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I started a swap on this, but there has been no interest oustide my circle of friends ... so instead of swapping via mail .... I thought it might be fun to swap ideas here. My circle of stampers always get such a kick out of finding some great "craft" use for ordinary objects.
Are you ready?
We use tampax tampons as pastel applicators. They work great ... you just push them up and cut them off as your want to change colors ... the work table is much neater ... you don't have a pile of qtips or cotton balls all over the table.
My 80 year old Aunt was visiting from Texas and (of course!) I took her to my friend's SU party! She had a blast and has been making cards every since with her support groups that she belongs to ... when my demo whipped out one at the party, I got a picture of the look on her face. When she got home, she did the same thing for her "craft group" and now they all whip them out when coloring with pastels.... wonderful mental image of 75+ year old women with tool in hand!
If you're not comfortable with feminine hygiene products sitting around on your workbench, you could always stamp them or add glitter or something!
One of the best "alternative art supplies" I heard about at the Grapevine meet was floss pullers. These are the little loops made out of fishing-line-type material that you use to work dental floss under your braces or bridgework. They work perfectly for pulling fibers through holes in cardstock and for stringing beads.
If you want to experiment with making small books with Rollabind disks, but you don't want to invest in an expensive Rollabind hole punch, you can use the little Rolodex business-card punch. It costs about $6 at the office supply store.
One of the best "alternative art supplies" I heard about at the Grapevine meet was floss pullers. These are the little loops made out of fishing-line-type material that you use to work dental floss under your braces or bridgework. They work perfectly for pulling fibers through holes in cardstock and for stringing beads.
Denise
very clever
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
OK...don't think I can do the tampon thing...I did laugh though! The dental thingy is a wonderful idea!!! I have a large needle, but always worry about losing it someplace (carpet, etc...) I will switch to those dental threaders.... saw the at the $1 store! Thank you!
i like 2 use tiny white pom poms from craft store, with alligator clip on stick, to color in smaller details w/ pastels ...I store poms in little su stamp stack container ...
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
I posted a card last night, Snow Angels, where I used tags that came with a string on.
My DM had them left over from a garage sale. I of course had to put them to use.
I have HEARD, though not personally tried, that you can use the cotton filling in the other kind of FHPs to use for papercasting. Apparently the cotton is very absorbent - HAH!
I would pretty much only be able to make pink dryer lint paper, since I have three little girls, and most of the laundry is pink. Can you change the color, I wonder?? Maybe with re-inkers or something?
Ladies please :oops: when you need to mention un-mentionables, use the codeword FHPs. :oops: :lol:
I remember your post in another thread about the "unmentionables." Too funny...especially since the other day my 12 and 15 yr old daughters were discussing purchasing them in the store. My 12 yr old said she would not be doing the buying while my 15 yr old doesn't care about it at all. She'd think nothing of getting FHPs (acronym is just for you pjbstamper) and heading to the checkout counter without a blink of an eye! My poor husband...we even have a female dog. Oh wait, he has a FHP story. While they may be good for stamping/crafting, they aren't so good to help stop a bloody nose that won't quit. Yeah...that compacted, clean cotton swells, remember? :lol:
Sorry to be off topic, but I wanted to share.
__________________ "We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are." Anais Nin
Is dryer lint paper for real? Does anyone know how to make it? And to think how much I've thrown away over the years...
I have a book on papermaking -- I bought it just before I started stamping and have never made any paper!! But the book lists one of the best sources of linter as dryer lint. It's generally pure cotton and supposedly makes great paper. Apparently you can sort it by color or mix it all together and the color will mix to create something new.
If someone's tried this maybe you can let us know if it really does work!
When I was a student (_ _years ago) we were told to take a mound of corn starch and place it in a piece of old tee shirt and secure it with a rubberband~ for an instant anti-static bag. HHmmm, maybe the maker of the Embossing Buddy & I attended the Art Institute of Seattle at the same time?!
I posted a card last night, Snow Angels, where I used tags that came with a string on.
OK, I was reading this thread too fast and missed the word "tags" from the above quote, so I thought she was referring to the string from the FHP. Just about lost my lunch. I thought tampons for pastel applicators, maybe. But the string as embellishments - that's just going too far! LOL!
