Scor-Buddy Mini Score Board

It's a brand new year, and I'm excited at the possibilities and opportunities in store for this year!  As I'm preparing to head to CHA in a couple weeks (woo hoo!), I have one last product review up on Craft Test Dummies today before we begin a whole new round of reviews on the newly released products.  Have you been watching any of the sneak peeks?  I have, and I've been pinning some of my favorites over on Pinterest!

Screen shot of my Pinterest boards

Go check out my boards to see what I'm looking forward to seeing at CHA, as well as tons of artsy inspiration!  Don't know what Pinterest is?  Click on through anyway and see what you've been missing out on. If you don't have an account, and would like an invitation to join, leave me a comment with your email address, and I'll be happy to send you an invitation.  Be forewarned: Pinterest is addictive!  Many a time, I've gone in search of an idea for one little thing, only to find myself looking at something completely different - 3 hours and hundreds of pins later!

Anyway, this is the Scor-Buddy - a mini version of the Scor-Pal.  It is a scoring board, and this mini one is designed especially with the card-maker in mind.  It's small size, light weight and great portability make it perfect for taking to crops or traveling with.  To read my full review, be sure to head on over to Craft Test Dummies.

Scor-Buddy scoring tool

I'll leave you with a simple, sweet little Valentine's card I made using the Scor-Buddy.  I absolutely love the look of simple kraft with white paper doily, and paper tape is my absolute favorite flat embellishment right now (whether store-bought or homemade).

Card made using Scor-Buddy scoring tool

I've done a couple of fun crafty home projects that I hope to get written up for you soon, and CHA starts the 29th, so until then...get crafty and have fun!

Darcie's Printable Shrink Plastic

Ornament made using Darcie's Ink Jet Printable
Shrink Plastic Project CD, "Nifty Gifty"

I just LOVE Christmas time...I think from about October 1 through the end of the year is my absolute favorite time of year.  From the minute the leaves start turning and the temperature starts dropping, through the last notes of "Oh Holy Night," and "Baby, It's Cold Outside," I am in awe at the beauty both inside and outside.  I'm such a sensory-oriented person, and the beautiful sights, wonderful scents, tempting tastes, memorable sounds, and delightful textures of this time of year just envelop me in a blanket of familiarity and comfort that leaves me feeling so full of joy and warmth. (And to be honest, I do feel a little let down when January comes around, because I just love these 4 months SO much...I'm always a little sad when they're finally over.)  

Anyway, I've been loving getting into the Christmas spirit, making handmade gifts for loved ones, decorating the house, looking at decorations with my little ones.  I wanted to share these fun little things I made using a fun new (to me) product I reviewed for Craft Test Dummies.  My review is posted today, so make sure you go check it out to see how I made these!!

Cardinal embellishment made with Darcie's Ink Jet
Printable Shrink Plastic Project CD, "Nifty Gifty"

I just love the little cardinal ornament - I made it for one of my kids' bible study teachers as a little Christmas "thank you" gift.  And the card - oh my goodness - I think that little shrink plastic cardinal adds just the right "pop" to the card!!  I haven't decided yet who I'll send it to, but I might end up making more of them, because I just love it so much, and it was so easy to make!

Ranger Distress Stains

I just wanted to write a brief note today to let you all know that you should hop on over to Craft Test Dummies to check out my post all about Ranger's Distress Stains!  Released earlier this year, they have quickly become one of my favorite products to work with.  They have all the wonderful qualities of Distress Ink - like reacting with water, blending easily, and a fantastic color palette - with the ease of a fluid dye in a dabber-top bottle.  I use them on SO many projects - like covering tag backgrounds:

Tag background covered with
Distress Stains

And there's this awesome way to layer the Picket Fence Distress Stain with the other 36 colors - I explain it all in my review on Craft Test Dummies.  This gorgeous, shimmery piece of Kraft Resist paper is all ready to add to a card front or some other project.

Kraft Resist paper covered with Picket Fence Distress Stain
and Fired Brick Distress Stain, then spritzed with
Biscotti Perfect Pearls Spray

I've used Distress Stains to mute patterned paper, to color backgrounds quickly, to "paint" in art journals, to add color to canvas art, to dye embellishments like ribbons/flowers/doilies to coordinate with projects, to "ink" stamps, to color neutral colored papers with...and I'm probably forgetting some ways.  To state that they are versatile would be an understatement.

 Have you tried Distress Stains yet?  What do you think of them?  I'd love to hear!  And remember to go check out my full review over on Craft Test Dummies!

