What's your most horrendous stamping mishap?

[Kathlyn47]

In one month I will be ending my first year of stamping and what fun it's been. But just last night I had an accident that really put a dent in my enthusiasm. I was refilling my SU Basic Black ink pad when the top spout of the ink bottle flew off as I squeezed the bottle. What a mess! It splattered black ink everyone on my worktable and I tracked it on the flooring! Without going into detail, I'll leave the visual image up to you ladies. It'll take days for the black to wear off from under my fingernails. I just hope this is my worst incident ever. I've learned now to remove the spout and pour the ink slowly onto the pad inside the stainless steel sink in the laundry room.

So I was wondering if you all have your own stamping horror stories to tell and what you learned from it.

[329shana]

Great thread! I think mine was probably when I was sitting on the floor embossing something and the cardstock got too hot to hold so I laid it on the floor to emboss it. Burnt a huge hole in my carpet! Or, it may have been the time when a container of bleach fell out of my cabinet and I tried to catch it but pulled the lid off instead. Spilled the whole thing down the front of my outfit and the floor. My poor carpet!

[Scrapjanny]

I think mine would have to be when I scorched a baby wipe. I had saved a baby wipe that I had used to wipe up ink. I tried to emboss on it so that I could use the wipe on a card (in place of paper/fabric). While I was using the heat gun, the wipe started smoking. It was seconds from catching fire, and it threw a good scare into me. I'm really careful now when I emboss, and I don't try to emboss baby wipes anymore. :rolleyes:

[Cook22]

I think my worst, and I've done it more than once!! is a little similar to yours, Kathlyn. I often use my distress re-inkers, and I think 3 times now I've left the stopper loose, and the bottle has got knocked over on my desk and oozed out everywhere. The red one was the worst!! Now I am super careful and close them and put them back on the shelf as soon as I am done. At least it's soluble and easy enough to clean up, but with the state my desk is always in, some things always end up having to be thrown out - paper, flowers, ribbon...

[JoBear2]

I have had many mishaps - my DH says I inherited the "clumsy gene" LOL! But I think one of my worst mishaps was when I was using one of the poking tools (you know that extremely sharp tool that pokes a small hole in your cardstock and you keep poking it around the edge of your cardstock for decoration?). Well, I was using it to try and and gently lift up a dimensional on my card that accidentally got stuck there and thought it would enable me to remove it a tiny bit at a time without tearing the designer paper - and missed and poked it up under my fingernail about half way in! I still can't figure out how I did it! I nearly passed out from the pain! And it was so red and sore for days. I learned that you should only use a tool for what it is designed for!

I would HATE to have black ink everywhere though - I think that would be worse.......

[BathBelle]

Mine wasn't actually stamping. I had been crafting and cleared everything away and my husband was at the table. I decided to just stick one last thing. I used a tube of cheap super glue. I think I put the top on but the next thing I knew there was glue spreading across the table, taking the white paint from the outside of the glue tube with it. I ended up with a 4" square patch of paint on the dining room table. �700 worth of damage, thank god for insurance. No more cheap glue for me and ALWAYS craft on a table cloth (plastic/wipeable).

Ruth

[gregzgurl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BathBelle

Mine wasn't actually stamping. I had been crafting and cleared everything away and my husband was at the table. I decided to just stick one last thing. I used a tube of cheap super glue. I think I put the top on but the next thing I knew there was glue spreading across the table, taking the white paint from the outside of the glue tube with it. I ended up with a 4" square patch of paint on the dining room table. �700 worth of damage, thank god for insurance. No more cheap glue for me and ALWAYS craft on a table cloth (plastic/wipeable).

Ruth

It would make me crazy to craft on a tablecloth, so I just have a heavy-duty, already-distressed dining table that I bought at the Rescue Mission store for $14.00 (it was supposed to be $35.00, but they were having a heck of a sale)! I was going to re-finish the top, but after I stapled my project to the tabletop with my staple gun (don't ask), I decided to leave it alone... It's seen a LOT of crafting mishaps (glue, paint, markers, solvents), and I just smile about the additional "distressing"...

[maryrose]

When my black lab was a puppy, she got into my brilliant blue ink pad, chewed it up, played with it, and left blue paw prints all over my kitchen! And when she yawned, her tongue looked like the head of one of the members of Blue Man Group! Good thing the ink was non-toxic ( and yes, I did call the vet!). We still laugh about that one to this day. That was twelve years ago. My girl is a senior citizen now. She doesn't get into as many crazy escapades as she did when she was a pup, but she's still fun to have around.

[RubberLady603]

LOL! What a fun thread! One of my biggest messes was opening a fairly new jar of Perfect Pearls upside down. The AC was on of course, and that stuff went everywhere! That was quite a while ago and I'm still finding shiny stuff!

