Category Archives: Craft Supplies

I submerged punched paper circles in one ounce of water for 32 days, heated to about 200 degrees for ten minutes on day one (to simulate a heat tool.) Copy paper visibly degraded after one day and eventually turned to mush; no surprise there. All of the craft papers, plus the 100% cotton bond 32Continue reading “Which paper really stands up to water? The conclusion”

I had an epic fail with trapped embossing and it made me think about the qualities of paper, particularly used with water-soluble mediums.  Paper interests me, as I’m sure it does many crafters, and one of the most interesting tours I’ve ever enjoyed was a paper mill in Wisconsin with a Club Scrap group.  Continue reading “Which paper really stands up to water?”

Have you ever compared the price of a women’s disposable razor to the price of the same thing sold for men? Or been part of planning a wedding? If so you are aware that prices can vary widely based on who is buying the product. The rule of thumb is that the larger the market,Continue reading “Finding bargain craft tools”

Mounted stamps Traditional red rubber stamps often come mounted (permanently adhered) to a wooden block. Un-mounted stamps To save cost and storage space, many new stamps come unmounted.  The red rubber or clear photopolymer stamp must be temporarily mounted in order to stamp. Acrylic block The lowest cost option is an acrylic block.  The blockContinue reading “Stamping options”

I continued my review of all my adhesives and learned a few things:

There are five types of ink pads: Prices generally start around $7 per ink pad for a “full size” pad which is generally 2” x 3”.  Mini ink pads cost about half and are generally 1” x 1”, but contain roughly 20% as much ink as a full size ink pad.  Ink pads can beContinue reading “Ink pads”