I’ve been a bit brain dead. I have a crisis of writer confidence, which is a normal part of writer life, but dealing with it kind of sucks. I’ve noticed I’ve been zooming out more and sometimes I find myself watching random videos.
Facebook, in its helpful AI way, has zeroed in on the type of videos I actually watch rather than flick through. Apparently I watch a lot of videos like this. Make sure the sound is on.
There must be something therapeutic about it. So I bought some small supplies. I don’t actually want to make cards. I have a little art pad with watercolor paper in it, and I am just going to make cute little designs in it to make myself happy. I have markers, washi tape, stickers, some Distress Oxide inks, and some cheap stencils.
This can pretty quickly get to be an expensive hobby. The mat our dude is using in the video is about $80. Gordon is not very good at helping me set limits, because his answer to a question, “Do you think I should waste x amount of money on a hobby?” is always yes.
So I am trying to be wise with this situation. What do I actually need? I think the mat is kind of neat but should I get that one? Also, I would love to make designs in photoshop and print them and then cut them out, so should I get a Cricut? What kind? Should I get the Air 2 one, which is on sale for Prime day on Amazon? If I buy a Cricut do I have to get mats or do they come with it?
I noticed a lot of these videos have manual machines that use metal dies, but I kind of don’t want to buy a bunch of metal dies, because I know myself and soon I will have 200 steel dies and buyer regret.
What kind of glue should I get?
Any help would be much appreciated.
My mother loves to make cards. Cricut is a great product. I would go for it. It is nice to go in new directions with creativity at times. If the machine is on sell on Amazon, buy it and then you will have 30 days to try it out. You will need other things, but you can get them online or go to a local store.
I used to do mixed media art & art journaling–I miss it–while my mom creates cards & has been stamping for a long time. It is definitely a hobby that can explode with supplies; back when there were actual stamp/scrapbooking stores, they’d always run classes on how to use what you had & get ultra creative because we all had so many bits & bobs & supplies!
As to your questions, I’d start small with the things youll want to use most starting out & see how you like it. The mat looks like it’s sticky to hold things in place, but you can do the same with a glass surface or a cheaper mat (I have one that rolls up, is some kind of thin plastic, easily cleaned) & washing tape as the holder. As for a Cricut … it’s an investment, needs space & special supplies & isn’t maybe necessary for small volumes & may not be your thing. To start, you can cut stuff out with the scissors designed for tiny work, micro tip or precision tip. Glue depends on the project. For mixed media, I used gel medium of one sort or another. It’s glue or it’s a finish. Look for Ranger or Dina Wakely. Or spray adhesive by Krylon. Judikins diamond glaze. Or a tape runner, like Tom Bow or Scotch (I think) has one. Michael’s is a great place to browse supplies to start, to see a bunch of what’s available at once & figure out what appeals to you, but mostly supplies are online. There are a few stamping/mixed media magazines, still, like Somerset Studio, too FYI, and sometimes conventions with a ton of product demos.
I’ve clearly rambled on, but ultimately that just shows how expansive this type of crafting can be!
I have all of the things. It is fun and I make gorgeous cards. Each card costs roughly $85.00 based on my supplies. Proceed with caution.
Check the libraries in your area. Some of them have started installing maker spaces where you have access to things like 3d printers, sewing machines and cricuts. you could at least try it out and see if it’s for you.
I haven’t picked up a new crafting hobby in a while because I don’t have the space. However, I have been doing more home repairs/improvements and that is both a space, time, and money pit as well. Kind of crafty but hopefully will taper off after a bunch of projects are at least 90% completed.
You can totally just watch videos of other people crafting if that’s what you enjoy. I mean, people used to think it was weird I liked watching people play video games before streaming game play was a thing. I might also have some fitness YT subscriptions that I never actually exercise to and then kpop bands released their dance practice videos which have high view counts. So hey, why not.
Probably late to the party, but also on team “run while you can and don’t buy the circut.” Home cutting machines can be lots of fun and do amazing things, but there are a lot of times wen they are monsters and mess everything up. like the sort of issues you get with printers, but worse.
I used to be involved in a small buisness which designed, printed and cut stickers to sell on etsy. We had to have 2 cutting machines, since one would always decide not to work. Even when working the machines would often miscut (not by much, but enough that the items went in seconds bin).
