us a comment.

Un-Mounted Stamping Part 1

Reported by Katie Skiff

One trend that has grown like wildfire has been that of un-mounted stamping. Traditional stamps were rubber and mounted on wood. Those were the stamps of choice for many years. However in today’s stamping world, the economy and space have led to the option of going un-mounted.

There is also an abundance in the variety of un-mounted stamps. Close to my Heart gave me my first taste of un-mounted stamps with their clear acrylic stamps. Along with their clear acrylic blocks, you could simply see where you were stamping. They also came in a sleek case for space saving options.

Many other stamp companies are following suit like the fabulous Papertrey Ink and Sweet N Sassy Stamps, to only name a few. Local craft stores like Michaels, also offer up cheap clear stamps.

Then there are also the stamp companies that use the red rubber in an un-mounted form. I remember the first time I received an order and the stamp was only the rubber. I was shocked.

Stamp companies like Gina K and Stamping Bella are 2 companies I know of and am fond of, that sell only the deeply etched rubber of the stamp. Well, then what do you do with these stamps that have no wood block to stamp them with?

Most acrylic stamps are already clingy on the back of the stamp. Simply peal off the stamp from and cling it to the block and you are ready to stamp. The sets each come with a foam cushion to lay underneath your cardstock to cushion your image, much like the cushion layer between your wood and rubber. When you are done, they cling right back on their storage space. When you start to notice they aren’t clinging as well, simply use your stamp cleaner or soap and water to clean the back off.

The blocks I am talking about are acrylic blocks or clear blocks. For instance with use of Close to my Heart acrylic stamps, the company offers a wide range of acrylic blocks to use with their stamps. These blocks are clear and come in a variety of sizes to fit the stamp image you wish to use. There are also many other companies that market acrylic blocks, including scalloped edged blocks and those with gridlines for placement of the stamp images. Making sure that you have the right size block compared to the size of your image is also important. Too big of a block will make it harder for you to stamp a good image. However once your build your collection of acrylic blocks, you should be able to use more un-mounted stamps.

Simply buying the rubber from companies like Stamping Bella is a little different. They do not simply cling to your block. There are a couple different ways that you can use them however. Because these images are so deeply etched on the rubber, you can simply add a piece of double stick tape to the back of you rubber and it will stick to your acrylic block. It works so well, most times you do not need to use a cushion. If you feel tho, that you would like to, simply borrow one from your Close to my Heart set, or use an old magazine under your cardstock.

The other alternative to using the rubber is to use EZ Mount foam. I plan to talk more about that, as well as storage solutions and pricing versus the ole wooden block tomorrow in Part 2. Please stop back by. In the mean time, if you have any opinions or wish to share a company not mentioned above that sells un-mounted stamps, please leave us a comment. We look forward to your input.

Scor-Mat by Scor-Pal

Reported By Julie Campbell

I love products that help give me more bang for my buck! I purchased the Scor-Pal earlier this year and use it for almost everything I create. The only problem is, it takes up around a square foot of crafting space, and I would have to find a place to store it while I was stamping. The creators of Scor-Pal must have heard our cries, because this Summer, they released an innovative companion piece for their scoring tool called the Scor-Mat!

The Scor-Mat is a translucent mat that is nearly 12" x 12" that slides perfectly into the recessed area of the Scor-Pal. The main reason I wanted to give this product a try was because I needed a sturdy work surface in my craft room. I use a plastic utility table and always had to place a large acrylic block under my cardstock to get an even impression when I stamped. Now that I have my Scor-Mat, I finally have a smooth, level work space! The Scor-Mat is nice and thick, but is also slightly flexible. I think the slight 'give' in the mat really helps to achieve a nicely stamped image.

The Scor-Mat has two work surfaces. One side is smooth and solid blue, which is the side I like to stamp on. It has slight static and keeps your paper in place while you work. Also, because it is slightly slick, it's easy to clean up any adhesive or ink that might get on it.

The other side is a self-healing cutting mat with grid markings. The grids are highly detailed with 1/8th increments in white and inch markings in black. There are also diagonal lines of different degrees that you can utilize. Scor-Pal recommends that you only use a craft knife and not a rotary cutter on this side of the mat.

PROS:

• The Scor-Mat solves the "storage" problem with the Scor-Pal, creating a new 12" x 12" work surface.
• The smooth, slick side is perfect to stamp on & makes for easy clean up.
• The self-healing side works perfectly with your craft knife.
• The detailed grid lines are great for creating layouts and for measuring layers on your projects.

CONS:

• Scor-Pal does not recommend using a rotary cutter on your mat.
• Smooth side is not silicone, so you can not use heated products with it (such as heat embossing tools or hot glue guns).

The Scor-Mat retails for $15 and can be found on several on-line stores. You can purchase one directly from Scor-Pal, or from Papertrey Ink, Gina K Designs, or Eclectic Paperie.

For those of you who already own a Scor-Pal, I think you will be really happy with this new accessory. It's one of those products that you'll find yourself using day after day and wondering how you ever lived without it. Do you own the Scor-Mat or have an opinion that you would like to share? If so, we'd love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about this review.

Fiskars Stamp Press

Reported by Carolyn King


Since I recently won a Fiskars Stamp Press, I thought it would be the perfect tool to review for Craft Critique.


The Fiskars Stamp Press is a tool that enables you to create custom layouts using clear stamps. The clear plastic material has a grey grid printed on it allows for perfect stamp placement. Each corner of the stamp press features a squishy orange foot, which allows you to align the press over your cardstock perfectly before you push down and create the impression.


The Stamp Press is 6' by 8' and the grid covers a 4" by 6" area of it. I have the Compact Stamp Press and the only difference between this one and the original is the surface area. The Compact Stamp Press grid measures 3" by 5".


Here is an illustrated version of how the press works:

1. Flip the press over (orange feet up) and lay out the clear stamps. Use the grid lines to ensure straight placement of the images.



2. Flip the press over and see if you like the placement. You can even hold it over the paper you will be stamping on to ensure you have enough room or that the layout is right. (I used a pre-cut tag for my project.)



3. If you are satisfied with the placement, flip the press over and ink the stamps. Flip it over and place it over the paper and push down. The images will transfer to the paper and you can re-ink and stamp again and again!


Tada! Here is the stamped tag:

It would be easy for me to mass produce these because the images are already lined up...just re-ink and stamp!

Here is the tag after I colored it and completed it. It seriously took no time at all to do!

Stamp Credit: Winter Blast (My Favorite Things)

PROS: I really like this product. The plastic is very durable and I love the grid markings--they allow for perfectly aligned images every time! I think that this product would be perfect for ATC swaps and creating Christmas and birthday tags. It is very convenient--You can put the press away with stamps on it to continue your cardmaking at another time. You can even purchase additional plates so you can work on numerous projects at one time (without having to remove your design). Another perk of this product is that you can use the press as your mounting block for all of your clear stamps, which essentially eliminates the need for clear stamping blocks. Finally, this product is not very expensive, so it is pretty easy to justify the investment, especially if you own a lot of clear stamps.

CONS: The stamp press is great for doing simple tags or creating swap cards, but if you like to mask and layer images, the press cannot be used for overlapping images (you would have to stamp one image at a time). The other thing that I did not like about the press is that there is this warning label on the back of it: This product contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects and/or reproductive harm. (This warning does not alarm me as many items in the craft industry have similar warnings on them but......I always have to question when I do see this--Why is California the only state who has this knowledge??)

The product retails for about $16.50 (prices vary according to store). You can find this product in many local stamping stores and also at these online stores: Scrapbook.com and Amazon.

In conclusion, I think that the Fiskars Stamp Press is a worthwhile investment. It is easy to use, affordable and a fantastic tool for for aligning a group of clear stamps for quick stamping. Additionally, you can also use the press as a stamping block for all your clear stamps. If you own the Fiskars Stamp Press, I would love to hear your opinion. Leave me a comment and let me know if you found this review helpful!

The MOTHER of all black ink tests...

Reported by Dana Vitek

Well, I finally did it... a no-holds-barred look at 14 different black inks, 3 different markers and three different card stocks.

I did a similar study back in early 2007, and posted my results on SplitCoastStampers; holy moly, was I ever a rock star then! The biggest names of stamping commented on that post, and the queen herself, Julie Ebersole, mentioned little ole me on her blog. Then I passed out.

But, I knew my work was not finished... there were MORE black inks out there, and clearly I needed them. So, now I've got them. I'm up to 14 black inks, some I've had for years, a few I just opened today (don't tell my husband!).

Here are the players, in alphabetical order by manufacturer:


Papers:
Georgia Pacific White
PaperTrey Ink Stamper's Select in White
Stampin' Up! Whisper White

Markers:
Copic Lemon Yellow
Prismacolor Deco Yellow
Stampin' Up! Barely Banana (yes, I know, this is not an alcohol-based marker).

Weather conditions:
79 degrees F, 44% humidity, a perfect August day in Delaware (just above sea level), and why am I inside again?

