The Materials I Use

Amanda Here. I would like to start off by making a small announcement. I have finally decided that Wednesdays will be our blog update day. You can now expect a new entry every week, every Wednesday! This is something I really should have done a long time ago. I'm sorry it took us so long to get our act together.

This doesn't mean we will ONLY update once a week. There will be occasional bonus posts, but you can expect one post every Wednesday at the very least.

We're currently in the middle of a big push to get the shop cleaned up and full of new merchandise. Our next big project is designing our business cards. After we all have a nice stash of business cards ready, we're going to be tackling advertising in a big, new way. I'm very excited for it. So, hopefully you'll be seeing lots of little changes around here, and things should start running more smoothly! Starting with weekly blog updates.

Since I don't have any big projects going at the moment, I thought I'd take this week to give you a sort of walking tour of some of the materials I use on a regular basis. First is a new product that I'm very excited about: Padding Compound.

Padding compound is painted on the top of a stack of paper, then allowed to dry. It turns into the rubbery top of the notepad. It's strong and durable, but the individual pages can tear away easily. It can also be used for bookbinding. You just paint it on the spine of the signatures, then apply a piece of cheese cloth between the layers for extra strength.

I have only just recently started using Padding Compound, so I can't provide any product reviews yet. Lithco seemed to be a common brand when I was shopping around. So far, I'm still getting my bearings. I'll let you know how things are going when I've had some more experience with it.

Something I've been using for a number of years, however, are my Speedball linoleum cutters.

I actually have two. The one pictured has 'safety blades' that curl back in on themselves to prevent injury. The other set (which are MIA at the moment) are straight. It's easier on your wrists, but there is a potential for accidents to happen.

Speedball is sort of the standard brand for linoleum-related crafts. I buy my cutters, ink, ink rollers and linoleum from them. I've been keeping my eye on other fancy tools sold by Speedball. The issue is that most of the tools that aid in the printing process are large compared to the size of prints I make. My prints are mainly small and decorative, so I do all my printing by hand. It's easier to handle the prints that way, and it leaves less margin for error.

And then there's knitting! My grandmother gave up knitting a few years ago, because her artheritis was really starting to bother her. She sent me up to her craft room with a plastic bag, and I came back with a whole mess of knitting needles:

Some of them are from Indonesia, some from Canada, and some I bought myself here in Michigan. So, that needle sizer is a necessity, not a luxury.

The collection is sort of haphazard. My grandma didn't keep them very organized. But they do the trick. I just have to make sure and compulsively size my needles before starting any new project. It is nice to have variety, though. I certainly thank my grandma for my ability to knit diverse patterns, without running back to the craft store constantly!

That's all I've got for this week. You can look forward to a post from Val next Wednesday!