The Crafter's Workshop: "Ava" Stencil

Today over on Craft Test Dummies, I have posted my second review (here's my first) of the stencils made by The Crafter's Workshop.  You've seen me write about them here before, and I've shown you projects I've used them on...so you already know that I love them.  Today I wanted to show you one of the face stencils - Ava is her name - and just how versatile she is.  I showed you an art journal page in my last post, where I used her in her most basic form...I simply traced her lines with a Pitt Artist Pen, then went over the lines a bit with some oil pastels.  I didn't color in her face, no paint, nothing...very simple.  But today, I'm showing you my very first attempt at something completely different (no judging allowed...I just told you, this is my FIRST ever attempt...!).  

I started out in a 9x12 art journal by scribbling all over the paper with Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils, and then adding water with a brush.  I love these pencils because once the color is dissolved and dry, it is permanent and is no longer water-soluble...so you don't have to worry about it moving around on you as you work in layers over it.

Then I placed the 6"x6" Ava stencil on my page.  I decided I was only going to use the face and neck portion of the stencil, so I traced those parts with a pencil onto my page, along with just a bit of the hair as a guide for reference.  You can just barely see my pencil lines in the photo below - I wanted to keep them light so they wouldn't show through the paint.

Then came the challenging part...for me, at least.  I've *never* painted a face before.  Not ever.  Nor have I ever drawn a face.  I am clueless when it comes to shading and shadows and all of that...you know, the technical aspects of art!  (I really do want to take some actual art classes someday and learn these things!)  So I just went for it and started adding paint.  And my first attempt was a hot mess...but fortunately, it's just paint...so I added some more paint, and painted right over her, until I found a happy medium.  I knew ahead of time that I wanted to put long, flowing hair on her (though I hadn't really planned on it being *quite* so poofy...but hey...what can I say...she wanted to have poofy hair!).  So this is how she looked after I painted over the traced lines.

And then the magic happens.  I placed the stencil BACK on her, and used a cosmetic sponge with some Claudine Helmuth Black Gesso (LOVE that stuff!), and I stenciled in her eyes, nose, lips, chin, and neck lines again.  It's AMAZING what an instant transformation just that little bit gives.  That gave me a guide.  Then I used my paint brush and continued from there, adding her eyebrows completing her mouth, and filling in all the hair lines.  (I also went back in with some white to add a few highlights on her face and neck...it seemed to help.)

Now the page is all ready for me to add some other elements and do some journaling.  While I know she's no masterpiece, having never painted a face before, I am pretty happy with how she turned out...and I owe it all to my friends at The Crafter's Workshop!  

For more details on this and other great ideas for using the face stencils, be sure to check out this great post on stencil designer Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog!!  And make sure you hop over to Craft Test Dummies to check out all the other things I did with these great stencils for my review!

Are you a fan of The Crafter's Workshop stencils?  I'd love to see links to projects you've made using them!

Supplies Used:

BLICK ART MATERIALS: Save up to 82% on Select Items through November 16th!

New posts...and why I haven't been blogging...

I seriously cannot believe it's been a month since I've posted here!!  Ack!  So...I have been VERY busy creating for the Crafts Unleashed design team, and doing product reviews for Craft Test Dummies (would you believe I *still* have products from Winter CHA to review, and it's almost June?!).

Check out my scrapbook layout up at Crafts Unleashed today -

And here's a review I recently did of the Pitt Artist Pens by Faber-Castell...one of my new favorites!!

And yes, I'm still working on my online classes - Soul Restoration with Brave Girls Club and Melody Ross, and The She Art Workshop with Christy Tomlinson.  Loving them...but having a really hard time fitting them into my schedule at the moment!!  I'd show you a pic of my first She-Art canvas, but it's a birthday gift for my sister (a very belated one...because I STILL haven't put it in the mail!!).  *sigh*  I'm terrible about that!

Not sure if I shared this in my last post or not...but the other reason I haven't been blogging is that I was recently (well, a couple months ago) diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I've been in a lot of pain for the last several months, and it has taken the doctors a while to figure out the best medications to treat it.  It's sort of a trial-and-error method, I guess.  I just started a new medication last week - and while the jury is still sort of out on whether I'll be able to take it on a long-term basis, I *am* able to curl and uncurl my fingers when I wake up in the mornings for the first time in months, and it's not excruciatingly painful on my feet the minute I step out of bed!  I consider that a huge improvement over the way things have been.  So I'm at least hopeful that this one will work!

Obviously, all of the pain and joint stiffness has impacted my ability to create art and blog about it - so I've sort of just been doing the bare minimum...meeting my obligations and other than that, just taking time off to take care of myself, because I haven't really been able to do much more than that.  I won't sugar-coat it...it's been very disheartening and downright depressing at times, not being able to do the things I want to be able to do or feel I should be able to do.

