Ask The Designers: Creative Slump?

Today's question is this: How do you get out of a creative slump?

Patricia: When I'm stuck for ideas I like to blog hop or search for inspiration from the internet. If I'm stuck for a challenge project, for example "Vintage"-theme (I have a real hard time with that one), I will search for vintage images on Google. I will also ask fellow designers for help with ideas. You never know when your mojo is on a break that someone else has extra to share. When you're stuck for an idea don't be afraid to ask other people; we all have been there and you never know they may give you an idea you never thought of.

Gini: There are some days that I just have no creative mojo - and I usually just stop and don't try to force it to happen. Then in the next day or so, I will be inspired by a new paper or stamp, or might even have a great aah-ha moment as I fall asleep. If I try to force myself to be creative, it just turns into a disaster!

Susan: I completely agree with Gini - I have to walk away and let time pass. Usually a couple of hours away from the studio will realign my noodle. I've also thumbed through Magnolia Ink magazines to see their detail work - there is always something that inspires me. I've been thinking a lot about techniques lately, so reading about something new can also get the juices flowing.

Now friends, it's your turn - What recharges your creative batteries?

Thanks for your support - we love getting your questions! Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
The Beary Scrappy Girls

Ask The Designers: Favorite Techniques

Today's question is this: What is your favorite technique (and why)?

Patricia:  I think my favorite technique is to ink the edges of the papers I think they really pull them together. I also really love hand sewing on my cards. I think it adds a special touch to them. I also like to add foam dots to my cards I love the 3D look on them.

Gini: This is easy, I am the self-appointed Queen of Distressing! I love inking the edges, water distressing, using my distressing tool - you name it, I'm there! I also love sewing on my projects.

Susan: Ok, hands-down my favorite technique is layering images. I'm sure there are other names for it, but it comes down to layering elements on an image to make it pop off the page. It's more work and totally worth the effort!

Jamie: This is a tough one, I don't really have a technique I use every time! But, I'd have to say a few of my favorites are inking all the edges of everything (it adds so much), using punches (I use either a shape or border punch on most things) and machine sewing (so quick and really gives dimension and that extra touch).

Now friends, it's your turn - What is your favorite technique?

Thanks for your support - we love getting your questions! Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
The Beary Scrappy Girls

Ask The Designers: Inspiration

Today's question is this: Where do you find inspiration?

Jamie: Everything! I have always got several projects in the back of my mind as I go through my day and things just pop out to give me ideas! It might be a song I hear on the radio, an ad or picture that I see, or something funny that one of my kids says! I also love to get ideas from others-- I don't often copy the idea exactly but I love just browsing through scrapbook magazines or online galleries to see different ideas, techniques and ways of using supplies I have never thought of. Most of all, I get ideas from the ladies I interact with-- whether it's my fellow DT members or my local friends I scrap with once a month. The more ideas you share, the better!

Patricia:  What inspires me is if I'm making a special card I try to make something that I know what the person really likes, weather its a certin color or animal or stamp. Sometimes the designer paper will inspire me to make a card and I like to pull colors from the paper to make the papers match. Sometimes when I have to make a card for a sick friend I try to think what will make them happy and pick up there spirits.


Susan: Ooh, like Jamie, I seem to always have projects in the back of my mind. I'll stew over challenge themes or designer paper I've been dying to use. Friday Kimm and I were talking about a new paper line coming to the store and there's one design I can't wait to use. Later in the afternoon I had a brainstorm about which stamp to use with it. Now I just have to buy the stamp and patiently wait for the paper to arrive... (In the meantime, tomorrow's DT project is definitely inspired by the MME Holly Jolly "Winter Branches" paper. I can't wait to share it with you!)

Mostly, I am inspired by my fellow crafters. I'm amazed at what *you* come up with regularly! When I'm stumped I head straight to my Google reader and let my eyes wander. You all are incredibly talented and always manage to solve my design problems!

