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Do many of you use these???....I just don't see many talk about them and I've never used them so thought I would ask and get some thoughts about them to see if I should investigate them more???
Location: Somewhere in the middle...closer to there, nearer to here...
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I have quite a few and I use them a lot. I use them more now since I unmounted them. I did not care for the roller so I cut mine off the wheel, mounted them on EZ mount and bought an acrylic block long enough for the wheel. Since I've done that, those wheels get a LOT of use!
I love wheels, and use them at most of my workshops. For me, they work best with the insertable ink cartridges VS rolling across inkpads. I also use the wheel guide because I tend to curve if rolling across paper wider than 4-inches. Wheels are cheap and versatile - you can use them as the main image or as backgrounds... Check the gallery for ideas!
__________________ Do or do not - there is no try! (Yoda) / SCS Featured Stamper FS730 / Dirty Dozen Alumni
I love the wheels! I haven't unmounted them, just use them the traditional way because I loved the ease of use. My only problem is that I forget to use them ... I've got to figure out a way to keep them in front of my face!
Here's a card I made using the Something Fishy Wheel!
I did unmount one wheel, but I bought two first. The Neighborhood wheel: one I cut all the houses apart and put it on EZ Mount foam and the other wheel is as normal.
I have bought many and used very few. I think it's mostly because I keep them in a drawer and I forget I have them. Even though I'm able to get a pretty straight line when rolling, I don't have the cartridges so I have to repeatedly roll them over an ink pad to ink them up and I don't always get even ink coverage and, therefore, uneven impression. I did unmount a couple of them which makes them easier to ink and use. Just have to remember to use them.
Very cute card!
I use mine, though not as much as I would like...I have the same problem that I forget they are there! In fact, I just got the "Matey's Map" wheel today!
I have a couple of wheel cartridges, but for cards I usually just ink the wheel on the regualr inkpad. The wheel is large enough to get a complete roll across a standard size card without needing to reink. For scrapbooks you need a catridge if you want even inking.
HTH a bit!
__________________ Melanie "Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry."
My Gallery My BLOG
If you use a pad, just roll over it a few times to completely cover the wheel. The cartridge is a small foam roller that is inked in the color. Many of the SU colors are available in the wheel cartidges, but not all. You can even buy uninked cartridges which you can ink yourself (i.e. in the new In Colors or to create a multicolored effect). The cartridge pops into the handle and gives even pressure on the stamp as you roll it, inking the wheel evenly as you roll. The cartridges have a cover so it doesn't dry out.
I have also colored the wheel with markers. Took a little time but the effect was great. Here is the card I made with this technique.
__________________ Melanie "Today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry."
My Gallery My BLOG
I love the wheels. There are some awesome new ones in the new catalog too. I made a wheel cartridge using versamark (just bought an uninked wheel cartridge and a versamark refill and filled it) so that I could emboss the wheel images or use heat and stick with glitter over them too. I recommend getting the wheel guide too so that your border goes straight.
I love my wheels and use them a lot. I like them for wrapping paper and gift bags. I also love them if i am mass producing a large amount of things. I would recommend getting the ink cartridges and the wheel guide.
I am a serious collector AND user of the wheels! My DH came up with a great storage solution -- men's pant hangers. You know, the ones that you can hang 4 pairs of pants on? Just take a craft knife and slice off the rubber grippers, and the wheels slide right on the rods. You can store about 28 wheels on one hanger. (Of course, you have to have a closet to hang them in to keep them out of the light.)
Here are some tricks that I've learned over the years:
1. Do NOT hold them by the long handle! The round part fits right in the palm of your hand and allows you to put pressure straight down on the stamp, just like you would with any other stamp. You can actually feel that the wheel is in contact with the paper this way.
2. You can push them or pull them, but don't go back and forth between the two. Experiment and see which way is most comfortable for you, then stick with it! I'm a puller, but I tried for years to be a pusher. ;) I was frustrated because I could never get the control I thought I should. Changing directions changed everything!
3. If you're creating a background, start at the bottom and follow the bottom edge of your cardstock. Then stack the next one on top of it, and continue to the top. When you do it this way, you can see exactly where you're stamping because your hand (and the wheel) are not in the way! HTH!
I use mine unmounted, too ~ I call them "unwheels" ;) . I will probably be ordering wheels from the new catalog. I've seen some of the sneak peeks and there are sets that I kind of like, but not every stamp ~ but then there's a coordinating wheel so you get the "flavor" and style of the stamp without having to get the whole set. And the price is right!!
I think I plan to unmount my wheels too... I have just a couple... But I usually only make cards so unmounting them it will still go across the card front....
I'm fairly new to SU but I really like the wheels. I have about 5 and at Christmas they were fantastic for wrapping paper too. I like them in wheel form-a bit novel I suppose and like a new technique. I don't have a thing to keep straight nor any cartridges-just making do with my ink pads and re-inking, but they come in great designs and adding a border with a whell is a million times easier than stamping an image several times, trying to get it straight and linking but not overlapping etc. :mad:
Some of the images on the Jumbo wheel especially are big enough to cut up and use individually-in the UK catalogue the Neighbourhood wheel is shown cut out and used as single houses.