The process:

• Created a grid and printed it on the three different card stocks with my laser printer.
• Stamped each ink into its appropriate box.
• Carefully cleaned the stamp between inks with a three-step process:

1. Ultraclean, then dry
2. Stampin' Mist, then dry
3. Swipe with a baby wipe

• Allowed grids to dry for 30 minutes while starting this post
• Colored over the lines (on purpose) with the appropriate marker
• Cleaned each marker nib, each time, by coloring on a sheet of printer paper
• Swiped a line of the matching colorless blender pen through each colored area
• Checked for bleeding, feathering & smearing
• Ranked the inks 1, 2, or 3 on each grid
• Entered the results into a spreadsheet, tallied and averaged the results

**Please note: I did not heat-set any of the inks, because I wanted to see the results of the average (lazy like me) stamper. Heat-setting the pigment inks would probably improve their performance**

Results:

• A ranking of 1 indicated no black ink movement with the yellow marker or associated clear blender.
• A ranking of 2 indicated no to minimal movement with the yellow, some movement with the clear blender.
• A ranking of 3 was a hot mess. Movement with both marker and blender.
• I threw the SU! marker results out of the averaging, because they were the true definition of hot mess. So, the averaging only took alcohol-based markers into account.
  
  
  
  
  
  I was VERY impressed with Ranger's Nick Bantock Ink and Tsukineko's Memento... that stuff didn't budge with either of the alcohol-based markers or their clear blenders. Ranger's Adirondack and Distress inks also fared very well. As for the rest of them, well, you can be the judge (click for a larger view):
  
  
  
  
  As for the papers, the PTI smeared the least, followed by the Georgia Pacific, and then the Stampin' Up! Whisper White.
  
  Between the alcohol-based markers themselves, the Prismacolor smeared less than the Copic by 0.05 of a point (averaged), so I'd call that even.
  
  Recommendations:
  Ranger Nick Bantock or Memento on PaperTrey Ink. Anything else, you'll need to heat set or stay within the lines.
  
  So what do you think?

Online Sketch Sites

Reported by Mary Chong

This review is on two online sketch sources: Pencil Lines Sketch Blog and Becky Higgins Sketches of Creative Keepsakes Magazine.

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary the word Sketch is defined as:

• a rough drawing representing the chief features of an object or scene and often made as a preliminary study

What I love about sketches?
I love the fact that half of the work is already done for you leaving your mind free to concentrate on the paper, colors, and embellishments. Sketches are perfect if you are in a hurry or if you've lost your mojo and you are trying to get it back.

Where does one get a sketch online?
There are lots of blog sites and websites to chose from on the internet and they are easily found by doing a simple Google search. Sketches can also be found as sketch challenges on scrapbooking forums or if you subscribe to a kit club, you often get sketches to inspire you within your kit.

Speaking of inspiration....sketches are just that. Now that's not to say that you can't just copy the sketch exactly. That's what they are for after all. But another option is to mix it up a bit - rotate the sketch, mirror the sketch, use a 12x12 sketch on a 8.5x11 layout or vice versa - let your imagination go wild. Sketches are just a base to kick start your creativity.

Becky Higgins
Becky Higgins is part of Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Magazine. Her sketches are featured in the paper version magazine, the website and a multitude of books including her own authored books.

According to the Creating Keepsakes website "Becky Higgins' sketches are the little black dress (LBD) of scrapbooking. Whether you dress them up with embellishments or stick to the basics, they work for all occasions." So true, so true...

Becky Higgins has been around for quite a while. I know that when I first got into scrapping I turned to her website for sketches. That was back oh about 5 years ago before the rise of the BLOG. There were few sources for sketches online and this was the mother lode for me at the time. I must admit that after blogging got big and I discovered other sources for inspiration...I stopped visiting the website.

Now I must be truthful, when I came up with the idea to review sketch sites for Craft Critique I instantly thought of Becky Higgins BUT I should have done some fact checking first! (my bad) As I quickly discovered, the Creative Keepsakes online sketches haven't been updated since 2006!! Not sure why this is but I can only suspect that its because they want you to buy one of the books that Becky Higgins has written instead.

I do like the sketches that are on the site especially because they are all multi-photo. I know that this is an old trend but hey - we take a lot of photos right? - why not put them all on one layout?? The sketches are all clearly defined and easy to download, well organized by number of photos per layout. But I do find them a little too simplistic - but that may be because they are outdated. If you are a beginner scrapper - these may be perfect for you because they aren't overwhelming at all.

This is one of her sketches from March 2003.



Here is my interpretation of the sketch. (I only used the left side)

(Supplies are My Minds Eye Garden Party from the August Scrapbookers Clubhouse Kit)

I should add as well that Becky has her own website. On it she has a blog, a store, and a recipe site....no sketches however.

Pros:

• well organized, easy to navigate
• multi-photo layouts
• clear drawings with clearly defined areas for title and journaling
• sketches appear with a short paragraph of introduction as well as a layout showing an interpretation of the sketch

Cons:

• sketches haven’t been updated since 2006
• all sketches are multi-photo
• most sketches are very basic and linear
• only 1 interpretation of the sketch is shown
• no where to provide feedback or chat with others about the sketch or to upload your interpretation

Rating: 5 out of 10

Pencil Lines Sketch Blog

Pencil Lines got its start in October 2006, and is a new discovery for me. They have a really neat concept and a well laid out website. There is a core International Design Team that interprets each weekly sketch and either a guest designer or one of the Design Teams designs the sketch. A new sketch gets posted every Sunday night. They have over 100 sketches at the moment available for download.

According to their website "Pencil Lines is a blog all about using sketches to expand your artistic horizons, get you outside your box, and lift you out of scrappers block and to help you get more layouts done. It is about thinking outside your normal processes to create something wonderful."
There is definitely a lot of fabulous eye candy on this site. Each month the Design Team chooses the best layout from readers’ submissions for a prize plus they often have sponsored prizes from manufacturers. All submissions get loaded into the readers’ gallery (more eye candy!)

I really enjoyed my visit and use of this website - and I plan to return again and again.

Here's the sketch that I chose to use - It's Sketch # 52 by Emeline Ng.

Here's my interpretation of the sketch.

(Supplies are Pink Paislee Vintage Moon PP, Kaiser Rub-ons, Stickers are Pink Paislee Fashion Script - all from Scrapbookers Clubhouse October Kit)

Pros:

• lots of finished interpretations of the same sketch
• its a blog, so you can comment on a sketch or layout
• contests/prizes
• opportunity to submit your own layout into the reader's gallery
• new sketches appear weekly
• sketches are available to download in pdf format
• sketches are organized numerically - there are currently over 100 sketches available
• international design team

Cons:

• No Canadians on the Design Team eh?
• (sorry I could only think of 1 as I really liked this site)

Rating: 10 out of 10

All in all, I love sketches and I love using sketches from different sources - variety is the spice of life after all. Check out some sketch sites and find some inspiration.

What sketch sites do you use? Do you have a favorite source that you want to share with other Craft Critique readers? We'd love to hear from you....

Doodle Factory: for the fun in all of us

Reported by Heidi Kingery


To me, humor is very important in my cards. Of course I love flowers and other design elements as well, but funny is #1 for me. When I found Doodle Factory stamps over a year ago, I knew I hit the jackpot. Just looking at the images made me smile! I ordered a handful of them at the time and it has been a love affair ever since.

Doodle Factory first started from the brain of someone I believe is pure genius, Irene S. She is amazingly talented at drawing and her imagination is better than any five year old child I have ever met!

I asked Irene to answer a few questions for me for this article and this is what she had to say:

When did you start doodling?
I was extremely introverted and shy as a kid. I immersed myself in the fantasy world of books and eventually found an outlet for expression through drawing. Back then, I drew a LOT of fantasy creatures - unicorns, fairies and goblins inspired by Brian Froud and the art on Dragon Lance novels. Then, I 'grew up' and stopped drawing for quite a bit of time. My 'doodling' started in my mid-20s when I got my first corporate job and was forced to sit in on these long meetings where I never had to speak and barely had to listen. This is when the creatures and animals started to make their first appearances and they still grace the margins of my meeting notes to this day.

How obsessive are you that all of the details are just the way you want them?
I can be way too obsessive when it comes to turning my doodles into stamps. I think the permanence and the fact that OTHER people will replicate the images over and over sets my OCD off. I've been known to draw a character 37 times trying to get it "just right". Thankfully, only some of the doodles are stumbling blocks and many of the characters roll right off the page.

Do you do anything to get you into a mind set before drawing?
I don't really have any rituals, except that I seem to love working in front of the tv. I don't even pay attention to what's on the screen, but I like to have a DVD playing as background. It also drives my boyfriend nuts because I've bought two desks in the past two years and yet I never work at a desk, preferring to hunker down over the coffee table instead!

What is your favorite doodle or set you have come up with so far?
'Mimo' - one of the original creatures with the most dejected expression - is one of my favorite characters to see people use, mostly because I love seeing how people color his outfit! I'd also have to say that I've seen a lot of excellent cards come out of the Tropics set. It's funny because I have a lot of un-favorites, or characters that I wish I'd done differently, but then I see someone make an amazing card that makes me think it wasn't so bad after all!

Stamps: Casual Holiday Greetings, Winter;
Paper: Basic Grey Dasher; Other: Copic markers, chunky glitter

Someone found out how great she was and from there she was partnered up with SunSpiritStudios to sell her work as rubber stamps. The Creatures and Animals were the two sheets for a while and then Grace Girls, Birds and Fish, and Doodle Dads. At that point Tracey Berkey from Starving Artistamps saw the stamps and started carrying them in her store as well. They had definitely developed a 'following'. Tracey loved them so much that she wanted to see more, new doodles. That's when Doodle Factory switched to becoming sold only from Starving Artistamps.