Now friends, it's your turn - Where do you find inspiration?


Thanks for your support - we love getting your questions! Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
The Beary Scrappy Girls

Ask The Designers: Money Saving Tips

Belts are tightening everywhere. Unfortunately, paper crafty supplies aren't really considered "household necessities". Today's question is this: What are your best money-saving tips to keep you crafting?

Gini:  I think one of the best money saving tips I can give is to keep your eyes open. At the craft store, don't just look at the scrapbook aisle - You can find great savings sometimes on things that were not intended for scrapping. Also, look at the things that you throw away - corrugated cardboard, clear plastic casing (like what a Cricut cartridge comes in) - You can re-purpose many things.

Jamie:  If only I could stop shopping for scrapping supplies, I would save a lot of money! But I'm addicted!:):) A few ways I can think of to try and save though are:
• Share with friends-- if you find a good deal, but don't want to have a big package of something, split it with someone else.
• I love things that come in coordinated kits; I get several of these a month from different places and then I spend way less time browsing scrapbook stores and just picking up random things I think are cute but don't really know what I am going to do with them.
• Look everywhere! Even dollar stores sometimes have good scrapbook stuff, plus I love the dollar items at Michaels, JoAnn's and Target. Use items that aren't normally thought of for scrapping -- the packaging of embellishments or tags from clothing are often really cute.
• Organize your stuff and go through it often! This keeps me from buying similar things that I forgot I had!

Patricia:  Other than using coupons and waiting for sales, I also like to save on pre-order specials. Another thing I do when I need to make something more solid (like if I'm making an album cover and want the paper more solid), I use the back covers of my paper pads. They work great in making the covers more heavier. One other fun thing I like to do is pull apart the sticker sets and use one sticker for two projects. For example, If you look at Jolee's Rock Star Stickers, I will take the angel wings off for my bears and use the guitar for another bear. It really makes you look at things more when you know you can pull them apart and see what else you can use them for.

Susan: I'm a big scrap saver. If a scrap of paper is big enough to use for a punch, I'll keep it. [Now organized by color thanks to Jamie's suggestion, and MUCH easier to use!] If I need to run to Michael's I'll hunt down a 40% coupon online and generally try to stick to a specific *need* list. However... I will always check out the clearance sections. I recently found a $15 reindeer pendant marked down to $1.99. At that price, I couldn't pass it up! It'll be frolicking on a Christmas card soon.

When I use Pop-Dots, I cut the outer edges for straight lines and use the holey parts (after the Pop-Dots are used) to reinforce the center of a raised element on a card.

I think my best money saving advice is to keep your mind open. Think around, under and through things before you throw them out. Like Patricia's stickers, you never know what you can come up with until you think around it!

Now friends, it's your turn - What are your best money saving tips?


Thanks for your support - we love getting your questions! Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
The Beary Scrappy Girls

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About Ask the Designers

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

Ask The Designers: Making Time To Craft

We all live such busy lives with kids, work, husband, home. We're pulled hither and yon throughout each day with no end in sight. Today's question is this: How do you find or make time to craft?

Patricia: When Susan posted this question my answer was simple, I don't sleep! LOL. Most of my fellow crafters know that I'm up all hours crafting and it works out pretty good seeing how I have made friends all over the world with this wonderful hobby.

I craft anytime that I'm not working. If I'm home you will find me in my craft room. I love making crafts so much I really wish it was my full time job. Usually after I get home from work I get dinner done and then I am in my craft room till about 1 or 2 am. When I am at work my brain never stops thinking about the current challenge or project I have to make. I do a lot of brain storming when I can't work on my stuff, I pretty much have it all laid out in my head before I start. 

Susan: Killam Creative (greeting cards) and Killam Creative/Studio (jewelry) are my "day job", so I'm in the studio all day, every day. Each and every project is time-intensive - whether it's designing the card (some times I take a day or two to figure something out... it really should be easier!) or creating intricate silver jewelry from raw wire. Some days I might just work on one thing for hours... *sigh*

I'm also taking time to learn the best ways to promote the business online, and right now I'm spending a lot of time on research and finding my audience.

