Category: Videos

Media Mats: An overview

Moving through 2025 I want to provide more informational content. Starting off the year I want to take a look at Media Mats. I’m starting here since you will see me use inks, paints and sprays on my projects on a regular basis. You will also see the various mats I use to keep my space clean, make cleanup easier and help me get the job done faster.

I created a video explaining many things on these mats. However that video is now fixed and can’t be changed. In fact I have now thought of one idea I missed already! Here I have the opportunity to update and correct information based on feedback!

Let’s start with that video. I’ll move on to a chart that you can download for free. Finally I’ll share many details of each mat category and the various qualities.

Media Mat chart

Download this pdf chart.

Latest update: February 2, 2025

More Details

Paper Mats

From scratch paper to specialty mats you can purchase. Paper sheets are a cheap and disposable way to make cleanup easier. Larger mats with grids can be purchased and the grids are very useful

★ Best uses: ink blending; catching messy mediums to throw away

Pros

  • Free or cheap
  • Readily available
  • Disposable so no further cleaning is needed.

Cons

  • Creates a lot of trash
  • Can’t handle very wet mediums

Laminated Paper Mats

The provide many of the same qualities as glass mats at a fraction of the cost. However, getting larger sizes requires going to an office store. Sizes around 13in x13in are available for home use. Consider a machine like the Minc which can be used both for craft techniques and for medium-size lamination.

★ Best uses: any mediums; smaller projects

Pros

  • Can be very inexpensive if you have a machine.
  • Machines have other uses such as storage dividers, preserving memorabilia, die cutting shims, toner foiling, etc.

Cons

  • Need a machine or access to an office supply store to make one for you.
  • Not heat stable

Splat Boxes

Free when you repurpose a shipping box or pizza box.

★ Best uses: sprays and spatters

Pros

  • No cleaning
  • Good for sprays and splatters
  • Free if you reuse a box!

Cons

  • Needs to dry in between uses (or line with disposables such as paper towels)
  • Bulky to store
  • Not for most mediums

The Craft Mat

One of the original craft surfaces produced by Ranger with Tim Holtz. The original brown color lacked the ability to see the true color of mediums. A newer white version solves that.

★ Best uses: All mediums, smaller projects

Pros

  • Reduces media waste (scrape it up and put it back in the jar)
  • Slick surface is easy to clean. Plus it is easy to take to the sink for deeper cleaning.
  • Great for paints & pastes
  • Lightest weight
  • Heat resistant (but thin!)
  • Low cost
  • Can have multiple on hand
  • Cuttable to have multiple smaller mats

Cons

  • Creases & cracks (store rolled up)
  • Not big enough for scrapbook layouts
  • Hard to tape things down to it due to it’s slick surface.
  • Slips and slides around with movement like ink blending. Difficult to tape still due to that slick surface.

Silicone Mats

Likely originating in the kitchen industry. In my opinion, the most overrated of the bunch. Has a slightly grippy surface, but not grippy enough to keep things from slipping. Easy to take to the sink for cleaning.

★ Best uses: keep ink pads still when ink blending

Pros

  • Repurpose from kitchen baking mats
  • Affordable
  • Cuttable to have multiple smaller mats
  • Most mediums (except alcohol inks)
  • Can work as a palette also
  • Other uses: ink pad grips
  • Good heat resistance for drying projects with a heat tool, or to protect surfaces while heat embossing.

Cons

  • Not as grippy as marketed
  • Picks up lint, dust, pet hair VERY easily and hard to clean that off. Store it inside a bag to keep it clean.
  • Due to lint, often needs a hose down in the sink.

Photopolymer Mats

One of the most expensive options “per square inch” and limited uses. However, it is very good at what it does!

★ Best uses: ink blending & stenciling

Pros

  • Most grippy
  • Long lasting
  • Fairly easy to clean.
  • Now come in versions that offer stamps on one side and the grip mat property on the other.

Cons

  • Expensive for its size
  • Larger sizes not available (ie 12×12)
  • Can’t use alcohol products (Sharpies included)
  • Stains over time
  • Picks up lint & dust VERY easily. Must clean often to maintain grip.
  • Can’t handle heat or cutting.

Sticky Mats

Slightly better at hold power than photopolymer mats, but not nearly as long lasting. The sticky adhesive wears out over time. There may be ways to reapply adhesive but this requires some special products.

