Rip punch...

Well, it doesn't happen often, but sometimes things go wrong and you've got no option but to bin it.

I had to bin a Martha punch - Vintage Ornament, I think it was called.

Pity because it was quite pretty.

The binning could've been avoided if I'd've just used some cooking spray before I punched. I knew it was sticking a bit in there...

Anyway, as you can see, a lot of work was done on it to save it by Andrew and his dad. Andrew checked it one night and then the next day before work and his dad checked it during the day while he was here fixing the computer. He and I worked on it for an hour, but he deemed it unfixable.

Sad.

We tried.

"When in doubt, take everything out," he said. And he did. All the bits came out and were checked over and put back in.

I was in charge of the silicone spray. Andrew brought up the big guns from his tool box downstairs before he left and I sprayed it at will.

Could've done with it in the very beginning like I said...Don't do it to yourselves! Get up! Spray those punches...they'll thank you for it.

And what do you do when you've tried everything and you know you have to throw it away, but you just can't right then?

You have a cup of tea.

It fixes everything...

Bye bye punch, you were good while you lasted.

The stuff I made

Hi there,

Did you recover from reading the craft show post??

It was a looong one, hey?

Also just wanted to say thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello too. Was nice to see you! And thanks for the treats, Kathy, we loved 'em.

As promised, today I'm showing you the bits and pieces I made for the show.

Below are the Martha samplers that everyone loves. There's something about seeing the punches punched out, isn't there?

Yep, it totally makes a difference.

Made at home. Neat. 

Made at home. Neat. 

Made at the show - can you tell? 

Also made stacks of paper doilies (just the doilies, not the cards) like this using the Martha Punch Around the Page ones.

That's the Eyelet Lace set and yep, we sold out.

Bits and pieces I made using that mega set of 35 dies on the side there (it's got the star on it) that we were selling for 50 bucks. Retail was $195.

I know, 35 Sizzlits dies for $50. Amazing. They were all basic shapes - circles, stars, rectangles, ovals, hearts - totally up my alley, which is why I loved making stuff with them.

Will take proper pics of the cards and post at a later time.

PS. Used Spellbinders Labels 8 and Tim's Bracket edge die to make the fancy cards. Sooo lovely. Did that at Christmas too, remember?

There's a hanging Hello sign here. Cute. Basic shapes again.

And in the background there's some white things hanging off the big, white rectangle. Can you see that? The big rectangle is the Photo Continental sign and the bits hanging off are from another banner I did. Couldn't really see it up there, but it was the best place for it. The banner was colourful, but the light is over-exposing it in the photo.

Last couple of things.

Paper rosette from 2010's craft tree and the one (only one!) tissue paper, pom pom flower that I got to make. Eight to ten layers of tissue paper secured with a brad in the middle and squashed from the inside out.

So, they're the bits - there were others, but they're lost to the depths at the moment. I'll see if I can find them, photograph them and post them sometime. I'm hoping to get back into regular blogging mode soon...

Bye now, enjoy your weekend. It's gonna be chilly, they reckon...

Craft show update

Oh wow, yep, I'm here. It's taken me this long to get here to write this. Been catching up on everything I didn't do while preparing for (and attending) the show (ie. washing and all that stuff). Also been sleeping, man, so tired. I think the last few weeks have caught up with me this week...

Anyway, the craft show, the craft show! 

Just so you know where I'm coming from... 

Hint: War Games. 

Defcon 5 - Lowest state of readiness - Normal readiness

Defcon 4 - Increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures

Defcon 3 - Increase in force readiness above that required for normal readiness

Defcon 2 - Further increase in force readiness, but less than maximum readiness

Defcon 1 - War is imminent - Maximum readiness

We always start the day at Defcon 5 with a sit down for 10 mins. Just helps everyone relax and get ready for the day. Before that (esp. on the first day) there's always a lot of last minute things to do.  