I generally stop working when my husband comes home and head back to the studio after he goes to bed. I can't make as much noise with drills or heat guns, but it's just as good. Plus, late at night I know I have friends doing the same thing all over the world - it's comforting to know they're "out there" and fun to chat online as we're all gettin' our craft on. :)

Now friends, it's your turn - how do you find or make time to craft? Do you have little ones in the house? How are *your* juggling skills?


Thanks for your support - we love getting your questions! Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
The Beary Scrappy Girls

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About Ask the Designers

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

Ask The Designers: Organization

Are you organized? Can you find stuff when you need it? Today we answer your question about crafty organization.

Jamie: I really believe organization is a personal thing and there is not one system or type of containers, etc. that work for everybody-- the key is finding what works for you and then sticking with it! A few things that help me are:
 
• Organizing embellishments by color-- I have small round containers that stack and I keep one for each color with all types of things in it, brads, buttons, jewels, whatever!

• I keep a few open containers right on top of my workspace that I can just throw random extra things in that don't really have any other place. That way my space is cleaned up plus those things are right at hand so I can grab them when making a quick card and use them up. And, did I mention these containers are cute? They match the Americana decor of my craft room so even though they are full of random junk, they still look good.
 
• Sort out often! This way I actually remember what I have in my stash and then I am more likely to use it.
 
• Don't be afraid to throw a few things away-- I know this is so hard for crafters! We just want to hold on to everything because someday we might find the perfect use for it. But I have found it really helps me to cut down on the clutter by not keeping every tiny piece of paper, throwing away photographs I didn't scrap and getting rid of supplies I know I will never use (some great places to donate these supplies are elementary schools, day cares and assisted living centers-- I usually just give all mine old stuff to my kids' school and the teachers are delighted!)

Susan: I like to think of myself as the queen of organization... but the ideas seldom com out of my head and into "real life". I have succeeded a little bit and now there are a few things I couldn't live without these days. I am big on portability and easy access. If I have to dig for something I probably won't ever use it.

• Iris 12x12 plastic bins with hinged lids - I have them in the 6-pack holder/stand as well as individuals on shelves in the closet. What I really like about them is that they are stackable. I use them for metal and vintage embellishments, adhesives, punches, paints, inks, stamps... even 'life events' that still need to be scrapbook'd. *grin* Each one of those categories has it's own bin. Love them!

• Cropper Hopper 12x12 vertical storage for Bazzill card stock and non-design team papers. They are huge space savers and portable enough to carry to my work surface to match.

• Clip It Up base + upper tier - I love this! On it I have all my Prima packaged flowers and pearls; Magnolia, Gurlee Girl, Stampavie stamps; Tim Holtz embellies; The Beary Scrap DT embellies and more I can't think of at the moment. I REALLY want the floor model!

• Making Memories wall organizer. I retrofitted mine with a second ribbon dowel and added a third dowel on the bottom for lace. I use the plastic jars from Michaels for Stickles and ribbon bits.

• Brother P-Touch label maker. 'Nuff said.

I also use plastic Sterlite drawers for smaller things on my table top. Maybe one day I'll take photos - it's nothing special, but it's my space and I can close the door!

Patricia: As much as I think I'm well-organized I still seem to end up with messes but I find that these little tricks seem to help me.

1.) I like to keep as much of my goodies as I can in clear storage containers that I purchased from Walmart. I have a whole wall of them. In all different sizes.

2.) I like to label as much as I can. Most of my inks are labeled on the sides so I don't have to go digging thru all of them to find the color I want to use.

3.) Color charts, just as most of you have the Copic color chart I also have it for most of my inks so I can see the true color of them with out having to try them to get the color of them that I want. Another chart I like to use is for my rubber stamps I have them all stamped out on white card stock so I know what I have and don't buy more than one of the same one.

