• All About Me mini-album by The Paper Loft

I found the first class OK, wasn’t crowded. Daughter and I each had empty spots on the side, with us sitting next to each other. It was warm in the room, but not overly warm since it wasn’t a room full of people.

• Simple Summer Album by Creating Keepsakes

The next class was warmer, much fuller than the first class, double class-room too. Besides being warm I was feeling OK, which made it tolerable.

That was it for the day, except for doing some looking in the Vendor Faire (no buying until Saturday.)

• Deliciously Different Recipe Book mini-album by The Button Farm

On Saturday we got there just in time for our class, and had a hard time getting two seats together, like we needed. There were about 3 seats available, and three people, but no seats together. I had to make a class helper help me get people to move so we could sit down. I was about to just say forget it, get our kits and leave.

We got seated somehow anyways, to my detriment. I’d have loved to just “do the kit” myself. It was extremely hot in that filled-up to the brim class. The seats we had were towards the back a couple of rows forward. The women in the back were chatting constantly, the teacher of the class had no microphone. We couldn’t hear her very well. We could hear them too well.

Not too far into the class the teacher talked about Zip Dry glue, and anyone who had some got it out. That included me. I glued down the first page to the acrylic page and prompty put the glue away. It made me very, very sick. It’s very stinky, horrible. It was so hot in there already and it seemed there were more than a few using it behind me. Me quitting using it made little difference.

Anyhow, I was fighting a migraine coming in that morning, and with everything from stress to heat to stinky glue, noise, stress … I got very ill and fought just standing up and leaving. Instead I muddled through the project and messed a few things up but not too many (paper cut too small or something like that, glue on edges of paper instead of center) and just plain didn’t do certain parts of the project for each page.

First off there was less room than there should have been. The people on either side of my daughter were disgruntled to some degree and didn’t move their stuff into their own space, so I was fighting a migraine, suddenly very sick feeling migraine, and fighting for space to just plain open my ruler on my cricut personal cutter so I could cut the right size. I couldn’t keep direction on top of the pile, I had to root around for everything, plus help my daughter know what to do, cut things, etc.

All in all it was a nightmare, and it was the class I was so looking forward to.

I liked the project still, still do, and would love to do more Button Farm projects. I didn’t really need to be there to do anything. I didn’t learn anything, it was simply “follow directions” and I’d have done better sitting at home with the kit for sure.

If I hadn’t been sick then I’d have enjoyed the class more. If we’d gotten there earlier (we tried!) then we’d have been set up closer to the front maybe. But all in all Zip Dry Glue is not my friend. Who’s friend is it? You need great ventilation in the room when using it. How about 20 people using it at the same time, probably more people than that???

It was enough to have made me sick probably. With or Without Migraine help. I’m sensitive to chemicals. I just didn’t think ahead at how bad it would be with multiple bottles of that stuff in use in a stuffy room.

Vendor Faire

We went to the Vendor Faire after that Saturday class. I felt miserable and never felt better until much later, after we were gone from there. I bought some things, nothing small. I wanted some things I could do stuff with, ended up with a 7Gypsies 4×6 printer tray in black. Vinyl 12×24 sheets in several colors, a pack of 12×24 different colors of cardstock. A Cricut Cartridge, Robotz. A Pioneer 12×12 album (Warren Kimble flag graphic design). 2 Clear Stamp sets from Tattered Angels.

The cardstock and vinyl were from cardstockonline.net … and I wanted to get a bunch more paper in 12×12 size, but with my headache I couldn’t figure out what to do, what it all meant, whereas it was simple to get the pack of 12×24 paper, special size, special price. The vinyl was priced per piece, easy peasy.

So I came home with good things, but nothing good to work with outright. I mean, no small (ha ha! 12×12) paper to cut up or use for anything. I wanted some good white paper. A lot of it. Other colors. Patterned paper. Just so much you can do with a Migraine sometimes.

I guess I need to find another Vendor Faire somewhere else to make-up for my pathetic buying at CKC-Charlotte.