I have a cricut. The first year I did all these cool paper crafts(bought templates) but I havenât taken it out of the box since my last move. I donât think itâs worth the cost unless you have a plan. It also takes some space.
I would suggest the light blue mat instead of the green that comes with it for paper crafts.
If you go down the rabbit whole, I would say get the Maker so you can do all of the things – stickers, vinyl, iron on, cards, engraving (bracelets, bookmarks, lights, ornaments), fabric (cut out bags, purses, etc -Iâm creating my first quilt following along with the block of the month/quilt as you go), tags to add to your knitting projects, etc. Check out Jennifer Makerâs blog and YouTube to see a good variety of different project tutorials to see if any interest you. If you want to make designs to import into the Cricut Design Space software for your machine to cut you will need a vector program that allows you to save/export svgs such as Inkscape (freeware) or adobe illustrator. There are tutorials about using Canva too.
I have been a card maker for more than 25 years as I worked jobs that left me no time to follow other artistic pursuits. Now that I am retired, I primarily paint – but still make cards.
To answer your question about glue. I have tried everything. Most glues get brittle and items pop off the card in the mail. So this is an important question.
I primarily use pva glue and YES! Paste. Both are acid free and flexible.
I also use Scotch wrinkle free glue sticks, But they don’t always hold on larger items.
Tombow is a good glue, but really sticky and hard to get off of things. It is good for fixing edges that didn’t get stuck down in the first gluing.
I know nothing about machines. I try to stay away from stamps as I have friends who have buried themselves in stuff.
I make cards out of found objects, discarded paper and the ephemera that floats through our lives.
You don’t need a lot of paper. Full sheets for a few cards is over kill. Find your crafting friends. There are fabric scraps, extra paper, bits and pieces that creative people are thrilled to share.
In the end, do what makes you happy. I swear I am getting rid of that InstaPot I bought because everyone swore it would take over the world….
Cheers.
I would consider all the hobbies you currently have (maybe write stuff on a paper) and the tools or extra yarn or whatever that you may have listed after but felt like it was too much to spend on it, and then weigh those desires against how much starting the new thing would cost, and include storage and work space cost too.
I did fine art in college, and though I did not end up doing it as my profession, I made sure to go into a profession thay paid well enough to afford my art supply love. I have stuff for oil painting, watercolors. Acrylic, pastels, oil pastels, charcoal, conte crayon, color pencils. This includes the set up to stretch my own canvases, 2 different easels, This ended up segueing into a set up for customizing Barbie dolls (putting in more hair, painting more realistic facial shading, etc) which then required more paint brushes and different paint (âore watercolors more different consistency acrylic paint) and spray fixatives, which, after accumulating a disturbing set of beheaded hairless dolls, I made a Christmas tree topper Barbie of my own, and I âimprovedâ a few of my daughters dolls. Then I started thinking about taking up drumming for fun, but then decided that I should maybe just go back to playing piano and restarting those lessons and also putting energy back into doing more painting. I have stuff for ceramics too but my recently developing finger arthritis has held me back from going all in and getting a kiln and a wheel and all the other stuffâŠ
So bottom line, my desire to start drumming may be similar to your desire to start circuit paper crafts⊠and then I decided that I have a lot more invested in other areas that I would get more satisfaction in getting more into preexisting interest for which I already have many supplies and knowledge. I still feel kind of wistful about the drumming thing for various reasons, but I decided that have only so much time in my day.
Hope that helps!
About 15 years ago when I was getting married I decided that wedding invitations were to expensive and I’d make my own. So, I went online and found a few DIY instructions, learned about stamping, embossing and bought a ton of supplies. Even designed a custom stamp for the front of the cards.
It was a BLAST! I enjoyed it so much and it was the most relaxing part of that year (I hated planning a wedding and am now divorced). Designing the entire thing, cutting, stamping, embossing and then putting >25 of them together was a lot of fun.
All this to say, my recommendation is to find an example of a paper project you like online, buy a few supplies (stamps, ink, embossing, glitters, glue, etc) and then use a library cri-cut if you want to test them out. You may love it, you may hate it, or it may be interesting but no need to do it again.
Either way, give it a try!! Finding something that brings joy is never a bad thing. Good luck!
