Who knew that Q-tip stamping would create such a buzz? Certainly not me! I have to tell you – I'm snickering about this. Maybe you all need to know a little bit more about me.
Come in close…I have a dirty little secret!
Here, let me set the scene:
OK – I confess. My stamp "studio" is a disaster area (aka The Abyss)! It's a bedroom converted for my stamp supplies. When it's "clean" it looks great and I might even stamp in it. However, it quickly becomes the room where things get thrown into when I'm in a hurry. I'm pretty good about getting stamp sets, ink, etc back into it's proper places. Despite the look of it – it's quite organized. A place for most everything. Did you catch that? MOST everything. When there isn't a place for something – where does it go? Into The Abyss!
So – why am I confessing all of this to you? Well – since I can't actually stamp in my studio (at least 80% of the time), I stamp in the dining room. Which means I make LOTS of trips to my studio. Now – it's not that far from the dining room. But this up and down, back & forth takes a toll on one's mojo! You just get into an idea and bam…gotta go find this or that to make it happen. Plus – with my short-term memory as it is, all it takes is for me to get out of a chair and before I make it to the studio, I've already forgotten what I was going there for. Ugh!
Which leads to making my Control Freaks project from yesterday. Which I designed last month for one of the projects for my DOstamperSTARS quarterly CAMP-A-RAMA.
Envision me with supplies covering my dining room table. I get the brilliant idea to use my Stampin' Pastels (which haven't been used in forever)! So, I go to The Abyss (oops – my stamp studio) to get everything I need (Pastels, Q-tips, etc). I give the Pastels a try. It looks OK – but a little too soft for what I wanted. Plus, my Pretty in Pink chalk is getting pretty small. If I have everyone use it for this project, it's gonna be all broken into bits and not very usable after the event. So that's not gonna work. (OK – do you think like this or is it just me?). I really think I need to use ink to acheive the look that I'm going for.
SO…I already had the Q-tips out and didn't really want to go back into The Abyss, oops- I mean the studio, to get a blender pen. Which I had already thought out in my mind wouldn't work anyways, since it would probably pill the paper, because people generally overwork the blender pen, especially on our smooth paper (yet another glimpse into my mind). So – what the heck…maybe I'll just give the Q-tips a try. Made sense to me as they were already sitting right there, just an arms length away!
So, here's how it went. Listen closely and take notes! No water, no nothing! Just rub a dry Q-tip onto the inkpad, then straight to the Very Vanilla cardstock to color. Yup – that's it!
Sorry, to disappoint - no real magic here. In fact, just plain laziness! Or maybe, pure genious!! You be the judge. (Actually, I bet there are a few of you out there that have tried the Q-tips stamping technique!)
If I was Jan Tink, I'd find an evil-eyed scientist emoticon for you to enjoy. But alas…I'm no Jan Tink!
So there's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
Have a great day out there in stamping land and give Q-tips a try!
Enjoy~Dawn O
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Oh Dawn I loved seeing your stamp room because:
A) It’s nice to see how brave you are to actually SHOW your stamp room,
B) It makes me feel better that I’m not the only one who has a messy stamp room!
I absolutely loved your cards done with the Q-tips and that may just push me over the edge to buy that stamp set. Wish I already had so I could try the Q’s!
Have a great day,
Jackie
I keep trying to convince my hubby that messiness is just a sign of a creative mind! My room could be a twin for yours!
I haven’t tried the Q-tips yet but may squeeze some time in today to give it a go! I loved your cards.
We are soul sisters!!!! I have a 8 1/2 x 11 spot to stamp once I step over this pile and that pile to get to the table…thank you for sharing your photo! Q-tips? Why not! Brilliant and the cards are just beautiful. Thanks, Dawn!
Oh Dawn…this is a classic picture. At first glance I thought it was my room…and then upon reading further, I discovered that I am not the only one who ‘retreats’ to the dining room when I can no longer find room at my stamping table!
I did the Q-tip thing last night while watching Grey’s Anatomy season finale. Wow!! The colors are brilliant…love the look. Thanks for sharing that with us.
Looking at this makes me think of home!! My stamp room looks like this alot. 🙂
Count me among the sisters who have to retreat to the dining room table to stamp. I’m worse because we JUST remodeled the basement a few months ago, spending a small fortune on cabinets and a custom countertop to accommodate all my stuff! My only excuse is that I just had a workshop, so my room is a chaotic abyss from having a dozen stamp sets out for inspiration plus the ton of scrap left over from a couple hours of card stock cutting. And since the dining room table was cleared off for my guests, it made a nicer place to craft in the days following the workshop.
At any rate, you are so not alone. Love the Q-tip technique. I’ll try that one today before I yield the dining room table back to my family and set my craft room back to right!
Dawn, for a second I was thinking, what is my stamping room doing on Dawn’s blog! It is amazing that I know where most everything is and can actually find what I am looking for (if my memory will hold the item or thought long enough!).
Love all that you do. Thanks for sharing.
Dawn,
I commend you for being honest and actually letting us get a glimpse into your abyss.
I am not a well-traveled bloghopper, but I only remember seeing spotless stamping studios. I challenge other bloggers to give us a glimpse into their studios. We could have a “Deepest Stamping Abyss” challenge.
