Splitcoaststampers.com - the world's #1 papercrafting community
You're currently viewing Splitcoaststampers as a GUEST. We pride ourselves on being great hosts, but guests have limited access to some of our incredible artwork, our lively forums and other super cool features of the site! You can join our incredible papercrafting community at NO COST. So what are you waiting for?
Is it getting smudges on your Cardstock? Stamping crooked? Losing stuff? Being too messy? (Please don�t include buying too much as we ALL do that!!)
I ask because I need to vent about my worst habit. I am FOREVER taking clear stamps off the packaging to �audition� them OR taking them off the block after cleaning them and then losing them. I just lost a small stamp that came with my BRAND NEW Thankful Leaves Turnabout. Yes, the second time I used it and I�ve already lost a stamp. I usually find them stuck to my scissors or the bottom of my MISTI or the side of my water spritz bottle. Or on the back of a die I�ve put away, on the side of a marker... But this time I�ve wasted an hour and I still haven�t found it. The last place I know to look, without looking in very improbable places, is the garbage. I have a small one in my craft room but had my little guy empty it into the kitchen last night. Ugh.
Sorry for your loss... I once spent two hours looking for a very small stamp and eventually found it swinging from my hair, lol!
My worst crafty bad habit is procrastination, hands down. I get sidetracked with organizing or indexing and forget that I was working on something. Second worst is "sprawl" - how is it possible to cover five separate surfaces when making ONE small card? If only I could make my dollars spread that well...
I've disciplined myself out of most bad habits over time. Prime offenders which really needed this were spraying with Ultra Clean too near cardstock or paper and getting that oily residue on it, and not cleaning the acetate from my StampAMaJig and getting transfer from that to something else. I rarely use Ultra Clean now, so have to make more of an effort to remember when I do! The SAMJ I still use a lot and now try to wipe it clean straight away. Sometimes too soon - I end up needing to stamp again and I've already cleaned it . Keeping a little petri dish with a magnet in it on my desk has helped with the losing small dies issue (though I still sometimes manage to lose the petri dish in all the clutter, sigh). The clutter is part and parcel of creating in a small space, so I don't see that as a bad habit. I try to leave it clear again each night, but just one card can generate an amazing amount of stuff!!
Rebecca, I had to sternly train myself in order not to lose stamps. I put them on top of the clear sheet that covers them immediately after using them - not under it in their places, since they often are damp or need to be cleaned. Each set is spread out with the stamps on top.
But lately I’ve been using the Tim Holtz glass mat, and if in a rush pop them onto a top corner of the mat. They cling very well.
Sue, IKR?!?!? One card, 5.5x4.25 inches, yet 3 feet of chaos. Plus more at the trimmer table. And in front of the computer at the die cutting station. Even if not die cutting. How?!
Trying to get every last smidgen millimeter of room out of even a puny scrap! Go to the scraps folders (by color), and spend a couple of minutes to see if there just might be a chance of the right color to match my project, or a small piece of white to stamp on. Then grumble to myself that I have to cut up a new sheet of my prized cardstock stash. No I'm sure no one does that...right? I always think that the little 1x1 scrap might be good for punching "something" at least.... :rolleyes:
Trying to get every last smidgen millimeter of room out of even a puny scrap! Go to the scraps folders (by color), and spend a couple of minutes to see if there just might be a chance of the right color to match my project, or a small piece of white to stamp on. Then grumble to myself that I have to cut up a new sheet of my prized cardstock stash. No I'm sure no one does that...right? I always think that the little 1x1 scrap might be good for punching "something" at least.... :rolleyes:
Oh no - another habit that I'm guilty of! I always think I'm going to use them up. In my latest incarnation I put all of the scraps (okay, MOST) in a small five-drawer desktop unit so I'd see them FIRST and (hopefully) use them up. We'll see how successful that method might be...
My absolutely worst habit is not putting things away as I go. I end up with NO amount of space for my card halfway through the process. Then this habit leads to all other bad things happening ... ink smudges on card, card corner touches an open ink pad, lost things ... if only I could learn to put things away as I am done with them!!! I really do try, but it always seems to end up the same.