★ Best uses: ink blending & stenciling

Pros

  • Holds things in place well
  • Easy to find
  • Fairly inexpensive
  • Can repurpose other things like older Cricut mats
  • Cuttable to have multiple smaller mats
  • Can be large enough for scrapbook pages

Cons

  • Sticky wears out quicker than you might think
  • The mat itself can slide around. Can tape it down. (DON’T add tape to sticky zone.)
  • Not great for pastes. (However, can mask off exposed sticky to use pastes anyway.)
  • Must be wiped with a lint free cloth like a chamois.
  • Store with plastic cover (usually included) to prevent collecting dust & lint.

Self-Healing Mats

Originally from the sewing industry for rotary cutters. Great size options. Decent price. Good for many mediums. Plus the added bonus of being able to use it as a light-duty cutting surface.

★ Best uses: general table protection

Pros

  • Lots of size options
  • Self healing (craft knives okay!)
  • Helpful grids
  • Light-ish weight
  • General craft store availability (can also check sewing department for other brands)
  • Heat resistant (not proof)
  • Mid-range price
  • Can be cut down to multiple other sizes.

Cons

  • Not as smooth as glass (cleaning pastes is harder)
  • Can gouge if cutting on it
  • Few color options
  • May cloud with alcohol cleaners and inks (but not too bad)
  • Can stain depending on mat color

Glass Mats

My favorite of the bunch with one big downside as a YouTuber: it reflects lighting very easily. This is the heaviest of the bunch so best to set it and forget it.

★ Best uses: all mediums, cutting

Pros

  • Reduces media waste (scrape it up and put it back in the jar)
  • Long lasting
  • Most have grids
  • Knife resistant (check brand first, surface grid printing can interfere)
  • Can be pretty
  • Can have magnetic properties
  • Very smooth for easy cleanup
  • Heat resistant for heat embossing.
  • No staining

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Heavy
  • Can break if dropped. Best left in place
  • Glare if filming
  • Some adhesives need alcohol to remove.
  • Due to it’s thickness, creates a lip on your work surface that can be irritating.

CKC Kit Build, February ’25

I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).

Welcome to a new month of kit building. I have the duty of hosting our kit inspiration this month. I’m excited about the kit I picked. It has some elements I love and some looks that push me a bit. Perfect! Before I talk more about that I want to welcome Sheryle Thomas as our guest designer this month. She is a retired nurse and loves to tell stories of her lovely cats. That has my heart for sure! Sheryle is sharing all her work over on our Facebook group so be sure to leave her some love over there.

So let’s move on with our kit. I chose the May ’24 kit from Kitaholics Kits in Australia. Sadly after choosing this kit, it has vanished from the website. Luckily I saved some kit photos before that happened, so we are good to go with our inspiration. Here are a few looks at what we have in store this time around.

Screenshot

Be sure to take a closer look at the Cedar House papers by American Crafts in this kit. Many of them have gold foiling. I did not realize that at first! I was drawn to the kit for the earthy vibe that reminded me of a cabin in the woods. Yet some of the embellishments are just the opposite, with young energy popping off the page. However, there are more of those nature vibe embellishments also. Finally, while I adore woodgrains I don’t often stick to monochromatic scrapping, so that is another challenging part of this kit for me.

With all that in mind, these are the papers I came up with. I did pour over both the A and B sides of the inspiration and made one-to-tone choices when I could. There are some interpretive substitutions but I am super happy with my kit.

Now remember when I said monochromatic scrapping is hard for me? This is where my kit building started ballooning into a massive kit. We’ll get to all the extras I ended up adding but let’s start with the extra pattern papers. I wanted more color so I took that striped paper in the photo above as a jumping off point to bring in more color. Not only more color, but also more gold foiling. The three papers on the right end do just that. Plus it doesn’t hurt to add hearts to a February kit, right?

Let’s take a look at the base embellishments next. I’ve got a little bit of everything from the inspiration in here, from the kid energy to the nature vide.

The inspiration also included some mixed media elements. I stuck really closely to the inspo color palette. I did choose a lot of extras in the stamp category in the woodland animal theme.

I didn’t stop there. I needed more stuff in my kit, including tons of embellishments along the nature/outdoor theme. I have all of the Simple Stories Trail Mix line, some 49th and Market, plus a bit of Jen Hadfield with gold foiling.

Okay, one more thing and then I am done. I adored the burlap ribbons in the inspiration kit. Not many kits include those details these days, so that is very much one thing that drew me to choose this inspiration. With that I added lots of texture in the form of trims, burlap paper and corrugated cardboard papers. I’m looking forward to using up these old stash items.

