Tiny Attacher & Shimmer Paint

Set 241 - City of David

I have TWO fun new "toys" to share today along with a clean and simple (CAS) card for today's SplitCoastStampers challenge.

Here is my card:

Today's CAS challenge was to use this card as a sketch. 

As is appropriate for a clean and simple card, the look of the card is very...clean and simple!  But I had a couple of new toys that I really wanted to try out.

SHIMMER PAINT

First, do you see the shimmer that the picture picks up on the left side of the sentiment?  That shimmer is actually on all the stamped images.  It's beautiful to move the card around and see it shimmer and shine.

It is SO simple to do.  I just picked up Stampin' Ups shimmer paint*.  It isn't new to Stampin' Up, but it is new to me.  My sample uses Frost White.  Just follow these simple steps:

Shake the bottle well. Remove the cap and
apply a small amount to a sponge dauber.



First, ink your stamp with your chosen color,
then simply tap the dauber over the ink.
That small amount of paint will easily cover this stamp.



* I really do love Stampin' Up and I really do buy from Stampin' Up - BUT, not everything they sell is proprietary to them.  These paints are a good example.  They are actually Tsukineko All-Purpose Ink.  You can find them all over the internet - AND they are half the price of Stampin' Up - AND there are dozens and dozens of colors.  Having said that, Stampin' Up has picked three fantastic colors to sell in their catalog.  I'll be doing more on the other colors on my Thursday post.

TIM HOLTZ TINY ATTACHER
I saw this demonstrated at Archivers last weekend.  I thought it was cute, but just another gimmick.  Then I realized that Michaels had it and I had a 50% coupon.  So I now own this cute little toy.  All it is is a teeny-tiny stapler.  Regular staples are .5", mini staples are .375" and Tim Holtz staples are .25".  This small size allows them to be used for all kinds of ribbon techniques.  I learned this technqiue from the demo at Archivers:

First, apply adhesive across the card and start laying
down the ribbon from the left side.

Fold the ribbon back on itself and staple.  (This is
actually the second loop on this card.)

Fold the ribbon back over the staple to get the loop.
The adhesive that you initially applied will hold it in place.

Do I like the tiny attacher?  I think I do.... 

1. It fills well into my hand.
2. It has a fairly long reach.
3. It feels sturdy, but having said that, there are warnings on various demo videos that it can break when you are loading the staples.  One video must have said "gently" a dozen times.
4. I LOVE the looped ribbon look and (as soon as I get my children off to school) and going to try some other techniques.
5. I think it might help in the church card-making ministry.  Our display cards get a lot of handling and we are on a constant quest to find the best adhesives to keep everything on the card.  This tiny attacher could easily staple on flowers, tags, etc and I don't think they will fall off.

I hope you have as much fun "playing" as I did!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up City of David
• Paper: Stampin' Up Perfect Plum, white
• Ink: Stampin' Up Perfect Plum
• Accessories: Stampin' Up (Tsukineko) Frost White Shimmer Paint, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, ribbon from Michaels, Stampin' Up rhinestone, Nestabilities circles