Trying to get every last smidgen millimeter of room out of even a puny scrap! Go to the scraps folders (by color), and spend a couple of minutes to see if there just might be a chance of the right color to match my project, or a small piece of white to stamp on. Then grumble to myself that I have to cut up a new sheet of my prized cardstock stash. No I'm sure no one does that...right? I always think that the little 1x1 scrap might be good for punching "something" at least.... :rolleyes:
IDK, I see that as a good habit! I save a TON by saving my scraps. I saw a thread where someone said they only keep pieces 1/4 sheet of Cardstock or larger!! GASP!!! I�ve made many cards with nothing but a card base, patterned paper (also often scraps) and Cardstock scraps. The sizes I keep depends on how much of that colour I have. If I only have a few sheets from a multi-colour pack, I save very small ones. White, ivory, kraft, black, I only keep 2x2 ish or larger.
IDK, I see that as a good habit! I save a TON by saving my scraps. I saw a thread where someone said they only keep pieces 1/4 sheet of Cardstock or larger!! GASP!!! I’ve made many cards with nothing but a card base, patterned paper (also often scraps) and Cardstock scraps. The sizes I keep depends on how much of that colour I have. If I only have a few sheets from a multi-colour pack, I save very small ones. White, ivory, kraft, black, I only keep 2x2 ish or larger.
Agree with you! Larger scraps of CS and patterned paper are kept with their matching uncut sheets - in 9x12 job ticket holders or 12x12 page protectors in hanging folders.
But I have a small box near my die cutting machine for little scraps in ROYGBIV order + white/black/neutrals + little watercolor/alcohol/Oxide leftovers. It’s a quick flip-through to see if any will work for die cuts for a project.
My bad habit is not planning out the card enough. I start with an idea in mind and all of a sudden the card gets a life of it's own. Then it's a free for all!
When I finally decide to end the process, I haven't used a ribbon I wanted to use or a color I had in my mind. Everything is attached by then so there's no going back.
I don't want to make a sketch though. :shock:
__________________ We can't all be stars but we can all twinkle.
My bad habit is not planning out the card enough. I start with an idea in mind and all of a sudden the card gets a life of it's own. Then it's a free for all!
When I finally decide to end the process, I haven't used a ribbon I wanted to use or a color I had in my mind. Everything is attached by then so there's no going back.
I don't want to make a sketch though. :shock:
Um, that's not a bad habit - that's "creative process", and what you SHOULD be doing! Think of it as the opposite of exactly duplicating someone else's card. (No, I'm not bashing CASEing - it has its place and we all do it, me included). It just showcases your particular creative bent, rather than "that piece of ribbon...or color..." or whatever...
I think my worst habit at the moment is being too literal with designs and not experimenting enough. So what if I haven�t seen a �thing� in �that� color before? Have fun, give it a try, throw it out if it doesn�t work. Not trying is bacially a �no�.
Hmm, where do I start. I'm guilty of pretty much all of the above bad habits, but gotta pick the scrap thing as my worst. I hate to think of how much time I spend looking for just the right scrap for a small die or punch. Not to mention how much time I spend organizing my multitude of scraps. Trying to train myself to mindfully toss (or recycle) most of the smaller ones. Also agree on losing small dies and stamps. Again, working on the positive habit of putting them back on the magnet (dies) or plastic sheet (stamps) they came from before they attach themselves to something else on the table. Like any habit, it takes work to change, don't it?
I am FOREVER taking clear stamps off the packaging to ‘audition’ them OR taking them off the block after cleaning them and then losing them.
This reminded me of a lucky escape one of my stamps had. I was in full creative mode and had got out a couple of cling mounted stamps ready to use and laid them on the table. My stamps have a little tacky glue on them so they can't drop off the blocks, and then this happened:
so of course I grabbed my phone and recorded the moment, as you do. Her Ladyship jumped down and I went back to creating. But....one of my stamps was missing!
Luckily I was able to intercept Her Ladyship just as she was going out the patio doors into the garden, and I retrieved my missing stamp from her tummy fur. If she'd made it outside and dropped the stamp there, it would have been gone for good :(
I plead guilty to many of the bad habits others have shared. Procrastination is probably my worst. There, I made myself share that now, and not tomorrow. There is hope.
