OOPS!

OOPS! My bad!

Apparantly there was a little bit of a conundrum with an image I had used. It is NEVER my intent to infringe on anyones angel policy. I got a little excited to play with my machine and should have read the angel policy more thoroughly.

I have since read the angel policies and all is right in the world again. Please accept my apologies and know that I ALWAYS support our artists!

LEARNING CURVE AHEAD

So I received my 5th Generation Hobby Laser from Full Spectrum Laser on April 24th.  I was sooooooooo excited to get it set up and going however I have run into a few bumps along the way!

For those of you who may be pondering whether or not to buy one hopefully some of this information will be helpful to you.

I carefully took my laser out of the box and was boggled by some of the items however with a little bit of help from the men in my life I was able to figure out how to set it up.  You will however need to purchase a few things to get the system set up.

• Dryer Vent - I purchased 8ft for under $10.

• 4 Dryer Vent hose clips or duct tape - I prefer the clips however duct tape will work in a pinch.  Purchased for a couple of bucks.

• 3-5 gallon pail with lid - 5 gallon is better however the only one available in the store I was at was a 3 gallon pail.  Paid under $5.

• 3 gallons of Distilled water - purchased at WalMart for $2.30/jug

• 1 piece of wood with a 4 inch circle cut out and cut to fit your window - I got this for free as my stepfather does woodworking .

• Fire Extinguisher - this is a VERY important component to have on hand.  I purchased a simple fire extinguisher from WalMart for $30 however a C02 fire extinguisher would be better as it would cause less of a mess in the event you had to use it.  I was quoted around $260 for a 5lb C02 fire extinguisher.

 Here are a few pictures of it all set up.  You will see I have my air compressor and exhaust fan sitting on something black.  That is a Ucool notebook pad I picked up for $14.  This stops my exhaust and compressor from buzzing around all over my desk.  Alternatively there are screw holes that you could use to secure them in place but I really didn't want to do this to my desk.

So my next obstacle was getting it hooked up to my computer.  IMPORTANT: Check to ensure you have the required amount of RAM and a proper operating system.

My computer is now 4 years old (which is like 150 in human years) and did not have enough RAM to run the machine.  I had to make a quick trip into the city and purchase a new computer as upgrading my old computer was a no go (believe me....I tried).  Make sure you have a minimum of....

• 6GB of RAM

• 64 bit operating system

A new laptop cost me $500 and a very unhappy husband as he just doesn't get the whole technology thing and can't understand why I would need to upgrade as my computer wasn't really that old!  Roll my eyes!

Now my most recent obstacle......ENGRAVING!!!!!

Learning the program and the different settings to achieve different engraving effects has been a little frustrating and exciting.  It's great when something turns out nice and I have to grit my teeth when it turns out like crap!

My main purpose for this machine was to make rubber stamps for the craft market.  After many failed attempts I wrote to Full Spectrum Laser to ask why I couldn't achieve the engraving depth I wanted.  Within about 3 hours they wrote back with an answer!  AWESOME service Full Spectrum!!!!

I have now achieved the depth I need however the stamps I make often have fine lines in them so the next thing I need is the 1.5" focus lens to achieve these lines.

Yes, that means spending another $250 + shipping and another frown from my husband.  My theory has always been..."If I'm going to get in trouble it might as well be worth it" LOL

Here is a cute little chicken I found on a Vector site.  As you can see I have to work on my placement techniques as he is a little off center.  I believe I set the speed to 60% and Power to 100% However I made this in about 5 - 10 minutes so I might have used different settings.

TIP: One of the first things you should do as soon as you connect your laser to your computer is to HOME it otherwise it will pause or even stop engraving all together.  All you have to do is press the 3rd button in that has the picture of a house on it and it will home the laser.

Purchasing My Laser Engraver

I researched A LOT of different companies, price compared, quality checked and read reviews before deciding to purchase my 5th Generation Hobby Laser from Full Spectrum Laser.

I did find some mixed reviews about their customer service.  I know from a business owners point of view that more people are willing to take the time to complain about a company than they are to write good reviews.  Just human nature I guess?

My experience so far has been good.  I wrote to them quite a few months ago explaining I was thinking about purchasing a laser engraver but that I had not yet made up my mind and even if I had, I would not be purchasing one for quite awhile.  They were very quick to respond to all of my emails and answer all of my questions (I had a lot of questions).  I probably emailed them at least a half a dozen times.  This alone impressed me.

I finally committed to the purchase and they clearly explained to me that there was a wait time of approximately 4 weeks before my machine would ship.  I accepted the terms and have been patiently waiting.  I ordered my machine on March 15th and was given an email on April 15th that my order had shipped and they supplied me with my tracking numbers.  They were a few days ahead of schedule.

I am now patiently tracking my order in the mail waiting on its arrival.  They say delivery should be on Monday but we know how that works.  Keep your fingers crossed.