I've managed to use the spots with them too though you need to be more careful to ink thoroughly. I have to say though that I think wheels can involve a more relaxed attitude to stamping and if it's feinter in some places it still looks OK. You can colour the images in too if you like-holly berries etc.
The rubber bowl gave great advice (thank you) though I'm afraid in the UK pants as you suggest mean trousers but we say pants for underpants! I'm 37 and too old for juvelile humour but still laugh every time! The American words being different from us means I have to translate but i have a VERY Scottish neighbour who no one can understand (I'm in England) so I'm used to it-his oddest comment is calling all hats 'bonnets'. In England a 'bonnet' is a straw hat with a pretty bow tied round it that girls wear. My gruff, elderly MALE neighbour wears 'bonnets' which makes me giggle too!!:p
They're inexpensive really so give them a go! I think they're much more fun that anything else and great for kids too-actually everyone wants a go when they see them!
I've also unmounted most of my wheels and now I use them. the ones I didn't unmount were the ones I still prefer on a wheel. I have to really, really, really like the image before I'll buy it on a wheel.
I was never good at getting it straight - I even bought the wheel guide and still not good. The images I keep on a wheel don't matter if they are straight or not.
Hi!
I have over 200 wheels. Some are SU designs, the others are from Clearsnap. Clearsnap made the wheels originally, SU used to offer their designs back when I started with SU in 1995. Then they started making SU designed wheels for SU only. I have kept my wheel stamps on their wheels.
Here's a compiliation of ideas from a class I taught - long ago - not all my original ideas.
WONDERFUL WORLD OF WHEELS
Stampin' Up! wheels provide an endless list of creative opportunities. Below are just a few possibilities.
Tip to getting started: For those just beginning to use the wheels you will need to get a �feel for the wheel.� With most of the wheels I like to roll corner to corner starting with the upper left hand side and pull towards myself. Everyone has to develop what "feels best" for them. When using the snowflake wheel I like it much better straight up and down so it looks like the snow is falling but the difference is very subtle and probably only noticed by me.
Make Stationery:
1. Cut regular copy/printer paper in half.
2. Then place a standard size envelope 3-5/8 X 6-1/2 (not business size, not card size) directly in the center of this paper (longer side to longer side and shorter to shorter but leaving about a 1 inch border all the way around.) Use a small piece of tape rolled over on itself to adhere the envelope to the paper so it will stay in place. Just be sure to use the right envelope (3-5/8 X 6- 1/2) or else it won't work out to be dimensionally correct.
3. Then I cut a sticky note to about 1-1/2 X 3 inches and place this on the envelope where you would write the address for the recipient of a letter . . . you know like we were taught in school. This will leave a white spot after you use the wheels and make it easier for the post office to read.
4. Next just choose a wheel you'd like to use. I like to use two together in an alternating
pattern. Such as the Posies (blue or yellow) and the Vine (green). Then you just roll your wheels across the paper/envelope stack you created.
5. Remove the sticky note and the envelope and you have a very pretty bordered page on which to write a nice letter to a distant family member or even to your child's teacher.
Idea File:
1. I like to do many of these at one time and gather 10 sets (paper & envelope) together with a piece of matching organdy ribbon. Tie a bow around the center of them and place them in a cello bag. You can create a matching topper but it looks just as pretty to fold over the cello bag top and simply seal with mono adhesive.
2. These make great graduation gifts, birthday presents, mother�s day presents, hostess thank you�s, etc.
3. I just saw this idea recently and loved it. There was one more part to this one that I saw. The designer had put a piece of card stock where I have said to put the post it note. She then folded the piece of card stock with the wheeled design on the outside. That piece was used for a tag on the gift. She tied hers together with ribbon only she had used a very large button on the front that the ribbon had been run through. It was so simple and a great new idea.
4. Another idea is to use them to create background "printed" paper. Such as the snowflake done in white on brocade blue paper . . . simply beautiful. You could use the hugs and kisses wheel with pink passion ink and roll on pos. pink paper for a nice
background or for something more striking use the white ink on the real red paper and emboss with white E.P.
5. You can roll them as an "edge" on the bottom of a card or even on the side depending on the design of the wheel. The butterfly is pretty this way with clear embossing ink and then do the popping pastels method to add color.
6. You can roll an image and cut it out and affix to a card such as the Heart Blocks wheel. Cut out the two hearts and the heart flower and butterfly. Mount to matching squares and place on center of a card two on top, two on bottom. You can even roll one extra butterfly and cut it out, place on a pop-dot and attach to the butterfly in the square creating some 3-D dimension to the card.
7. Use them to create a scrap book page.
Roll a wheel (example: Nursery Time) using the same color ink as the card stock such as Ballet Blue on Ballet Blue. Then roll ballet blue on ultra smooth vanilla. Cut this a little shorter than you page and mount it to the top. (This creates a rectangle look.) Then using the alpha blocks and Brilliant Blue ink, stamp a "title" to the page (such as "JUST ARRIVED") directly on top of your rectangle background. Add pictures mounted to ultra smooth vanilla card stock and your done.