Well, there is a difference between accidents and habits, so I won't count the accidents. My worst habit is dumping everything on my desk when I walk in the door. It's in the dining room, and that's where our door opens into. When I see a mess there that I have to clean off before doing anything, it really makes me not want to go through all that. I have to create another "holding area" for when I bring home new stuff.
Y'all could answer this for me with one quick look around my craft room -- starting on scrapbook pages and not finishing them. The pages have photos and a few other touches but need titles and journaling and a few more "things." I start a lot of pages at crops and pack them up to finish at home with my stamps and die cutting stuff but that's as far as they get.
Mary Beth
I can't be creative in a neat space. It started as a bad habit, being horribly messy as I work, and ended over the years in a state of mind: Now I can't be creative unless I'm confused. It's like a step into Hades. I forget myself in an idea or ideas, mess things up as I work, and then get more ideas. When I can't find what I need I periodically stop to organize things on my table. But when the materials are neatly organized, the ideas stop flowing; I even forget ideas I had a minute before. When I start moving things around, messing things up again, the ideas come back.
I can't be creative in a neat space. It started as a bad habit, being horribly messy as I work, and ended over the years in a state of mind: Now I can't be creative unless I'm confused. It's like a step into Hades. I forget myself in an idea or ideas, mess things up as I work, and then get more ideas. When I can't find what I need I periodically stop to organize things on my table. But when the materials are neatly organized, the ideas stop flowing; I even forget ideas I had a minute before. When I start moving things around, messing things up again, the ideas come back.
That’s fascinating. It reminds me of the left-to-right brain shift that needs to occur in order to really see in order to draw. (Thinking of the book, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.â€) When using the right side, time disappears, things tend to flow, you’re in the zone.
It makes me wonder if the glorious mess helps you make that shift - the colors and patterns and seductive mediums putting you in the “right†mind set. Organized is logical and left brained, not the goal.
This reminded me of a lucky escape one of my stamps had. I was in full creative mode and had got out a couple of cling mounted stamps ready to use and laid them on the table. My stamps have a little tacky glue on them so they can't drop off the blocks, and then this happened:
so of course I grabbed my phone and recorded the moment, as you do. Her Ladyship jumped down and I went back to creating. But....one of my stamps was missing!
Luckily I was able to intercept Her Ladyship just as she was going out the patio doors into the garden, and I retrieved my missing stamp from her tummy fur. If she'd made it outside and dropped the stamp there, it would have been gone for good :(
I plead guilty to many of the bad habits others have shared. Procrastination is probably my worst. There, I made myself share that now, and not tomorrow. There is hope.
“Her Ladyship†that is fantastic! are you by any chance a Downton Abbey fanatic like I am??
Sorry for the digression. Back to regularly scheduled programming.
That’s fascinating. It reminds me of the left-to-right brain shift that needs to occur in order to really see in order to draw. (Thinking of the book, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.â€) When using the right side, time disappears, things tend to flow, you’re in the zone.
It makes me wonder if the glorious mess helps you make that shift - the colors and patterns and seductive mediums putting you in the “right†mind set. Organized is logical and left brained, not the goal.
Beth
Eureka! Thanks, Beth! This is so helpful because I too read that book --many moons ago. I'm dyslexic, ambidextrous and right brain dominant. That's exactly what's going on, and I'm so glad you posted. I understand what's going on now and can ride the waves of these high and low tides much better. Addie
I hate letting go of scraps as well, even tiny ones. What I've started to do is take the smallest scraps and punch little hearts out of the paper using a small heart punch. I use a lot of patterned paper so I wind up with some cute hearts. I wait until I have collected a big stash of hearts and then I donate them either to the maker space in my nephew's elementary school or to a nursing home. They are always appreciative. I've also donated scraps of paper as well. They love that too.
My worst habit is stacking up the supplies for several different projects in my tiny craft room. I don't have the space for it and often, I never go back and even start the card I had gathered supplies for because something else has caught my attention. Then, instead of making cards, I'm putting stuff away because I don't have room for the pile. I keep doing it, though, because I just know that this time will be different and I will get all my cards done. I also have and enormous stack of patterned paper that needs to be sorted. Instead of doing that, though, I just keep adding to the pile.
#1--the scraps! I have a square paper bin I got at Michaels. Once every couple months I go through it and am ruthless. I toss whatever I haven't used. Of course, sometimes this leads to a naughty word or two when I'm trying to create at midnight...