BTW, I enjoyed your q-tip creation yesterday.
Susan
You are my kind of gal, Dawn! I clean up my (former bedroom) stamping room when I go on vacation or switch gears to work on Christmas cards, otherwise it’s just like yours and it functions very well! I like the Q-Tips idea…your creations are always a joy to behold. Thanks.
Sharon Partyka
I’m glad I’m not the only one! I stamp on the dining table, too, while my ‘craft room’ looks very similar to yours! Gotta love it!
Funny, for a minute I thought it was MY stamp room! Glad to see I’m not the only one!! :o)
Good that you can admit to the mess. I could help you organize that mess with Longaberger products. I do enjoy your blog and it has helped me learn some new things. I have also given your blog address to some of my friends.
You know what Amy Celona says? A clean house is the sign of a Lazy Stamper. That’s MY story, and I’m stickin’ to it! So glad to be among friends …. *sigh*
Oh Dawn, you are so funny!! I was reading your retelling and chuckling to myself as that is how I think (you know the saying ” Great minds think alike”. There is more to the saying but the rest isn’t so favourable to us). My stamping area is alot smaller than yours but looks pretty much the same. I call it “organised chaos” though!
Call it what you will Dawn, it’s a great idea and thanks for sharing 🙂
You are too funny! Love seeing another room that looks like mine. Thanks for the Q-tip trick.
Hi Dawn
I have been enjoying your blog for a while now but just had to say thanks for such an awesome idea with the Q tips (your card set is gorgeous).
Also a big thanks for the peak into the Abyss!
Perhaps we can all use this line as our alibi –
“I’m not messy – I’M CREATIVE!!!”
TFS!
Helen 🙂
LOL – my Abyss (I mean stamping room) is messier than your Abyss (I mean stamping room)! I, too, end up stamping on the dining room table, and then my dear hubby asks me exactly WHY did he give me a room to call my stamp room when I can’t even see the top of my desk (nor sit in my chair… ok, much less see the floor or any other horizontal surface in there…) and I can’t actually stamp in there?! Loved the project you shared for the Tour de Freaks (I sooooo enjoy the 20th of every month!).
Hi Dawn: Reading your post made me ask myself a question: Does she know me?? Has she ever been to my house?? You were describing my craft area and me!! I don’t really have a room but I do have a small area in the house to do my stuff. All of a sudden I realized that I could have a table, in the living room, watch TV and enjoy a huge ceiling fan while I do my stamping, scrapping or whatever I’m in the mood to do. My family members are already fussing and asking me if the living room is going to become my permanent place to scrap. But no, it’s not going to be permanent because of those constant trips I have to go outside to look for something I need.
Oh, thanks for sharing also the Q-Tips idea…I love Q-Tips. They help out too when my eye shadow applicators are missing in my cosmetic bag….jajaja….enjoy your day.
Dawn – I can totally identify with you here! I do stamp in my craft room, it’s usually a 12″ square of cleared area on the work table!
Dawn, that is so funny! Ya know, my dining room IS my abyss, I mean, stamp room! So the whole world gets to enjoy my mess, LOL! Love your story…very funny! Love your cards even more! I never would have guessed you used a q-tip! Great thinking! 🙂
I just breathed a HUGE sigh of relief… I’m NOT the only one! I too have a stamp room and yet, due to it’s organizational style (aka it’s a well planned mess!) I too usually end up stamping on my kitchen table and having to make multiple trips back and forth! And, my hubby is ALWAYS teasing me about how I insisted on having a room of my own for my crafting stuff and yet, here I sit, dirtying our kitchen table! LOL! I’m gonna have him read this blog post and the comments so that he knows it’s “normal”! :0)
Thank you Dawn and all of Dawn’s readers for sharing! You’ve made my day!
Hugs,
Christine aka The Stampin’ Ninja
Oh my room looks like this too! and i only have a tiny room!!!! I need to figure out how to organize it! help!
You crack me up! A little “FYI” for your readers (if they are interested..) I did buy very similar “Q-tips” from Walmart (in case the $ store doesn’t carry yours anymore). They are called Swisspers Cosmetic Applicators and come in a round plastic (reusable) container. They also have a round end and a pointed end and are wrapped tighter than a Q-tip. LOVE, LOVE, LOVED making this project at the DOstamperStars meeting…we are so lucky to have you as our upline Dawn Olchefske 😉
Dawn, My room looks like this too…luckily my “crap” room also houses our large chest freezer…which needs to stay free of clutter since we use is quite often…so I always have a surface that I can use (briefly) for my stamping needs 🙂
Thanks for sharing you “dirty little secret”
Meaghan
Too funny and so true for so many. We all want the world to think we are the perfect everything but in truth we are just enjoying life and that’s what is important. Don’t need to have a showroom to make delightful stuff! Thanks for sharing. MJ
glad that I am not the only one who has a room that looks like this!! My husband always asks me where my table is!!! I work well in mass-chaos!!
Dawn – you need to hang a Stampin’ Up! homemade picture on that little piece of bare wall – then your room will be FABULOUS DARLING!