[Kathlyn47]

This one I forgot to add in my initial post. And you gals have probably done this too. I have a habit of taking a Tervis tumbler of ice tea up to my craft room. About my second month of stamping I knocked a glass of tea over on 2 finished cards. Boy was I ticked off with myself! The next day I headed over to Beds, Baths and Beyond with my 20% off coupons and bought the washable Tervis lids and straws that go on the tumblers. Now NO ONE is allowed in my craft room without a lid and straw.

I sure am learning what not to do or what to be careful of in everyone's great replies.

[scrappy knitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 329shana

Great thread! I think mine was probably when I was sitting on the floor embossing something and the cardstock got too hot to hold so I laid it on the floor to emboss it. Burnt a huge hole in my carpet ! Or, it may have been the time when a container of bleach fell out of my cabinet and I tried to catch it but pulled the lid off instead. Spilled the whole thing down the front of my outfit and the floor. My poor carpet!

Oh, I thought I was the only one that did this! I moved my furniture in that room. Husband still doesn't know

[teegee7617]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maryrose

When my black lab was a puppy, she got into my brilliant blue ink pad, chewed it up, played with it, and left blue paw prints all over my kitchen! And when she yawned, her tongue looked like the head of one of the members of Blue Man Group! Good thing the ink was non-toxic ( and yes, I did call the vet!). We still laugh about that one to this day. That was twelve years ago. My girl is a senior citizen now. She doesn't get into as many crazy escapades as she did when she was a pup, but she's still fun to have around.

I accidentally left the drawer with my distress stains open last month and our 5 month old beagle puppy found them. I wasn't home when it happened, but both the puppy and the rug in my craft room got a bath that evening. And I ordered replacement aged mahogany & squeezed lemonade stains. Fortunately the distress stains clean up well with water and the puppy has made it to 6 months. ;)

[kmatuschka]

Mine wasn't actually stamping either - more of a "general craft mishap." It was my first time using a hot glue gun; I plugged it in and then wondered aloud how I would know when it was hot enough. My husband said "stick your finger on the tip." So I did.

[lori92760]

oh the dog mishaps, i thought i was the only one. when jake was younger he chewed up a blue ink pad, had it everywhere on him. my old old sunny, even had jakes footprints on his side (i have no idea). they were both over 100 pounds, so its not like jake stepped on a little dog. poor old sun. now jake is a senior and still getting into stuff.

[RosieLP]

Fun thread!

I don't really have a "worst" story to tell but I do have a story which definitely lands me on the "How Stupid" list...

I had a bunch of cards I needed to make, all of the same design, so I wanted to get them done ASAP. I finished making 6 cards (assembly line style) before I realized that I'd attached the card fronts to the card base the wrong way! Yep, instead of the card opening like a book, with the card fold being on the left side, the fold was on the right side.

I've never done *that* again! Well, not yet, anyway. LOL

[Gdoreen]

I love this thread! I have had all kinds of craft mishaps-- how about stamping accidentally on my extra large craft mat and using solvent ink cleaner to clean the gridlines and numbers right off the mat. Sadly the damn ink stain remains (it gives new meaning to permanent ink). Another favorite is knocking over an organized tray of small individual pearl/rhinestone embellishments onto carpert. That was fun. Oh and there is the inevitable spillage of extra fine glitter by the heaps.

[QueenOfInkland]

I love this thread, too !!

Mine was when I was working on an a page for a memory album. I wanted to put some artistic spatters of ink and I'd seen someone somewhere (it might have been Dee Gruenig) spray the ink up into the air and then let the ink mist down onto the paper - it was really cool.

So I tried it with some dark ivy green colored ink. My fatal flaw was that I used Ranger's color wash spray. It was the first time that I ever used color wash and when I sprayed it into the air, it was not a mist LOL.... It shot a straight stream of ink all the way up to the ceiling and then the ink came down and, in addition to the dark green ink getting all over the ceiling, it was all over my desk and the floor and me and everything within about a 6' radius of where I was sitting when I sprayed it. What a NIGHTMARE that was heehee.

-------------------
And let's not forget the time that I took a soldering class. About an hour into the class, our instructor told all of us to check our irons because something was burning. Yep - it was my iron melting plastic bags at my station. But oh no - we're not done yet!!! Within a half hour of that incident, I was having problems keeping the tip of my soldering iron clean so I (DOHHHHHHHHHHHHH) used my fingers to try to get a lump of solder off of the tip of the hot soldering iron (along the lines of the glue gun incident in this thread). Boy did that hurt - they had to get the burn kit out. I have not soldered since that class.

Keep these coming, they're great

[JoBear2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RosieLP

Fun thread!

I don't really have a "worst" story to tell but I do have a story which definitely lands me on the "How Stupid" list...