Also I guess I’d like to get some kits from The Button Farm … but her website is terrible. I wasn’t into shelling out $52 for a bigger Recipe Album kit, or other things … I mean I had only so much and I wanted to get product to use, not just one project, though maybe I should have … she had a cute “cat” mini book, also a gorgeous “Christmas” book. Printer Trays with paper and embellishment kits. But I got a plain tray and that’s that. No special paper, just the special sized paper to use with my Cricut from cardstockonline.net. (Their site is merged with Couture Cardstock & I find it just as not what I want to shop as my trouble was at the Vendor Faire with a migraine…)

• Dark Brown Ink
• Light Brown Ink
• Brown Chalk Ink

• Roll of Foam Tape (Scotch)
• New Glue Dots
• Mini Glue Dots
• Either Zip Dry Paper Glue or 3-in-1 Glue
• A more portable 12×12″ paper trimmer
• A new white writing pen
• Inkssentials Blending Tool
• Glossy Accents
• Crop-a-Dial

I have found most of the things I need to bring in August to CKC. Ink is troublesome so far. I did buy some ink, but don’t know if it’s right or good enough for the event. I mean, most things are just “pigment” inks at Michael’s, and the one’s that are the Dye I’m looking for aren’t in Brown of any kind.

The thing about it is for sure, it has to be quick drying to use in a class that’s an hour long. Right? Right. Pigment won’t be right then.

I did buy a big (EK Success) Inkadinkado Black Ink dye ink pad … I just tested it, OK crisp really black lovely fast fast fast drying.

I also bought a giant (Ranger) Archival Ink Sepia ink pad … it’s brown, of some kind, so I need to find a darker one, anyhow, it dries very fast on regular types of paper. OK but it’s not dark nor is it light, it’s really in-between, and I guess it could stand in as light brown if it must, but not dark … no way.

• Dark Brown Ink
• Light Brown Ink
• A more portable 12×12″ paper trimmer
• A new white writing pen




• Inkssentials Blending Tool
• Roll of Foam Tape (Scotch)
• New Glue Dots
• Mini Glue Dots
• Either Zip Dry Paper Glue or 3-in-1 Glue
• Glossy Accents




• Crop-a-Dial

I got some of the above on Amazon.com. I looked for “brown” and “black” ink but I couldn’t find the right things. I have also looked in a Michaels (one I don’t usually go to, still need to go to the 2 I usually go to) and couldn’t find any. I mean regular ink, dye ink. Not expensive, just regular, easy to clean up and fast dry. You’d thing it would be easy enough. No. It’s too complicated to figure out which ink this or that in a store. Most end up being waterproof (not really regular dye then) or Pigment ink. Anyhow, I’ll just forget all that and get anything solvent and make sure to have plenty of wetwipes and stamp cleaner with me. But it’ll come down to this: still needing different shades of brown, light and dark, will be troublesome. I don’t have “BLACK” in the list above. Don’t know why, as I need that too. All my stamp stuff is either old or pigment.

The portable trimmer I have decided on is a Cricut product, $9.99 at Michaels. It’ll go nice with my Cricut/Gypsy stuff. I can get the glue dots at Michaels too. The roll of foam tape there also, or Target, I think.

I also want to get refills for my Xyron 3/8″ tape runner.

My Crop-A-Dial arrived yesterday via UPS. I love it. I wanted to use it right away to set some eyelets, and my eyelets are all missing. I don’t know where they are. I have gone nuts a few times looking for them, feverishly even. Anyhow it punched holes really well. Love that.

This list is things I need thus far:

• Dark Brown Ink
• Light Brown Ink
• A more portable 12×12″ paper trimmer
• A new white writing pen
• Inkssentials Blending Tool
• Roll of Foam Tape (Scotch)
• New Glue Dots
• Mini Glue Dots
• Either Zip Dry Paper Glue or 3-in-1 Glue
• Glossy Accents
• Crop-a-Dial

Plus I really should have a better solution than I do have for carrying things around, and also get plastic boxes for each project to keep them separate after class.

I hope we can figure out a good solution, also have a good one for my daughter, who’ll be taking the same classes with me.

We’ll be going to one in August regionally. We’ll be going to 3 classes. The whole family will be at the Vendor Faire sometimes, and my daughter & me will be attending the classes together.

The nice thing about registering & taking at least 1 class is: you can choose “free”  a 1 yr subscription to either Creating Keepsakes Magazine or Paper Crafts Magazine.

http://www,ckscrapbookevents.com