8. Add Radiant Pearls to a single cell cartridge and wheel a background or just a header at the top of a paper or newsletter. You can even combine several colors and it will look painted!
9. They are the answer to all your gift packaging problems! Use them to decorate boxes, bags, tags, and even wrapping paper. Roll on standard lunch bags, fold over and punch two holes. Lace raffia through the holes and you have a very simple yet pretty gift bag.
10. Use wheels for creating cute �Survival� kits. (I have a list of these kits for just about every occasion.) Measure card stock to fit dimensions of a cello bag. Use wheel to roll a pattern on the card stock. Fill bag with items on survival list. Attach topper and you have a very clever gift.
11. What about using the wheels for making Candy Bar Wrappers. You could use the hugs and kisses wheel and make an inexpensive gift to give to the children on Valentines day or even to send to your child's teacher. Just remove the wrapper from a candy bar (any size, you decide) and measure a piece of card stock the same size. Just roll the wheel on standard copy paper so it will wrap easily around the candy bar. Seal shut. You could also stamp the child's name and glue it to the top of your newly created wrapper or perhaps create a matching label using card stock and a Valentine set.
12. Wheel on the poly shrink color in, cut, punch hole and shrink. Now you have a great little charm for your card. I did this on Christmas cards using the snowflake wheel as a background on Ballet Blue. Then I wheeled the snowman on white. I cut into sections of three snowmen � this makes a square. I added a splash of color to them. Then I wheeled the snowman on the poly shrink, colored, cut into individual snowmen, punched hole and shrunk. I attached it to the larger white snowman square with silver metallic cording. It was very cute.
**PROPER USE**
To use your new Stampin� Around Wheel:
1. Take ink cartridge and place into handle, with tab sticking out towards the front. The lid will want to pop off before you get the cartridge in all the way. Go ahead and slide the lid off, and then push down on ink cartridge to snap it into place.
2. Now, you can pop in your Stampin� Around Wheel. Push up on the tab on front side of ink cartridge to release it so that it goes up against the wheel.
3. Roll out a few times on some scratch paper to ink up the wheel. To roll wheel you can either pull towards yourself or push away from yourself. Try both to see which feels most comfortable for you and provides you with the best results.
Tip: If you put your index and middle fingers along the top side of the handle when you�re rolling, it will be easier to keep it flat and get proper coverage. (Some people find they have better luck if they stand up while wheeling.)
4. Now start rolling on your project. Be sure you have a larger piece of scratch paper underneath your project. Always start off the paper a bit and continuing past the end of your paper. This way you will ensure complete coverage of your project.
5. When you have finished wheeling, push down on the tab on the front side of the ink cartridge to push it away from the wheel. Now slide the lid back into place over the ink cartridge. Get a damp paper towel on a plate and wheel around on the paper towel until all the ink comes clean off the wheel. Now you can dry the wheel by running it across a dry paper towel or napkin.
**CLEANING**
When you have finished wheeling, push down on the tab on the front side of the ink cartridge to push it away from the wheel. Now slide the lid back into place over the ink cartridge. Now you can clean the wheel by rolling it on your moistened Stampin� Scrub. If you are using Versamark be sure to spray the Stampin� Scrub or the rubber on the wheel with Stampin� Mist to assist you in removing this heavier, stickier ink. Now dry the wheel by running it across the dry side of the Stampin� Scrub and then a paper towel if it is still damp.
**STORAGE**
Wheels: Simply store the wheel away until you�re ready to use again away from heat and light.
1. There are storage racks that you can buy to store multiple wheels on (a rod runs through the middle of the wheel and then the rod is slid into the storage rack.) Some
of these also store the ink cartridges. They can be ordered online.
2. Use Pringles cans that have been rinsed and dried. Then trim a standard sheet of copy paper and roll the wheels that are being stored in the can on that paper. Then wrap this around the Pringles can. Now whenever I need a wheel it is easily found and the can protects the rubber from being �smooshed� and misshapen.
3. My wheels are stored in the Iris cart drawers.
Ink Cartridges: Be sure the lid is securely on the cartridge (snapped down tightly) and then drop it into a ziploc bag or a Rubbermaid-type container. This will help keep the ink from drying out quite so fast.
January is my turn to share with all of you what I know about wheels. So here's a little history of how I started collecting and using stamps and wheels and as the next weeks go along I'll share what I have. I did not come up with all this stuff by myself. I am unable to credit sources, except I got a lot of my info from Clearsnap videos, stamping magazine, e-groups, Stampin' Up! and just from stamping for so long. Info has been accumulated, but not really recorded. I don't want to infringe on anyone's copyright ideas, I'm just sharing.
To participate in wheels all you need is the handle, ink cartridge and wheel. The rest is fun.