Since that move, Doodle Factory stamps have grown to be a very large collection with a new set every few months. All of them being the same size so you can interchange pieces from each set. There are also sentiments for every set out!

You can purchase these stamps by the sheet, some individually, and some even mounted. I had always chosen unmounted because that means more money to get another doodle! They are deeply etched and have always given me a great impression on paper and even on fabric. My only complaint is not enough room to store all of my sets!

Stamps: Halloween, The Great Outdoors, Trick or Treat; Other: Copic markers

There are currently 15 sets of Doodle Factory. They include 3 Halloween sets (2 just released last week)Halloween, Witch's Brew, and Graveyard Shift, Winter, Valentines, Tropics, Urban, Country, Fairytale, Animals, Creatures, The Great Outdoors, Grace Girls, Birds n Fish, and Doodle Dads. You can find all of the sentiments to match here. Oh, and did I mention that Doodle Factory is so popular in Sweden that Tracey made Swedish sentiment sets just for them!?


Pros:

• Original, fun designs
• A stamp can be taken from one set and used with another because they are all scaled the same
• New sets every other month or so
• Price is right
• Sentiments to go with every DF set
• Shipping is always quick
  

Cons:

• The anticipation of the next set
  

From a personal standpoint, I love these designs and I think they bring out my silly side so I have to give them a 10/10 for quality, design, and fast shipping.

Stamps: The Great Outdoors, The Great Outdoors Sentiments; Other: Dew Drops, Copic markers

You can find Doodle Factory at Starving Artistamps, along with lots of other beautiful stamps, accessories, and must haves like Copics. You can also view the company blog here (she runs blog candy with every new set) and the DT and customer gallery here which is filled with great samples, even some from Sweden!

If you have read this article and fallen in love with Doodle Factory just like I have, then you can use this 20% discount code that Tracey has so sweetly given to all of you Craft Critique readers! It is valid for 10 days and is good on all Doodle Factory and Starving Artistamps stamps. The code is:

craftcritique

Thanks so much for reading and tell us what you love about these kooky stamps!

Dimensions Cross Stitch Kits

Reported by Tracy Schultz

There's something so nostalgic about sitting down on a cold winter's night with a piece of embroidery in my lap to keep me company. I love the rhythm of the needle going down through the fabric, then back up again. One of my favorite kits to work with is Dimensions Cross Stitch kits.

There are hundreds of different kits to choose from in three basic catgories: Gold, counted, and stamped. Gold kits are a HUGE undertaking (and you have my utmost respect if you can finish one of these!) as there is so much detail and shading in the finished piece. But when finished, it is breathtaking!

Then there are counted and stamped kits. Counted kits are usually for a more advanced skill level than stamped as they require precise counting and stitching to complete the piece. Stamped kits are a bit easier because part of the image is actually stamped onto the fabric. Think of these as paint-by-numbers where some of the work has already been done for you. I like using both kits, although stamped are usually faster to complete!



What I love most about these kits is that they're complete. You don't need anything else to work on them other than a pair of scissors and an embroidery hoop (if you like to work with one). The kits all contain Aida cloth, embroidery floss, detailed instructions, and a needle. These are great to pack in a bag when you're going on a long car ride, too, since they're self-contained.

Pros:

• Variety of designs/images and skill leves to choose from
• Everything you need is included
• Great price and value
• Portable

Cons:

• Cross stitch isn't as popular as it was some ten years ago, so these kits may be harder to find in your local craft stores

When I was young, my mother and I would spend hours in our local craft store drooling over all of the different kits out there. Dimension kits were our favorite because of the price, value, and the variety. Nowadays, I find these kits harder to come by. Needlecrafts aren't as popular in my area as they were ten years ago. So finding these in my large craft stores isn't as easy. And when I do find them, the selection isn't always the best.

If you're looking to try your hand at cross stitch, I'd definitely recommend Dimension kits. I'd give them a perfect 10 because of the value, quality, and variety.

These kits are still available on the internet in abundance. You can find them for sale at the Dimension website, 1-2-3 Stitch, and The Stitchery. The retail price for these kits varies by size and complexity, but starts around $3.00 for a small image and goes up from there.

Have you worked on any Dimension kits? Share your piece or feedback with us-we'd love to hear from you!

Photoshop CS3: An Overview

Reported By Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

I first stuck my toe in the digital waters about two years ago. I was largely resistant to digital scrapbooking at that time, because I love the touch and feel of paper pages way too much to ever give them up! But, Photoshop Elements had been touted to me as the greatest tool a digital photographer can have. I had become frustrated with iPhoto’s range of choices and was looking for a more advanced way to edit my photos.

So, I started fooling around with a free 30-day trial of Photoshop Elements (PSE). (You can download a full, working version of any of Adobe’s products for a free 30-day trial.) Despite the fact that PSE is not exactly intuitive (there is definitely a steep learning curve), I mucked around and managed to figure some stuff out. So, I bought the full version ($89.99) and happily edited my photos for about a year.

But once I became comfortable, I wanted more.

So, I started trying to do some digital pages. Just for fun, you understand. Just to see if I could figure it out.

While I managed to accidentally stumble into some good ideas, I knew I needed a book to really harness the power of this program. So, I bought Better Homes and Gardens’ The Ultimate Guide to Digital Scrapbooking because of a recommendation. I wrote a somewhat angry review of that book here. That book frustrated me to no end because many of the really “cool” digital tricks were things that could only be done in the full version of Photoshop ($649). (I have since learned that you can use PSE for most things, you just have to be a bit clever about it.)

So, I waited and waited and then a major coupon came my way! I jumped on the opportunity to buy Photoshop CS3 (PS CS3) at a deeply discounted price. And I have been happy as a clam ever since.

I wanted to share my journey with the program, so that you would know where I'm coming from. I'm not going to do a "review" of PS CS3, so much as provide you with an overview of what the program can do for us crafters. Here are just a few of the ways you can use Photoshop CS3 (and Photoshop Elements)…

BASIC FLASH ANIMATION

This is something that you can do in both PSE and PS CS3, but it’s not something that most people realize. If you’re planning on doing a lot of animation, you should buy a program like Flash. But for the occasional fun item, like the blinkie below, Photoshop does a great job!


PHOTO EDITING

Again, you can edit your photos in many, many programs. And both PSE and PS CS3 can do amazing things to photos. I edit all my photos in Photoshop before printing them. Check out this amazing before and after…

I actually did that in PSE before I bought Photoshop CS3, but it's a dramatic change, so I wanted to share it!

DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING

Photoshop makes it quick and easy to create beautiful digital scrapbook pages. Here’s a recent page of mine:


HYBRID SCRAPBOOKING

And if you’re not sure you want to go all digi, you can always use Photoshop to help you with your hybrid (mixture of paper and digi) scrapbook pages. Check out my layout below:


I altered the photos and printed them onto transparencies.

CREATE YOUR OWN DIGITAL KITS

I have just recently started creating my own digital kits. Check out the kit preview below. I created the papers, embellishments, and even the preview itself in Photoshop CS3!


Everything that I've shown you so far can be accomplished in both PSE and PS CS3. So, here are two of the features that I love about PS CS3:

PATHS

The ability to create paths is one of the major reasons I decided to upgrade. (You cannot create paths in PSE.) Without getting too technical on you, a path is a vector line. And for crafters, one of the things we love about vector lines is that text will follow the line. In the example below, you can see that I’ve drawn a swirl shape, created a path, and now the text automatically follows that line!


Paths can also create a closed space which text will automatically fill. You can see in the example below that I drew a wonky tree shape and then typed my text. I didn’t hit “return” a single time. The path forces the text into the correct shape!


Here’s a digital layout where you can see that I used a path to get my journaling to fit on my page exactly. I traced the edge of the flowers and the edges of the page, created a path, and then just typed in my journaling! So easy!


ACTIONS

Actions are one of the coolest things around. Actions allow you to press a single button to complete a very complex task – anything from resizing a photo to inking the edge of an element. There are many sites out there that sell actions (many of which work in PSE, not just PS CS3). But, the only way to create your own actions is through PS CS3. For example, I love to take photos with my iPhone, but I often find that the photos are somewhat dark and lifeless. So, I created an “iPhone action” which makes several adjustments to the photo and all I do is touch a button.


This feature saves me lots and lots of time!

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Photoshop CS3 is a professional level program. In all honesty, I probably use a tenth of its power. If you’ve never used Photoshop before, I highly suggesting downloading the free 30 day trial of Photoshop Elements. You should also buy a book or take a class because the learning curve can be very steep. If you find yourself using it a lot, then I highly recommend Photoshop CS3. I rarely digi scrap without using both paths and actions, two things found only in the professional level program.

A note about Mac vs. PC. Adobe develops for PC first, so the Mac version (particularly of Photoshop Elements) is a bit behind the PC version. Also, for some reason Adobe has created different interfaces for Mac and PC, so the screenshots and commands don’t always look the same. Even more frustrating, some of the Mac versions of PSE are missing things that are in the PC version. So when you buy a book or take a class, be sure that the author or instructor acknowledges these differences.