4.) I like to take advantage of open wall space. I have clear plexiglass hanging on my wall with velcro on it and I have velcro dots on all of my Stickles so they all just hang there ready to go.

5.) For my ribbon storage I have really thin curtain rods hanging with some of my most used ribbon hanging on them. I have two rods handing above my Stickles, plus it looks so pretty hanging there.

6.) I also use small clear draw units to hold all my small tools and pens. They come in real handy and fit really nice on my desk.

7.) For all the small pieces like brads and charms and other small goodies I keep them all in see thru fishing tackle boxes.

8.) I have a couple of different storages for my paper. I have a hanging file bin that has a lot of my plain card stock sorted by color. I also have the 12x12 Iris containers for my designer paper but also a lot of it just ends up on my shelves, its the one thing I really have to get better at storing. 

Gini: two pictures from my studio

Kimm: Organize??? What is that? I'm a MESS! I need help in this department. I guess I have an excuse... we are under construction and a major move. I would LOVE to hear some ideas from our followers on this one.

What a great idea, Kimm! C'mon readers, tell us your favorite organization tips. We love new ideas and Kimm needs 'em for The Beary Scrap's new space!


Thanks for your support - we love getting your questions! Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Patricia and Jamie

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About Ask the Designers

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

Ask The Designers: Favorite Tools

Tools - we all use 'em. Have you ever stood in the aisle at your favorite shop or browsed the pages of online stores trying to figure out what is the best tool for the job?

Today we answer your question about our favorite tools.

Gini: My Cuttlebug machine is one of my favorite and most used tools. I am always cutting Nestabilities and embossing with the CB folders. My other favorite tools are my sewing machine and my edge distressor. I think adding these little extra steps take a card to the next level. Sometimes you might not even notice some of the small touches, but you just know there is "something" about the project that stands out. 

Jamie: I have lots of favorites and I have a hard time working outside of my craft room because there are so many things I use and it's too hard to pack them up to take anywhere! But I have narrowed it down to a few and so my favorites are (in no order!):
• My punches-- I use some type of punch on almost every project, the most often used would be circle and scallop punches and my corner rounder
• Zutter Distress-it-all-- I don't know how I lived without this before! I love to distress the edges with this, it is just so fast!
• Inks-- I hardly ever leave any edges without ink on them so these are essential! My favorite are Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

Kimm: My ATG Tape Runners.  I have both the 1/4" and the 1/2".  They hold lots and lots of adehesive... and I LOVE adhesive! I never worry about my project coming apart.

Patricia: I couldn't live with out my Big Shot. I just love it and use it to cut all my Spellbinders, which I use on almost every project. I'm also hooked on the bright colors of Colorbox inks. One other tool I love to use is when the corners of the paper get a little bent I like to use my rounded corner punch to clean them up to look perfect.  

Susan: I have a few definite favorites: Cutter Bee scissors for the fussy cutting I do on my layered images. The blades are extremely sharp and cut through card stock like a hot knife through buttah. My second favorite tool is my computer - from vintage graphics to daily inspiration, the computer feeds my creativity like nothing else in my studio.

Thanks for your support - we love getting your questions! Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Patricia and Jamie

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About Ask the Designers

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

"Ask the Designers" Sunday

Please scroll down for our BSC #12 winners!

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Oops! We've all said it while crafting. Today we're talking about The Big Fix - what we do when a boo-boo needs attention.

Patricia's says: If I make a coloring mistake on a stamp and it's to late to fix or I have tried (unsuccessfully) to fix, I look to see how else I can cover it. I recently had an image all colored up and love it but messed up the hair. The colors kinda turned to mud on me, so I added glitter to the hair and loved it much more than if the hair came out perfect in the first place.
Another mistake I have come across happens after coloring up an image and cutting it out with a Spellbinders die. I like to ink around my images, and the mistake happens when I didn't know I had ink on my fingers and it gets on the wrong parts of the die cut. If it's not too big of an area I use a white gel pen to try and cover it but if that doesn't work I like to see what other embellishments I can use to cover it (like flowers).

