I’ve been a good girl…

For the most part, I’ve been a good girl and haven’t spent lots of money on things I didn’t need in the past few weeks, which is awesome. So I decided it was time to get a few things and then wait a bit for my next purchase.

When I heard (via an online board) that Tuesday Morning had AC Modern albums for just under $7, I admit that I was interested. Keenly interested. I’ve been wanting to try them for a while, but I’ve never used the d-ring (like a school binder) before in scrapping. I could have made a special trip to an area about ½ hour south of where I live, but then I found out that there was one less than 10 miles away from where I work—then I could stop in a suburb and pick up some more crafty stuff on my way home and save time and gas.

I called Tuesday Morning and they held all of the albums. A neon green, a blue and a pink. I walked around the store and saw a few good deals, as well as a red album, but decided that I didn’t need anything else. If you’ve never seen the albums, check out here:



Though I had my heart set on a black one, but they only had a few of the colors. Plus, the great thing about these albums is that they are fully customizable. What could I use it for? My Disney album! I’ve had this huge Disney project in my head for a while. It features pictures and memorabilia from my last few Disney trips, but I want to clear room so that if I can, I can add pictures from when I was younger as well as future trips and things.

From there, I took the ‘country way’ (a state route) to Fairlawn and decided to use an Archiver’s coupon I had. I was able to pick up some BG porcelain paper (which I have fallen in love with), some envelopes (I bought A7 because I didn’t see A6, so I’ll be making bigger cards) at 40% off with my coupon, some Cosmo Cricket robot rubons for the layout from last year’s comicon (yes, I go places and talk about comic books with other adults) that were 75% off and some of this paper:



Yes, it coordinates with the pink fabric on the album!!! Yay! So I measured everything and realized that I had to cut the paper because the album covers were just a hair longer than the paper's 12 inches. Eeep! Not to worry though, I looked in my Cricut Mickey Font book and found out that my cart can do the Disney logo and it’s SHADOW! So the problem is solved. I’ll cut out the script and shadow big enough to hide the cut. Yay! Problem solved!!!!

I wanted to get the Spring MM mini paper pack, but it was out of stock? That’s okay though. I got other, cooler stuff.

So once I was done at Archiver’s, I pulled out my Joanne’s coupon and went over to Michael’s because I remembered they have Prismas and they accept competitor coupons. I ended up walking around a lot of the store and found a few things, but nothing I couldn’t live without. Pat Catan’s has a much better selection of pencil colors and even though they don’t accept coupons, they’re prices are a little bit cheaper, so if I can’t hold out on buying some Prismas, I’ll hit Pat Catan’s this weekend for the pencils and the stubs. I was tempted to use my coupon on a set of two blender pencils, but decided not. So I ended up walking out with nothing (though there were some FABULOUS borders from MM—pink and silver and black--have no idea what they were called but they were really cute, IMO).

Then I hit Joann’s. Armed with my coupon I had no idea what I was going to get. Saw my Wilton cake instructor and ended up chatting with her for a while. There’s more to the story, but that will have to wait for another day. Then I walked around for a while. Didn’t really see much, but helped someone in true Fiskateer fashion—a girl was looking for a trimmer and I showed her the Crop, Paper Scissors still on clearance for under $25. Then I remembered that my cricut mats were all messed up and decided to get some re-stick stuff.

Luckily, I accessed the internet on my phone and found the name of the adhesive that seems to work for everyone (the mat that came with my machine seemed not to stick almost right out of the box). Here’s that picture:



I found out you have to wipe and clean the mat off with a baby wipe, wait overnight, then wash it in hot, soapy water, then dry it and wait overnight and then add this glue onto the mat and let it sit overnight. I must say that cleaning the mat with a baby wipe did wonders all by itself! I started wiping it down just before ER started and by the time it was over, the mat was sticky again—no additional steps needed!

I let it dry overnight and I’m going to see how it is tonight when I get home. I really love my cricut, but at the same time I’ve got 3 mats now and I really don’t want to have to buy any more at this point. If I can get all 3 in workable condition, then I can replace them in the next six months or even a year with rotation. They’re not terribly expensive, but there are so many other, pretty things out there to buy. You know?

Then I ran to the library. Picked up Edgar Sawtelle and some episodes of Season 1 of Bones and Brothers & Sisters (which I’m watching a lot of) and the new book by Maureen McCormick. Then I went home and cleaned my mat with the baby wipe and used the glue on the album. This morning, I checked it and everything looked sturdy, with no air bubbles. Will be using my craft knife to trim the edges, then adding a layer of mod podge to seal and protect the edges. Once that dries, I’ll add the diecut Disney signature, add another sort of protection and then I’ll have to post the final product.

The BF took my camera to Vegas, so I don’t have a photo-camera. I do, however have the webcam, so look for an update soon. Will be adding more stuff to the candy, showing off a minibook (with additional directions to follow) AND a review of a great company I’ve just been able to see up close and in person—and it’s an Ohio company. Yay!

Thanks for checking out GothamGal.net today. It is greatly appreciated! Keep on Crafting!