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So we all know that certain supplies are damaged by sunlight. Marker or water coloured images can fade, dye stamped images fade, clear stamps turn yellow and some get sticky. Rubber stamps harden and paper fades badly and quickly.
What I hadn't considered was my embossing Mats would also harden. Found that out today the hard way (no pun intended). At least the rubber ones. (Are there non-rubber ones?) Surprisingly, it seems poly ribbons do not fade. Don't know about silk or cotton my colours are all light neutrals so hard to tell. Silk is like hair in many ways and hair becomes lighter in the sun.
Some buttons do fade and others don't. And my washi tapes are becoming brittle and the adhesive is hardening (a layer or so in seems to be ok) and some whites are yellowing! I cover my stickers so they don't fade tho I've not seen evidence either way. I've left finished projects out and certain adhesives (tape runner) become dry, crack and are no longer sticky over time. Which sucks for home dec projects! So maybe they need to be stored away too. Glitters do not seem to fade as my Martha Stewart ones are right in front of the window.
I have 5! windows in my craft room and the light is awesome but I love to leave my supplies out where I can see them. Any surprises either way in your craft room?
Rebecca
__________________ RebeccaEdnie Mixed Media Artist, Paper Crafter, Jewelry Designer SCSDirtyDozenAlumni Www.Boxofchocolatescrafts.Com YouNeverKnowWhatI’mGoingtoMake
Rebecca, I too have five windows in my craft room and a skylight so I sympathize with you and can relate to the issues! I do have to be careful with things and often do not put away stamps like I should. The thing I am most concerned about is the stamps. I have many of them sitting out at one time. Agreed that the lighting is fantastic but we do pay the penalty for that!
Ink pads are another supply to consider storage off when a lot of sunlight is pouring in. You need to have them somewhere they do not sit in full sunlight all day, or the warmth will start to dry them out.
I hear you about the light!! SU cardstock seems to be the worst for light damage so now it lives in a closed cupboard never to see the light of day again! My studio is full of light but my supplies live in total darkness. Only the stuff I use everyday and disappears rapidly (double sided tape etc) get to stay out on my workspace. But I had the same trouble with tape that you did. One day I looked in my stash and most of the cards I had made had fallen apart! The tape was all shinny and had lost it's stick too but this only seemed to happen to the projects that I had used scoretape on! Go figure!! My tan mat is another item that took a beating...it's toast..literally! LOL
A small suggestion to guard your craft things from light.
Throw a sheet or plastic tablecloth over your entire area.
A quick way to keep dust and sunlight off your stuff.
Location: along the bluffs of the Upper Mississippi River
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My stamp room faces south in a house that is way up off the street, so sunlight pours in. I have two big windows that still do not have curtains three years after we built the house!
My paper and stamps are in a large armoire and my desk and inks set up against one side. Direct light does not hit anything, and the paper and stamps (SU) are in the dark.
No real problems yet! ;-}
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
Adhesives have a short shelf life, with or without bright light, which is the ONLY reason I don't buy ATG refills in quantity more than 12 rolls at a time.
I've lost more heat-activated-glue than any other product. In fact I quit doing gold-leafing because the stickum doesn't stick anymore and I've tried 3 different brands.
Even without sun light, cardstock fades, so I keep mine in a carton the same size as a file cabinet drawer, categorized by major color groups, and keep a piece of drapery material covering it. The fumes from gas forced-air heating and from the gas stove change the wall and window coverings, so I assume they would change paper as well. The drape over the cardstock keeps everything out.
I don't have any windows except one on the door in my craft room. So no problems there. I do have some awesome lights over my workstation, but I turn them off when I am not in there.
I have a portable air condition and a space heater that I use only when I am in the room. So my main trouble is after I put the cards together if I leave them in my room for a period of time, the humidity warps them. Not enough that I can't straighten them out, but enough to aggravate me. So I solved that problem by storing my cards in my house where the central heat and air is control at all times.
I have 4 windows in my stamp room, 3 are large east facing windows but we have sun screens on all the windows and I keep the blinds tilted up most of the time. I generally tell people to keep things out of sunlight but I really like the way my desk is set-up so I can see the park next door. This means that my markers and ink pads are against the window with our hot northern California sun. But you know, my markers and pads don't dry out that fast.
I keep all other things in baskets and drawers so the sun does hit them and paper doesn't get direct sun light but it gets some and the only paper I've ever had fade is about 7 years old. Stamps are in binder boxes so no sunlight for them either. I now use up my paper and don't hoard so it doesn't have time to fade.
What I find vexing is more about how manufactures changed their formulas. I have markers that are 10 years old and still juicy but new markers dry out much faster. Stickers were stored in a file folder - no sun - and some brands lost all their sticky; rub-ons that don't rub-on; Glue that dries up because I didn't use it fast enough; embossing powder that is past it's shelf-life.