I've been stamping for over 10 years. I've been a demo for Stampin' Up for 10 years and I am hanging up the business side of stamping at the end of January. So if I say it can be purchased through SU, it can, just not through me. There are several other demos on this group or your own demo whom you can buy from. And the TAC demos have Clearsnap wheel products you can purchase through them. And some of the stuff is available at Michael's and a wide assortment of stamp stores and web sites. Have fun shopping, LOL!!!
When I started with Stampin' Up! those many years ago part of the starter kit included the Candy Heart Wheel, handle and ink cartridge and my manager loved wheels so it's been downhill ever since.
I now have 146 wheels in my collection and they are either Stampin' Up! or Clearsnap. I use them for cards, stationary, envelopes, tags, frames, background papers, scrap booking, bookmarks, gift wrap, shrink, boxes, bags, ribbon, polymer clay, paper clay, wood and there are a lot of uses I haven't even tried or heard about. Like using wheels on fabric, learned about that tonight, basically wheels are stamps that come with their own ink pad.
This is what I know about the wheels. Clearsnap is the company that produces all wheel stamps, known as Rollagraph. They also produce Colorbox, Top Boss, Ancient Page, Crafter's Ink, Fluid Chalk, Vivid and some other inks. Clearsnap makes the designs you will find at stamp and craft stores as well as their web site. Stampin' Up! used to carry a lot of the Clearsnap line of Rollagraph designs in their catalog until a few years ago. Stampin' Up! decided to have wheels that match their exclusive designs and so Clearsnap produces the wheels, handles with the SU logo, and the ink cartridge colors that coordinate with Stampin' Up!'s exclusive designs and colors. This is great because the wheels, handles and ink cartridges are interchangeable. I don't have any of the mini or jumbo wheels but the concept is the same, just a different sized design.
The designs for wheels are so varied. Some are solids so the color of the ink matters, you wouldn't want purple apples, some are a mix of solid and open designs, some are open designs that can stand alone or be colored using a wide variety of coloring elements. Some designs fit together to make a scene, for example, the clouds, mountain, pine trees, grass, sand, waves and sea life. Other designs are from known designers like Helene Metivier of Magenta, Toybox Rubber Stamps, Stampa Barbara, All Night Media, Sue Roberts, Paula Best, Sharyn Sowell and Sam Winston. Some designs are words and other designs are very random element designs, alone these random designs don't make sense but when used as part of an overall design they're amazing.
Don't worry about the color ink cartridges you have, I'll tell about the different inks and ink pads that you can use with the wheels. Here are some ideas to get you started. The way to ink your images can come from ink cartridges, stamp pads, rainbow pads, markers, embossing cartridge and the white ink cartridge. Ways to color the image are pencils, markers, chalks, radiant pearls, crayons, watercolor paints, direct-to-paper techniques. Just treat these like stamps and have fun. I don't have any specific recipes for you to follow, just some ideas of things to do with wheels. I'm hoping you share with me because there is a lot out there I don't know.
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Outline:
Storage and removing wheel to use as a border stamp
This is how I store my wheels, ink cartridges and handles.
There are two types of handles, the basic handle is the one that holds the wheel and the ink cartridge. The other handle is called a �Pad Inking Handle� it is a small handle that does not hold an ink cartridge and has two prongs that holds the wheel. This is the handle you can use with stamp pads. I store mine in a mini metal grocery cart I bought from Target a while back, this sits within easy reach on my stamp desk. You can store the handles in a decorated can, large plastic cup, the empty plastic Nestle Quick Chocolate milk containers are great too or even in a drawer. I store my ink cartridges in the flat craft keeper containers you can purchase at Wal Mart. It has individual sections to a cartridge fits in each section. Always keep the black plastic lid on the ink cartridge when not in use, it helps keep the cartridge from drying out. It�s very important to purchase ink refills when purchasing ink cartridges, you�ll have to re-roll every couple hundred feet of wheeling, so it�s good to have the ink cartridge refill on hand. Some people have had success using dye ink refills for their ink cartridges, I prefer to use the ink refills designed for the ink cartridge, the big difference is formulation of the ink. This is a preference not a rule, so just have fun. I keep all my ink refills in plastic shoeboxes in my craft closet, easy to get to, doesn�t take up too much room. I strongly recommend you make a sample of each ink cartridge color, I have a small binder that holds large index cards. I just ink up a design, roll across the card and then for future reference I know how this blue or green looks. That helps when you have several shades to choose from. I�m a bit compulsive about stuff like this, I have samples of all my inks, markers, punches, RP�s, glitters, flocking, Sizzix dies, etc. That way when I shop I take this little binder with me and don�t duplicate.
Storing the wheels. The ideas I have heard of are on sewing machine spool holders, those multi pants hangers, clean Pringles can, tennis ball cans and some people even have bought the wire wheel holders from stamps stores going out of business. I store all my wheels in two of the 3 drawer Sterilite units from Wal Mart, they are the ones that sell for about $9.00 each. I store my wheels on edge, so that the design is visible. I can get 32 wheels in each drawer. I don�t worry about developing a flat spot on the wheels because they aren�t heavy like wood mounted stamps, the wheels shift and roll around each time I open the drawer. I also have a master stamp log, that has every image I own in it. I have a section for wheels, this does two things. One it keeps a record of what images I have so I don�t duplicate and the second reason is that I roll each image onto the page. This lets me know that the image is �good�, that way if I don�t use the image for a long time, I won�t be surprised that it doesn�t work or miss any return deadlines. Although I�ve never had a bad wheel, but it�s just something I do.