Oh yes and I forgot my small toolbox for jewelry making and the stuff I have for making stained glass panelsâŠ
And of course I have drawing/painting apps on my iPad.
Oh and I free (no patterns used)crochet blankets and pillow colors do I too have a yarn love. And I got knitting needles but there was too much counting for me.
I have so much stuff! I feel guilty tired thinking about it now. Plus I usually get home from my stressful job as a primary care physician and just watch tv. I do adore doing nothing.
Oh no. Plus I love to cook and bake so I have all kinds of baking and cooking supplies that are beyond what most people have standard. đ đ
Iâve never listed everything like this before.
I wish I had better knowledge about Cricut but this is the first I’ve ever heard of it. My main hobby has always been buying books, audiobooks, or audio dramas. Or when the mood strikes, working on my poetry, fanfiction, or sometimes even some of my original story ideas, though I do less of that and more of fanfic and poetry and less of those and more reading. Though lately after listening to some lectures on linguistics, I’ve been sort of learning random languages. Duolingo made it fun and now I can even read the Ukrainian Alphabet. đ Though, I think in terms of having something stick more in my memory, it’s probably Latin American Spanish more often than not. I am trying Lithuanian mostly because apparently it’s probably the oldest modern language that might be closest to Indo-European (apparently it’s been in use over 5,000 years? Not sure how accurate that was in a Google search) And surprisingly it’s actually one of the less difficult to attempt pronunciation for me. Another old modern language would be Sanskrit (also apparently 5,000 years in use) but that apparently is a Dravidian-based language that is not in any way related to Indo-European ones. I wonder where Japanese falls into?
Anyway, sorry I got sidetracked, but my rule of thumb is to pick maybe the top one to three that draws you most to start with and as you learn, you can adapt from there.
Have another link that is fun: https://www.jennifermcguireink.com/
So, there are a bunch of kinds of cutting machines. I have a Brother Scan N Cut, I keep eyeing a Silhouette, I don’t like Cricut myself but many people love them. (It’s actually the company I don’t like, not the machines.)
Things the cutting machines do well – I can go buy an svg file and cut it out for a dollar or two. I can resize it, I can make it a negative, I can make a repeating pattern. I can do this with paper, with cloth for quilting, with leather, with thin wood veneer, with vinyl for making wall things or shirt things. I have bought the extra bits so I can also make mine draw with pens and markers.
Extra bits you *have to buy: *files to cut, the sticky mats need to be replaced from time to time, cutting blades, *all the extra toys for special tasks
Things the mechanical die presses do well – I have embossing plates and folders that make interesting pressed shapes in paper. The metal dies gently shape the edges of the die cuts in ways that make them look more finished and 3d than my machine. Some of my dies come with embossed details. I can also use my die press to straighten paper, make sure of good contact with glued surfaces, and as a teeny tiny printing press.
extra bits: dies and embossing folders, potentially cutting plates if you abuse them
Glue: good quality thin double sided tape, Scotch dimensional foam tape, Ranger multi medium and a needle tip, Glossy Accents, and Liquitex Gel Matte Medium (or Glossy) I have an entire drawer of glues, but those are my usual suspects.
Stuff: My basic peeled down essentials (for how I like to work) would be a set of good water based dye markers, a couple of water brushes, a cheap gouache set of colors, and an either pro or near pro basic watercolor set. Cheap fun gel pens, at least one size of black Pigma Micron Pen, and a black sharpie. Also your preferred water color paper. Oh, and a spray bottle that sprays a fine mist.
Good to have Stuff: A paper trimmer (don’t buy expensive unless you could use it for work), a bone folder, palette knife, exacto knife, tweezers, dental pic or tooth picks. A new clean toothbrush, watercolor brushes
I can’t draw: (stamping) a stamping platform (MISTI or whoever) because they make stamping that much easier, black ink – I like ranger archival for watercolor or Versafine for basic, sticky ink – Versamark or whoever, black and clear embossing powder, and a heat gun. (Heat embossing basically lays down a thin plastic raised edge that lets you do a lot of fun watercolor work) Oh.. and stamps lol
Things that are nice: I love my ott-lite for all things art. I have the Ranger metal magnetic board that I use as a travel board, I stick my paper down with magnets and I can paint or color to my heart’s content on my sister’s couch. Gelli plate of whatever size suits you. Watercolor powders, gold paint, white paint pen, shimmery pearly stuff of all kinds. Paper shaping tools. Nice is in no way necessary, just fun.