#2--perfectionism. Since I have an eye problem, I tend to have a problem lining things up straight. It looks straight, but when I go back later, it just isn't. I get really mad at myself and only lately have started 'letting go'. Its a handmade card and part of its charm...
__________________ "I have cats, but they don't smoke or associate with dogs...."
My bad habit is not planning out the card enough. I start with an idea in mind and all of a sudden the card gets a life of it's own. Then it's a free for all!
When I finally decide to end the process, I haven't used a ribbon I wanted to use or a color I had in my mind. Everything is attached by then so there's no going back.
I don't want to make a sketch though. :shock:
I’ve come up with many ways to add things I want to add even when everything is adhered. It CAN be done if you are determined enough. That being said, my process is wild and scattered. I try out many things before coming up with a final plan. Sadly that’s also why I lose stamps! Auditioning them, tossing them aside to change my mind...
__________________ RebeccaEdnie Mixed Media Artist, Paper Crafter, Jewelry Designer SCSDirtyDozenAlumni Www.Boxofchocolatescrafts.Com YouNeverKnowWhatI’mGoingtoMake
“Her Ladyship†that is fantastic! are you by any chance a Downton Abbey fanatic like I am??
Sorry for the digression. Back to regularly scheduled programming.
No, not particularly a Downton Abbey fan. It's just that "Her Ladyship" really suits her. She has attitude. Her real name is Lizzie because I'm a Pride & Prejudice fan
Sorry for the digression, but it would be impolite not to respond.
My two big issues are scraps and lots of projects. :mrgreen:
As far as scraps go, I keep them in gallon-size Ziploc bags, sorted by color. My problem comes when I ask myself "when is a scrap not a scrap?" I try not to save anything too small but always end up thinking "I can use this somehow".....
As far as lots of projects go, I have a perpetual list of various projects going on at the same time. Card swaps, holiday stuff, altered items, etc. Right now I'm working on holiday topiaries made with mesh ribbon and the bases are repurposed oatmeal containers covered in DSP. I'm making 25 of them as centerpieces for a holiday breakfast so I have 25 oatmeal containers ready to use. I also have a good stash of the large blue Maxwell House French Vanilla coffee cans. My twin drinks it every day and saves the cans for me. Still thinking about ideas for those....
I craft at my dining room table and the dining room is my "Room of Chaos" (term courtesy of c-mouse here on SCS ;)). Lots of stuff in the room, fairly organized but still.... My dream would be to have Sue/gregzgurl come from Vegas and help me organize all my stuff!
Bless DH - he never complains about the room and I do clean it all up for family dinners
Another quirk of mine is I don't stamp just to stamp. I only stamp for card swaps, holiday items, specific occasions, etc. Have to have a deadline, holiday, occasion to make cards/crafts for - not just random stamping/crafting with no specific reason in mind.
The only other "bad" habit I have is I'd rather make 10 of the same card as opposed to 10 different cards. Luckily, my twin is the opposite - she'd rather make 10 different cards instead of 10 of the same.
__________________ Lorraine
Wife to an awesome DH, Mommy to an adorable DS who is on the spectrum for autism, and Twin Sister to Linda
My two big issues are scraps and lots of projects. :mrgreen:
As far as scraps go, I keep them in gallon-size Ziploc bags, sorted by color. My problem comes when I ask myself "when is a scrap not a scrap?" I try not to save anything too small but always end up thinking "I can use this somehow".....
As far as lots of projects go, I have a perpetual list of various projects going on at the same time. Card swaps, holiday stuff, altered items, etc. Right now I'm working on holiday topiaries made with mesh ribbon and the bases are repurposed oatmeal containers covered in DSP. I'm making 25 of them as centerpieces for a holiday breakfast so I have 25 oatmeal containers ready to use. I also have a good stash of the large blue Maxwell House French Vanilla coffee cans. My twin drinks it every day and saves the cans for me. Still thinking about ideas for those....
I craft at my dining room table and the dining room is my "Room of Chaos" (term courtesy of c-mouse here on SCS ;)). Lots of stuff in the room, fairly organized but still.... My dream would be to have Sue/gregzgurl come from Vegas and help me organize all my stuff!