Whew! Now that we have seen everything, there is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits. So I’m calling mine…

Cabin Adventures

If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video.

I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.

Here’s the full hop link list

Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.

I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries where I’ll be adding even more to this kit. Until then, have an artful day!

Mystery Box Makes, Jan ’25

Hello, hello! I am excited continue to share this series into 2025. I did this series back in 2020 and revived it in 2023. I have a mystery box of crafting supplies from Simon Says Stamps. As I dive in I never know what I’ll be using to create! New for 2025, join me LIVE on my YouTube channel each time I make.
So, what is Mystery Box Monday? It is just a silly game and creativity stretcher! I have a “grab-bag” style box of supplies that I purchased online as part of a store clearance sale back in Nov ’24. Since the box is a grab-bag, that means all the supplies in the box are a mystery. The box comes at a steep price reduction because the supplies are unknown. Who doesn’t like a good deal and a fun mystery?
I’m going to reach into this box and pull out three items. Much like that cooking show with the mystery basket ingredients, I have to put those items to use on one crafty project. Will these ingredients work together? Or will it be a recipe for disaster? Let’s find out…

This month was only the second time I’ve gone live EVER! I thought I was feeling pretty calm, but my nerves did get to me just a bit as I forgot to add some of the pieces I made to the final project. But, let’s start at the beginning…

Stencil Alphabet
Alcohol Marker
Gift Bag

Here are the items that were pulled from the box… A set of chipboard alphabet “stencils”, a tri-blend alcohol marker and a snowman zipper top bag. With the final item as a little gift bag, the project sort of decided itself. I would just need to jazz up this little bag with the other items. I started with the idea of giving this snowman a scarf colored with the marker and add some special touches with twine and some bling. As I searched for twine I came across some ribbon that would fill in for the scarf beautifully. I also stenciled some little “tags” with M and C for Merry Christmas. The final touch was to stencil the number 25 on the plastic itself.

During the video I forgot to add the M and C tags to the scarf. Here you can see the final intended look.

If you want to see the process, go ahead and check out the video.

So that is it this time around. I hope you join me for future Mystery Box Makes goodness. Until next time, I hope you have an artful day.

Forgeries on the Fourth (aka FOF), January ’24

As a design team member over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge group I play along with as many of our monthly inspiration challenges as I can. The Forgery on the Fourth project is definitely one I enjoy! That is where we see a scrap product we like and set out to recreate it with supplies we already own. So let’s go ahead and dive in to what I have for you this month.

Since we always start our forgery projects with inspiration, here is the image we are working with this month. It is the September 2024 kit from Hip Kit Club.

It is really hard to see into all those tiny embellishments. Here are the best grabs of images that I could manage.

Here is what I ended up making. These makes were not special or complicated, but in my makes video I explain some crafting ideas behind them. For instance I talk about the advantages of alcohol based markers. I also create several things using circle punches while explaining how to see shapes differently.

You can hear all my thoughts, plus some bonus makes in my video. Remember that coffee press icon up above. I tell you how I found a similar item from

For more creative ideas, the CKC blog has more forgery examples to check out. I hope this gave you some ideas on how you can recreate your favorite products with supplies you already have on hand. Don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.

Until next time, have an artful day.

CKC Kit Build, January ’25

I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).

Happy New Year everyone. January is always a big shift for me as I move from largely die cutting and card making back into scrapbooking. I often feel a bit rusty switching gears again. I’ll shake off that feeling and get right back to it. So… Welcome to a new month of kit building. Christine is our hostess this time. She chose the September 2024 kit from Hip Kit Club to inspire us. Before we dive into the details of this kit, let’s give a warm welcome to our guest designer this month. Jennifer Cain. You can find her on Instagram and on YouTube.

So let’s move on with our kit. Here are a few looks at what we have in store this time around.

It is a bit hard to get a closer look at all these goodies so you’ll have to trust me when I say I saw something sepcific that caught my attention, LOL.

For the papers, I only used items that sparked some interest for me. There was no specific reasons I included some papers and not others. The funniest thing about building out my papers was that I completely forgot I had this split-heart print in my stash. It was such a fun match to the inspo! Some other paper choices were more on the interpretive side, but that is how I roll.

For the embellishments I was super inspired by small little images in the kit pack. That lead me to pulling a lot of die sets and stamps sets to mimic those images. From roller coasters, to owls, to shoes, I packed in a bunch of little imagery. It’ll be a month of making embellies for each layout! Yet, I still do have my FOF (aka Forgeries on the Fourth) project coming, so perhaps I can get some work in ahead of time to pre-make some elelements.