Monday (the public holiday) 

Defcon 3/4

Monday was a normal day at the show. Lots of talking with/helping customers, answering questions etc etc, restocking shelves if necessary (didn't have a lot of stock left to do that anyway), straightening stuff, time for bathroom breaks if necessary. I demoed stuff and even made a few things. 

If I have time to make a few things, I know it's a normal day. 

Sunday - Defcon 2

Whew, busy all day. More than a usual Sunday. It was like a Saturday at any other show. 

We had customers until 5pm, I've never seen that before. Often too, people come for a last look on their way out and the stand gets busy again. 

Time for bathroom breaks that day and did I make anything? Mmmm, don't think so...I demonstrated all the machines and what nots and usual, but I didn't make anything much. No time. Lots of customer service - do you have this? How do you use that? What is this? Can you show me this? It's what I'm there for and I love answering questions that I know the answers to. I love helping people. 

Most asked question? What's the difference between the Big Shot and the Cuttlebug? 

I'd do my spiel and then talk to them about their needs and we'd decide on the machine for them if they didn't know which one to choose. 

Below you can see the sign above my station - Cuttlebug $89, Big Shot $99. Great prices. The customers thought so too. It felt like we sold a Big Shot every 10 mins.  

The other great sellers were the Martha punches as usual. We love 'em, don't we? I stacked a lot of shelves (hooks) with them on Sunday - sold stacks. Good quality and a good price...good deal! 

Get a load of it.

All borders 20 bucks (even the deep edgers) and the combos were 30.

Yep, good deal.

And here's a lot of the Sizzix, Cuttlebug and Spellbinders stuff.

We love die-cutting and embossing!

I love it and I know you guys do too, or most of you do :o) If you don't, I respect it, but I don't get it, ha ha. Nah, not true, I know everything has their thing....

And here's my station down the end.

I was near the card making stuff, punches, embossing folders and of course, the die-cutting machines.

The registers were up the other end.

We sold the Texture Boutique too (it's the little black and blue one that looks like a purse), which just embosses. A lot of ladies don't want to cut because they have a Cricut or similar, they just want to emboss. I didn't know this, did you? At $39.50 it was the machine for them - it embosses both sizes (A2 and 5 x 7) and takes any brand of folder. Sold.

Saturday - Defcon 1

I've never worked a Defcon 1 before. I don't think any of us had...far out. I didn't know Defcon 1 existed. Do now!

Like I said, we always start the day at Defcon 5 and we were at Defcon 1 by 9:10 am...yep, in ten minutes we'd scaled the ladder of normal readiness to war is imminent.

Not war, as in we're gonna get ya...but war, as in, prepare yourself for battle because it's gonna be a big day. At ten past nine, that was more than obvious.

At 11:30 it was even more than obvious because of this story. A lady came to me at my station at about 9:20 and said she wanted to buy a Big Shot, but she didn't want us to sell out before she got out of her class at 11:30. I said, "We've got about 20, if we sell out in 2 hours, I'd be shocked." She didn't want to miss out, so she bought one and we stashed it under the cupboard for her (this soon became something we couldn't do for everyone).

Guess what? We'd sold out by 11:30 and she was one lucky ducky. We got more in about an hour later, but still, I was amazed. When she came to collect her Big Shot, we had a chat and I told her what had happened. Her eyes widened, she patted herself on the back for buying it earlier and she told me (tongue-in-cheek) she'd guard it with her life. We parted with smiles on our faces, but I also planted both feet firmly on the floor in, you guessed it, maximum readiness for the rest of the day.

The rest of Saturday went as follows:

Lunch? No. Never have lunch at the show. I have a double breakfast, it's just easier.

Bathroom break? No. I did drink water, but my body soaked it up, or sweated it out. We were sweating all day.

You mean you didn't even sit down? Um, no. No time for that. I'd hunker down behind my cabinet to get a drink, hold up my 'can-you-wait-ten-secs?' finger to the lady who was trying to talk to me and then answer her question after I'd taken four gulps.