Once I found out that I wasted products by hoarding or having just way to much, I changed my habits. I don't have back-ups for many things because I don't buy it just in case. I only have backups for my most frequently use products and the rest, I'll buy when I run out. I don't have 10 different kinds of glue, just a couple that I use up. I get a really happy feeling when I use something up instead of having to throw it away. Sun is bad but what is worse it hoarding because I feel craft products are not to last a lifetime. :p
Ruthie, I live in the Pacific Northwest, so rain and humidity are always an issue for me. I sell at multiple farmers markets from spring through early fall. All of my cards are packaged individually in clear card holders that fold over at the top or side and seal, except those I sell as boxed sets. If it isn't product to sell, I use ziplock bags moor storage, making sure I press as much air as possible it before closing them. In six years, I've lost very little product, and generally it has been because of really torrential rain. When not on display, all are stored in a plastic box by type, with a top that locks down. All my altered journals, scrapbooks, and photo albums are packaged the same way. HTH. Joni
__________________ The future is uncertain, because love changes everything!
Ruthie, I live in the Pacific Northwest, so rain and humidity are always an issue for me. I sell at multiple farmers markets from spring through early fall. All of my cards are packaged individually in clear card holders that fold over at the top or side and seal, except those I sell as boxed sets. If it isn't product to sell, I use ziplock bags moor storage, making sure I press as much air as possible it before closing them. In six years, I've lost very little product, and generally it has been because of really torrential rain. When not on display, all are stored in a plastic box by type, with a top that locks down. All my altered journals, scrapbooks, and photo albums are packaged the same way. HTH. Joni
Thank you so much Joni, for the tip about the Ziplock bags. Off to the dollar store at lunch to buy tons of Ziplock bags!
I used to live in the Pacific Northwest, but on the sunny dry side, so had cabinets and closed storage for all my craft items. I recently moved to Southern AZ and not only do I have dry and sunny, but very humid during monsoon season. This is something I haven't dealt with before, so am learning to use those little packets of silica gel you find in shoes, purses, electronics, etc. in my storage drawers and cabinets. I have had my technique books fall completely apart since they are put together with rubber cement. Will have to come up with another idea for how to put them together as this mess I have is a pain.
Another item I 'lost' due to sunlight was clear epoxy stickers that warped and yellowed. It could have just been time but I think it was light. Since I've gotten a cover for my Clip It Up and everything under there seems fine. Even tho I'm too lazy to put the cover on properly. I drape it over the front half. Lol.
__________________ RebeccaEdnie Mixed Media Artist, Paper Crafter, Jewelry Designer SCSDirtyDozenAlumni Www.Boxofchocolatescrafts.Com YouNeverKnowWhatI’mGoingtoMake
Another item I 'lost' due to sunlight was clear epoxy stickers that warped and yellowed. It could have just been time but I think it was light. Since I've gotten a cover for my Clip It Up and everything under there seems fine. Even tho I'm too lazy to put the cover on properly. I drape it over the front half. Lol.
I had to toss bunches of those epoxy stickers because they yellowed so much...but they were always in closed drawers so they must yellow with age. Sad to lose them.
Blessings
Another item I 'lost' due to sunlight was clear epoxy stickers that warped and yellowed. It could have just been time but I think it was light. Since I've gotten a cover for my Clip It Up and everything under there seems fine. Even tho I'm too lazy to put the cover on properly. I drape it over the front half. Lol.
I keep my epoxy stickers in a metal tin, in a dark basket out of the sun and they yellowed but they didn't warp. I kinda feel like sometimes it just a matter of aging ... like me ... as I get older it seems I'm warping (aka - wrinkles) and yellowing (gray hair is can get a little yellow) :p
Another item I 'lost' due to sunlight was clear epoxy stickers that warped and yellowed. It could have just been time but I think it was light. Since I've gotten a cover for my Clip It Up and everything under there seems fine. Even tho I'm too lazy to put the cover on properly. I drape it over the front half. Lol.
Perhaps this is another good reason not to hoard our supplies and use them before they dry up, yellow, wrinkle, fade, etc.
Another lesson learned the hard way: it's not just direct sunlight but excess heat. Years ago, I made plans to go to my sister's house to scrapbook together. I packed all my stuff up and loaded it into my car before work. Parked all day in the sun - oops! When I unpacked that evening, my stuff was very warm. Everything was okay except my self-healing cutting mat, which warped beyond the point of rescue. I can't use it to cut straight lines any more but I kept it and use it occasionally for using my manual hole punch or fussy cutting with an exacto knife.
__________________ SilverSnow Lois Malachi 3:10 "See if I will not throw open the floodgates of heavenand pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it"
Supplies damaged by sunlight?