Christine - did you tell him he used hav used one for a light flow? :oops:
I thought my DH was the only one who had done this! I was sworn to secrecy! I gave him the FHP for light flow after an hour of bleeding and ended up taking him to the emergency room with the swelling light flow tampon, string hanging over face LOL! The Dr got him in a chair ready to remove the FHP, the Dr had on a face sheild and all! When the "plug" was pulled there was no gushing at all. The FHP had save the day, but we still had to pay for the E room visit. Oh well, it was worth a story that I might be able to use when telling ladies about other uses for FHP, yeah right! My DH would kill me if he knew I was sharing this
I have heard this can be done, but have not tried it.
Have you used "alternatives" for background stamping? Like saran wrap crumpled up, or foil crumpled up ... ink it up and then stamp all over your page for an interesting look.
And shaving cream ... but I have seen many references to that one.
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FHP(Pam, I'm taking into consideration your embarassment at reading the politically inccorect name)
Boy, just finished renewing my first aid certificate and the guy teaching it couldn't stress enough the use of FHP for nosebleeds that don't stop. I can just imagine trying to shove one of those babies up a very aggitated stranger's nose. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Oh, yah. forgot to post my alternative product: I always use q-tips for my pastel work instead of those little flimsy foam things it comes with. They cost (the CHEAP ones) cost about $1/200 box.
This is not nearly as exciting or funny as using FHP's for pastels, but I use those nylon "scrubby" pads that you can clean pots and pans with as a background stamp. Just ink it up like a stamp and it will give fleck, confetti like spots on card. Dollar Tree sells them 3 for a $1.
Another one I've heard of but haven't tried my self is inking the foam mesh that they sell for drawer lining and that you might place under a rug to keep it in place. If inked with a brayer and then applied to CS, I've heard that it looks like demin.
I would pretty much only be able to make pink dryer lint paper, since I have three little girls, and most of the laundry is pink. Can you change the color, I wonder?? Maybe with re-inkers or something?
I've been off line for a couple of days and missed out on the fun in this discussion. I love the ideas (and humor) that have been posted since I last looked.
When I make dryer-lint paper, I don't usually try to separate it by color, though I'm sure that would work. I just soak my paper scraps in a bucket for a couple of hours (you know, all those little slivers that are too small to recycle into card components--now you won't be able to throw them away, either). Then I drain them, put a handful in my crafting blender with a big handful of dryer lint, and then add back water to fill the cannister. I pour the blended mess into a dispan with a couple of inches of water in it and swish it around. Then I use a little mold and deckle that a Ya-Ya got me at a garage sale (thank you, Annie!) to lift out the mixture and couch it in the usual way. (Sponge it, lay it out on couching materials, press it some more.) The results are usually shades of gray, but the sheets smell April fresh!
I lay the damp sheets out on newspaper and then color them with pearlized calligraphy inks, diluted acrylics, whatever's handy. The result is a more or less marbled look that makes great backgrounds and punch-outs.
I found out very quickly that it's not a good idea to rewet dryer-lint paper. For example, you can use it with conventional marbling techniques. As soon as it gets wet, it disintegrates into lint again!
One more thing: I use a lot of Swiffer sheets. I used to live in a house with hardwood floors. When I moved to a house with carpet, I had a whole Sam's-size box of Swiffer sheets left, so I put them in the studio. It turns out that they're great for more than cleaning up the old workbench. You can rub them over CS before stamping to eliminate those embossing "strays." And, as Annie showed us a couple weeks ago, they're great for removing excess pearlized powder from a stamped design. I wad the sheets before I gather up pearl powder and keep opening and rewadding. When I'm through, I have a textured sheet with an almost tie-dye pearlized design that makes a great background. (So all that pearl powder doesn't get wasted.)
Alternative Art Supplies - do you use any?
I was at work. He had to drive over to my friend's house. She helped him out! LOL!! It was her idea, but they did cut it down to size! ROFL... If he EVER finds out I told, I'll have to start cooking and cleaning! LOL It's our secret... all 12,000 of us! 