Bless DH - he never complains about the room and I do clean it all up for family dinners
Another quirk of mine is I don't stamp just to stamp. I only stamp for card swaps, holiday items, specific occasions, etc. Have to have a deadline, holiday, occasion to make cards/crafts for - not just random stamping/crafting with no specific reason in mind.
The only other "bad" habit I have is I'd rather make 10 of the same card as opposed to 10 different cards. Luckily, my twin is the opposite - she'd rather make 10 different cards instead of 10 of the same.
I am up for a trip to San Diego any time!!! If I had more dollars, I'd live there...
No, not particularly a Downton Abbey fan. It's just that "Her Ladyship" really suits her. She has attitude. Her real name is Lizzie because I'm a Pride & Prejudice fan
Sorry for the digression, but it would be impolite not to respond.
All things Jane Austen is my other love. I reread them every year or 2 they never get old.
I know we said no buying but this is a particular type of buying...when I see a technique or product I have not done yet and it is in clearance...bang! I hit the buy button. And then I don't get around to doing it. :( I have both pre cut special fold cards AND stencils in order to cut them for myself for example...
I need to jot down ideas. I have tons of them and then I forget them. Then I sit at the table like a zombie trying to decide what to do.
Not spending enough time practicing and then getting cranky when something does not come out like I want it to.
Keeping things I should not. I just cant stand the idea of wasted money, but it is stupid to keep something you are not using.
My worst habit is not cleaning my stamps when I am finished with them. Notice the lazy part of my name here on spllitcoast. I seem to love making a mess but HATE the cleanup.
__________________ LizThe joy of the LORD is my strength.Right Brain Madness --My blogProud member of the redDivasKSS certified multi-step stamperFan Club member since 2004
I have the same problem as the OP concerning clear stamps; I'm forever laying them aside and losing the little buggers! I used to do that with small dies, too, until I bought a magnetized bowl to stick them in at the cutting station.
But my worst bad habit is walking around my craft room with parts of an unfinished card in hand, going from card stock
cabinet, to cutting station to die cut station. I'm looking for the die I might use, or choosing coordinating paper colors or whatever .Then I lay things down as I choose dies or cut a layer of card or whatever.Then walk back to my desk
and can't find the parts of the card I walked off with to begin with! I do this ALL the time and it makes me crazy! I'm trying to train myself to bring components of the card in progress to my desk as I collect them so things will all be in the same place and not laying all over the craft area as I work. I get so frustrated spending time looking for stuff I just had in my hand a minute ago...
__________________ Claudia Splitcoast Fan Club Member
I have the same problem as the OP concerning clear stamps; I'm forever laying them aside and losing the little buggers! I used to do that with small dies, too, until I bought a magnetized bowl to stick them in at the cutting station.
But my worst bad habit is walking around my craft room with parts of an unfinished card in hand, going from card stock
cabinet, to cutting station to die cut station. I'm looking for the die I might use, or choosing coordinating paper colors or whatever .Then I lay things down as I choose dies or cut a layer of card or whatever.Then walk back to my desk
and can't find the parts of the card I walked off with to begin with! I do this ALL the time and it makes me crazy! I'm trying to train myself to bring components of the card in progress to my desk as I collect them so things will all be in the same place and not laying all over the craft area as I work. I get so frustrated spending time looking for stuff I just had in my hand a minute ago...
Argh, that used to drive me crazy. How can something be in my hand one second and disappeared to Planet Xerzcyx the next? Finally I decided to make pretend it was like grocery shopping, so have a lightweight box/tray thing to plunk things into as I wander. (It’s a Totally Tiffany plastic insert that got separated from the outside plastic cover but works.)
BTW, like you, I got a magnetized auto parts bowl for small dies that liked to hide.
bjeans, thank you! Your suggestion is wonderful and I now have a small tray on my desk for wandering with! Let's see if that helps me to stay focused and keep things together in one place.
__________________ Claudia Splitcoast Fan Club Member
I put every scrap of paper that's too little to work with in a small container. When that's full I give it to the church daycare. The kids love to make pretties, and I make sure there is lots of sparklie paper.
__________________ Keep what is worth keeping
and with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away.
What is your worst crafty bad habit?