A few years ago the stamp company Judi Kins came out with a line of Bolio stamps. These are for border style images on a square rolling pin thing. 4 designs on one mounting. For a while it was the rage to buy the wheel stamp, remove it from the plastic wheel, which is fairly easy to do and using it as an unmounted or mounting it like a Bolio. Some people have even cut apart some of the block style wheel designs to use as smaller single stamps. I haven�t but that�s another way to use the wheels.
There are a lot of other ideas on how to store the handles, ink cartridges and wheels, the above is just what works for me.
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I have lots of wheels and a wheel guide, but I don't use them. They are in a box on a shelf, so easy to forget I have them. I need to get them out and maybe unmount them so they would be easier to use.
__________________ Martha
"When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life." Jean Shinoda Bolen
Inking the wheel - cartridge, pads, paint box pads, ancient page, embossing, white ink, etc.
In case someone doesn�t know, here are the steps to get ready to roll. First you remove the cover from the ink cartridge, slide it into the handle, pull the trigger (the little black think that sticks up like a shark�s fin) far enough back to put the cover back on the cartridge. This will pull the cartridge away from where the wheel sits. Putting the cover on the cartridge keeps the cartridge in place and prevents it from popping out of the handle. Been there, done that, and ended up with ink all over my fingers, LOL!!! Then gently snap the wheel into the handle. This is a good time to make sure the design is facing the �right� way. I am known to roll upside down a lot. Pull back on the trigger, remove the cartridge cover and then release the cartridge so it comes into contact with the wheel. Take a few practice rolls on scratch paper, this gets the entire wheel inked before you start rolling. That�s all it takes to get started.
There are 4 different ink cartridges available. The most common ink cartridge is the traditional acid free single, two or three cell cartridges. This is a great ink for most uses, but it is not waterproof so coloring with a wet medium could cause smearing. For the most part I use traditional ink and I use it for most applications.
The next ink is the Ancient Page ink cartridges. To quote Clearsnap, �Ancient Page ink is acid free, permanent, archival quality and waterproof on most surfaces. Ideal for scrapbook and keepsake applications. Smear resistant when used with watercolor markers.� Ancient Page ink cartridges are green. This is the same ink used in the Ancient Page ink pads, so your pad and cartridge colors would be the same.
The next ink is the Embossing ink cartridges. Again, to quote Clearsnap, �Rollagraph Embossing ink cartridges allow you to roll out a slower drying ink, providing ample time to sprinkle embossing powders. Tinted inks make the stamped image easier to see before embossing.� This ink is available in tinted or clear formulas and are in white cartridges.
The last ink cartridge is the White Ink Cartridge. This is a special pigmented ink is sold as a kit. You buy the cartridge and the refill together. This ink dries quickly so frequent reinking is required. This ink is wonderful for tone on tone effects and looks fabulous on dark papers. It also works on vellum, but you have to allow the vellum time to dry. A way cool way to make your own patterned papers.
It�s great that you can use the self inking handle and cartridge with the wheels to make designs. But sometimes you are limited because of the colors available, and if you want a rainbow effect you�re limited to the two or three cell cartridges. This is where you can use regular stamp pads. Take the ink cartridge out of the handle or use the pad inking handle. You simply insert the wheel back into the empty handle of your choice and roll it several times over the stamp pad of your choice, then roll onto your paper. You will have to reink by rolling across the pad several times after every time you roll across your paper. But this will allow you to use colors that are not available in the ink cartridges.
A wheel is the exact length of Clearsnap�s Paintbox2�s, Fluid Chalk and Crafter�s Pads. Those long multi color pads with the removable option plates. I just love these pads, I buy these over the Petal Points so that I can use them with the wheels. To use these pads start with the seam of the wheel, line it up with the start of the pad. Roll the wheel across the pad, and you�ll end with the seam at the end of the pad. Do this several times, don�t push really hard into the pads because you�ll get excess ink that may transfer when you wheel. Then wheel across your project. Of course you�ll need to reink after rolling across your paper, this is where the seam comes in handy. Use the seam to line up the wheel with the ink pad, just like before and roll across the pad, this will allow you to ink in the same spot and not mess up your pad or the colors on the wheel. This is a great rainbow effect. These pads have interchangeable plates so you can arrange the rainbow to suit your design needs. And if you just want to use two colors, you can roll across just the two colors on the pad for that effect. Then you�re not limited to which two colors to use.
You can use smaller single color pads, it takes a little more work, but just keep running the wheel over the pad until it�s inked up right. If you want you can use your water based markers and ink the wheel. This would be very time consuming and I can see how it would work if you wanted just part of the wheel, but personally I like wheels because they�re a quick way to stamp and coloring the wheels with markers would be too time consuming. LOL!!! But it is do-able.