I had a bunch of cards I needed to make, all of the same design, so I wanted to get them done ASAP. I finished making 6 cards (assembly line style) before I realized that I'd attached the card fronts to the card base the wrong way! Yep, instead of the card opening like a book, with the card fold being on the left side, the fold was on the right side.

I've never done *that* again! Well, not yet, anyway. LOL

Ohh, I have done that so many times - and boy, does it make me mad. I usually try and check first but every so often, I forget and put it on the wrong way - grrrr!

[CAKath]

You ladies have me laughing tonight!

[Hunterri]

My son taught me early on to keep an eye on him with my crafting supplies! He would have been 4 when he successfully opened 2 SU inkpads and coloured in the tv screen. He used a blue pad and a yellow one, so that night when I turned the tv on it didn't take me too long to spot that something was wrong! The whole screen was green! And as he used the blue pad first, the yellow one is now a tad green....

[RiverIsis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoBear2

Ohh, I have done that so many times - and boy, does it make me mad. I usually try and check first but every so often, I forget and put it on the wrong way - grrrr!

Pleading the 5th but that is when waxed Dental floss may be your friend ;)

[TeeGeeDee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RosieLP

Fun thread!

I don't really have a "worst" story to tell but I do have a story which definitely lands me on the "How Stupid" list...

I had a bunch of cards I needed to make, all of the same design, so I wanted to get them done ASAP. I finished making 6 cards (assembly line style) before I realized that I'd attached the card fronts to the card base the wrong way! Yep, instead of the card opening like a book, with the card fold being on the left side, the fold was on the right side.

I've never done *that* again! Well, not yet, anyway. LOL

IF this should ever happen again you could give them as "prank" cards to your left-handed friends. Several years ago (when I was a demo) a customer that worked with DH "purposely" - at least she claims it was - made a card that opened like you described. She said it was for my left-handed DH.

As for my mishaps, they usually involve things falling off the desk as I move things to make space to do soemthing. Luckily I don't recall any breakages but I now craft in a basement with a concrete floor so I plan to get several bookcases for a "wall" and extra storage so maybe (LOL) fewer things will be on the desk.

[RiverIsis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kathlyn47

This one I forgot to add in my initial post. And you gals have probably done this too. I have a habit of taking a Tervis tumbler of ice tea up to my craft room. About my second month of stamping I knocked a glass of tea over on 2 finished cards. Boy was I ticked off with myself! The next day I headed over to Beds, Baths and Beyond with my 20% off coupons and bought the washable Tervis lids and straws that go on the tumblers. Now NO ONE is allowed in my craft room without a lid and straw.

I sure am learning what not to do or what to be careful of in everyone's great replies.

My Tervis ALWAYS has a lid on it. Love those things!

[RosieLP]

@TeeGeeDee...

At the time I made that error I was so glad no one was around to witness my error. Now, I wish YOU would have been with me! The idea of using those cards to give to left handed people (ROFL) is pure genius!!! I bow down to your brilliance!

[RosieLP]

Everyone's stories about their kids and pets getting inky has me LOL.

JoBear, if you ever find yourself coming to Wisconsin please send me a PM, we should meet in person. We can make left handed cards together.

[mommyto3]

I don't have any stories yet, but now I'm extremely worried about my beautiful, beautiful, solid wood, 10 place-setting, dining-room table on which I do all of my stamping. This could put a complete crimp in my entire routine. I never considered that I might actually ruin my table!! I don't think my stamping will ever be quite as relaxing now as it once was. lol

[karjor]

Funny stories (after the fact!). I have only been paper crafting for 15 month, so I am sure looking forward to doing some of these beauties. My worst so far was more of a might have been -

I was dipping beads on head pins in Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, and then using the heat gun to even them out by heating and twirling. I twirled too fast and a gob of molten UTEE came off and landed on my hand, which I shook reflexively to get it off. Unfortunately that was the hand holding the still running heat gun. It jumped from my hand and slid way under the bed, blazing away. I frantically pulled it out by the cord, switched it off, and sniffed for that tell tale smell of burned nylon carpet, but miraculously no melting had occurred. Narrow escape.

The next few times I used UTEE, I wore thin cotton gloves, but now I'm out of the habit, since the scar has faded. Maybe this will remind me.

[homestead]

I was heading to a friends house to stamp and carrying way to many things. I had my eyelets and brads in a cheap plastic container and somehow it got knocked out of my hands. It went flying and hit the fence and broke open, brads and eyelets and all sorts of small embellishments went everywhere. Soon after that I bought the really nice Craft Mate ones that lock closed.

[jeannemlehrman]

Homestead-- I think you should check the fence where this happened in the spring--you may find eyelet, brad and embellishment plants growing - whoo hoo!

