Teflon!!
 

Okay, I should preface this by saying that I�m entirely new to cardmaking, and I�m learning soooooo, so much from all of you! But I do have one thing that I�ve done on my own just because I�m kinda nerdy in a couple ways. I�m a seamstress, I crochet, and I work with so many mediums that I was frustrated by the lack of transparency on my craft space for stamping and cardmaking. I have a huge space for fabric cutting, but a small footprint for stamping. So I had to work in tandem. I used washi tape to add a Teflon sheet to my craft space (because I make iron-on shirts, I have heat-resistant Teflon sheets in my stash) and was able to stamp off inks for blending onto this sheet, which made me able to pick up leftovers to continue to blend off the Teflon onto my card background, I am able to deal with adhesives that would normally stick to work surfaces, and I�m able to handle heat embossing with ease. You guys may see my weird washi tape behind some of my project photos. This is why. It�s also semi-transparent, so I can see the grid lines behind the Teflon sheets! If I need to line up my bits and pieces using my cutting mat, I can! Omgosh. I hope this all makes sense to you guys. It�s been a huge help in my crafting, and better (and cheaper) than Tim Holtz� new glass craft mat. I use part of my craft mat for fabric cutting, and a portion for stamping and adhesives. I have less mess, no staining, no adhesives that get stuck, and I LOVE the flexibility that I have. If you have any questions, please PM me. I�ll tell you how my system works for me. Thanks for being so wonderful, so creative and so inspiring!

Sounds like you’ve hit on a kind of DIY non-stick craft sheet with the bonus of being able to see through it - yay! The non-stick craft sheets that have been around for years (Ranger do one but there are others and the oven liners you can often get more cheaply are the same stuff) are usually a bit too opaque for grid lines to be visible through them.

TFS!

do you have a pic of what you've done. sounds very intriguing and interesting and helpful! thank you

I’ll grab a picture once I’ve cleaned off my crafting area. (Gah!) Right now I’m in the middle of making a couple birthday cards for family, and Valentine’s Day cards for... ummm... everyone. Lol! Should have a pic by tomorrow evening.

This is VERY similar to the craft sheets available, but it is thinner, so it is semi-transparent. I have been able to easily see my grid lines on my cutting mat (and girl, I have the worst vision), so it’s worked great for me. I got the transparencies in a pack of three from Amazon, I think. I’ll have to get the seller name, because there are all sorts of thicknesses of this stuff out there...

Trying to upload photo but having a bit of a problem on iPad. One more try...https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...3b400d547.jpeg

I seem to remember reading before that not all teflon is waterproof and that liquids can seep thru. I wondering if you have had this problem?

Kalikitty will be able to tell you about the one she’s using but yes, this is true in my experience. The Teflon sheets are kind of like a woven fabric and I think the cheaper ones tend to be a looser weave so liquids don’t always get repelled, they can seep through. I got a really cheap n cheerful one (sold as a cookie sheet liner, I think) from a �1 shop (like your dollar stores) a while back and that wasn’t great in terms of liquids.