MARTHASTEWART.COM

reported by Lexi Daly

Over the last few years, the internet has become full of great places for crafters to find ideas and inspiration and to connect with other crafters. While magazines and books are great and still have their place, the internet allows for so much more information to be right at your fingertips, usually for free. In fact, this blog is a great example! In addition to Craft Critique, I have several blogs and websites that I visit when I'm looking for inspiration--MARTHASTEWART.COM being one of my favorites. It is a website full of ideas and inspiration, crafting, cooking, decorating, and more...

This is a screen shot of what you will see on the home page. There are two main tab menus at the top of the screen as well as a search box and several front page article links. The tabs at the very top are more general website tabs--About Martha, Magazines, TV & Radio, etc. I like to click on the Most Popular tab from time to time to see what's getting other readers' attentions--going straight to the good stuff!

The larger tab menu, under the logo, has more of a breakdown of the types of idea information available. Those headings are Food, Entertaining, Holidays, Weddings, Crafts, Home & Decorating, Gardening, Whole Living, Community, and Shop. It's helpful to think of the site as a magazine, with the front page being the cover and each of these tabs being a section with it's own front page. You can click through any of the articles presented on the first page or you can go directly to the section you want to read.

In each section, you'll find articles, videos, and slide shows, with links to recipes and how tos, many of which are reprints from the various MS publications. If you've seen something before, but don't have the magazine anymore or can't remember which one, search for it. There are lots of great recipes in the food section and great projects in crafts and decorating. Tips, tricks, and good things on just about every page!

The best thing about the website is being able to save those projects and articles that catch your eye. If you become a member, you have a place to save your own collection of favorite articles--and organize them, too. Above each article there is a plus sign to be able to add them and then you're prompted to add a tag, so that as your list grows, you can easily find what you're looking for. Some other perks of membership include participation in message boards and galleries & contests. The community also includes a few blogs, one called Dinner Tonight which gives you a daily post with an idea for just that.

While I do hop over there just to see what's new (especially now with Halloween on the horizon--Martha knows Halloween!), I usually visit when I'm looking for something in particular. For example, when I was planning my daughter's monkey themed birthday party, I knew I'd seen an article on the theme and I was pretty sure it was in Martha Stewart Kids, so I checked the website...

The list of related items came up quickly and included small pictures, so I knew right away that I'd found what I was looking for! The list is also labeled to show me what kind of information is included--article, video, recipe, etc. I'm usually a visual person--I read the directions, but I'm more of a "Martha-light" crafter and don't usually follow them word for word. Here's my version of the monkey cake...


I couldn't show an article without something I created! And many thanks to MARTHASTEWART.COM for making it easy for me to find something I'd seen before and not having to recreate the wheel (or the cake in this case!)

Pros:

• lots of information right at your fingertips
• well organized
• beautiful pictures
• directions provided
• reprints of published articles
• community of other crafters
• ability to save your faves

Cons:

• lots of MS product placement

On a final note, I'd like to say that even if you're not a fan of the Martha brand, there are still so many ideas on her website and it costs nothing to get them. Yes, there are links back to MS products, but in crafting, there are so many options to get to similar results and the directions provided allow for that too. To me, the website doesn't have the feel of one big advertisement which can easily happen with such a site. Instead, the projects take center stage, while the reader is directed to the products with a simple link or ads to the side.

I'd love to hear your thoughts of the Martha Stewart website--like it? hate it? found a great project there that you think everyone should try? Or maybe you'd rather share another website you love--variety is key when you need inspiration!

Eclipse Strips - Art Masking Tape

Reported by Sara McKenzie

Eclipse Strips are a low-tack masking tape made by Judikins especially for use in rubber stamping. Darlene Domel of Stampland is a huge fan, and has practically made their use her signature technique. I've seen Darlene's demonstrations at rubber stamp festivals, and she also has tutorials on her website. I decided to follow her approach and see how Eclipse Strips worked for me.

Using the 24 mm wide strip, I tore off a piece large enough to cross over a quarter sheet of cardstock. Then, I dusted color onto the corner of the cardstock with a Stampin' Up! stipple brush and Really Rust dye ink.

I inked up an oakleaf stamp from Stampland and Basic Black dye ink from Stampin' Up!, and stamped a portion of the oak leaf onto the colored corner.

When the black ink was dry, I moved the first piece of Eclipse onto the top of the image that I stamped. As long as everything is dry, it won't hurt your stamped image.

I tore a second piece of eclipse strip, and created another section of cardstock, which I stippled with Kiwi Kiss ink from Stampin' Up!.

Again, I inked up the oak leaf with Basic Black, stamped it onto the green section, and when the ink was dry moved the piece of Eclipse over the green section.

I continued in this manner, creating different sized sections at different angles, stippling and stamping, until the whole card was covered with Eclipse Strips, with the exception of one square. In this square I stamped the image of a woman's face. (I don't recall where I got this stamp- but I do know that I've seen it in multiple catalogs, so it's not that hard to find. It might even be one of Stampland's stamp images.)

Next, I created a mask for the woman's face by stamping the image on a piece of the 6" wide Eclipse, and cutting it out around the image. I lined this mask up over the existing stamped image of the face, and then stamped the edges of the oak leaf around her face to frame it.

And when all of the Eclipse masking strips are pulled off, here is the final result!

(The word stamp is also from Stampland.)

Eclipse Strips come in rolls in various widths from 6 mm to 6 inches, in sheets, and in various packaging configurations. You can purchase a set of three rolls (33 feet long) that includes 6 mm, 12 mm, and 24 mm wide Eclipse Strips, or a set of two rolls of 24 mm wide, or the 6 inch wide roll (also 33 feet long). It is also available in packages of 24 sheets, 8-1/2" X 11", if you have a lot of really BIG masks that you want to make! The smaller packages run from $5.25-$5.95, the 6 inch wide roll is $15.00, and the sheets are $13.75. I've found them online at Stampland, Blockhead Stamps, Frantic Stamper, and StampStampStamp (which is Judikins own online store).

PROS:

• The low tack adhesive is just right: sticky enough, but not so sticky that it pulls up an image that you have covered with it.
• Price is quite reasonable, considering you can use the same strips over, and over, and over again. Basically, until the adhesive has lost its ooomph. Just store them adhered to a piece of paper until you need them again. (I keep my paper in one of those plastic page protectors.).
• I like the variety of offerings. The skinny strips can be used to create a grid pattern, the larger strips can be used as I did, and the big roll (or sheets) can be used to create masks for large images.

CONS

• Honestly, this is a stretch, because I do like the product.... BUT, the Eclipse paper does have some "memory", so it tends to have a bit of a curl to it when you take if off the large roll. I had to sometimes smooth down the larger mask multiple times to make it stick once and for all. It did not seem to be as much of an issue with the strips.
• You do have to remember to trim your mask slightly SMALLER than the image itself. Because the Eclipse paper has a small amount of thickness to it, a small (1/8") gap is left in the image, as the rubber stamp transitions from the Eclipse Strip to your cardstock. You can see this in the first photo of the oak leaf on the Really Rust, above. It's not a huge deal- just something you have to get used to.

I really like this product and look forward to playing with it again! I'd give it an 8 out of 10 stars.

So, are you ready to play? Buy some Eclipse strips, get out your stipple brushes, and let us see what you create!

Ultra Clean Stamp Cleaner

Reported by Heather Strenzwilk

Selecting a stamp cleaner is like choosing a toothpaste: lots of varieties to try but once you find a product you like, you tend to stick with it. In my 14 years as a stamper, I have used both Memories and Spritz cleaners with success on my mostly unmounted rubber stamp collection. Like many stampers, my preferred cleaner is diluted Simple Green (a non-toxic household cleaner). With the increased popularity of polymer stamps, Ultra Clean arrived on the scene! I decided to put it to the test to see if this product was as good as its name.

Ultra Clean is produced and marketed by Stewart Superior and is available in the following packaging:

• Kits which includes a 2 ounce spray bottle and mini stamp scrubber
• 2 ounce spray bottle
• 8 ounce refill bottle

The manufacturer also recommends the Stamp Scrubber for cleaning your stamps. To use it simply spray or add cleaner to the cleaning pad before rubbing it with the dirty stamp. The new Double Stamp Scrubber has a pad in both the lid and base so after cleaning the stamp it can be dried on the other pad.

My personal stamp collection is approximately 80% unmounted rubber, 10% mounted and 10% polymer stamps. For my product testing I used mounted rubber stamps from Ann-ticipations and Hero Arts; unmounted (UM) rubber stamps from Aspects of Design, Ma Vinci's Reliquary and Inka Stamps and polymer stamps from Inkadinkadoo, My Favorite Things and A Muse. The stamps were inked with either Memories (black) or VersaFine (vintage sepia) and some stamps sat for a week and some just a few minutes before being cleaned. At the beginning of the test the polymer stamps were unstained and the mounted stamps UM rubber stamps had some stained portions.

I do not own either of the stamp scrubbers described in my article, instead I use Shur-Line Paint Edger refills. They are the same material as stamp scrubbers but cheaper and readily available in a paint or home improvement store and are $3.50 for a pack of 2 which normally lasts me a year (I throw them out when they get too grungy gray). For the test I used 2 new pads- 1 exclusively for Ultra Clean and 1 exclusively for Simple Green.