Susan says: Well, when I go boo-boo, I go big! It never fails that if a mistake is going to happen, it will happen at the last possible minute. You know, right when I'm close to finishing! I rarely start over at this point, although I've been known to scrap something if it's early enough and I have enough materials to replace it. It takes me a long time to design and assemble my greetings, so I rarely make time to start over. Honestly, I know I'm my worst critic so I take that into consideration, too.

I'm with Patricia in the hunt to use embellishments to cover mistakes. Ribbon is good to cover something that isn't attached as straight as I'd like or cover a bad ink distressing job. I've learned that Stickles can be wiped up quickly without leaving a shiny residue - I've used everyhing from my fingernail to the eye end of a sewing needle to pick up little bits of Stickles or 3D glue (like Glossy or Matte Accents). Sometimes, if I can't fix it,  just accept it as a quirky detail and move on. :)

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About Ask the Designers

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

Please join in and Ask the Designers!
Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Patricia and Jamie

"Ask the Designers" Sunday

Hello dear friends! This week we've been asked about order, as in, what order do we create our projects?

From Paperpapier: "I am always having problem with coordinating the coloured image with designer paper. Do you select the DP first then only colour the image based on the colour in the DP? There are so many papers, what determine your choices if you choose the DP first before colouring the image? I really really need tips on this. Thank you so much for sharing."

This is a great question, and one that trips everyone up at some point or another. Here's what we do:

Susan says: In a perfect world I work in this order: 1 - Pick sketch/theme/challenge; 2 - Pick main paper; 3 - color image to coordinate with paper. Most of the time I'm up against a deadline (whether a challenge deadline or personal one that prevents me from dallying in the studio), so I have to be organized.

Gini says: I really should pick my DP before I color...but, that doesn't always happen. Usually I have an idea of what type card I am wanting to make, so that helps me narrow down my DP choices. Sometimes, I have gotten some DP that is so gorgeous, I just can't wait to make something with it (Like the MME Lost and Found Line!). But sometimes, I just start coloring and then have to look through mounds of paper to find what looks right with it ( I never like myself when I do this!)

Patricia says: I some times do both if I have a theme like a specific holilday like Halloween I usually try to see what paper I have on hand then color my image to match the paper. But if the challenge is just a simple one like add bling then I usually just find an image I really like and color it. If I don't have much designer paper to match I will just use plain colored card stock and let my embellishments do the matching to my image. But with my stash of designer paper I usually have something that will match.

Jamie says: I almost always select my images (photographs for scrapbook layouts) FIRST, then match the designer paper to something in that photograph. The most obvious --and most simple to decide--choice would be theme. For instance, if it's a Christmas page I will most likely choose some type of Christmas patterned paper. However, there are lots of other ways to pick as well. Often I try to match the colors of some element in my photo to the paper-- it might be the clothing worn, the background or even the color of someone's eyes. It all depends on the story I am trying to tell and what I want to stand out. An example of this would be the girl layout I posted on October 1, based on the current Beary Sweet Sketch Challenge. I chose the brown toned Echo Park papers because my daughter was wearing brown clothing and then for the highlight colors I picked the same pink and green that were in the flowers she was holding-- this ties the paper and the photos together nicely.

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About Ask the Designers

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Patricia and Jamie

Ask the Designers Launch!

(BSC #10 Winners will be announced later today. Sorry for the delay! I went to a Copic class yesterday and my brain is mush from all the driving, learning and laughing. I'll get right on it, though! -Susan)

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Today is the beginning of a new weekly feature called "Ask the Designers". Have you ever gazed upon a fabulous project with your head tilted, eyes squinted to focus on a detail, thinking to yourself, "How did she do that?" We've all experienced the "non-response" from bloggers who don't want to share. It's hard enough to get up the nerve to contact someone, and to get a cold response is, well, embarrassing. So, to break through that wall we'll bare it all! *groan* We believe sharing is an important part of growing our creative community.