Did you make anything? What are you serious? I can't believe you asked me that...

Did you demo anything? Yes...the machines, the Ultimate Crafter's Companion, Martha punches, dies, embossing folders...yes, yes, I did.

Did you answer a lot of questions? Yes, about a billion...

You certainly are making it very clear that Saturday was a busy day, why was it so?

A few reasons:

1. The Scrapbook Expo is quickly becoming known as the show for papercrafters. Buses are hired, people travel - it's the kicker in papercrafting and the show to get to. Teena (boss lady) calls it, "The one where we don't get lunch."

2. Saturdays are always the busiest day at any show.

3. Photo Continental always has great specials, which equals a lot of people visiting the stand.

Teena works so hard to make it all happen. If you think she walks around the store at PC and just chooses a few things to throw on the stand, well, you've got another thing coming. A lot of prep and planning goes into the whole thing, let alone the muscle. These things don't take five mins...you know I've said that before.

What's the one question you answered most? I mentioned that before. It was, "What's the difference between the Big Shot and the Cuttlebug?"

It's getting harder to answer because the differences between the machines are becoming more complicated because of the new things coming out on the market...it's getting harder to keep it all clear for the newbies.

Did you stock shelves? Nup, couldn't get near 'em.

What do you mean? Isn't it your job to keep the stock on the shelves? Actually no, but I make it my job because I've got two hands and a heart, so I do it to help out. So yes, it's my job.

So, answer the question, why didn't you stock the shelves? We're talking about Sardine Saturday here, so the stand was chock-a-blockers full of customers the entire day. I couldn't get near the suckers...

At one point some ladies wanted some new Martha combos that we knew we had in boxes, but we had no one free to actually get the boxes down and unpacked. Four of us worked the stand and Stephen, Teena and Kathy were on the registers all day. This is unheard of. I worked my station down the other end and we all did our best. The next morning all three of them said they never saw me all day - I guess Debra's down there somewhere, they all said. They told me they wanted me to wear bunny ears, so they could sight me in the crowd :o)

Anyway, Teena was trying to unpack the new Martha punches and had asked the ladies to wait for a bit. I found the boxes and started to bring them down and those ladies helped me put 'em on the hooks. So lovely. They wanted to see every combo to see if it was the one they wanted, so they were more than happy to help. I stood on the outside of my station and handed them to one lady, who handed them to another, who either put them in her basket or on the shelf....the things you do. Them and us!

(Me) Does that answer your question? Does that explain to you why I didn't get to stock the shelves much? 

(Interviewer) Yes, thanks for that.

(Me) Just a tip for ya? If you wanna interview me about my day at the craft show in the future, maybe you could actually come to the show and see it for yourself, then I wouldn't have to explain everything. I thought that's what interviewers did. You know, got into the mix of it all. We coulda used YOU to stock the shelves! 

Okay, after that outburst, do you have anymore questions?

(Interviewer - who the heck is this interviewer anyway??) Did you get to look around the show at any of the other stands? No, but I didn't really want to (or need to) either. I just went from the car park, to our stand, to the bathroom and that's it.

Do you have any other behind-the-scenes titbits you can tell us? A lotta ladies went home unhappy with themselves because they didn't buy things when they saw them.

"But you had stacks of those Martha Stewart Scoreboards before!"

(In my head - Um, yep, we did, but this is Defcon 1, lady, it ain't normal)

And from another..."I had that punch in my hands this morning, but I put it back and thought I'd get it on the way out. I should've bought it."

(In my head...Yep, you should've. Again, Defcon 1, people, Defcon 1!!)

What was your favourite part of the day? The whole thing because I love being busy, and hate being bored, although I do prefer to work at Defcon 2.

(That's the last time I'm going to say Defcon, okay?)

I also loved 5:15pm when the last person walked out of the stand.

I have more favourites - I loved talking to other crafty people, that's always fun.