These are some of the stamps used for the test.

My observations:
I took an immediate dislike to Ultra Clean's scent. At first I followed the product directions and sprayed cleaner onto the scrubber rather than the stamp itself. I soon realized that the stamps (especially the polymer) still had ink in the nooks and crannies so I started spritzing the stamp once and letting it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing. After scrubbing I rinsed the UM and polymer stamps under running water and let the stamps air dry. The stamps felt like they had a slightly oily reside on them which is impossible to capture via photography.

Ultra Clean's packaging states that it will "clean your stamps so well that you can go from stamping dark inks to light inks without worrying about the dark ink affecting the lighter shades." I did put this claim to the test and I was able to stamp with light ink without any shadows. The product also claims to keep your stamp scrubber cleaner because Ultra Clean washes out more ink when the scrubber is rinsed with water. I compared both scrubbers after the test and they were very close, the Ultra Clean scrubber was very slightly cleaner.

I cleaned a few stamps with my normal stamp cleaner (3:1 Water: Simple Green) as a control. The stamps were clean without an oily residue and I prefer the scent of Simple Green to Ultra Clean. After comparing the stamps, I used my Simple Green cleaner to re-clean some of the Ultra Clean stamps. Permanent and oil based inks stain- that is a fact however the Simple Green cleaned more of the ink resulting in less staining.

Ultra Clean retails for $6 for the 2 ounce bottle, $16 for the 8 ounce refill and $13 for the Double Stamp Scrubber. These products are available from scrapbook stores or the following online retailers:

• Papertrey Ink
• Stampington & Company
• Frantic Stamper

Pros

• Ultra Clean is available in 2 ounce spray bottles and a more cost effective 8 ounce refill size
• The product is formulated to be used with both polymer and rubber stamps and won't damage them over time
• The product is designed to clean more stamps with less cleaner

Cons

• The product left an oily residue on stamps, even after scrubbing
• Some users may be bothered by the scent
• Ultra Clean is not available at large chain craft stores (AC Moore, JoAnn Crafts, or Michaels)
• 8 ounce refill size is not widely stocked- difficult to find

Bottom line: Ultra Clean was as easy to use as any other spray stamp cleaner and was similarly priced. I didn't like the scent or oily residue of Ultra Clean. I wasn't happy with how it cleaned my stamps and consequently had to clean them again with another cleaner. The product was especially recommended for polymer stamps but it did not achieve my desired results. I paid $5 for the 2 ounce bottle and I probably won't use this product in the future except to clean my stamp scrubber. I rate this product 6.5 out of 10.

How do you clean your stamps? Do you have a favorite stamp cleaner? Share your experience with our readers.

Card Sketch Blogs

Reported by Kim Fox

Crafting is about being creative. But sometimes, the creativity just isn't there. So rather than sit still staring at your incomplete project, you can visit various craft forums to get some ideas and jump start your creativity. Likewise, you can check out some of the many sketches blogs that are available on the web.

Sketches are designs that you can replicate as you make your project(s). You can follow the sketch exactly or your can use it loosely. It's your choice. Sometimes, I even print out the sketch just to make sure I am following it the way it was drawn up. Also the wonderful thing about sketches is that you can play along and create a card or you can mosey around and get inspired by the design team (DT) work along with the work of the participants. And the participants are often from all over the world thus diversifying the creativity pool.

I am going to focus on two card sketch sites because that's what I like to do - make cards:

• 2 Sketches 4 You
• Card Positioning Systems (CPS)

2 Sketches 4 You (2S4Y) is a relatively new sketch blog; they just opened shop this past June. It is hosted to Laura Davis and Kazan Clark. They trade off on posting the sketches - Laura will post a sketch one week and Kazan will post a sketch the next week. The response to their blog has been awesome. On any given week, there are well over 100 comments posted to the 2S4Y blog. There is usually a weekly sponsor who will provide a prize to the 'Card of the Week'. Additionally, the sketch designers and their DT will select 'the Fab 5' - five cardmakers whose cards were outstanding that week.

• The 'Card of the Week' and the 'Fab 5' are selected on Sundays
• New sketches are posted on Mondays

Mark your calendars because 2S4Y will begin their search for their Winter Design Team in October!

Here's what I like about the 2S4Y sketch blog:

• The design team is phenomenal! Their work is colorful and exciting and sets the bar for what the other crafters submit.
• They typically force me to think outside of the box and do something different.
• I love to visit the participants blogs; there is an abundance of creative inspiration.

Here's what they could do differently:

• They could set up an alternative system for viewing the entries; it is a bit tedious to click on each blog link, then go back to the 2S4Y blog site; and there are lots of blog links to click through. I think I'd rather see the images in a slide show format. Though I do like that that links are all grouped together. Also, when I view my personal blog stats, I can visibly see how much traffic comes to my blog via 2S4Y.
• There could be a gallery/archives for previous sketches.

The card below made the Fab 5 on 2 Sketches 4 You a few weeks ago.

Card Positioning Systems (CPS) has been around for a while - at least in blog years. The first sketch went up on February 14, 2007. A year and a half later, they have a strong following along with consistent sponsorship. They have grown to include various tips for cardmakers like using rubons, sewing on cards, using stamps and more. They, too, have a design team that is splendid. They create such beautiful cards with depth, color and utilize products in ways that I could not have conceived on my own.

Here is some of the CPS weekly schedule:

• New sketches are posted on Sundays.
• There are usually tutorials and tips on Mondays.
• The reader update and spotlight is posted on Saturdays.

Here's what I like about the CPS sketch blog:

• I like the way the weave in the tips and tutorials throughout the week.
• They post new DT work more than once a week; thus keeping the blog fresh.
• There is a gallery of the CPS sketches.

Here's what they could do differently:

• When they update the blog - almost daily, I'm uncertain if I should post my blog link entry on the original sketch posting day or the current day's post (minor point, though worth mentioning; I usually post on the current day's post/the most recent post as opposed to the day the sketch was posted).
  

Oh, and according to Tami Mayberry, CPS' sketch designer, Cardmaker Magazine will publish an entirely new edition of sketches in November. It will include over 100 card designs.

Other sketch blogs that card makers can visit for inspiration:
sketch this
triple the sketch
splitcoast stampers
two peas (stamping board)

The beauty of all of these blogs and others, is that you can dig into their archives for an endless dose of creativity (and maybe carpal tunnel too). You can also get involved by creating cards for others to see and ogle over ... oh, and it's all FREE! Love that.

Which card sketch blogs do you visit?

Digital Image Management with Picasa

Reported by Kristine Fowler

Truth be told, I was probably the last of my friends and family to move away from traditional film-based photography. I mention this because believe it or not, everyone thought that with my background (I work with computers every day) and overall comfort with technology, that I should have been the first. So what held me back? There were a few things, but by far the biggest one was.....File Management. I just couldn't get my head around how I was going to deal with storing my digital files in a manner that was safe and easy to manage...and so I waited.

As luck would have it (if you can call it luck), about 2 years ago I needed to replace my camera. My trusty 35mm film friend had finally bitten the dust -- and so I started to shop around, did a little research and decided that it was time I took the digital plunge. All things considered, I'm really glad that I did make the switch, but what about the issue of file management? How did I decide to deal with the chaos? I found my solution in Picasa.

Picasa is a free, downloadable image management software product from Google. You can get a copy for yourself here. That's right, it's free -- no catch and it's not a trial version. It's a fully functioning product that is available at no cost to you. Interesting to note is that prior to Google acquiring it, Picasa was a regular for-purchase product, that came with a hefty pricetag -- so don't be concerned about the fact that it's free.

It is worth pointing out at the front-end of this review one of the common misconceptions about Picasa. Picasa DOES NOT STORE your photos. It simply acts as a cataloging/viewing/editing window. It helps you manage your library. It is true that some of the things you do in Picasa make changes to files and folders on your hard disk, but since it does not store your photos you can try it at no risk. If you download it, then choose to remove it later, none of your photos will be lost.

Despite the fact that it's free, the software does get updated occasionally, and users are notified of an available update when the product is launched. Picasa collects feedback from users through their online help forums seeking to learn what is working (and perhaps not working) with the product, and learns what features should be considered additions to future software release. In fact, wouldn't you know it I was mid-review and the folks at Google announced that Picasa Rev 3 is now availble in Beta. Unfortunately, I tried to download it and it doesn't look like it's available to me yet. Hmmmm. I'll have to try again later. So, if you do decide to download Picasa and see things a little bit differently than what you see here, don't worry. That's probably the reasoning. Reading the deets on the new rev makes it sound even better than what I've been working with to date, so it's all good.

So back to my review. According to Picasa, here's the basics of what it can do for you.

• Locate and Organize all the photos on your computer.
• Edit and add effects to your photos with a few simple clicks.
• Share your photos with others through email, prints and on the web

So let's look at each of these things in detail.

Locate and Organize Your Photos

Once you start Picasa, it scans your computer's hard drive to find and automatically organize all of your photos (and movies) into a Library View. Here is a sample of what you might see.




On the left hand side of the screen is your Folder List which shows all of the folders on your computer that contain photos and movies, as well as all of the albums you've created in Picasa. By default the folder list is sorted by creation date but you have the option of changing this to sort by folder Name, Folder Size, or in order of most recent updates, whatever will work best for you.

