Fiskars

Fiskars, usually a very reliable brand, puts out a series of decorative photo corner punches.


These are the singularly absolute worst punches a person can own.  

1. The buyer is left to guess how much mat allowance to properly fit the photo
2. Getting the exact corner alignment is a matter of  hope, the guides are impossible to see
3. The punch can not be turned over in order to remedy the second point
4. It takes standing over the punch to depress the lever, which explains the third point

I own so many of their craft products, but I have to rate this one: 1 on a scale of 1 to 100




________________________________________


On a slightly different note, 2 of 4 layouts completed!

Yeah, the whole photography issue.

Leaping Tall Buildings in a Single Bound

I knocked out a mini this weekend!  The construction was heavily guided by professional construction techniques, but that I was able to quickly follow the instructions and pull it together is nothing short of miracle material!  There's hope yet.  

The album still lacks tags/photo mats.  Tags are proving to be a creative millstone.  Since the event for which the album was designed hasn't taken place yet, how is one to know how many to make and at what sizes?  Intuitively, one would think to design for the standard 4x6 photo; yet, not many of the photos I work with end up without a bit of cropping.  Further, does the album serve to showcase the photos, or do the photos work to fill out the album?  Two of the minis in the planning stages at present are being constructed with all the photos I want to exhibit, so say I need to create six 3.5x3.5 mats and four 3x5's.  This knowledge makes it more, or less, of a challenge depending on perspective.  I'm planning on making one mini as a Christmas present for someone this year and until I can figure out how to solve this puzzle, it's going to create all sorts of anxiety.

I spent over an hour looking for a product made by a company based in the U.K.  Magnetic clasps, of all things.  I love the way these closures look on the videos; so classy and professional.  The first problem was not knowing the product's description.  Then on to find a company selling this style of magnets in the U.S.  And finally, to find it reasonably priced.  Described, found, and bought... all only a few mouse clicks away.

Something solid clicked in this marginally functioning brain.  I'm suddenly able to see not only how the paper will look on the page, but able to visualize the background work needed before mounting the page to maximize function; setting eyelets, brads, stitching, ribbons, pockets, etc.  Best yet, this is happening before it's too late... that's kind of key to the point.  Before this, I would realize "something" needed to happen, but not the when and where, and quite frequently slap myself upside the head realizing the task one step too late, forcing less than impressive corrections.  I get so excited upon discovery of another hurdle successfully jumped.


I've come to believe the more page construction techniques available to assembling mini-albums, the better and quicker the project goes.  I'm currently creating a library of different page design templates.  I had an "ah ha!" moment a few days ago, when thinking about a page style not seen before.  It was based on the memo boards constructed with latticed ribbon.  Of all the scores upon scores of YouTube videos watched, I'd never seen one.  Then last night I happened upon the exact design I had pictured.  At least I now know it's perfectly feasible.  I digress, back to page design resources.  The more the better, but I wonder at this point if there might be a magic formula to how certain designs work with others.  Beyond that, I suspect a repetition of a few patterns within a project would present far better than a random selection; perhaps too chaotic and showing off.  It's easy getting the impression I'm re-inventing the wheel when it comes to many of the technique and design issues as they arise.  No doubt.


Another hard-earned tip to share.  The Fiskars personal trimmer began putting out very unreliable cuts.  Were the guidelines somehow knocked askew?  But then, not having any idea why, it would randomly put out perfect cuts.  I finally concluded the inconsistency had to do with the angle the blade was being pushed down the wire.  Sitting down, working from the right or left created a slight pull to the guide wire when cutting.  Standing up straight (or at least paying attention to hand placement) over the top of the cutter made a precision cut.  And to think I was ready to toss the tool in the trash due to sheer frustration.

So much detail never explained to the novice... as if the novice could take all the vast body of knowledge in over a couple of settings.  Maybe there's a book in here somewhere.

Punch Drunk

I went to JoAnn's this past Friday in small hopes of finding We R Memory Keepers brand new Lucky 8 punches.  I hoped there might be just one.  Foolish faith.

While over in their Fiskars punch area I happened to see a clearance tag on a small corner punch.  Lacking a goodly supply of these, I snatched it up.  The punch was originally listed at $12.00, but was marked down to $2.98.  WOW!  What a deal.  Initially it appeared I'd come in too late in the sale to take advantage of other great deals after seeing so many of the arms with clearance tags empty.  Undeterred,  I began looking more closely at the clearance tags.  They didn't hang on the front of the arm, but each was pushed against the back wall.  The search was on!

In the end, I found: 1 regular shape punch, 2 small corner punches, 2 3-in-1 emboss plus punch, 1 4-in1 emboss and punch, 1 medium squeeze punch, and 3 different border and corner punch sets.  Oh!  And a Sizzix Original dye.  Over $150.00 retail value, I spent less than $50!  A 66% savings value!!!

In the past, I've hesitated over buying corner punches.  They just seemed so dog-gone expensive.  At the same time, I've also felt the loss of these tools, especially when matting photos.  Small rounding and large rounding was to the largest extent of photo and matting ability before now.  While nice, there's just so much creativity to be had.  Between the newly acquired tools, and the couple of other punches I owned, I now have the ability to create no less than 18 corner designs.  And that's before combining punches for extra depth.

And this is the way I've built a huge inventory in such a short time, by taking advantage of really great deals.  They almost always come in bulk of one tool or element.  If I buy one, and find others, I stock up.

There's still one of the WRMK Lucky 8 punches I really want, but the last purchase ate this month's remaining allowance.

Before ending the discussion of punches, I found posted somewhere a nifty tip about how to know whether a particular punch in the store is not already sitting in the closet, or punch bin, whichever applies.

For every punch bought, punch an index card with the new punch.  Each card then gets a general round punch so each card as acquired can be added to a opening/closure ring.  When heading out to a craft store, take the entire ring.  Then, when wondering whether the punch on the shelf is something already owned, all it takes is pulling out the ringed set and flipping through the punched cards

Punch Ring - Organization

I've taken this idea to a higher level and write the brand name and title of the demonstrated punch to make putting together the "supplies used" sheet easier to write up after the page or card creation.

(Sorry for the mess.  Actual scrapbook page creation in progress)