I also loved going out to dinner with my husband afterwards. Yay for us.

You said you prepared some things to take to the show - can we see those? Yes, later 'gator!

New punches

Hey there!

Just found these this morning and thought you might like to see.

Link to new Martha Stewart punches.

There's a mix of older and the new ones on this page. Scroll down a bit to see the Punch All Over Punches (I like the flourish square one) and there are some Valentine ones too. I like the Cherish Hearts border in those. Very Valentiney - not that I do Valentine stuff much.

Link to new EK Success punches.

Some interesting ones here. The Plaid one is extremely interesting - nothing like that one around, so good for them for coming up with a new one. It's good for us at the moment because it's summer (well, sort of), so it fits with the picnics (well, the wishes of picnics) and days out.

I also like the Abstract Flower border, the Flourish Square and of course the big Butterfly. Can never go wrong with butterflies.

Got any particular favourites?

Okay, have a great day. I'm doing the washing - the poor machine is going to get hammered. Gotta take advantage of the sun!

More square doilies

Hey there (honestly, I have to think of a better greeting than hey there, but it's all I've got right now), so, hey there to you...

More cards that feature square doilies today. Are you liking them as much as me?

There are plenty of Martha combos that would look lovely as doilies. Vintage Lace for one. The one I've used below is called Eyelet Lace. They like having the word 'lace' in the punch names, don't they? And Vintage, they like that too.

Eyelet Lace, Vintage Lace, Lace Heart, Vintage Ornament, Vintage Doily, Vintage Doily Deep Edger, Doily Lace...there's a lot.

Here I've used a green Sullivans punch called Floral Romance, I think it is. Nope, Floral Wealth, it's called.

And the scallop is an EK Success one.

Here I've used different sizes of Petal from Sullivans (Kikyou from Carl) to make these scrunched flowers.

Mist with water, crumple, flatten a bit, pile on top of each other, poke with paper piercer, secure with brad, scrunch up again to make it pretty, spray with Red Velvet Glimmer Mist and let dry.

This last one uses the watering can punch from The Punch Bunch and the orange size of  the Floral Wealth punch.

Not sure if I'm a huge fan of the red doily on the red card, but the idea kinda worked. The concept's there, ie. a doily on the same coloured background, but maybe it's not the right application. What do you think?

I'll leave it up to you!

Square doilies and corrugator

Hi there, how are you?

Are you getting any crafting done? Or Christmas shopping done? Not long to go now...

Just wanted to share a couple of things today.

I'm not much for the punch around the whole page thing with the Martha combo sets, but I love these ones. I had some circular doilies that I was using and wondered if I could make a square one of a similar size. Out came the combos and I was good to go.

And they (the new square doilies) were good to go when they had Marshmellow Glimmer Mist sprayed on them. Oh yeah.

And here it is. Eyelet Lace combo - isn't it pretty? The instructions that come with the punches tell you what size you have to cut your card. Mine was 3.5" x 3.5" square.

The Marshmellow mist is on there, can you see it?

Another thing I wanted to mention - the flowers were run through my Marvy corrugator (paper crimper). I had the card and the doily and the flower, but the flower needed something. I looked around and noticed the crimper and thought, "Why not?" Worked!

And baker's twine. Need I mention the fabness?

Here's the same flower around a little box I made using the Sizzix XL Die: Box #2. Makes a cute box that would be good on a big tree. Might do that if I remember.

The paper ribbon around the punch was made using Martha's Infinite Loops deep edger. Went with the red and white theme and kept it plain.

I showed it to Andrew and he said, "How are you supposed to get into the box?" I said, "You slide the paper ribbon off" and tried to do it at the same time, but it didn't budge. I'd glued it on accidently! Don't do that if you make one, will you?

Okay, that's all for today - see you soon!

:o)

New Martha

Hey there,

Found these new Martha punches I thought you'd like to see. Their release dates are a while away yet, but still, it's nice to know what's coming.

