Speed Crafting

Inchies at the speed of light!

Sunday night, and grumpy as hell. Who wouldn't be? I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend of making stuff, but the Household Chores Monster poked its ugly head into my bedroom-slash-studio early Saturday morning and said, "Hey, you can't make stuff today. You got a mountain of things to do!" And he rattled off a laundry list of chores (pardon the pun) : do your laundry, do the dishes, clean your room, mend your socks, answer your email, back up your files, pay your bills... This, of course, had to be done in between the non-negotiables: catching up on much-needed sleep, having meals, going to church, and spending quality time with family members you only get to see on weekends.

When I finally got everything done, and the Household Chores Monster called it a day, it was already Sunday night, with less than an hour to spare before bedtime (which, for me, isn't earlier than 11:00 pm - and which isn't a good idea considering that I have to get up by 5:00 am the next day in order to make it to the Day Job on time). I needed a creative fix, and I needed it badly. In desperation I grabbed my tin full of inchie backgrounds and quickly scrounged around for some found text and images from previous projects. Scissors and glue stick in hand, I plopped down on my bed, spread out the supplies on it and started mixing and matching pieces (Warning: DO NOT try this at home especially right before bedtime - you risk losing your bed under a mountain of scraps!). When I was done, I managed to whip up a total of - tadah! - four inchies. Four. I admit that most of the time went to deciding what would work together and what wouldn't, since it takes way less than a minute to actually assemble an inchie. But yes, I was happy with my four inchies. Finally, I got my creative fix, late on a Sunday night!

I would recommend Speed Crafting only in desperate situations, but with a bit of planning (which I obviously failed to do in this case) you can actually find more time to make crafts, and still keep the Household Chores Monster happy. Head on to BellaOnline.com and read this article that offers tips for busy crafters. Sheesh, I think I need a refresher course! :)

Time-saving Tips for Busy Paper Crafters

On scissors and more

Source: WPClipart.com

'Fess up now: how many pairs of scissors do you have in your craft box? Me, I've probably got a dozen: One no-nonsense pair for most cutting jobs, a non-stick pair with pointy blades for cutting detail work and double-sided tape, and a bunch of decorative edged scissors for that retro feel. Oh, and don't forget the special scissors I use for parchment craft.

Indeed, scissors are indispensable tools for crafters like you and me, but they don't always cut it (pardon the pun) when it comes to certain materials or shapes. If you've tried cutting thick illustration board or a hundred flower shapes with a pair of scissors, then you know what I mean. That's why other cutting tools were invented. Check out these two BellaOnline articles that give you an overview of basic and specialized cutting tools for paper crafters:

• Paper Cutting Tools 
• More Paper Cutting Tools

 So how many pairs of scissors did you say you have? How about craft knives? And paper trimmers? Punches? And....

But what to do with those inchies?

If you enjoy making and collecting inchies like I do, you'll end up with a whole lot of them in no time. Display them proudly by putting them to good use. In this BellaOnline article, you'll find some fun and funky ways to use inchies. Check it out now!

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