The right hand side of the screen displays thumbnail images of the photos and movies in the highlighted folder (and neighboring folders if space permits). Thumbnails can be resized to meet the user's preference using the slider at the bottom of the screen - or through the "View" menu. Double-clicking on a photo launches a the "View and Edit" window for the chosen photo (more on that below).

Double-clicking a folder name in either the left or right pane views opens a dialog box containing the the name of the folder (editable), the date the folder was created (editable) as well as blanks for the user to input information about the location of the photos, and a description of the photos contained in the folder. Once added, descriptive information becomes searchable by Picasa and will make finding photos easier as your image library grows.

It should be noted that changing the name of a folder within Picasa also changes the name of the folder as it is stored on your hard drive - editing the date however does not seem to have the same affect. Windows explorer maintains the original create date of the folder in question.

From the Picasa library view you can also adjust which folders appear in Picasa - that is you can Remove Folders from Picasa (doing this does not remove them from your hard drive, only from the Picasa library, kind of like hiding them from the software), drag and drop to move photos from one folder to another (changing the actual location of the original file), and if you like you can use Picasa to delete photos from your computer using the Delete From Disk option or simply pressing the delete key on your keyboard (whenever you delete from disk you are reminded with a confirmation prompt that your hard disk will be affected).

I'll talk more about the area/buttons at the bottom of the Library View screen later on.

Another great organizational feature of Picasa is the ability to group photos into albums. This means that if the folders on your hard drive are organized with the date taken as the folder name (which is a common way for digital cameras to download pictures) - you can drag pictures into albums within Picasa, grouping for example all of the photos from a 3-day weekend in one place. Or....you can create an album that contains only photos of a specific member of your family, or a specific sport, or a specific location and so on. Photos can reside in more than one album and albums exist only in Picasa. They do not physically exist on your computer. So by placing photos in albums you can categorize them without duplicating the file on your hard drive, so you are not wasting any precious storage space. In the simplest form, think of albums like you would a "playlist" on your iPod. The songs are still stored in their original location, with the Playlist acting like a table of contents as to their location. Important to remember though is that any edits you make to photos in a Album, will be made to all instances of that photo in Picasa, including the original. If you want to make different edits to the same photo in different albums, you will need to duplicate the photo first.

Edit and Add Effects to Your Locate and Organize Your Photos

Built into Picasa are various photo editing tools. The "Edit Photo" screen is easily accessed by double-clicking on a thumbnail in the Library View.


Here is a close-up of the three photo editing menus.

Basic Fixes include Crop, Straighten, Redeye Reduction, a one-step adjustment button called "I'm Feeling Lucky", Auto Contrast, Auto Color, and a Fill Light adjustment tool. Here is a sample of a photo that I edited using the "I'm Feeling Lucky" option. I think you'll agree that there is certainly a difference in the coloring. The function removed the yellowish hue caused by the bright sun that was captured on the original and made the colors look what I believe to be more realistic.

Before

After

There are more tools on the tuning tab which again includes Fill Light as well as slider adjustments for Highlights, Shadows and Color Temperature. There is also a Neutral Color Picker which tells Picasa which part of your photo it should consider gray or white. Picasa then color balances around it.

On the Effects tab there are twelve effects that you can apply to any still photo. They are Sharpen, Sepia, Black & White, Warmify, Film Grain, Tint, Saturation, Soft Focus, Glow, Filtered Black & White, Focal Black & White, and Graduated Tint.

Here is a sample of a pic changed to Sepia.

Captioning.....is one of my favorite tools on the photo editing screen and are added in a field below the photo (see red circle in this thumbnail). While at first the length of the line looks a bit restrictive, multi-line captions are permitted which is great. This means that if you wanted to you could prepare your journaling in advance of creating a scrapbook page layout while the photos, and memories are still fresh in your mind. Since the caption is stored with the photo itself within Picasa, you don't have to worry about losing little strips of paper, or sticky notes. For unorganized folk like me this is a big plus! The downside to the captioning is that currently there is no way for you to print your captions along with your photos - not even in a contact sheet format. So in order to print your journaling, you will need to go back into Picasa and cut and paste your caption to a text editor then print.

One more quick word about captions. If you add a caption within Picasa, and then email the picture to someone else, because the caption is written to the camera's EXIF data, the recipient will see the caption if they too use Picasa or other image editing or management software products that are capable of reading EXIF information. EXIF data and captions are also transmitted by Picasa to Picasa Web Albums for online file sharing. Keep this feature in mind though if you're sharing photos and remember not to write a caption that you wouldn't necessarily want anyone else to see!

Create Watermarks on Your Photos

When I started to write this review, I had the inability to watermark a photo listed as a 'con' BUT, I'm happy to see from the latest report (despite the fact that I have so far been unable to download the product) that the newest release - Picasa 3 - contains this functionality. Yippee! This means that if you post photos to your blog or another photo sharing site, you can now add your copyright to the photo from within Picasa.

Create Movies & Slideshows

Another cool feature built right into Picasa is the ability to create slideshows and movies from your photos at the click of a button. Of course, you don't have a lot of movie editing options (for this you'll need a proper movie maker program), but in a pinch this little feature makes sharing your photos with family and friends a little bit more interesting. Here's a quick sample that I put together in less than a minute using a few photos I took in my sister-in-law's garden a few months back. (Just don't ask how long it took to load this file to Blogger, a process that I eventually abandoned. Suffice it to say it was a lot longer than the time it took for me to create it --- I hope this embedded version from Flickr works instead and that my efforts were worth it for demonstration purposes! Geesh!) If you can't see the video -- click here to jump to it's page on Flickr.

SampleSlideshow
Originally uploaded by Scramping Addict

View Your Photos in a Timeline

If you're searching for something specific and it doesn't jump off the screen at you right away, and if you haven't taken the time to enter a searchable caption or description of your pics, the quickest way to find what you're looking for would be to jump into Picasa's timeline view. The Timeline view lets you instantaneously scroll through a chronological catalog of your photos - fast forwarding and rewinding as necessary. If you need further details on the contents on an album, you can view a slideshow of that specific album in your timeline, you need to simply doubleclick one of the thumbnails.

Here is a screen capture of my timeline view so you can hopefully get a better idea of what I mean. I use this quite a bit to find older pics when I'm not sure what folder I have stored them in (most of my newer photos have captions and/or folder descriptions which I can search).

Share Your Photos

I mentioned earlier that there was some additional stuff at the bottom of the Library View screen. This stuff is all about sharing -- and after all, isn't that what we all want to do with our photos in one manner or another? Here is a close-up of what you can find there.

The left-most section is your photo-tray and this is definately one of the handiest tools I've seen in a long time. As you work with photos in either the Library View or Edit Photo Views, you can 'hold' them in your photo tray for processing later. Any of the function buttons to the right of the photo tray will act on everything you have in your photo tray at the same time when clicked. If you want to process an entire folder, you simply add the whole folder to the tray.

So what are the funtion buttons? Essentially they are all geared to preparing or sharing your photos outside of Picasa. They are Web Album, Email, Print, Order Prints, Blog This, Collage and Export. Most of the features are pretty self-explanatory but I do want to comment on a couple of them.

Web Album - Similar to other photo sharing sites like Flickr for example, Picasa Web Albums allow you to post and share your photos online. Clicking the button prompts you to create a Picasa Web Album account (or log on to an existing one) and then either add your photos to an existing album, or create a new one, enter an album description and/or set privacy settings. While the review of Picasa Web Albums could be a whole article entirely unto itself, suffice it to say at this point that having the button 'inside' Picasa is a real time saver when it comes to uploading if you decide to use this service.

Blog This - Connects your photo with your Blogger-powered blog, taking you directly to edit mode of a new blog post with the photo already embedded.

Export - This is my personal favorite bottom tray feature button. This button takes all of the photos in your tray, and creates a new directory on your computer's hard disk containing only these photos, including their edits. I use this all the time to generate the CDs I take to the processing shop for printing. I 'Export' them to a new folder, and then use Windows Explorer and CD writing software to transfer the contents of this new folder to a CD. I have found this to be much more efficient burning process than my having to sift through several folders of photos in Explorer to find the photos I wish to print. Once I have created the CD, I delete the exported folder from my PC. Since the photos inside are a 'copy' of those already stored elsewhere on the drive and I also have the CD to rely on there is no need to keep the export folder.

Collage -- There are a couple of different options included in this one, but here's a 30 second photo-grid collage that I made with some pictures I took on Canada Day just so you get a basic idea.

So what's the bottom line?

Pros:

• It's free!
• Picasa does not store your photos it is simply a file manangement tool. So if for some reason you need to uninstall Picasa, your files and folders remain intact on your PC.
• On initial run, Picasa finds photos and movies that you may have forgotten that you had stored on your hard disk since it scans everything.
• Edits to photos are made and effects are added in progressive layers, and you can always undo or redo the edits/effects in the reverse order they are made. (i.e you can remove the last 3 edits/effects by hitting the undo button 3 times).
• Picasa keeps a copy of your original image file and 'hides' it in a sub-folder called 'Originals' in the same folder as your edited version resides on your hard disk. This way you can always revert back to the original file if necessary.