Hope you will come back on the fourth to see what I made ahead and what I left to do in real time!

Before we go, there is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. So I’m calling mine…

Sky High

… in honor of the stars and rollercoasters and hot air ballon images.

If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video. (This will go live 6am PST. To keep our team coordinated, our blog posts go live at midnight EST.)

I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.

Here’s the full hop link list

Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.

I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries. Until then, have an artful day!

Spellbinders Advent Day 22-24

Join me all month of advent as I open each day of the Spellbinders Crafty Advent Calendar. Some days I will create a project and some days I’ll just show off the goodies. No matter what, I know I will use each and every product at least once this month. So much fun awaits!

If you missed previous days, be sure to go back and see the first seven days as well as days 8-14. If after seeing all the goodness you’d like to grab one of these calendars, they are on discount right now (as of 12/11/24) over at ACherryOnTop.com**. For now, let’s dive into the next section of fun.

Day 22: Pink Sequins

Day 23: Floating Cat

Oh my goodness! This cat is so dang cute. If you remember back on the 6th we got a very cutesy bee that I said was not my style? Yet today I’m in love with cute? I think the difference is that while the bee is big-eyed and anthropomorphized, this cat is more cat-representative and in a silly situation. So, yeah, cute vs cutesy is a thing for me.

Now, my daughter said the cat should be in a box. Thus, I made it so! (I wonder how many people will get cats as Christmas gifts this year??) At any rate, the box was easy to make. I cut two squares of the same size. One became the box base. The other I trimmed at an angle on the two sides, and I trimmed off a bit of the bottom. This creates perspective for the front box flap. I glued it flat down at the top and popped up the bottom edge with some foam squares for dimension. The two side flaps were simply slivers of cardstock. A bit more ink shading where things over lapped and voila, box!

Day 24: Luggage set

What a fun die set! You know I had to do a bit extra for this one. The still photos do not say it all. You really have to watch the video to get the whole experience!

Day 25: Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

To see the rest of this series, visit these pages.
Days: 1-7
Days 8-14
Days 15-21
Days 22-24 (you are here)

** I use affiliate links when possible. When you shop using my links I earn a very small commission at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work in this small way!

Spellbinders Advent Day 15-21

Join me all month of advent as I open each day of the Spellbinders Crafty Advent Calendar. Some days I will create a project and some days I’ll just show off the goodies. No matter what, I know I will use each and every product at least once this month. So much fun awaits!

If you missed previous days, be sure to go back and see the first seven days as well as days 8-14. If after seeing all the goodness you’d like to grab one of these calendars, they are on discount right now (as of 12/11/24) over at ACherryOnTop.com**. For now, let’s dive into the next section of fun.

Day 15: Embossing Folder

Day 16: Sentiment Die Set

Day 17: Nested ticket/postage edged die set

I had way too much fun with this nested set. I was supposed to keep the day’s project simple. But. Nope. I had to make all the things.

Day 18: Sequins

You know I had to do it at some point. Today I made a shaker! And a bonus card too for other sequin ideas.

Day 19: Sentiment Stamp Set

I was rushed for time today. So my exposure is bad on my filming (and still image capture!) But I did make really good use of many leftover bits that I have been saving throughout the series. I cut a new tag and did some ink blending. Besides that and the stamping, everything else was done.

Day 20: Random Dots Stencil

Day 21: Popsicle

I admit that some of the included pieces kind of puzzled me. In fact, they felt like a puzzle as I was trying to layer them all together. I think in the end there are options, LOL.

To see the rest of this series, visit these pages.
Days: 1-7
Days 8-14 (you are here)
Days 15-21
Days 22-24

** I use affiliate links when possible. When you shop using my links I earn a very small commission at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work in this small way!

Spellbinders advent is back! Recap Day 1-7

Days 1-7

Join me all month of advent as I open each day of the Spellbinders Crafty Advent. Some days I will create a project and some days I’ll just show off the goodies. No matter what, I know I will use each and every product at least once this month. So much fun awaits!

Here I will collect each week of the project and post pictures and videos to share the fun and inspiration. If after seeing all the goodness you’d like to grab one of these calendars, they are on discount right now (as of 12/11/24) over at ACherryOnTop.com**.