Crafting is creativity - some of it comes from within and some is learned. We're here to help you learn techniques, make your crafting life easier with product experiences, give advice and generally inspire your inner muse.

We will collect emails and comment questions, and post answers each Sunday. You can ask general questions to the design team or specific ones to any of us. If you want more info about something you've see out there in blogland or any product the has you curious, email or leave a comment and we will share our experiences and opinions. We're not here to sell you specific products from The Beary Scrap online store, although we hope you will visit for your crafty needs. Our goal is to share our knowledge and experiences, with the hope that we can help make your crafty life easier.

Please join in and Ask the Designers!

Cheers,
Susan, Gini, Patricia and Jamie

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Today's question is about adhesive. Everyone has a passion about their favorite sticky stuff - there are so many on the market, how do you choose without wasting money? Ask around for the "why" as well as the "what" - everyone has different reasons!

Question: What is your favorite adhesive, and why?

Susan says: I rely heavily on 1/4" Scor-tape and Fabri-Tac. I layer a lot, and as I'm making panels I will line the edges with Scor-Tape but keep the outside protective layer on until I'm ready for final assembly. (If I sew on a layer, I will add the Scor-Tape after sewing.) It's thin yet very strong and handles the weighty cards I make.

I use Fabri-Tac for flowers and other embellies. It sticks to everything! I was annoyed by the stringiness at first (kind of like hot glue), but once I figured out how to "break" it off I was in glue heaven! One great feature of Fabri-tac is the flexibility to move things around if I screw up with placement. It takes a few minutes to set so I can move leaves around if I need to squeeze in another flower or lift them up if I decide to add a pearly stick or mulberry rose bud.

Gini says: I use lots of Scor-tape- I love it for attaching a heavy card front and for gluing down ribbons. For heavier embellishments I use Fabri-tac - and if it is something that need precision, such as a 4mm Sworovski crystal, I like to use Flower Soft glue.

Patricia says: I love Fabri-Tac for everything. It sets really fast but gives you just enough time to make any adjustments before it sets. I find this glue works the best when making easel cards I can attach the top part of my easel card and not have to wait for it to dry and I can stand it up without the back peeling down with still time to make any adjustment before it sets and I can get started right away on the bottom. I also like it when adding mulberry flowers; once they are on the card and dry there is no taking them off! This glue holds tight whether or not you're attaching buttons, metal charms, ribbon or any other embellishment. I also like it when I'm making Tear Bears because I don't always like to wait for the paper to dry before gluing. Fabri-Tac will dry nice on the damp mulberry paper.

Jamie says: I usually end up using several different types of adhesives on a layout but hands down, without question, my very favorite way to stick things on are Glue Dots. They are fast and they never come off (though sometimes you might want to take something off and it is stuck forever!) I am picky about my Glue Dots, though, my favorite brand is ThermoWeb Zots and I get sad if I can't find them. Some brands are too sticky and don't come off the roll well, I have found that Fiskars brand has this problem. I generally use medium size glue dots but always have tiny ones on hand for small embellishments and I also love to use glue lines for ribbon (Glue Lines are manufactured by the Glue Dots company).

Other adhesives I often use include the Vario Tab dispenser which is great for photos (though it doesn't stick well to heavily textured cardstock) and Xyron's small sticker maker-- this is especially handy for letters and shapes I have cut on the Cricut. For heavier items, like metal, I love KI memories GLOO-- it dries fast and holds everything. GLOO is hard to find so I stock up on it when I see it.

Other non-traditional adhesives I often use for attaching things to my layouts are machine stitching, staples (fast & cheap!!!!) and brads.

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Now, what's *your* question? Email us at tbs.askthedesigners@gmail.com (or click the email link) or add a comment to our Ask The Designers page and we'll share it all!