Martha's doing "punch anywhere on the page" punches - check them out here. What do you think? I'd be using them as "punch anywhere on the card" punches. I've wanted to make window cards before, but never have because of the hassle. I can see the hassle being taken out with these. Fiskars is doing some too - nice.

Okay, Martha's also doing some more Deep Paper Ribbon punches, as well as some new Deep Edgers and this time they have corner punches to match. That's a first. They're springy designs, for spring. I'm guessing they'll come out about March next year. That butterfly one is gorgeous.

She's also doing some Punch Around the Page sets in the regular size borders - first three.

I like seeing what the designers out there are doing for a couple of reasons. Firstly I like buying their stuff! Come on, love punches, that's obvious. I like having some cool ones to look forward to buying too. Are you like that? Sometimes it's the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of the buy, ha ha.

Secondly, I like to see what people are designing. And what the companies are deciding to produce product/collection/tool wise etc etc. I like marketing and stuff like that. It's interesting. Sometimes I agree with their perspective and sometimes I don't, but as a designer myself, I know how hard it is to stay "on" all the time. Anyway, it's interesting, so I keep looking. And actually above, I stumbled upon the new punches - I was suprised to see them so early actually.

This is the Happy Birthday Deep Edger punch from Martha. I reallllly like this one because even though it's technically a border punch, you can chop it up.  

I was really hoping they'd do exactly the same thing with "Merry Christmas" for this season. Hello, gift tags, cards and a bunch of other stuff. And a punch that you could break out for YEARS and totally hammer into the ground.

Sounds harsh, but hey, longevity is the key with crafting, isn't it? Gotta get your use out of stuff. And a Merry Christmas punch? USE!

Anyway, it was obviously not to be. Maybe next year :o)

Punches on my wish list

It's always fun to have a wish list.

I add things.

I take things off.

At the moment, this is how it stands.

Still want that button punch from Marvy.

It punches three buttons, what's not to love?

And now they have a button in a new size too. Onto the list it goes.

Love that snowflake too - such a nice shape.

Not that we have snow around these parts, but still, I like it.

I like it a lot.

A new size of Fancy Square from McGill in a lever.

Oooh, love the levers.

Love the Fancy Squares.

This shape also comes in 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" sizes.

Another offering from McGill - Vintage label, also in a lever. They're changing their button punches to levers. A good decision, in my opinion.

What I like about this punch is that it comes with two shapes that can be used individually or together.

Individual is good.

Together is a punch party.

Nice one.

I love this cloud from Fiskars - I'll have both sizes, thanks.

I like using patterned papers and finishing off with some cream clouds for outdoor/camping/beach photos. We have a lot of those.  

I think I'm going to love this border.

Will be good for holiday (vacation) stuff, of course.

I'll use it for man cards too. Always on the look out for bits and pieces to use on them.

Gotta have options! 

These two are from Martha (and EK Success) and are so on trend (very her) and so Christmassy. Will have a lots of uses though, can't wait for these. The border is a deep edger, so it'll be huge!

Well, that's my wish list.

What's yours?

:o)

Sets of cards and Cuttlebug vs Big Shot

This is one of my favourite things to do when I have the time.

That is, make sets of cards.

I mean, I've got all the stuff out, so I might as well make more than one, right? And of course one card leads to another and another.

All these below are made using October Afternoon papers, Rock Candy Stickles on the Martha butterfly, a stamp I've had for yonks, Hero Arts ink (their yellowy chalk ink called, what's it called? Poppy, that's it) and some tiny type alphas. Not sure who makes the ones I used, but I like them because they put enough Hs and Is on the sheet for me. My original plan was to use all different sorts of alphas, but these worked best, and lucky for me I had enough for all the cards.

Oh, and hello, red buttons. I used red buttons. A staple in this crafting kitchen. Like denim, red buttons seem to go with everything.

I just noticed I used a variety of border punches along the bottom too. Some have two strips, some have one.