But when it comes down to it, I have been forced to ask myself if I really believe the things I confess to believe.  Is the God I say I believe in really big enough to handle my questions, and my anger, and my hurt?  Yes.  Can I trust Him enough to believe that this path He's chosen for me is the best path FOR ME?  Yes.  Even if it includes illness and pain?  Yes.  Does that take away the pain?  No.  Does it help to know that I'm not alone in my pain?  Yes.  Does it help to know that there is some purpose to my pain?  Yes.  Does it help to remember that in life, our biggest lessons are always learned through times of pain and hurt?  Yes!  Has this brought me back to my knees, where I belong?  Yes!

And the best thing I think I've learned through all of this...repeatedly over the past couple months, in many different ways...is that rather than focusing on everything that's WRONG with ME, I need to be focusing on what's RIGHT about HIM.

So anyway, I felt like I kind of owed you all an explanation for why I've disappeared...hopefully this new med will do the trick, and I'll be back in business soon!  Right now I'm off to give my fingers a rest!! ;)

National Crafting Month Giveaway and Other Fun Stuff!!

Hey everyone - did you know that March is National Crafting Month?! Yes it sure is!! Not that I need a special month to do crafts...but how great is it that there's a whole month dedicated to celebrating our love for creating beautiful art?!

So anyway, I wanted to let you know about several great things going on...

First, you've gotta head on over to Craft Test Dummies and enter your name in the drawing for the awesome National Crafting Month giveaway! While Jenny and I were at CHA, we had a bunch of crafting celebrities sign an apron, and that's just one small part of the giveaway package; she's put together an awesome bundle of goodies for some lucky winner!

Second, Glue Arts is hosting a great contest you might want to check out.  It's called, "Recycle, Reuse & Repurpose," - and you KNOW by now that those are ALL things that I LOVE to do in my crafting!!







Next, I wanted to let you know that my review of the LaBlanche stamps that I used in my UTEE Tag post here is up today over on Craft Test Dummies, so you should definitely go check that out and give me some love over there!  ;)

Finally, have you heard about Stumble Upon???  I just recently learned about it, and you should DEFINITELY check it out!  I've been finding all kinds of great new blogs and posts using it, plus it helps me get more traffic on MY blog.  It's free to join, and super easy to use.  And it's SO easy to share pages with each other - I LOVE IT!  Go check it out NOW!!!  :)  (My username is CraftyFriendJen, by the way, so come find me!)

Happy Crafting!!!

Product Review: Glue Glider Pro

I love adhesives...is that weird to say?  But really, I do!  As a crafter who ventures into all areas of crafting, I constantly find myself needing varying types of adhesives, and I am always on the look-out for better quality and easier-to-use adhesives.  I just recently got to use the Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro for the first time, and I have to say - it was love at first use!  So let me tell you some of the things I love about it...

First off, it's ergonomically great for me.  I happen to have extremely weak hand and finger muscles due to neuropathy, so I often struggle with adhesives that are smaller, require lots of squeezing, or are otherwise clumsy to hold...but the Glue Glider Pro is the perfect size, and fits easily in my entire hand.  It doesn't require a lot of strength to apply the adhesive, either.  Just press down with a bit of pressure, and pull - and it leaves a nice line of adhesive.

Also, the cartridges are very easy to remove and replace - another bonus!  I hate struggling to replace cartridges or switch them out when I want to change to a different adhesive type.

To remove cartridge, simply pull straight out - no buttons to push, very easy!

To replace cartridge, simply push straight in - SIMPLE!

The cartridge you see here is the Perma-Tac cartridge.  It is 1/4" wide, and lays down permanent adhesive rectangles every 1/8".  I tried the Perma-Tac cartridge out on some basic paper-crafting, and was very happy with it's sticking power.  I found a little bit to go a long way, and loved that I didn't need to lay down a full strip of adhesive to stick a full strip of paper - I was able to lift the applicator and lay down bits here and there, and the paper still stuck very well.

But the Glue Glider Pro is far more versatile than just this one cartridge - and this is another thing I love about it!  Check out this list of the different types of cartridges available for it - and they all fit in this same holder!

List of the cartridges available for Glue Glider Pro

The extra one on the list that I was MOST excited about is this one...

Fabric Bond cartridge

That's right - a Fabric Bond cartridge!  Per the package description, this "temporarily sticks fabric together, bonds permanently when ironed."  How awesome is that?!  Plus, the back of the package lets you know how well it works on different types of materials!

Back of package shows success on varying types of material

I can definitely see me using this cartridge in my fabric-crafting endeavors, for things like making bias tape, doing applique, or temporarily holding hems in place until I can stitch - rather than pinning!

All in all, I think the Glue Glider Pro gives great bang for your buck - you can get it for just $11.97 from Consumer Crafts, and that includes the 40-foot Perma-Tac cartridge!

And, my awesome friend Jenny over at Craft Test Dummies has given the Glue Glider Pro the much-coveted and not-often-given "Craft Test Dummies Seal of Approval!"  Check out her review here.

What about you?  Have you tried the Glue Glider Pro?  What do you think about it?  I'd love to hear!