More Art Journaling Tips and Tricks

... and some “make it yourself” too!

Last time I covered the Shimmer Mists, Mod Podge, Alcohol and Spray Inks and today I’m going to cover a few more things that come in handy when you are art journaling, stamping and/or scrapbooking.

1. Organizing the stamps.

I’m sure we all have our systems, but as much of a system as I might have had, I found that I always ended up missing some stamps, mostly because they were buried in the drawer under a bunch of others, or too small and got lost in the crevices of my stamp drawers. So just recently, I got pretty radical with my rubber and acrylic stamp collection.

First, I pulled my most used rubber stamps off their wooden blocks. I am mostly a collage type of stamper, so I prefer the more messy and uneven way of stamping anyway.

The wooden blocks took up so much room and really weren’t helping me.

Not only are my rubber stamps so much easier to organize now, but they are also much easier to handle! For the odd occasion where I do need a tidy image, I stick them to my acrylic block with a couple of repositionable glue dots.

So, now I have all the big background stamps, that used to take up several drawers in my craft room in one little drawer the size of a letter tray! And they are so much easier to access and flip through now!

But that was just the beginning. The second step, and the one that has made looking for a particular stamp SO much easier, are these things of beauty.

Yep, they are baseball card sleeves, but the pockets are just the right size for the dollar stamps (Michael’s, Joanne’s etc.) and other small stamps!

Now you can also put them into a 3-ring-binder and store them that way. Personally I prefer to have the sheets loose in the drawer of my art cart.

Either way - you can flick through the pages of your stamps quickly and easily and no more small stamps getting lost or forgotten!

2. Make your own stamp cleaner.

I’ve been making my own stamp cleaner for years, but since I have only returned to my stamps very recently after a rather long absence due to children and well, digital scrapbooking, I had forgotten about that.

Until I ran out and saw the price of the refill liquid! It’s so easy and inexpensive to make your own and if you have one of those dauber bottles handy already, you are pretty much set to go!

I usually make up just over an 8 fl oz. batch and refill my 2 fl oz. dauber bottle as I go.

2.5  tbsp. liquid glycerin (available in any pharmacy department usually)
8 oz. distilled water
1 teaspoon baby wash

Stir together or gently shake together and you are set to go!

3. Inexpensive Mini Misters.

I use the Mini Misters a lot, but at $2-$3 per bottle, they are a little on the expensive side. Recently I came across a set of mini misters on the Oriental Trading company website and ordered them. I’ve been using them for about 2 weeks now and I have to say, they work as well as the brand name mini misters, but at a much lower price ($0.83/ bottle.)

Oh, and if you need an inexpensive way to store them, get a piece of floral foam at the dollar store. Cut the foam down to a manageable size with a large kitchen knife, then push the bottles in to make mini mister size impressions. I also place the foam inside a similar sized box to catch any stray foam crumbs as you handle the stand!

And there you have it!

4. A few of my latest Art Journaling pages and Backgrounds at various stages of completion: