Archive for February, 2010
Tips & Tricks = BLENDER PEN
We’ve been using our Dual Brush Pens a lot this week and I’ve gotten a few emails asking questions about them so today is all about clarity. In each of the new Craft Collection ten pack sets there is a BLENDER PEN. It has no color to it. It’s a moist-pen. It has the Dual Brushes just like all the others but NO color. It’s used to blend colors together or fade colors out like true watercolors without watercolor paper. While you’re working with it, you’ll notice it changes color because it picks up the ink from other colors. You can ‘pick up‘ colors directly from your page or by coloring on a non-porous material like plastic and using the Blender Pen to pick up the color. If there is too much color on your blender pen, just grab a scratch piece of paper and scribble it away. It will clean itself and go back to being clear (even if the tip looks tiny bit pink or green or whatever). I keep a scrap pad on my desk for notes and just use a couple brush strokes to clean off my blender pen in between each color. I hope this helps. Please go play with this product, I promise that once you start using it you will love it!
Oh and a heads up for next week- We will be introducing our FULL DESIGN TEAM! So be sure to check in on the fun here at the blog, on Facebook and Twitter! We’d love your feedback. Have a good weekend!
What’s your most used item when you scrapbook? Besides adhesive and basic card stock, I didn’t think I had one. It’s funny how you just do things and don’t realize you’re doing them until you notice your supplies diminishing one by one. You start hoarding them, yet are still forced to use them anyways because a layout or a project isn’t complete without it! Suddenly, it’s 11pm and you’re in the middle of a creative rush, you start stressing out because you can’t get your projects done because you just realized that you are out of an item that apparently you can’t live without! That happens to you to, right? …. right?!
After last weekends stress-fest I realized that basic white Photo Corners are that item for me. I really had no idea how much I used them until they were gone! I use them on everything from cards to layouts and albums. I even have some in my hybrid albums, calendars and planners. Of course, not everything in my scrapbooks is white. But I have my trusty Dual Brush Pens to fix that! EVERY color patched perfectly and smoothly. I love it! Lately I’ve been adding another dimension to my corners, spraying a little glimmer mist on my scratch plastic and then using a paintbrush to smooth it over my color. Dual Brush Pens, white photo corners and glimmer mist… oh the happiness. Yes, I went out and stocked up on photo corners first thing in the morning and now I’m ready to roll.
I haven’t posted much about this roller but I use it all the time. It’s the Mono Adhesive Roller- REMOVABLE. The refills are the same and snap into place and it has the same smooth roll-on application. When you’re looking for it in stores or online, it has green accents instead of blue on the roller and refils. I use most for my printer. I can just print out my type on a regular cardstock and then use my REMOVABLE ROLLER to adhere my smaller 8×8 paper, my ribbon or my fabric. I know it won’t tear my paper or stretch my ribbon after it’s printed on and I’ll still be able to use it on my next project. (MONO Adhesive Dots work great for this technique too!)
I volunteer in my kid’s classrooms at school. Most of the time, I come for story time or to help out the teacher but every once in a while I get the chance for a creative time with the kids. Since the 2010 Olympics will only come once I had to expose the kids to a little bit of the Olympic excitement. I sat down and taught them about different flags of the world. What they represent, or teach us and how they are such a big part of the Olympics and of cheering on other’s success. They loved our little discussion but when it came time for our craft, they were just as excited as if they had won the gold! After all, everyone needs to be cheered on a little and what’s more fun then being cheered on with your own custom flag? Well, to a group of Kindergartners, NOTHING is! So Today’s Tombow Tot project is Personal Olympic Flags!
SUPPLIES:
Cheesecloth Dishtowels
Scissors (or Rotary Cutter)
Dowels -cut to size (or pencils)
Stapler (or Needle & Thread)
Tombow Dual Brush Pens
All last month may office/studio was consumed with Dollhouse construction. I was surprised I pulled out my Tombow basket so much on that type of project. Since I happen to have a HUGE selection of beautiful papers we opted to hand pick each room’s wallpaper from my scrapbook stash. After a little intricate cutting and Mono AQUA Liquid Glue ta-dum! we had our ‘wallpaper’. Thankfully my daughter loves it!