• While not as sophisticated as specialty image editing applications like Adobe Photoshop, Picasa gives you ample options to adjust, edit, and add effects to your photographs.
• Picasa supports a plethora of photo and movie file types including (photo: JPG, JPEG, GIF, TIF, PSD, PNG, BMP, RAW - including NEF and CRW, GIF and PNG files and movie: MPG, ANI, ASF, WMV and MOV)
• Picasa has a built-in utility for 'backing-up' your photos and album structure. While I have not tried this yet, I can at this point only assume that it works. I do know that unless you have exported edited photos to a new folder and essentially created new photo files, that the backup process will backup your original files only, without the edits. The file that stores the edits, which is seperate from the actual photo will be backed up also, but the edits will be visible only to Picasa, not to a Windows photo-viewer type program.
• I use an external hard drive to store the majority of my photos, and since Picasa is set to always scan this drive, Picasa detects and scans it when it is available displaying the photo on both the external and internal drive in the Library View.
• Create a slideshow, a gift CD or collage of photos at the click of a button. It really couldn't be any easier than that.
• Picasa is a work in progress which means there are software updates from time to time. When an update becomes available, you are notified when you launch the product that a new version is available.

Cons:

• Cannot print your captions with your photos.
• Picasa doesn't always prompt you for confirmation when a change being made in Picasa that will affect how or where a file is stored on your hard disk. (e.g. moving a file from one folder to another generates a confirmation prompt whereas renaming a folder does not - both of these actions make changes to the files on your hard drive)
• There is no printable help manual that I can find, but there is a comprehensive online help center. A printable manual might be better for those people who aren't connected to the internet 100% of the time.

Overall, I rate Picasa a 10 out of 10 (and I don't tend to do that very often). While the new user may find it a wee bit confusing to figure out what actually does make changes to your hard disk files and what does not, and just how to maximize some of the program's features, with a little practice they'll be an expert in no time. Quite honestly, I am simply amazed that this product is free from Google. It has all of the power of it's more expensive image management counterparts. You know what they say....the best things in life are free....and this couldn't be truer than with Picasa.

Have you tried Picasa to manage your digital image files or movies? How do you think it compares to some of the other products out there? Leave us a comment and let us know!

EK Success - Stamp-a-ma-jig

Reported by: Katie Renz

My article today is a review of EK Success's Stamp-a-ma-jig. You may see this tool also referred as a stamp positioner or stamp aligner as well. The purpose of this little tool is simple and straight forward. It is meant to help you place any stamped image where you want it. The tool itself is what you see in the package and the only accessory that comes with it is a small piece of plastic called an imaging sheet. I've seen this tool in purple, light blue, and Stampin Up! has one available in black.

I've owned a Stamp-a-ma-jig for many months and until it was time to write this article it sat in my craft drawer unused and still in its original packaging. I knew that it was supposed to be used with stamps, but to be honest, I had no idea how or why. My personal preference is for clear stamps, but I do have many wood mounted, cling cushioned, as well as plain rubber stamps and to be honest, I've stayed away from collecting too many wood mounted stamps because I felt that it was just more difficult to see where I was stamping.

This is the general scenario when I stamped with non-clear stamps. I would either just stamp my image randomly on a large piece of cardstock and then use my punch or die cut to cut it out, thus not having to worry about it being straight. I would even attempt to cut an even square/rectangle around my stamped image - this doesn't always work well either. Another scenario is me stamping a sentiment on a scratch piece of paper and eyeballing the edge of my block to the edge of my paper. If the stamped image was crooked then I would adjust the position based on how much of a slant showed on my scratch piece of paper. Or how about this one, I would stoop as low as I could so that my eye was level with the stamp and paper and stamp that way. Do any of these scenarios ring a bell with you?

Well, I ripped open my packaging and thought hmmm... I stamped an image in the middle of the imaging sheet and thought hmmm... and then I read the directions. Well, that about summed it all up. Read the directions and it is smooth sailing from there. I have decided that the Stamp-a-ma-jig is my new best friend. I have to say I loved using it and have been using it daily since then, even if I didn't need to.

It's really quite simple to use. The key is to align the imaging sheet with the jig in the 90 degree corner. It doesn't matter if your jig is up, down, or sideways.

From there, all you have to do is firmly place your stamp in that 90 degree space without any wiggle room. Stamp your image, remove your imaging sheet and place it over your choice of cardstock wherever you want your image to be. After you have the imaging sheet (stamped image) where you want it on the cardstock then bring your jig back and butt it up to the corner. Then remove the imaging sheet without moving your jig. Ink up that stamp and stamp directly on the cardstock and voila - perfect placement!

Here is one more picture of what the imaging sheet and jig look like while I'm placing the tree into the bed of the truck. You can see that I already stamped my tree on the imaging sheet, placed it where I wanted on my cardstock, re-aligned my jig, removed the imaging sheet without displacing the jig and then stamped my tree. Whenever I stamped, I always thought that it looked weird and that there was no way it would look right, but sure enough, every single time it turned out perfectly.

Here is a card that I made using this tool. I was able to center my truck, precisely place my tree in the bed, stamp the sentiment on the front of the card as well as centering the sentiment on the inside of my card.

Stampin Up! Stamps, PTI Ribbon and base Cardstock, Basic Grey Paper, Copics

The absolute worst is having your sentiment on the inside of your card turn out crooked. For me, I always leave that as my very last step and sometimes that isn't a good thing.

I would like to list some reasons as to why this tool is so great and some neat tips I've gathered while browsing on the web and talking with other stamping friends.

• By using the stamp-a-ma-jig you will save time by only stamping once to get the perfect placement.
• Use the jig for centering alphabets, sentiments, lining up images, for 2 step stamping, mixing stamp sets, creating scenes.
  
• The stamp-a-ma-jig works just the same for clear stamps on acrylic blocks - we all know that just because clear stamps are clear doesn't necessarily mean the perfect positioning all the time.
• Feel free to use vellum, transparencies, or anything clear or transparent to stamp on as your imaging sheet, although I do want to add that the imaging sheet that comes with the jig is very sturdy and cleans off easily.
• Extra imaging sheets are available for purchase if needed/wanted.
  
• Use a permanent ink on the above and save and store your images to use again in the future - just store with their coordinating stamp sets.
• There are great videos and tutorials on the web showing you even more in-depth details as to how to correctly use the stamp-a-ma-jig. Just make sure you type it in with the hyphens. You will get a better selection to choose from.
  

In conclusion, I have to say that I love this tool. I cannot believe that it literally took me this long to use it. The jig is easy to use and literally works every time. I honestly did not feel that by using the stamp-a-ma-jig I added unwanted time to the whole card making process. I do have to add that I used my jig on a soft cushion surface. I have read complaints that the jig would slip, but I had no issues with this and it might have been do to the cushiony mat.

Pros:

• Readily available
• Easy to use
• It does what its supposed to

Cons:

• It would be nice to have more imaging sheets in the set
• Sorry to say, I just didn't find any other cons to this product

The Stamp-a-ma-jig can be found in most of your local retail craft/stamping stores, but it is also very readily available at many online retail stores too.

• Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores
• Scrapinsanity
• Amazon

Retail cost for the Stamp-a-ma-jig is $9.99, it is very easy to use (read the directions) and I believe the value is very good and especially so if you can use a coupon on the item. I would rate EK Success's Stamp-a-ma-jig a 9 out of 10.

As I stated, the Stamp-a-ma-jig is my new best friend. Is it your best friend or your worst enemy? We would love to hear which one and why.

The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girl's Guide to Handmade Jewelry

Reported by Donna Lannerd

Okay, the title of this book is great at catching your attention and if you do a Google search for it you will probably find some very interesting sites that have nothing to do with jewelry but the book is definitely worth taking a look at. This is the product of the original Naughty Secretary herself, Jennifer Perkins, who started her jewelry business while working (and making jewelry) as a secretary. Bad, bad secretary but great for us that she is sharing her jewelry knowledge in this very unique book that was just released in August.

There are two things about this book that has me wearing the edges of the pages off already. It has gorgeous photography and the instructions are accompanied by even more great photos. It also has a quirky writing style that makes it a blast to read. She provides a great introduction on tools, supplies and a beginner how-to section on jewelry making basics she calls "Secretary School". There are "Take A Memo" side bars interspersed with projects that provide tidbits of trivia and helpful hints like the one on all the uses for a ripped pair of pantyhose. The projects in this book are very whimsical using found objects, office supplies and scrapbooking items to create unique pieces that are on the funky side of life and will put smiles on anyone who wears them. However, if the pieces are a little too quirky for you, you will still find this book helpful for learning how to make jewelry. I am by no means an expert but I found the projects very inspirational. For example, I love the beads on the cover of the book. They are made from shredded junk mail. As you can see by my try at this technique, I used scraps of my scrapbook paper and made them more stripey.

Some of the supplies used: 1" wooden beads, Traditions natural gallery black beads from Hobby Lobby, 1MM On-A-String Necklace Kit

I was also intrigued by jewelry she made from rub-ons from the scrapbooking aisle. In the book she says, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" since there are so many supplies to to choose from. I used rub-ons here to make a few embellished connectors to put with a chain. I was totally impressed with myself.

