I'm trying not to spend as much money this coming new year and to use the supplies that I already have in stock. I was able to use up 3 whole bottles of ModPodge and quite a number of glue sticks... needless to say, I'm running out of glue. BUT before I attempt to buy anymore, I made one last effort to salvage what I could from the tubes.

You know what? That little bit of glue holed up in the green space here? I was able to make whole 3 tubes of glue from the leftovers from the tubes I used (about 10). That's a pretty big deal when you're scraping for glue- literally,

Don't forget to recycle your tubes!! At least the caps anyway! (:

My FAVORITE gluesticks EVER:
Scotch Permanent Glue Sticks
Scotch Permanent Glue Sticks
Scotch Permanent Glue Sticks

Most people won't ever find a need for this BUT if you do- its good to know.

When I was teaching I had a toner cartridge that the copier wouldn't recognize for some reason but it still had quite a bit of ink left it. It wasn't until recently that I found out a way to get it out with one of the thousand syringes we have at our house. I attached it to the end of the ink reservoir, turned the ink down, and pulled the ink from the barrel with the suction of the syringe. I filled up an old jar full of this gel ink and I barely made a dent in the cartridge. So I have lots of ink to play with!

I even squeezed some onto an old ink pad and it works great as a distress edger. I can stamp with it but the images come out a little blurred.

Most people love the sparkle and shine of glitter but HATE that it gets e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.... Nothing is safe from the spread of glitter. Glitter washi tape (some brands) is no different.

Any time your using glitter, have a dedicated paint brush and some floor wax (I pour mine in a smaller container) and put a clear coat or maybe 2 or 3 on top of your glitter project. This helps seal in the glitter and dries clear!

When you're doing on top of washi or anything adhesive, be careful not to put too much because it will make the adhesive come loose.

Now, this is not a 10000% full proof plan of banning glitter dust from your life but it does cut down on the spreading quite a bit.

I use Pledge FloorCare Finish. Get the smallest bottle you can find if this is all you will use it for- it will last you a very very long time!

I'm a cheap artsy thrifter and I love buying paint in bulk from thrift stores when I can- mostly from Habitat for Humanity. Your hardware store might have discarded paint samples too!

Silly me when I bought some paint a year or two back I didn't look at the kind of paint I was buying- I was only looking at the colors. I found this rich blue color that I would love to use for some painting projects but it turned out to be wood stain. 

I've learned to look more carefully since then but I've also learned to adapt to this kind of paint in my art journaling.

If you want a bold, but sheer look to your pages then you might like using wood stain. I put several (10+ layers) of paint on this page and you can still see through the paint to read the text. Even though it's not opaque, it's still very bright and very blue.

Plus, the finish on this is super smooth!