I will post again when it arrives!  Here is a picture of what my machine looks like.

Adventures In Laser Engraving

So about a couple of months ago my partner and I made the tough decision to close down our clear stamp company Totally Stampalicious!  We did this mainly due to manufacturing difficulties.  Our manufacturer changed locations and to make a long story short we were in almost a year long battle to get our order to us and to get it done correctly.

Why didn't we switch manufacturers?  Well, this is a good question that I am sure you are all wondering about.  Switching is not as easy as it seems.  All manufacturers have different specifications when it comes to making stamps.  If we switched manufacturers we would no longer be able to produce our old stamp sets and we would have to rely on building our line again with only new versions.  Simply put.....it was much easier for us to call it a day!

Although we decided to close we absolutely LOVE the creative process of making stamps.  So I began doing my research on how we could continue to make stamps even just for our own personal use.  

There are clear stamp makers and there are traditional red/gray rubber stamp makers available to purchase.  One of the biggest concerns is cost $$$$$$$$.  After many hours of research I decided to go with laser engraving.  The machines are extremely expensive to purchase however the ease of changing your design and only needing the digital negative vs a printed or metal plate negative, made this the most appealing machine.

One of my hopes with this machine is to begin making custom sheets of rubber stamps for the average Joe customer.  So many times during my Totally Stampalicious days I was asked if I could make stamps for people.  On a big scale manufacturing basis it is just not financially feasable to do this for individuals.  With a laser engraver I will be able to make sheets of stamps at an affordable price for anyone looking for something custom made.

I will be using grey rubber with my machine.  I will not be offering the custom stamp services until I have perfected my stamp making technique.  I have always been about the highest quality product and I will never compromise that.  I will however send out a mass email when I am ready to offer my services.

Some of you may not know this but I am a major Techno Geek (so my husband calls me) and love playing with any sort of technology I can get my hands on, so trying a laser engraver is just another Techno Geek moment of mine.

One of the issues I am having with this new laser engraver is finding detailed enough info about it.  Even the website that I purchased it from is missing some of the information that I need.  I am hoping by posting about my Laser Engraving adventures I can show all you crazy stampers how the process is done and maybe help out the next Techno Geek looking to purchase a laser engraver.

My laser engraver is en-route to me as we speak.  I will try to detail as much information as possible but if I miss anything just leave me a comment and I will be sure to try and answer your questions as best as possible.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kraftin Kimmie Clean and Simple

So one of my FAVE companies is having a Clean and Simple challenge!  I LOVE these challenges because it forces me not to over think my creations.

Since I have been working very hard lately to clear up my schedule to afford more crafting time, I figured I would treat myself to a challenge.  I have bought a LOT of stamps that have yet to see ink because my schedule was soooooooo busy!  I am sure you can all relate.

For my card I used this KK girl named LANA and I added some red to Jazz things up!  Love these sassy girls that Kraftin' Kimmie makes as they are so much fun to color with my Copics.  

Of course I love playing with glitter and this girl was just SCREAMING to be glittered!

Thanks for taking the time to stop in and peek at my creation.  If you want to join the challenge head on over to the KRAFTIN' KIMMIE BLOG!

KK-Princess Petunia

So now that I have FINALLY gotten my craft room organized, finished some homework and decided to leave the house a mess, I had some time to make a card!!!!  Shocking I know (giggle)!

I used this beautiful little princess from Kraftin' Kimmie called Princess Petunia.  I colored this image quite some time ago with my Copics so I am not sure what colors I used.  

I used whisper white cs, pixie pink cs, Stampin Up's new edge die and co-ordinating paper piercer and edge embosser.  I popped everything up on dimensionals and didn't want to over crowd the image so I didn't bother to add any embellishments.

Thanks for popping in and I hope you have a Stampalicious Day!

BLOG HOP TIME!

Welcome to our Blog Hop and Release!

We have four new FABULOUS and FUN stamp sets for you to choose from and the best part is we are having an inventory BLOWOUT sale and thought it only fair we offer all of our stamp sets, including the four new ones, at a fabulously low price of only$5!!!!!

As always with our hop we are giving away PRIZES!!!

1st Prize - ALL FOUR NEW SETS

2nd Prize - $15 Gift Certificate

3rd Prize - $5 Gift Certificate

You should have come from Joanne however, should you be lost I will post the entire line-up at the end of this post.

For my project I used our new SUPER DOTTIE stamp set drawn by our fabulous artist Jodie Mackrell of Bugaboo Digi Stamps!

I recently purchased a whole whack of new nesties and had to play with them on this card.  I glittered up my whole house, colored my image with copics and popped everything up with a ton of dimensionals!!!

 

Thanks for stopping in!

 

Now you need to head on over to the ever so talented Joycelyn

 

Here is the entire line-up

 

Totally Stampalicious

Laurie

Angel

Leanne
Lori

Kendra

Joanne

Becky

Joycelyn
Sue