Some of the supplies used: chain by Metal Madness from Horizon Group USA, Rainbow Shell Connector by Traditions natural gallery from Hobby Lobby, Starburst Flowers Rub-ons by E-Z Rub-on Transfers

The last thing I tried was using covered button kits to make jewelry pieces. I was wanting to do a bracelet like was shown in the book but I was unable to find a bracelet blank in a local store so instead I made these hair barrettes for my daughter. Let me tell you, absolutely everyone can do these. In the book she used a vintage hankie but I just used a small amount of fabric I had on hand.

Some of the upplies used: 50mm nickel hair clip from Hobby Lobby, Dritz 7/8" cover button kit. Liquid Fusion Glue

Pros

• Lots of photos
• Step-by-step photo instructions
• Fun to read even if you don't make anything
• Inspiring

Cons

• Cover may get you some bizarre looks from strangers while reading
• I did have trouble finding one item from the materials list I was using

Although the style of projects are not my style, I am so happy that I have this book to inspire me and show me the basic skills of simple jewelry making in a fun, helpful way. It is a 9 out of 10 for me.

It is published by North Light Books division of F&W Publications and price is $16.99 US ($18.75 CAN). You can find it for purchase at The Naughty Secretary Club website, Amazon and F&W Publications Bookstore.

What do you think of the Naughty Secrectary? Do you have a favorite book or place to find inspiration for jewelry making with found objects?

Versamarker Pen

By Tracy Schultz

As a paper crafter, I often look for products that will take my cards to the next level. What's even better is if that product is friendly to my wallet. Tsukineko's Versamarker Pen is something you'll want to add to your stash and I'm going to show you why.

The Versamarker Pen is exactly what it sounds like- a pen filled with everyone's favorite watermark ink, Versamark. The pen has two sides, each with a different tip. One end is a brush tip for more artistic applications; the other end is a marker tip for line drawing.

The magic of Versamark ink itself is that it not only creates watermark and subtle tone-on-tone effects, but it also acts like an adhesive. You can use embossing powders over the ink. And with the Versamarker Pen, you can draw your own shapes or highlight certain areas of your design to emboss.

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Kraft
Stamps: Fiskars Thank You (background), Papertrey Ink Birds of a Feather (sentiment)
Accessories: Versamarker Pen, nestabilities, white liquid pearls

Pros:

• Everyone's favorite Versamark ink in a pen form
• Two versatile tips for easy application
• Inexpensive

Cons:

• Doesn't work well on white cardstock
• Can smear some inks

Originally, I purchased this pen to create shadows around my stamped images. But I soon realized it doesn't work well on white cardstock. Even layering two or three applications results in only a slightly noticeable shadow around the image. You also have to be careful not to get too close to the stamped image's ink because I found Versamark will smear it slightly.

Vellum paper embossed with Cuttlebug Lace Tree folder, then highlighted with the Versamarker Pen

Despite that, I'd still rate this pen an 8 out of 10. It's versatile enough to be used on almost every project you make. And it's inexpensive enough so that you won't have to worry about saving up for it.

The Versamarker Pen can be found at Ellen Hutson, Create for Less, and Blockheads Paper Arts. It retails for $3.39.

Have any great tips on how to use the Versamarker Pen to embellish your projects? We'd love to hear!

Simply Swank Simply Solder Creative Art Kit

Reported by Julia Stainton

Always on the lookout for new creative ideas, I came across this Simply Swank Soldering Kit and had to try out it. I'd seen my husband using solder under the sink before and it never inspired me (wink), but this pretty pink packaged kit with some cool and feminine projects on the package totally did me in. I couldn't wait to get started. After all...how hard could this be?

If you're not quite sure what a soldering kit is... it's a way to heat seal metal around an object (in this case glass slides) to create beautiful usable projects. Perfect for jewelry making and altered art projects, you simply place your art between the glass slides, wrap the edges with copper foil tape and then apply your acid free flux and solder to finish the edges. I especially love the fun unique ways that I can combine this soldering art as a variation to the papercrafting designs I already create.

Kim Hughes Silhouette Blooms stamp set and MochaChica paper by Cornish Heritage Farms
Simply Swank Soldering Kit

What I love about this kit is it includes everything you need to get started. This keeps the guess-work to a minimum. I always hated investing in new supplies only to find out that I need to go back and purchase something I've missed. The Simply Swank kit provides enough glass slides to complete four projects and still have solder and copper foil leftover. While there is enough to get you started, there are a couple extra items I found extremely helpful although not necessary to start off with. If this is a craft you think you will want to immerse yourself in, purchase extra glass slides and also the Simply Swank Locking Hemostat Pliers. These help tremendously when trying to solder on jump rings and other embellishments.

So...what exactly is included in this kit?

• Solder Iron
• Lead-free solder 2 oz
• Acid-Free Liquid Flux
• 5/16" wide Copper Foil Tape
• Large and small holding clamps
• Jump ring assortment
• 4 - 1" x 3/4" 1mm Clear Glass
• 2 - 1 1/4" x 3" 1mm Clear Glass
• 2 - 2"x3" 1mm Clear Glass
• Instructions and safety information

This kit comes with full-color photo step by step instructions and explains each aspect of your supplies very clearly. Before jumping in and getting started, it is well-worth your time to ready all the tips and instructions first. I'm a jump-in-with-both-feet-first kind of girl and I would have saved myself a few headaches if I had slowed down just a tad! Really...this craft is very easy to learn and within a few projects, you'll be very pleased with your results. One resource I would really like to recommend would be a fabulous tutorial written by Ellen Hutson that helped me out tremendously.

Sorry no actual soldering pic...I would have needed more hands!

Soldering your project is really quite easy to do and just takes a little practice. Create your art the size of the glass slides you intend to use and then sandwich it between the two pieces. As you can see both sides of the design, don't forget to add art to both front and back. Carefully wrap the edges with your copper foil tape and fold side edges over the glass on both the front and back sides. Fold corners neatly and burnish the foil to the glass to remove wrinkles and produce a secure frame. Hold your project with clamps provided as it will be too hot for your fingers. You will also need a heat-proof work surface. You can purchase a heat mat, use a large tile or as I do, use a glass cutting board. You don't want small bits of molten solder ruining a beautiful counter or desktop. Plug in your soldering iron and heat well. Before adding solder, paint the copper foil tape edges with flux to help the solder spread evenly across your surface. Hold the solder to the top of your soldering iron to melt solder and then touch top of iron to copper surface. This will allow the solder to flow onto your copper. Lift the soldering iron up a little and move soldering iron along to allow solder to flow down onto the surface. It is best to apply small amounts of solder at a time. You can always go back and add more coats for a smooth beautiful finish.



You can create many types of beautiful projects using this soldering kit. Adorn your special cards or scrapbooking layouts with stunning custom-made embellishments. Create beautiful jewelry by designing unique pendants and charms. You can also solder lovely holiday ornaments for your home, add a magnet to the back for a special fridge magnet or a charm to ribbon for a special bookmark. When creating art to include in these projects, there are a few things to keep in mind. Due to the heat process...you need to use product that will not be adversely affected by the heat. Use only non-glossy papers when creating this type of art.

Primitive Christmas & Beautiful Stamp sets from The Rummage Bin line, by Cornish Heritage Farms
Thomas Kinkade Christmas Series Paper Pack by Cornish Heritage Farms
Simply Swank Wavy Copper Foil and Simply Solder kit, Embellishments by Heidi Swapp

Should you wish to expand on this kit, there are lots of fabulous Simply Swank products available for you to do that. Simply Swank sells a great idea book and an interactive DVD that can provide you with new ideas and techniques to improve your craft. Filigrees, beads and charms take embellishing these mini works of art to an entire new level. Try also varying the size of your glass pieces for different looks. An extremely easy way to add a stunning look to your design is by using the wavy copper foil tape as shown in the above design. I love the beautiful beads of solder it adds to the design.


Pros:

• Fun, unique way to create personalized projects
• Includes all the basics that you need to get you started
• This is a great craft with lots of room to expand by adding to your supplies

Cons

• Soldering iron is extremely hot. Please take care not to burn yourself. Trust me! It is not fun
• I would have liked to have seen a few more glass slides included in this kit
• You need a steady hand to attach the jump rings. I found that the hardest thing to do

To Purchase:
I purchased my Simply Solder kit from Ellen Hutson's on-line store. If you like to shop in person...the Simply Swank on-line site provides a list of brick and mortar stores where you can find their products here.

Ease of Use: 8 This kit was fairly easy to use and well put-together. The main thing to consider is the heat tool and so I factored the care you need to take with working with the high temperatures.

Value: This kit is a great way to get started in soldering. After pricing out the kit elements separately, there is a small savings in purchasing the kit but it is extremely convenient to buy this way and also includes your instructions. At approximately $55.00 US to purchase, this kit is not inexpensive but compared to getting involved with other crafts, the initial out-lay is not high at all. As the tool part of this kit will give you many years of use, I feel that it is a great value and worth-while purchasing.

Rating: I love this kit and would give it a rating of 9.5 out of 10

As it says on the web-site..."this ain't your Daddy's solder iron". Super swanky in pink, this is one tool that has successfully made the journey out of the toolbox and into the craft room. I'm loving this new way of expressing my creativity and the fabulous results it creates. Much easier to do than it looks, if you're looking for something unique and beautiful...this is a great craft for you. Have you tried the Simply Swank Solder Creative Art Kit? We'd love to know what you think!