[lori92760]

oh i am way to messy a crafter. i have glass on my dining room table top, we couldnt even eat without ruining it! i made a 3 foot by 6 foot table downstairs to do my crafting and you can tell its well used!

[homestead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeannemlehrman

Homestead-- I think you should check the fence where this happened in the spring--you may find eyelet, brad and embellishment plants growing - whoo hoo!

This happened about 6 years ago and I still find them every now and again. Still makes me laugh when I do. At the time I didn't laugh though.

[Gdoreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeannemlehrman

Homestead-- I think you should check the fence where this happened in the spring--you may find eyelet, brad and embellishment plants growing - whoo hoo!

LMAO-- Too funny!!!

[TeeGeeDee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RosieLP

@TeeGeeDee...

At the time I made that error I was so glad no one was around to witness my error. Now, I wish YOU would have been with me! The idea of using those cards to give to left handed people (ROFL) is pure genius!!! I bow down to your brilliance!

I understand not wanting witnesses to any of our "duh" moments. I thought the customer/co-worker was brilliant to think of that "excuse" on the spot and make it seem (semi-convincingly) it was her plan all along. But the lesson to try to salvage any mistake has remained. Sometimes, though, that just means removing the still usable parts and starting over.

Thanks for starting a fun thread and I wish everyone reading it a fun and crafty holiday season.

Tina aka TeeGeeDee

[RosieLP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeannemlehrman

Homestead-- I think you should check the fence where this happened in the spring--you may find eyelet, brad and embellishment plants growing - whoo hoo!

ROFL

[backroom]

My worst mishap, among many, was when one day I was putting away my Martha Stewart glitter jar. I did not realize that the top had slide open and I was holding it upside down. We had glitter from the living room to the hall, to the kitchen where I made a stop to put something in the freezer. And naturally used the hand the glitter was in. Freezer full of glitter. All the way into my bedroom, which is used as my craft room. Unfortunately, my husband saw it before me. Needless to say, not much glitterying going on in my house. I saw glitter everywhere for weeks. Now, I am much more careful with my supplies.

[Crafter 4 Life]

I like to keep my stamps clean. Yes, I am one of those crafters that clean my stamps after each session.

I was going to use a new stamp and color the image for a card front. The stamp decide to leap into the air and land on the side with the image imprinted right into a juicy black ink pad. There was nothing I could do but wipe as much black ink off as I could. Couldn't use a strong cleaner because the image would be gone also. Thought of using Stazon On on some clear packaging tape and stick it on the wood but just haven't had time.

Those of you with puppy/dog stories, I just got a new puppy after Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I am kept jumping. Yesterday, I was emailing my sister but told her I had to stop the puppy from chewing on a corner of the baseboard!

[jeannemlehrman]

Spent some crafting time making a sweet birthday card for my niece and a sympathy card for a friend who lost a family member. Imagine my niece's surprise when she opened a beautiful sympathy card for her birthday and my friend's surprise when she opened a birthday card. My niece forgave me and my friend said it made her laugh during a very sad time. Me, I was just too embarrassed and now double check my envies to make sure. ROLL EYES...and even worse, now I am telling on myself.

[stiz2003]

How fun this thread is! I didn't think what I did was possible. I have sewn on and off for 40 years. Now I stitch on cards. While stitching my husband said something to me and for a split second I looked up to answer him. Yep- that ol' needle went through my fingernail. Yowza- that was a stinger. I didn't think a whole finger even fit in there but trust me, it did.

[arlenevita]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stiz2003

How fun this thread is! I didn't think what I did was possible. I have sewn on and off for 40 years. Now I stitch on cards. While stitching my husband said something to me and for a split second I looked up to answer him. Yep- that ol' needle went through my fingernail. Yowza- that was a stinger. I didn't think a whole finger even fit in there but trust me, it did.

I feel your pain! I sewed my thumb at a blouse factory during a high school summer job because I looked up to talk to the person next to me. I ended up passing out a few minutes later!

Add me to the list of dumpers, spillers, sticking two finished cards together, inky finger prints all over finished cards, cutting through the layer behind by mistake, etc., etc., etc.

Funny Pet story: I had just filled the paint pan to paint a wall when the cat reached up on the step stool where I had set the pan and he dumped the paint all over himself! He run around the house so there were white paw prints all over the red carpet (it was nasty old carpet that came with the house anyway)! He was one sorry looking cat when we bathed him! Amazing how scrawny he looked with totally wet fur! We had white paw prints for awhile until we could afford to replace the whole downstairs carpeting.

[Chipchick]

I was sitting the floor (I don't remember why) and accidentally kicked an open bottle of glue and didn't notice foe a minute or two. There was a puddle of glue about a foot in diameter!! I spent a couple of hours mopping it up but I still have a circle of stiff carpet in the middle of my game room. DOH!!!!