By not using the ink cartridge you can use any ink pad you own. Including the Stazon pads. Just be sure to finish the ink just like you would with any stamped item. Allow time for the ink to dry, heat set the ink, use the appropriate cleaner based on the ink, sometimes permanent ink may stain you wheel and you�ll need to be sure to use the right cleaners.
To clean the wheel I make sure to pull the cartridge back into the handle and make sure the cover is back on the ink cartridge. Then I roll the wheel on scratch paper until most of the ink has been rolled off, then across the cleaning pads and a quick roll across the drying towel. They�re easy to clean. Remove the cartridge and return it to it�s storage area.
To reink the cartridge. You will need to remove the cartridge from the handle. It�s sort of like inking a stamp pad, not too much, just a drop or two at a time. Use the tip of the reinker to help rotate the little wheel inside the ink cartridge so that you get ink evenly around the cartridge. If you don�t think you have enough, just repeat, with practice you�ll get the �feel� for this. You�ll know when to reink your cartridge because the images will start getting lighter.
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Wheeling Straight
Keeping the wheel straight is a practiced technique, just like working with a stamp to get a good image. Everyone forgets to practice with their new tools, I'm the worst at practicing. I'm always expecting a new technique or idea to be perfect every time and then I get disappointed when the first time isn�t perfect. LOL!!!
I roll from left to right, that way I can follow the path of the previous wheel. If you're left handed, roll from right to left, that way you can see what you've rolled before. I try to roll slowly when making background papers, this is the time I don't want gaps between images. Practice, going slowly and a guide will help make this easier.
A lot of people roll at an angle, or on the diagonal so you don't have to worry about being perfectly straight and even spacing. When I'm making gift wrap, I never try to wheel right next to the previous image, I sort of eyeball a half inch or so gap between the rows. Sometimes closer, usually not much wider, unless I'm running two different designs side by side. Then I roll design A, then design B, then Design A. I have two handles, so that makes things easier. You don't have to roll straight or diagonal, there really aren't any "rules". You can make wandering lines, lines on a curve or a wave. Have fun. Better yet let kids under 10 roll, they just have a blast and don't stress over straight lines or spacing.
I stand up at my kitchen table when I roll wrapping paper, I can see better and reach better (I'm 5'10" tall so I can really reach across a table). Standing also allows you to keep even pressure when rolling, if you change pressure or shift left or right when you roll the impression isn't as good. By even pressure I mean holding the handle at a 45 degree angle and either push or pull, either way is fine. This is again where practice rolling helps, you get a feel for rolling, the pressure and it makes it fun. And you do have to reink a lot when you are doing a lot of gift wrap. As soon as you see the image starting to lighten, reink. It will keep the paper consistent looking.
SU is selling a Clearsnap product, a wheel guide, you can buy the guide from SU or from Clearsnap it's around $10 plus shipping and tax. It's basically a clear ruler on feet that you can stretch out and run the edge of the wheel (not the handle) against to keep straight (you'd need two for wrapping paper). It also turns for mitering, but I'll teach you all a trick about that later. There are a few inexpensive substitutes. For wrapping paper I use newsprint end rolls from the newspaper office, tear off a length I'll need and away I go. Anyway, take a yardstick, and add foam dot feet, like people use for coasters and you've got your edge for rolling straight. I don't use a roller with wrapping paper, I just go and for the most part it lines up well.
The same can be done to a 12" ruler, I have an older model stamp positioner that sits up high enough for me to use it as an edge. Some people have even used their SU catalog as a guide, it has a square back, but anything with an edge, would work. I like the ruler idea because it's smaller and you don't have to worry about smearing the ink.
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Coloring the wheel designs
When it comes to coloring in the wheel images, there are no limits. It�s basically a stamp and ink. This is where the type of ink matters. If I�m using a wheel design on a card I will sometimes color in, other wise the ink color stands alone. Especially important when using solid designs. You can use pencils, chalks and other mediums. Just be careful when using water based mediums, if the black ink isn�t waterproof, you may get some smearing. Embossing or using Ancient Page inks will help with not smearing.
Things to wheel: Gift wrap, boxes and bags - tissue paper too - bag toppers
I mostly use my wheels on gift wrap. There are several ways to accomplish this. I buy plain old newsprint from the newspaper office here in my town. I bought the end of a roll, I paid less than $10 for it, and this was 7 years ago, so I don�t know if it�s still available. But it wouldn�t hurt to check out your local newspaper office and see what�s available. If not, any solid color gift wrap will work, except really glossy stuff, smearing might become an issue. I would look at places like those $1 type stores for inexpensive gift wrap or use coupons for the larger craft store chains to get rolls of white or kraft brown paper. I tear off a piece larger than I need, roll the entire piece of paper, cover and trim the gift as needed. I just roll rows and rows of design until the paper is filled. Sometimes I get a little fancy and use two designs of complimentary colors. Sometimes I use the plaid type wheel that makes lines, two colors, just make sure the lines cross in an interesting plaid design. If I allow enough space I have little squares that I can stamp small images in, especially cute at Christmas time.