Marie Browning taught everyone at CHA how to make these adorable cards at one of our Make and Take booths. She used My Mind’e Eye (Pretty Paper Line) patterned paper and embellishments. Then stamped and colored everything with Tombow Dual Brush Pens one white cardstock.
I live far away from family and it’s something that has been hard on me and my family. So, I’m always thinking of ways to make the distance seem less, even if it’s for a few minutes. This card was super easy to make and so much fun! I love the file folder and accordion surprise inside! I used Mono PowerBond to adhere the journaling inside, Mono Aqua liquid glue for the ribbons and Mono Metal Liquid Glue to secure the ‘love’ dog tag on the inside. (the paper clip just holds up the journaling until the recipient is ready to open it up) If you have someone you love, be sure to tell them! Happy Wednesday!
My son has started channeling his inner Jeremy Abbott and my daughter honestly dreams that she’s the next Shasha Cohen. Since living in the South makes Winter Games a little less accessible then you lucky snow bunnies up North, we decided to make our own indoor Skating Rink. To make these fun Carpet Skates all you need is MONO Adhesive Dots and some paper plates. (We used foam but they didn’t last as long as the paper ones would, so trust me on this one and learn from my mistakes!) Just roll your adhesive in a few lines centered on your plate and have your child immediately place his/her foot down. When they are throughly exhausted (and they will be) they can just wipe any adhesive left on their shoes on a door mat. You can even stop by the dollar store and pick up a few metals and have them go for the gold! Happy Tuesday, have fun!
There are some designers that not only speak to me but YELL! (in a good way) Their work inspires on so many levels that I’m left slack-jawed. Tania Willis is one of those type of designers. When I grow up I hope to be half the designer that she is! I love, LOVE, LAH-VE her work. All of it! Today we’re lucky enough to have her be our Guest Designer! Tania is a contributing designer for Little Yellow Bicycle, Get It Scrapped Online Classes, Karen Foster Design, srm stickers, The Story Matters and Good Greif. (Talk about a busy woman!) She teaches multiple online classes (I think I’m signing up for her FABRIC one! It looks AWESOME!) and she even sells some of her work on Etsy. Nope, there is nothing this woman can’t do! And Guess what? Tania’s Favorite adhesive is Tombow’s MONO Multi Liquid Glue!
When asked why Tanina love’s Tombow MONO Multi she said…
why do i love Tombow Mono Multi adhesive? let me count the ways….
- it has dual tip action….one end for fine line work such as adhering punched strips from my Fiskars border punches without gooping globs everywhere, and one broad tip for applying gooping globs and spreading with the broad tip such as edge to edge coverage for say covering a mini album
- it has dual function….as a wet permanent adhesive AND if you apply and allow to dry before pressing paper to paper it works as a temporary adhesive. how cool is that! my favorite way to use it as a temporary adhesive is to squeeze out small drops onto waxed paper, allow to dry and voila! i have my own handmade glue boogers, errr, um, gluedots! no more fear of running out of gluedots at 2AM
- one bottle….retailing for around $2.99 has staying power! i seriously just completed 25 layouts and 7 cards for karen foster with one bottle and i STILL have glue left. don’t let the small bottle deceive you!
- i haven’t used any other adhesive in the last 4 years! i swear. it’s my go to adhesive for everything and i include it in every class kit when i teach.
- it adheres my buttons too! um, yeah. love that!
- and paper to wood—no specialty glues needed baby! looooooooove it.
- they have an uber cool blog!
Look for more of Tania’s amazing, inspiring and beautiful work on HER blog! Thanks Tania for inspiring and sharing!
