Some old, some new...my go-to products...

Here are a few of my favorite products that I am currently using...

My favorite tool I own is still my DYMO Label Buddy label maker.  I often use these labels on my layouts for titles or even to add journaling.  I love the embossed, block lettering {love the process of winding the little wheel around}. I’ve had mine for so long, it got me thinking maybe I should pick up a spare in case it ever breaks, not sure if they plan on making these forever, but I hope they do!  I mainly use black tape but sometimes blue works too.
 

7gypsies has been around for some time, and I still love the nostalgic look of their products.  These 97% Complete stickers I’ve probably had in my stash for about 8 years or so?!  And there’s still so many themes and pieces remaining to pick from.  I like them because they are flat enough to be flat when you need it, yet they have a little cardstock-like sturdiness to them if you want to pop them up or add them to enhance another embellishment.  They include versatile phrases, song lyrics, famous quotes & tabs.

I love these black & kraft photo corners from Recollections (you can get at Michaels). Photo corners may be a little outdated as actual adhesive, but I use them now for aesthetic reasons.  I was primarily using black for the longest time, but recently found the kraft which I wanna try in my kraft artist book (fancy pants).  Sometime I use them on all four corners, sometimes just one or two or combined with rounding corners.  I like the finished look & it gives a vintage feel too, almost inspired by the filters of Instagram.

Using a pencil eraser to stamp dots was a technique I learned in a Quick Quotes class at CKC years ago, and I still love the look of these polka dots.  With a sturdy pencil eraser you get a nice sized dot, as well as a faded look because the ink kind of pools wherever.  It works especially well for a lot of my “boy” pages when I just need a little embellishing.  

I’ve tried dozens of types of ink and ink companies over the years, but for scrapbooking and edging purposes, I still like chalk inks.  I tend to grab for the Quick Quotes Powder Puffs or ColorBox Cat Eyes most.  Quick Quotes colors are a little more muted to me and sort of rustic, giving that vintage feel.  Cat Eyes seem to do better for bolder accenting.  

I’ve always loved staples on layouts, and discovering Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher has been an absolute delight.  The mini staples, which measure a quarter of an inch (0.25"), are much more appealing on pages and embellishments.  Again with my “boy” pages, I tend to reach for metals and rougher things to embellish with, even though I love adding ribbon and flowers.  When you use a staple to attach those  “girlier” embellishments it seems to work!  One of my go-to enhancements are these ribbon “V’s” as I like to call them, and they are perfect for corners or page edges.

On this layout a Label Buddy title was added, along with 1 photo corner combined with rounded corners.  And the Tiny Attacher was used to add ribbon V's.