The one right above is from EK Success. The one above that is too. The one above that is Martha. I like some punches that have patterns in them and some that are just borders. I like punches, what can I say?

I also like decorative scissors. They really do rock when used sparingly. No cutting around the entire photo with deco scissors here. Just subtle use and you're good to go. I use the scallop ones the most - from Fiskars. I really am glad I didn't chuck them all out when they went out of fashion. I know some people did and they've had to re-purchase.

Ever chuck out anything you've then had to replace? I know of a lady who had a Cuttlebug, bought a Big Shot, sold her Cuttlebug, missed her Cuttlebug and bought another one! Now she's probably going to sell her Big Shot.

And on that. I have both the Big Shot and the Cuttlebug. I used the Cuttlebug for about 18 months. I got the Big Shot and used it exclusively for a while. Just recently I used the Cuttlebug again and loovved it. Realised I missed it.

It's cuter.

It's easier to use.

It's got the X-Factor. Remember I said that recently? It does.

That being said, the Sizzix rocks. It really does, but what I think puts me off the Sizzix sometimes is the mucking around with the spacer plate and the tabs and whatever.

And the shimming, oh the shimming when you're using Nestabilities (embossing them). I forget what to do a lot of the time and then when I have to teach someone else (Hi, Mum!), well, I can't remember and we have to figure it out all over again. The same applies with the Nestabilities in the Cuttlebug too, so that's the same between them. And Nestabilities aren't from Sizzix or Provo, so what do we expect, really? You've gotta do a bit of mucking around to make them work in a different company's machine. We're lucky they actually do work if we're truthful about it.

Anyway, stick with Cuttlebug brand dies and embossing folders in the Cuttlebug and it's dead easy.

Stick with the newest Sizzix stuff in the Big Shot and it's easy. Not dead easy, but easy.

Swap stuff between these two and it's easy.

Start adding different brands into either of them and the ole head can start swimming! Particularly if you add a lot of different brands. And particularly if you're embossing.

My point? There's just not as much swimming with the Cuttlebug.

My second point? The Big Shot is a smoother, sturdier machine.

My third point? This is why there's always debate about which is best.

My fourth point? I don't know of anyone who has regretted getting a Cuttlebug.

My fifth point? I think the Multi-purpose platform and all the flaps that come with it have caused some confusion with the Big Shot. I see why they did it that way, but still, confusion. Confusion can = regret.

My sixth point? The Big Shot can cut everything on the market. The Cuttlebug couldn't until recently - bring on their new 6 x 12 extender plates.

My seventh point? Spellbinders have blown Sizzix's "it cuts everything on the market" claim to fame with their new big dies that add onto their current ones. I linked you over to the new machine (Grand Calibur) and the new dies a week or so ago, I think it was. They cut up to 8 1/2 x 11. Very good, but they don't fit in the Cuttlebug or Big Shot, so am I going to buy a new machine? No. Obviously Spellbinders had to manufacture a new machine that would work with their new dies. It doesn't work with all the current dies on the market, so I'm not sure how many people will buy it. What do you think?

My eighth point? Provo was really generous when they included a C plate with their machine. That was purely so their customers could use other thin brands of dies in their machine, ie. Nestabilities and Papertrey Ink. They're the other brands I use and they work perfectly with the A, B and C plates.

My ninth point? Die cutting and embossing rocks, so it's worth figuring out all the sandwiches you need for cutting and embossing all the dies you have.

My tenth point? Don't be like me and write these sandwich formulas on bits of paper that you've put in some hard-to-reach place. Put 'em where you can see them. Put 'em in a little book. Put 'em near the machine. Write them on the machine! Seriously, write 'em down and refer to them often. Now, if you'd only take your own advice, Debra.

My eleventh, and final, point? Get a die cutting machine, just don't ask me which one!

Oh, and after all that yakking on about die-cutting, I totally forgot about the cards!

Well, here they are with, wouldn't you know it? No die-cutting. 

:o)