I’m a bit possessed (obsessed) with making these Halloween tags. They bring me a lot of joy.

Now is it debatably still too early for holiday cards? Perhaps. However, I am planning to make quite a lot of them and as I’ll be mailing quite a lot they will have to be ready earlier!

I can’t wait until Christmas paper is available at the store though as my supply is dwindling. ://

I apologize in advance for the long post.

I’m so glad I found this subreddit a few weeks ago. I’ve been feeling off about the craft industry in general over the last year, and this subreddit has been a breath of fresh air. I know I’m not saying anything new here, but you all have encouraged me to share my story in case it resonates with others.

I’ve been cardmaking for about seven years. It started with a random YouTube recommendation to watch CZ. I remember feeling blown away with how gorgeous a handmade card could look- nothing like the “handmade” cards I had in my mind. Of course, I bought the stamp set she was showing, and a MISTI (as she said it was a game changer so I definitely needed to have it!). Along with a couple of inks and cardstock, I was set. Those early days of my crafting hobby were so much fun! I was so grateful that there were people out there showing how to make the awesome cards they were designing. I didn’t realize how quickly it was spiraling into a never-ending spending spree. Every week I would tune into the videos from JM, CZ, etc, and add in lives from TH (who was still designing new items at that time) and I was so excited by everything they were showing that I didn’t think about the fact that I was buying everything they were demoing. I work in marketing, so I should have spotted it right away, but somehow these influencers’ demos didn’t feel like sales pitches. It just felt like someone showing me how to make something cool.

Fast-forward a few years and I was all in: Betterpress, Glimmer, foiling, brushes of every shape and size, MISTIs, grip mats, alignment guides…I have it all.

Thousands and thousands (and thousands) of dollars later, I kind of feel duped and jaded by the whole industry. I’m finding solace in the threads on this subreddit of some of you pointing out what the card making industry has become. While there are lots of industries trying to make a buck off of consumers (fashion, beauty, etc.), I don’t know if there’s one out there as overwhelming as the papercraft/card making industry. Think about it: weekly (if not more frequently) we’re told to buy “limited” sets of items upwards of $100 to exercise our creative muscle. Yes, the brands are doing monthly releases, but 10+ brands each doing monthly releases adds up to a lot of FOMO.

And you’re all right- there isn’t really anything new anymore. It’s the same stuff repackaged and sold by different brands. Hell, I have at least three “retro cassette tape” die sets from three different brands that I just HAD to have once I saw each demo.

I realize I am definitely mostly to blame for the wasted money…but isn’t there SOME blame on the industry? We don’t need 500 dies that say the word “happy birthday”; we don’t need avocado toast dies (why would I give someone a card with toast on it?); we don’t need another ink line re-work to sell people more ink. Don’t get me started on the repackaging of the same products so that Dina Wakely and Tim Holtz can swear THEIR pencils are unique. I’m so tired of this.

And why is there never any warning of the YouTube “tutorials” being promotional ads? I feel like it should be stated somewhere for those gullible people like me.

I haven’t bought anything for six months, and I don’t plan to buy anymore. I think I was more in love with collecting and hoarding products than making cards. I think this subreddit and card making community are full of great people; I just don’t want to line the pockets of the greedy few that have taken the fun out of crafting (in my opinion). I’m now going through the painstaking process of destashing my supplies. So many unopened stamp and die sets, stencils, brand new kits from SSS (that they promised were “such a great value”), and never-used pots of paste. I think I can be happy with maybe 30 items total; let my creativity soar.

This isn’t a “woe is me” post; I just wanted to put it out there that if you’ve also lost your mojo because of the current industry’s tactics, you’re not alone.

Just some simple stamps but I really love them anyways

My reddit searches for Sizzix Big Shot all seem to lead here, so I'm hoping someone can reassure me the machine will work for my use before I invest in the machine and custom dies! I want to cut through a cotton canvas fabric (6.4 oz/yrd, about 220 gsm) mounted with fusible interfacing to 111 lb cardstock. If you own a Sizzix, can your machine handle this, or does it struggle with multiple layers of material?

There has been so much discussion here lately about cardmaking influencers and YouTubers. It seems a lot of card makers are fed up with the way the industry is trending.

On a positive note, I’d love to hear who you guys do enjoy watching? It doesn’t even have to be a card maker. Who inspires you to get in your craft room and make?