If you buy poster board and make your own gift boxes, wheels are a big help. I have the Aleene�s box maker and a stash of poster board. I cut the poster board to the desired sizes (available with the box maker instructions). Lay this on scrap paper and wheel away. Then I score and assemble to box, tah-dah, a decorative box and now gluing decorative paper required. While you�re at it make a coordinating card. You can also disassemble premade boxes and roll them, then reassemble. If the box is solid enough, like a shipping type box, you can just roll that box. I have a customer who does this for her business, she likes that the box is �happy�, LOL!!!
Don�t forget tissue paper, white or colors, both work great. I buy it during Christmas when you can purchase the larger packages of white tissue paper. I put a large stack of tissue paper on the table, wheel the design on the tissue paper, and I have custom gift wrap. Now the ink will bleed through the first two or three layers, this doesn�t matter, because I�m either going to use the tissue paper to line the package or to wrap the gift. When wrapping a gift I end up using 3 or more thicknesses to cover the package anyway.
You can also roll designs on cardstock and make gift bag toppers. This is the folded piece of cardstock with cuts or holes in the fold to slip the handles through. This is a neat way to close the package. You can roll the entire topper, along an edge for a border, or roll across a separate piece of cardstock add some layers and add to the bag topper.
You can flatten the gift bags (lunch bags work great for this) and wheel the design on the bag too. You can just do a single roll or cover the entire front of the bag. You can even work the lunch bags around so you can do the front, back and the two sides. Once I turned a brown grocery store bag inside out, so the store logo was on the inside and wheeled this, the goal was a rustic outdoors type bag. This worked out really well.
If you�re interested in wheeling on the clear bags that are available, I�d suggest you purchase Stazon ink and ink your wheel from the Stazon pad. That way it will dry and not smear. Roll carefully on the clear bags, they could be slippery.
For this part of the class here are some ideas for using wheels when it comes to cards (backgrounds, borders, layering and making scrapbook papers). Also using the wheels for stationary and matching envelopes. Using wheels for tags and frames. Using the wheel images for a 3-D effect. Wheeling on vellum, tone on tone effects.
The wheel can be used in much the same way with cardstock as it can for wrapping paper or bags. When you want a background that coordinates with a stamp set the easiest way is to roll the wheel image horizontally, vertically or diagonally on the base of the card, or the cardstock to be used as a bottom layer. Before putting the wheel away, this would be a good time to decorate the envelope, front and/or back. Then you only have to clean the wheel once. Then stamp your coordinating image on a smaller layer of cardstock, and in between the wheeled layer and your coordinating image layer add as many layers of color or white cardstock as desired.
Here�s one sample: I did case and adapt this idea from a card I received in the past. I did this with the dragonfly wheel and coordinating bug set from Stampin� Up! First I used black ink and diagonally rolled the wheel image onto a full size piece of white cardstock, filling up the entire sheet. Then I used the round sponge for the Clearsnap Stylus system (although any round sponge or solid stamp will work). I used some of the pastel colored ink (SU�s soft subtles) and stamped circles of color over the dragonflies. Not coloring in each bug, just adding color all over the card. This large sheet of background paper I cut into four smaller pieces and layered on a piece of white cardstock (base card). Then I stamped the coordinating dragon fly stamp, colored it in using the same inks as the background, added glitter to the wings (all dragonflies have to sparkle, LOL!) This was layered on a bit of blue cardstock and attached at an angle to the front of the card.
For borders there are only three �arrangements� that come to mind. Roll the design along the bottom of the card and stamp either a coordinating image or words in the space above. This image or words can be layered with other cardstock, so in effect the bottom layer is a single line of a rolled wheel. You can color in the wheeled design or not. Sometimes, depending on the rolled image, I use my scissors and trim along the design, sort of decorative edge that follows the images. Adding a solid coordinating piece of colored cardstock adds a nice decorative touch. The second arrangement is to roll the image along the top and the bottom of the card and then add either an image or saying in the space between. Layer or not as the card needs. The third way to use the wheel image as a border is to roll the image on a piece of cardstock, trim away the excess cardstock, and layer the wheeled image onto colored cardstock and then onto the base card. The base cardstock could be something like a patterned or word background. I did this with the cat wheel and the By Design background from SU.
I stamped the By designs words on blue cardstock with blue ink, sort of a tone on tone effect. Then I layered this onto white cardstock base. I rolled the cat wheel from Clearsnap in matching blue ink onto another piece of white cardstock, this I cut out, about a �� on each side more than the image. This gave me a strip of cardstock with an image, which I layered on the word background.
Wheeling full sheets of cardstock will make great background papers for scrap booking. Cutting pieces for layering is also good. When doing full sheets you can color in your images quickly with the stylus type tips, sponges, chalks even inking the brayer and large color blocks will work. If you use a waterproof ink then use watercolors or Radiant Pearls for color wash. You can also color each image in individually. There are lots of fun ways to add color to the large sheets of wheeled images.
I will cut tags for gifts or for layering out of sheets of wheeled images. Use the die cutting machines, punches, colossal patterns or just scissors for added interest for layering. You can make quick bookmarks this way too. This is especially handy if you�re doing a theme and want a lot of things to coordinate. For example a shower or a party, even gifts. I�ll wrap the gift and then use the same wheel images for the card or gift tag.
Wheels will allow you to custom fit photo frames. There are two ways that I know of to come up with photo frames. First roll the image 4 times on a piece of cardstock, decide on the total width needed, cut out each roll to give you 4 strips. Then simply lay them around the photo, trim to fit and secure to the page. When it comes to the corner you can cut diagonally to make a mitered look, or just butt the ends against each other. If you don�t care for the look of the corners, add a coordinating image in the corners. Or cut out part of the design and use it as a layer on the corner.
The other way to make a frame is kind of hard to describe. You�ll need scrap paper and a post it note. What you do is make a mask with the scratch paper on either side of the area you want the image to be. Start rolling on the scratch paper, roll across the scrap paper and continue to the other piece of cardstock. There is one side. Continue for all four sides making sure to keep the sides equal and straight and you have a frame. To get the mitered corner, you�ll do the same as above but put the post-it note where the diagonal will be, use the post it note as a mask, and wheel. This sounds hard and confusing, actually I don�t do this much. Practice would be very important, but I�ve seen it done and it looks really nice. It looks like the new wheel guide which is on the market will make this very easy to accomplish, and it may even have instructions. I finally reread my SU mini and the wheel guide will be in the future mini catalogs and next years regular catalog. So this will be a very good tool to add to your tool box.
Stationary, this is what sold me on stamping in the very beginning of this wonderful addiction, I mean hobby. Custom stationary, any color or image I wanted, not just what was on the market. I purchase those pads of white or colored stationary sheets, without lines, from Wal Mart. I also purchase matching sized envelopes at the same place.
I either stamp borders or all four sides of the white paper, mostly I just stamp the top and bottom. I also decorate the envelope to match. 2 pieces of paper and one envelope I consider a set, I put 8 or 10 sets in a clear bag, make a coordinating tag or topper and give as gifts. I also always have some on hand for my use. I even make some just for notes, I wheel the design, I just don�t make coordinating envelopes.
To use the wheel to get a 3-D image. Before cleaning the wheel, roll again on scrap paper. Closely trim out the images you want, color as desired and fit this over the rolled images on your design. In a way this is like spot lighting, just add a foam dot to give some depth to the image. Very easy to do and adds a nice look to your work.
I use Clearsnap�s white ink cartridge on colored cardstock to give a sort of tone on tone effect. This isn�t a strong snow sort of white, it�s just a soft look. I use this for layering and such. You can also use the wheel with an ink that matches the cardstock, or roll across a stamp pad without an ink cartridge in the handle. This is another way to achieve a tone on tone effect.
With vellum you can wheel across it just like you can stamp on it, just allow time to dry. You can color in your images from the back for a softer look, or just don�t color in at all. The vellum can be used as a top layer for a finishing look, allowing the background to show through, or the wheeled vellum can be a layer in the overall design.
I love the wheels. There are some awesome new ones in the new catalog too. I made a wheel cartridge using versamark (just bought an uninked wheel cartridge and a versamark refill and filled it) so that I could emboss the wheel images or use heat and stick with glitter over them too. I recommend getting the wheel guide too so that your border goes straight.
I have a LOT of wheels, but really don't like how often they don't work AS a wheel. I've unmounted, and use them on acrylic blocks that have Tack-N-Peel on them. So much more enjoyable to use.
So glad to see this discussion resurrected! I kept most of my wheels and I still use them for quick and easy backgrounds and borders. I tossed all the ink cartridges, too out-of-date with current colors, so I just roll 'em on regular ink pads.Mary Beth
Me too! I've been trying to decide if:
1 ) I should keep my wheels?
2 ) If I should unmount them or keep them on the wheel?
After doing some reading...
I think I am going to keep 'em & transfer them to ezmount...
__________________ "God designed the human machine to run on Himself. HE Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn..." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Great thread! I took one off the wheel and I'm going to use it with my stamp positioner and see how it turns out. I may need to get some ezmount and unmount the others.
My golden retriever got hold of a favorite wheel stamp. He must have wanted the black core/wheel and some how got the stamp off without damaging it but destroyed the core. So to save the stamp, I want to use it unmounted. Do people who have done this still recommend EZ Mount or is there another product I should use? (I'm a wood mount girl who never converted.)
I know some people just use bare rubber but I have all my unmounted wheels on EZmount. Same with backgrounders, I just feel that the mount gives extra stability with the larger area. What luck that the dog didn't damage the stamp!
Hi Hegwalker, I use Tack N Peel on some of my wood mounts (that I removed a stamp from), and some on acrylic mounts. If it isn't a stamp you use regularly, you could always just use good quality double-sided tape on any mount. That will suffice for occasional use.
SU Wheels?