Iâm into less stuff. My local libraryâs maker studio has Cricuts that you can use for free!
With retirement looming, I’m starting small. My hands ache a lot, and what I’d really like is to go back to playing the piano. As they are scary expensive (pianos, that is) – I’m teaching myself how to knit first. I figure, if my hands are up to knitting, they’d manage playing the piano. My hands forgot about my dyslexia. And, apparently, that I’m left handed and have to knit backwards. So I’ve yet to manage 5 unmangled rows. So much for the piano (at least for now)! Moral is: start small. It’s less expensive!
I suggest taking a class or two before you decide. You will get to play with the fun toys and then you’ll either want to do it again or – as I often find – you’ll be over it. Either way the knowledge won’t be wasted.
https://reviewed.usatoday.com/lifestyle/features/cricut-review-a-crafters-dream-tool-or-huge-money-suck
Found this review online. Associated with USAToday. Lot of good pros and cons.
i have had and have many “hobbies” i have also given away tons of stuff from hobbies i have lost interest in
so now when an interesting something comes into my brain i march myself off to a book store and go down the isles i normally avoid…
sometimes i learn stuff and sometimes after a chapter i just donate the book
much easier and after two or three didn’t fit books i am thru the compulsive “get this new hobby” stage
I love watching videos on YT of things I know I cannot do, to avoid the compulsion of trying to do it myself: Garmezy Glass is a favorite. (grantgarmezyglass dot com.) He does some amazing work, including dinosaur heads. Another entertaining guy is Alec Steele. He makes knives, swords, and other metal do dads.
In High School I did try my hand at glass enameling with blow torches. My art teacher was all for it. We set up a station with three blow torches for each color, and got it all set. After we burnt our eyebrows and bangs off to get just one enameled bead done, someone saw us, freaked out, and pulled the fire alarm. We were both told to stick to pottery. She gave me a little plaque with Julia Child on it saying “I think every woman should have a blowtorch.”
Those were fun days.
Cricuts are like chocolate chip cookies–you can never have enough dies for them. If you think you can rein yourself in, go for it.
I think I have to stick to watching people forge swords and glass.
I say you are on the right track, do the smallest amount necessary to have fun and relax. Sticky mats come with some machines but not all. Good luck on your endeavor!
don’t. do. it.
My bajillion beads, fancy stones, metal do-dads, and silk string told me they would one day become great gifts. Where are they? Sitting in a drawer.
Sigh.
Wow! Those are some really impressive looking cards, and I love the fun sound effects of the videos. My kids watch videos where real food is being prepped and then it turns into the food made out of Lego. It’s pretty cool, but it has similar sound effects. Maybe I’m secretly a fan of ASMR? Anyhoo…
To Cricut or not? I own the old school Cricut that takes a cartridge and does not hook up to a computer. I only use it occasionally when I’m helping the kids put titles on their science fair projects. I actually prefer the die cuts, even though they might take up more space if you have a lot of them, they are easier to use. Do keep in mind that all the supplies will take up some space, but it is a fun hobby that can be very relaxing. Please let us know what you decide.
I can only provide my own experience and my own experience is that I am now into a set of high-end French pastels, a set of still expensiv, but firmer, American pastels, a couple of high-end watercolor sets, and acrylic paints and brushes. Currently, there is a canvas sitting on the also fairly expensive easel that I bought and I haven’t touched it in three months. Started it, that’s as far as I’ve gotten. All of this because I was just going to “dabble” and I’m a couple of thousand dollars in easily. Hobbies will eat you alive, so I say stick with one you’ll actually do or you’ll end up with an expensive wooden easel with an incompleteed canvas on it.
WARNING! DANGER!
Extreme Aquisitions Rabbit Hole Detected
Collision Imminent
Cerebral Cortex has already exceeded”Hobby Parameters”
Rapidly Approaching “Obsessive Collector”
As someone who has done paper crafts for a long time, no. You don’t need the high end materials. A mat is nice for mess and surface but I use just a standard self healing cutting mat and picked mine up with the 40% off coupons all the shops offer regularly.