Day 1: A Hot Air Balloon

Day 2: Floral Stamp

Day 3: Flower Set

Day 4: Sentiment Banners

Day 5: Doodled Borders

I’ll admit I’m not sure how much use this little squiggle die set. But I had fun with it today and that is what matters right now. 😊

Day 6: Honey Bee

If you’ve followed me for a while, you probably know that cutesy is not my style. I’m super excited about this bee. I’m sure plenty of people are though! At any rate I made use of the bee but he’ll likely sit unused after this. That is okay. I’m still loving my Advent Calendar!

Day 7: Floral Stencil

No time for a project today. But I got a quick video in and gave info on what I’m doing with all these tags that I am making during this series. Stay tuned for that blog post coming very soon.

By day 10 I was able to finally do a makeup project for day 7. I actually made something Christmas themed!

To see the rest of this series, visit these pages.
Days: 1-7 (you are here)
Days 8-14
Days 15-21
Days 22-24

** I use affiliate links when possible. When you shop using my links I earn a very small commission at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work in this small way!

CKC Kit Build, November ’24

I love kit building and that is why I am on the design team for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge project. We take an inspiration kit each month and proceed to replicate it, or as we say, counterfeit it. This is a free, friendly group that helps inspire you to use up supplies you already own. We are not about needing to buy the latest and greatest thing (though we won’t stop you if you enjoy new crafty goodies😉 ).

Welcome to a new month of kit building. Vikki is our hostess this time. She chose the Goldenrod Digital & Printable Kit by Traci Reed Designs to inspire us. Before we dive into the details of this kit, let’s give a warm welcome to our guest designer this month. Tamra Hunt, pictured to the left! You can find her on her blog.

So let’s move on with our kit. Here are a few looks at what we have in store this time around.

Lets take a bigger look at the papers since that is where I usually start. What caught my attention was the fact that there were plenty of everyday papers tucked in there. From plaids to polkadots, I found plenty to inspire me outside of the definite fall theme of this collection. I very much appreciate that! I also liked that the softer than traditional color palette as well as the addition of gray and gray-teals.

So these are the papers I came up with. I subbed out the black star print for a large bold multicolor star. I included one leafy print and one pumpkin print as a nod to the theme. I also subbed in one wreath print that while intended for Christmas, could work really well on a Halloween layout with porch pumpkins!

And here is a look at the embellishments. I kept my main selection of embellishments manageable. I will allow myself to draw readily from my stash of fall and Halloween embellishments as needed.

Don’t forget that each month I also create my own elements to add into my kit. Of course these are inspired by the original kit, but often have a twist of their own. So don’t miss what I will make in just a couple of days. I’m sharing some things from super-easy to fun-techniquey this time around.

There is a tradition over at CKC of titling our kits just like companies do. So in honor of the wreath print I included, I’m calling mine…

Porch Decor

If you want more details on my kit building thought process, check out my kit build video.

I hope you can follow along with the other designers and see how they interpreted their own kits.

Here’s the full hop link list

Have fun kit building and don’t forget to show off your stuff over on the CKC Facebook group, or tag us on Instagram @counterfeitkitchallenge or use #counterfeitkitchallenge.

I’ll be back on the 4th, for our Product Forgeries. Until then, have an artful day!

October Makes

I’ve been jamming in a bunch of design team work after spending 4 fun-filled days at the Crop & Create Delivered Card making “retreat”. It is an online event if you aren’t familiar with C&C. But it is jam packed. I buy special meals, snacks and treats, clean my room and prep for a week in advance. So to me this IS a retreat. It just means I don’t have to pay for hotels or flights. 😉

At any rate, that means my other crafty life had to play catch up. On the design team at CKC we create our own products each month and offer mini kit inspiration. I was tasked with both jobs this month and combined them up nicely.

The Makes

Fist here are my makes for October. Fabric flowers created two ways. Denim was upcycled to create the flowers on the left in pleated style and rolled style. On the right, felt was die cut to create sunflowers.

If you want to see more of that in action, plus a peek at one of my fails, then check out this video.

The Mini Kit

A couple of days later I put those sunflowers to use in my mini kit. I took some of the supplies that did not make it into my main kit for the month and included them in this mini kit. I knew what I wanted to make and since I didn’t own the products to make it happen, I designed some myself. In fact I’ve already release that brand new, FREE cut file for all of you to download. It is featured in this blog post.

With my kit and cut file ready I set to work. I created these fun table decor items. But don’t limit yourself to just table decor. These would make great notecards to sent as well.

I do share some tips and tricks in the video where I created these. Check it out.

I hope you enjoyed this bit of early Thanksgiving crafting. Until next time, have an artful day.