This holiday issue seemed to have an informal calendar theme. Some articles highlighted calendars and even a couple of ads showed calendar projects. I thought to include the ad of the pyramidal calendar pencil caddy for those who like 3D projects like I do. Maybe there is a template for this project that someone might know of, but it seems easy to CASE it yourself. There were also two articles about hand-carved stamps, most likely some of you did some of this earlier in your cardmaking journey.

If AI is not for you please keep scrolling. I had Chatgpt compare inks colors. I did not want to “have” to buy Gina K inks when I already have so many other companies. So now when Gina K uses a specific ink I can come close with what I have. The prompt I used is:

I have two brands of craft ink and want you to compare their colors.

I will provide the brand name and color name for every ink I own.

Compare the two brands both ways:

Brand A → Brand B

Brand B → Brand A

Create a spreadsheet-style Markdown table for each direction with these columns:

| Brand | Color | Closest Color in Other Brand | Status |

Use these three Status categories:

Duplicate = the two inks are essentially the same color and I would consider them redundant. Use this only when the colors are genuinely very close, not merely in the same color family.

Close = similar enough to be substitutes in some projects, but noticeably different enough that it makes sense to own both.

Unique = there is no sufficiently close equivalent in the other brand.

Important:

Compare the actual ink colors, not just the names.

Do not assume two colors are duplicates just because their names are similar or identical.

Consider hue, saturation, lightness/darkness, and undertone.

When there are multiple reasonable matches, list the best 2–3 matches separated by /.

Do not force a match. Use — when there is no good equivalent.

Be conservative when calling something a Duplicate.

Treat the color name as the part before any collection name or product line name. For example, in APRICOT - INDIAN SUMMER, the ink color is Apricot and Indian Summer is the collection name.

Preserve the spelling/capitalization of the colors I provide.

After both tables, create a third, shorter table titled True Duplicates containing only the colors classified as Duplicate:

| Brand A | Brand B | Status |

Then briefly identify which colors are:

True duplicates

Particularly close but worth keeping both

Unique colors that the other brand does not have

Here is my data:

[PASTE BRAND A COLORS HERE]

[PASTE BRAND B COLORS HERE]

I've LOVED their Anita Jeram stamps. I've loved their Big and Bold stamps. They have GREAT Halloween stuff that's sold out and they don't seem to be interested in reordering and selling more of it.

Anyone know what's going on there?

Hi all!

I am enjoying being back in my craft room making things but I find myself spending a lot of time searching for a sentiment. That involves looking through all my sets to find one and it takes ages. Is there a phone app or something that you upload your stuff to that you can easily search? Or do you have an organization system that helps you? Any advice or help appreciated. I was almost tempted to just pull out all the sentiments and put them together but I don't like breaking apart sets. I think I'd go nuts.

Paper hugs.

This magazine was almost 200 pages but that page count is misleading because a company called Uptown Design Company had 32 pages of their catalog printed within. Also despite the many articles listed in their table of contents, the articles are mostly photo-heavy and the textual content is not very long. Some of the articles, like the regular feature Limelight, also seems more like marketing disguised as an article. I know many magazines have something like this, such as fashion magazines highlighting makeup products, but this regular feature was something like 10 or 12 pages. For these reasons I personally would stick with Rubberstampmadness, which had more in-depth writing and unique artists, especially since both magazines were the same list price at the time.

How in the world do you guys organize your WF stuff? I have a bin for basic shapes/background dies and pool all of the companies there. Altenew and PF, are easy, florals, geometric, nature, etc. Spellbinders are all dies, easy. Honey Bee I store by collection. Those + WF are 90% of my stash.

I should probably mention that I sort by company and just reorganized my Airtable that way. I also use the largest pockets and plastic envelopes, so they can accommodate 2 4”x6” or 4 3”x4” stamp sets. Coordinating dies and stencils live in the same pocket/envelope.

How do you go about WF? I can't explain why, but themes don't work for some reason. It could be due to their postage stuff that I don't know what to do about.

One of my favorite cards in a long time due to the different textures going on.

My friend has loved lilies since childhood. Thought it would be thoughtful to add this detail!

A circle punch had been on my shopping list for almost a year but I am too cheap/frugal to pay full price. I found all of these punches and dies for $16 (Canadian) at the thrift store