Tool time with Diana

Here are my top 3 favorite tools I think every crafter could use.

Number 1: Rotary Cutter(s)

I couldn't live without my trusty Fiskars rotary cutter. I have had this one since the mid 90's. It just feels right in my hand. Of course I cut my quilting pieces with it, but I also cut paper, photos, acetate, and other things with it. (Sometimes my finger, but not in  a long time.) I also have this zig zag blade which is fun, 2 cutting mats, and about 6 different sized rulers. I use them all at various times.

Don't tell Fiskars, but there's a new kid in town. I saw on a quilting show that a small blade will cut round edges better. This little beauty was on clearance for $5.99.  I haven't tried it out yet, but I am planning to soon. It if a Clover Slash cutter for straight and curved edges. Does anyone have one? Will it work for me?

Number 2: Xyron 900

This machine is great! I use it to laminate and make magnets and stickers. The cartridges can be a little pricey, but most craft stores have weekly coupons that you can use. This is great for scrapbooking and all paper crafts, teaching, and just life!

Number 3: Irwin Utility Snips

Maybe these babies aren't found in every crafter's bag, but they are very useful. I use them to cut stems of silk flowers, trim my hedges, and cut wire. They are heavy duty, and according the package have 2 serrated edges for extra grip! My husband got them for me for Christmas. Good choice!

 What tools are in your top 3?

Jasmine's Tools of Trade

One of the best tools I had at school was the sewing machines they had on campus in the sewing lab. We had very nice machines. I have spent lots and lots of valuable time on those machines. I wanted to go in there one day and just see what all it could do but I never got around to trying and I don't think we were exactly encouraged to play on Bernina sewing machines. I definitely was sad to leave the machines behind but it landed on my list of my tools of trade.

 Bernina Activa 220

Another tool of trade that I love would be glue. It doesn't really matter what kind it is whether it be a glue gun, glue stick, rubber cement, whatever, I probably like to use it. Tape's nice too but I just like glue better (for most projects.)

My favorite tool would be my hands. Obviously, I do everything with them. I don't like to do shortcuts the first go around when I try to make things on my own. You can create worlds of whatever with just your hands.

Brooke's Tools of the Trade!

As I was making some cards the other day I realized I almost always use some of my basic tools every time I do a craft. Once I started thinking about it I wanted to do a blog post about how I love use these.

The first one has to be my eyelet setter. I have one that comes in a kit with a few tools. Jaime prefers her setter because it is not so LOUD :)

Making Memories Tool Set

My second item also has to do with paper crafting. It is a corner rounder. I love the detail this adds to cards, bookmarks, and scrapbooking pages.

Corner Rounder Punch

Here are the cards with an example of both of these.

Of course I also think this goes without saying but my sewing machine is very much a necessity! I recently inherited a sewing machine from someone who hadn't used it in a long time and no longer was going to use it. I cleaned it up and lubed it up and it works fantastic! It was great timing because mine was starting to wear and have a few problems. This is the machine I have:

It is a Singer 5040 C which they don't make any more but this is about the same machine.

What is your favorite tool of the trade?

Click the product pictures to be taken to Scrapbook.com's superstore where you can purchase them! (disclosure: we're an affiliate of Scrapbook.com; we'd receive a few cents if you bought something from SB.com from the product links in these posts)

Jaime's Favorite Crafting Tools of the Trade

This fun theme was all Brooke's idea. I wanted to share with you the products I LOVE to craft with. Click the product pictures to be taken to Scrapbook.com's superstore where you can purchase them! (disclosure: we're an affiliate of Scrapbook.com; we'd receive a few cents if you bought something from SB.com from the product links in these posts) Also, click my project pictures to go to the blog post about them.

Herma Dotto Dots Roll Dispenser with REMOVABLE adhesive.

This thing is a lifesaver. I love how strong it is as well as being repositional within the first few minutes of sticking something down. I need that, because I am indecisive and rather...un-straight when I am papercrafting. I love when I pull something up that I can wipe the excess adhesive away and it doesn't leave a mark! I used this adhesive here (and in all of my scrapbook pages) :

Martha Stewart's Circle Cutter

I love this circle cutter. I have wrestled other circle cutters before trying this beauty (which was cheaper than just about any other!). Finally, I found a circle cutter that works. I love the results. See? Aren't they great?

Tim Holtz Scissors

During a National Scrapbooking Day celebration on Scrapbook.com, I won a door prize. It was filled with all kinds of goodies, including these scissors. I love them and use them all the time:

Finally, what is a crafter without her trusted glue gun?

Mine is just as nasty, or even nastier than yours! Of course it is used on tons of projects, like this one:

What are your tools of the trade?

Tools of the trade 1: Favorite knitting & cooking tools

School is starting here and it's about that time of year I get the annual knitting fever, and a new burst of energy for cooking. Brooke wanted to do a series on our favorite tools, so here are some of my favorite knitting and cooking tools:

Cooking

Oven-safe, non-stick skillet with a lid; pizza stone

I love my oven-safe, non-stick skillet with a lid. It can do just about everything in the kitchen: stovetop, oven (um, duh), covered simmering, etc. To go from stovetop to oven before, I'd have to use one of our cast iron skillets, and I never manage to wash one of those without ruining the season. It's also my biggest skillet, with really high sides, so it's got an amazing capacity. Plus, hey, it's a fun color (especially since my other pots and pans are all gray/black.) I know it seems like a lame gift, but I was really happy my husband found this for me for Christmas :D .

My pizza stone was a wedding gift. While we do love it for pizza, it's also great for baking bread and . . . I know we've used it for other things, but I'm blanking here. Anyway, it might look dirty there, but that's actually intentional, apparently: the packaging that came with it dictated that we never use soap to clean it, and that any stains and marks make it better. (They phrased it better.)

Knitting

"Knittin' Kaboodle"—it was only $6!

I really just pulled this out the first time, but I already love it. This is how I used to store my needles etc.:

And now:

The pocket holds a bunch of my favorite notions, including bone rings (stitch markers), stitch holders, yarn needles(love these!), and row counters.

My favorite "standard" tool is a plastic knit gauge (disclosure: we're an affiliate of Roberts; we'd receive a few cents if you bought something from Roberts from the links in these two paragraphs):

It looks boring but it helps you to make sure your finished pieces end up the right size (if your gauge is off, your 36" bust sweater could end up being a 30" or 46" bust sweater!). It's also great for sizing those random loose needles, or the circular or double point needles that don't have labels on them.

And my favorite "surprise" knitting tool:

A crochet hook! (As a reminder, crochet and knitting are two different fiber arts. Knitting uses two straight needles with a row of stitches on one; crochet uses one hooked needle which works one stitch at a time. They use very different techniques.) I am not a crocheter. I'm just not good at it. I don't do crochet edgings; I'm hard pressed to even do a crochet cast on.

However, my crochet hook has saved me countless times. Sometimes a stitch falls off a knitting needle before you work it. These loose stitches unravel and can undo the entire column throughout the whole piece. But with a crochet hook, you can fix the dropped stitches:

from Knitty.com

Voila! You're saved!

What are your favorite knitting and cooking tools?