For the letter “T” in the 10th Annual A to Z Challenge I am talking about tools. Every good craftsperson has their tools. My husband was a mechanic and he has a garage full of tool boxes with multiple varieties of tools. The neighbors come by asking for this size wrench or that type screwdriver and he has them all.
I have my tools too. Of course I have the standard pens, markers, scissors, ink, stamps, all that stuff. I showed them a little bit in my post for the letter “S” last year when I talked about the Scrapbooking section of Michaels. These are a few of my more specialized tools.
The first is my Slice machine. Many (most) people have the Cricut, Sizzix or a version of them to make their die cuts and alphabet letters. The Slice machine came out about 10 years ago or so and I was so excited to get one. It is a portable machine whereas some of the others are not. I can use the Slice to cut out lots of different letters and shapes for almost any theme. It comes with a design card that plugs into the machine.
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| Design cards |
Once the card is inserted you have lots of options to choose from. I used this guitar to make the guitar embellishment I talked about yesterday in the “Special Order” CD Music mini.
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| It goes from 2 to 4 inches. |
Each card comes with a booklet that shows all the designs you can make.
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These are two journal tags I made using elements from the Slice design cards and then stamped some lines on them for the writing.
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Unfortunately the company that made the Slice went out of business and the Slice is no longer supported by anyone. I will be sad if something happens to mine.
We R Memory Keepers is a company that makes a lot of punch boards that you can use to make things as well. This one makes envelopes, bows and boxes. On the inside it tells you what size paper to use for whatever size envelope, bow or box you want to make and then just by punching the paper at certain points and then scoring and folding, you have your finished product. I haven’t used the bow or box feature much yet but the envelopes I use a lot with my cards.
This one makes party favor bags. I made the orange one below.
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I have a lot of regular punches too. Some are to punch things like flowers or leaves and some are border punches to use for making pretty borders on the page or edges on cards.
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This one will take a 6 inch piece of paper and turn the edges into really detailed finishes.
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| Sticker makers |
Of course there is the Fairy Tales castle! How cool to use that for pictures of a Disneyland vacation!
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| This one made the Christmas holders |
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| This one made the ice cream and mug holders |
Quick aside, using the “tools” on WP I see I have at this moment 146 “followers” on my Word Press version of this blog and 23 on Blogger. Can I get to 150 and 25 before the end of the A to Z? Hope you come back tomorrow for the letter “U.”
from Blogger http://asmile4ufromjanet.blogspot.com/2019/04/a-to-z-challenge-2019-t-is-for-tools.html
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Janet's Smiles 
I always wanted a sticker maker! I love die cuts and I really like the Slice. You almost make me miss it — how I admire your work š
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Thanks Joey! The sticker maker makes it so easy to adhere those tiny things.
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Janet,
I’m tantalized with the various tools used to make paper crafting projects. Knowing first-hand the expensive involved with any passion, I know how traumatic it can be to one’s wallet. š
A2Z Little Mermaid art sketch series ‘Treasures’
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Absolutely, Cathy! I rarely pay full price for any of my things. Plus, I do a lot of research before I buy something expensive.
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That slice machine looks great…sorry it went out of business. I don’t have any of these except a small sticker maker. That’s pretty fun. I just remembered I have a paper crinkle thing, too. Of course all the stamps, stickers, and such. Yep, we have our ‘tools’ too! š
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Don’t we? The Slice was my first big tool. I found it on sale and had my husband buy it for me for Christmas one year.
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Those are a lot of amazing machines, and some I’ve never heard of, and I worked at Jo Ann for a bit last year!
I’d never be able to figure them out…
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LOL thank goodness for instruction books and YouTube videos! I imagine working at JoAnn’s was like working at Michaels, which I did for six months.
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With all of those tools, you need a bigger shed!
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Oh Jill, don’t let my husband hear that! I am slowly but surely putting it together like a jigsaw puzzle. Everything is going to be in its place and, I am letting go of things that I know I won’t use anymore.
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These are great tools I’d never heard of before! The Slice looks wonderful–wish they still made it. Mike got me an electric portable die cut machine that I love (to replace my Cuddlebug because of my hand and finger limitations). He wanted to get the Cricut, but I just thought it was overkill and we have space issues. I’ve enjoyed this series and visiting your creative process. So talented!
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Thanks Dawn. I am hoping to be able to use the Slice more now that I made it more easily accessible. I loved all the options on the design cards and it didn’t seem like the Cuddlebug and the others had that many options for one price.
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