My favorite activity is to buy cute acrylic stamps on clearance, stamp several on pieces of watercolor paper and just color with whatever media I feel like using. If I like them, then I’ll cut them out with scissors and throw them on a card or use them to create bookmarks. All you really need is pad of StazOn black ink and some cheap fun stamps.
i would say if you want to do this cause it looks fun and relaxing , find out if there is a crafting class you could take on it
like they do with clay pot making or painting with wine. after taking the class if you still find it fun and relaxing go for it. try out before you buy any thing.
Just be careful about who sponsors the class. Love Joanne’s and their associates but classes are geared towards sales. Same with places like Lowe’s and local nurseries.
+1 for the tombow glue. We have a large scrapbooking section where I work and tombow glue and it’s refills always go fast. Glue dots work well, and anything that is of an acid free archival nature is going to be the kind of glue you want.
There are also no buy craft groups on facebook where you trade “x hobby”, say beading supplies for something you want like “scrapbook supplies”. Each exchange is person to person, but it’s a way to get rid of supplies for things you don’t want for a hobby you want.
I have also been down a rabbit hole of weird videos to detangle my brain and had to think about Grandma Frida’s battles with the knitting, once I stumbled upon videos of old (and new) knitting machines:
https://youtu.be/5EqQOgebCqw
I credit your amazing writing for my chuckle fit.
When I think about starting a new hobby that may end up being expensive with supplies sitting around unused when I decide that I don’t like it, I try to find a class with it. I ended up buying a table loom after I took a weaving class because I enjoyed it so much. The other thing I do is “phone a friend” who does the hobby and set up a crafting day where they can show / teach me.
Less is more. I too have a spending hobby problem. I bought a piece of glass cutting equipment for big buck and haven’t used it. Instead I the humble nippers and scorers. I would suggest using a cutting board or a sewing board. Consider putting the savings toward your lake house. đ
Oh Man!!!!! This was not a good thing for me to see! How fun were those videos!!! I have been on the fence for a Cricut for years but already have soooo many hobbies! I really liked watching the videos. I think you should go for it & would be curious which model you decided on. I also have quite a bit of paper crafting stuff. My niece used to do really amazing crafts with her Cricut but now has 3 little ones under 7 so her focus has changed.
The Cricuts are amazing machines, but… besides the cost of the machine, there’s the tools, scribers, scorers, pens, cutting heads, materials – paper, vinyl, mats, more mats, special fabric, glue, scrapers, and lots more.
I have the Air2. Photoshop and other image software is not compatible (at least it wasn’t when I tried it). The “projects” are fun, and make things relatively easy, but the free ones are few. The purchased projects always seemed to need a special tool that I didn’t have. Now I mostly use it to make very nice gift tags.
My daughter loves her Cricut Maker, and makes me the most wonderful Mother’s Day cards you can imagine. She’s a software engineer – I think that helps.
Itâs important to keep having fun. I like to draw, paint, and plant and any of these can get expensive. Give yourself permission to play. PLAY is so necessary to adults like us with imaginations. This is a way to rest. I am looking forward to your artwork!.
You can find older ones cheap and they work great. Plus no tech problems or having to work to hard through BFF. ( brain freaking fog)
Before you invest in a lot of expensive supplies, take a craft class or two. At least one beginner class and one or two intermediate classes. If you enjoy the class, finish the project, find satisfaction in the effort, then by all means, continue on, buy more supplies, learn more techniques. BUT, if you find the craft frustrating, procrastinate doing more projects, or never actually finish a project, list paper crafts as “Not my cup of tea (or coffee)” and move on to something more compelling.
I looked at paper crafts a few years ago, and while I did enjoy the work, I
eventually decided beadweaving was more compelling than making cards or scrap booking. Since I rarely send cards and don’t have kids or pets to make scrapbooks about, I’d rather make jewelry or ornaments and spend money on beads. Of course. that resulted in a rather extensive bead stash but at least it takes up less room than stamps, paper, and ink.
I love using my cricut! Explore Air 2 is what I have and itâs been issue free. You can download the software for free – Cricut Design Space. There are upgrades and subscriptions options but Iâve never used or needed. You can use any font on your computer and upload and images so the possibilities are endless. My recommendation is play with the software so you know you like the design environment enough thatâs its truly relaxing for you. Our public library has a cricut that people can go in and cut stuff on and that might let you get a feel for it before you buy.