day 22 : tools & materials
i use a boatload of supplies to create my cards but the most important supply is the stamp set i choose!
i can remember one of the very first rubber stamps i ever got as a young kiddo was of a sunflower. i would stamp it on everything and then color it in with colored pencils, markers and crayons. my small collection expanded with various sets including the lion king and grew from there.
as i grew older i focused on hero arts stamps because i loved their versatility as well as the sentiments and the ease of availability. i continue to support hero arts [and the way they support so many other smaller companies!] but i've leaned more towards other companies within the last ten years.
the primary company that i use for my cards is papertrey ink. i am addicted to them! they currently comprise about 95% of my stash. their company is slowly changing and i have been enjoying the process of finding other companies to use that aren't readily available. i take a lot of pride knowing that not just anyone can go to a store and find the stamps i use and then make a similar style of card.
one of my recent projects has been to totally organize all my stamps. not only am i labeling them so they all have their own home, but i'm syncing them into the color my life app so that i can easily find them. i upload them to the app, add in keywords and then i can search for sets and find where i'm storing the particular set. all of these things are saving me time which is the best part of all of it!
in addition to stamps, some of the tools and materials that i absolutely love and need to create my cards include cardstock, colored envelopes, inks, markers, paint, gems, sequins, adhesive, trimmers, scissors - the list goes on!
with a few days off from work coming up the next week i'm really looking forward to creating and organizing a little bit more! it's quarantine time and i can't wait!