What a beautiful fall weekend in North Missouri today! We travelled to Kansas City for a weekend of shopping, visiting, and football. One of the things on the to do list was to locate 12 x 12 paper for a sampler in the designing stages. Problem is, Stampin Up doesn’t carry packages of single colors to design for a class. If I needed 30 sheets of Night of Navy, I would have to purchase 15 of the Neutrals 12×12 packs. So we headed to our first Hobby Lobby stop. Unfortunately, there was only 1 sheet of the color I wanted in stock! Checking the online store was of little use – out of stock there as well! Luckily for me, my husband Jim is a super good sport. We must have either called or ran in to most of the Hobby Lobby stores in the area but I have more than enough sheets for the class!!!! Thank you Lord, Thank you Hobby Lobby, and Thank you Jim!
Sometimes, as paper crafters we need things that Stampin Up doesn’t carry and when that happens, we have to look elsewhere. Today’s post is about 5 tools I use daily in my craft room and I purchased all but one of them from Amazon
Remember that saying – measure twice, cut once!

This is one of the best rulers I’ve ever used. Divided into 1/8 inch increments and made of clear acrylic, it makes measuring cardstock a breeze. I also love that you can measure in both directions – on the top you measure from left to right, but note the bottom! You measure from right to left which makes for ease and accuracy!
No more searching for lost dies!!!

I have the tendency to pull out multiple dies, and then lay them down on my work area only to lose them amid the mess! This magnetic bowl contains all of my dies that I’m using and eliminates the searching! I also discovered I can lay my photopolymer stamps inside – no more losing those either!!!
Pampered Chef has a place in the craft room!

I hate all of the tiny pieces that are left on the acrylic plates of my Stampin Cut and Emboss Machine after cutting an intricate die. I discovered by keeping one of the scrapers from Pampered Chef in my craft arsenol I have a quick and fast way to clean off my boards! Makes cleanup a breeze in the craft room as well as the kitchen!
Bows are much easier to tie with these!

Tying bows can be difficult, especiallly using baker’s twine and linen thread. These locking tweezers will hold the knot tight so your fingers are free to finish the bow process. They also come in handy for lifting glue dots and rhinestone embellishments. And with a package of three you can keep one in your travelling craft kit as well as in your craft room!

I keep my Tombow sand eraser close at hand when I need to remove a tiny ink smudge or spot on my finished product! Word of warning though – too much erasing and you will be redoing the entire project! Use a light touch
How could I forget my favorite tool of all?????
So, sitting here in a hotel room writing this post up, I realized I didn’t take a picture of the item I use the MOST in my craft room that is not Stampin Up related! It’s my Fiskars Paper Cutter!!! I use Stampin’ Up’s paper cutter for small projects or single pieces of paper, but when you go through multiple full packages of card stock for a single class I need a cutter that I can cut multiple sheets. It cuts clean and precise, and the best thing about my Fiskar’s cutter is that it has a LIFE TIME WARRANTY! I am currently using my 4th cutter that they have replaced freely! The replacement process is easy to complete and they are quick to respond as long as it’s not the planting season! Learned that one the hard way one spring when all of the garden tools were being replaced all over the country’!
Stampin Up has quality products but they can’t carry everything we need in paper crafting, so it’s nice to know there are other places we can turn to for items we need. Until next time, keep stamping, keep crafting, and God Bless!
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